If you prefer the older front, then couldn't you just renew any tarnished lamps & fit legal uprated 60% brighter Xenon gas filled bulbs (still filament of course). Ring do a decent set which I've found to be a brilliant upgrade on previous cars for around the £20 mark.
I did try some better bulbs and uprated the wiring, It was a big improvement, the lights were good on dry roads but not very good when it was wet, I also tried some higher wattage bulbs (150w illegal) ,not much better and one headlight cracked going through floods, not sure if it was the extra heat or not.