I had them (well one) in my 99 and it was hard to get at since it had the one bulb in the middle. The overheating horror stories you've heard have most likely been with the 110watt versions. They're brighter, but not worth the risk IMO. If you get the ones that have the same stock wattage (60/55 I think, as mfzx6r said) they're fine.
They look a lot better than the stock ones. They look brighter to look at etc, but do they actually provide better lighting? Debateable to me. I don't think so, at least the ones I had (eurolites I think), but they weren't a whole lot worse either. I just didn't find much diff. But they did look a whole lot better. And on my 02, the stock ones are so fricking bright I'll be putting superwhites back in so I hopefully don't get as many people flashing me. On a 2000+ model it should be easy to get at the bulbs.