Hi all,

has any one fitted aftermarket HID bulbs to there car?

i have found the correct kit for my car for £50. i was wondering if there is any improved visibility?? and is it worth it.

Linky to the lights

also some kids keyed my car and i bumped it into a post last year and i have decided i want to get the car looking nice again. i have enough background/help to do the body work my self, but does any one know a decent sprayer in the south london/surrey area?

many thanks Shaun

HID lights are illegal IIRC if they weren’t originally fitted, or if you don’t have self-leveling lights and headlight wash/wipe fitted as standard – basically so you don’t blind every other road user.

Aye they are illegal, although mine have yet to fail an MOT. However, its worth noting that in jan 2012 that there are some changes due to the MOT, where non-standard HID will fail the MOT as well as non standard ECU maps.

They do improve visability no end and they dont dazzle oncoming drivers any more than Halogens, if adjusted properly.

No idea on the spraying thing though.

However, its worth noting that in jan 2012 that there are some changes due to the MOT, where non-standard HID will fail the MOT as well as non standard ECU maps.

There’s no way the MOT could test for non-standard maps, I don’t believe a word of it sorry. Also, HID’s even in OEM cars, dazzle the hell out of me.

I agree, MOT stations will not have all the equipment to connect the various manufactures, although the adoption of ODBII & CANBUS throughout the car industry might make a universal conecter possible.

I suspect it could be implemented via emissions though, im certain my car doesn’t meet the origianl manufactures spec with regard to emmisions, but it passes the MOT test easliy.

I should add that i have only seen a letter of proposal presented to a MOT station, ive yet to see any actaul evidence of it being implemented. Its also all over the car forums like a rash.

All the suggestion says is “Illegal/modified”. Since there’s no such thing as an illegal ECU mod in this country, how can they possibly define what that is? And how would they prove it – it can’t be based on emissions as cars change their emissions as they age anyway, even down to a slightly dodgy injector could “appear” to be a “modification”. And since there are thousands of cars out there built from other cars, and emissions change depending on what engine is in what chassis, it would be impossible to enforce. They would have to have OEM equipment for actually reading and checking the programming.

And what about carb’d cars?

We could become switzerland, but I highly doubt it.

Plus, it’s a directive, not a regulation:
“A directive is a legislative act of the European Union,[1] which requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. It can be distinguished from regulations which are self-executing and do not require any implementing measures. Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted. Directives can be adopted by means of a variety of legislative procedures depending on their subject matter.”

Lots and lots of discussion on various other motoring forums about this. Certainly I wouldn’t be buying some aftermarket HID’s in a hurry, since they will be checked on the 2012 MOT. Unless the car came with them it’s a fail. I’ve heard about the remap one too but agree that unless the MOT stations start checking ECUs I can’t see this one having an affect, unless the re-map fails the emissions check. Plus if you have a tuning box, you just take it on-off.

This rubbish sprung up about a fortnight or two ago on all the car forums. Its just rumour and hearsay. Many MOT testers and Test instructors have confirmed they are made up.

so from that: it is illegal BUT it does make difference to visibility. There are Duty Rumours that in 2012 MOT Test Stations will be failing cars with aftermarket HID’s.

This rubbish sprung up about a fortnight or two ago on all the car forums. Its just rumour and hearsay. Many MOT testers and Test instructors have confirmed they are made up.

It’s not rumour, it’s an actual EU directive, meaning the UK HAS to implement it.

However it does only require a visual inspection for illegal mods.

Right i think ill steer clear and look for complete units with HID’s as STD

Right i think ill steer clear and look for complete units with HID’s as STD

They would need to be type approved aftermarket mods, which are pretty rare.

I’d have thought that a ECU map that deviates from the manufactures map would be made illegal, its very easy to read and modify the map, ive done it a few times myself. As i say, the adoption of ODB makes it very easy. Hell, you can even get an app for you phone that will read the ECU faults codes.

The combination of engine/chassis is irrelevant, the ECU map is usualy different between models despite sharing the same engine.

Maybe the emmisions will get tighter, so that a faulty/dirty injector will fail an MOT, whilst an modified map maynot not identlfiable, if it fails the MOT then wether the ECU is illegal or not its moot point.

I would imagine that this would apply to new cars, most of which dont have carbs (and by that i dont include single point fuel injection), so carb’d cars may be made exempt.

I’m not convinced that his will come to pass, but i can see how it would be done.

why not just fit good bulbs ? or is your car from 1972 ?

old bulbs make what once were good lights shite

difference was night and day in my old car (pardon the pun)

it was on a W plate – i changed them in 08 as they were dyer

I have a modern car (2004)

I changed the bulbs last year, I don’t have a problem with visibility, but would appreciate better/clearer visibility.

what is the car ? is it a hyundai ? they have crap headlights !

are the windows clean ? are you wearing your glasses? – are they clean ?

😉

its a Citroen c2 GT. As i said i dont have any issues with the light. i just looking into getting better lights. If they are illegal (which it looks like) i will avoid them and look in to better bulbs from halfrauds.

strange id have thought that would have good lights

my pug van with its bargain basement entry level spec (including keep fit windows) has great lights !

Some manufacturers offer their own performace remaps, vauxhall for example have their own “vxr performance center” where they will install a performace remap whilst retaining a full vehical warranty. How are you going to distinguish between a manufactures remap and any other third partys. On top of that, there is nothing illegal about a remap and done properly emmisions will be no worse, most of the time its just a turbo boost pressure increase with a new base fueling map to ensure correct burn at the new boost preasure. If fact emmissions and economy can be bettered with a remap. So ill say it again, RUBBISH

Dirty diesal tuning boxes that simply up the fuel line pressure on the other hand, they are not so good.

It wouldn’t surprise me if the ECU thing came to pass. It’s half-assed and un-policeable enough for politicians to think it’s a good idea. Probably involve a hike in MOT costs as well. What is annoying is that should I happen to have a car that’s REALLY thirsty and tremendously polluting in its factory spec, then an aftermarket standalone ECU that adds 10mpg to the consumption and reduces emmissions by a significant amount would be classed as illegal. Brainless, interfering morons.

Like i say its very easy to check the ECU. The OBD standard was introduced from 2001 for petrol european/american cars and 2004 for diesel (Asian cars have been using it before these dates, but the introduction was a bit hap-hazard). The plug on my car is by the fuse box in the driver footwell (you dont even have to open the fuse box), simply plug gerneric OBD device in, turn ignition on and your connected to the ECU.

As for checking wether its the correct map, a simple checksum query would do this. If the map deviates from the manufactures standard by as much as 1 byte, then you get a different checksum figure. The manufactures could easily provide the checksums for approved ecu maps(includng any manufactures performance maps), if the checksum doesn’t match the car it is in used then it fails.

All in all, the process would be no harder than the current emmissions test, in fact it would be simpler in the case of my car, where you have to take the bonnet off to access the engine bay. To get to the OBD connector, you just have to open the driver door.

In Germany its illegal to even change the tyres to a non-recommended model, well on m/c’s anyway.

And if you do change anything, even to ‘alternative’ makes/models you need to carry around the paperwork to prove it. It’ll eventually make its way here.

I do second that proper Xenon’s are ace, my old MV6 had them, but as said they need to be correctly adjusted (auto really).