Ok i know the procedure ..blah blah blah, but i was looking at the actual lamp and it looks out of the ordinary..its covered by a silver cover with slits cut in it..i think you guys know what i'm talking about. Is that fine to replace..or do i have to have the specific "pontiac" lamp? If u guys don't know what i'm talkin about i can take a pic and post it..i hope i got the point across..

Any 9005 and 9006 substitute will work. I suggest #1 choice Sylvania Silver Stars, #2 would be Sylvania Cool Blues. I've run 'em both.

you grasp the bulb and twist it counterclockwise and it comes out.

I think what you may be describing is made in the headlight assembly and not part of the bulb itself. At least it is in my 97. The left side of mine was bent or out of alignment and I had a wierd light pattern. I "adjusted" it and it'* fine now.

i've seen the cool blues but couldn't understand the benefit, other than being a HID imitator.. HID'* are pure white which just looks blue, these blue-tinted things would just pass white light through blue glass which would decrease efficiency wouldn't it?

The Cool Blues are whiter and brighter than stock from the driver perspective. I can't say about the Silver Stars (maybe willwren can). I have also tried the cheaper versions where the outside is painted blue and otherwise it'* a regular bulb. They look cool looking at the headlights, but they don't put out any light.

ok, because when i looked at the cool blues it looked like nothing more than a standard halogen light with a blue casing.

Cool Blues and Silver Stars are actually optically coated to remove the yellow wavelength. They also use a different gas in the casing. They produce a whiter wavelength, and brighter in the more visible spectrum. They work better at night on wet roads for that reason. I've run both, and the Silver Stars are superior, but even the cool blues are vastly better than a stock lamp.

(For those of you who don't know, I'm a Laser Technician....optical coatings and wavelengths of light are my forte......to lend a little credence to my ranting).

So you can gain the same benefit of the HID to a slightly smaller degree for much less money.

All of them will, go with Silver Stars. They cost more than Cool Blues but are worth the extra. To my knowledge, they don't make them for the fog/driving lights.

I haven't really looked. Mine are already the 50 watts. I know later years were only 35 watts. I've left mine stock for now, until I find a better replacement. I drive with my fogs on all the time, so I don't want anything bright enough to draw attention. Does anyone else out there know of a replacement for the 885 that is a whiter light?