Are [url= http://www.miniinthebox.com/h4-high-power-7-5w-400lm-5-led-white-light-bulb-for-car_p322699.html ]These[/url] road legal? obvoiusly we in the UK are only allowed 55w/80w low/ high beam how would these measure up?
Edit..soz mods please move to chat>
Those are for Fog Lamps?
Those are fog lights - I think LED tech has a way to go before it can match current headlight output. There may also be issues with the cars canbus (if it has one and it controls the lights) as the LED power usage is lower which makes the canbus think a bulb has blown.
I've never seen fog lights with that connection ( H4 ) style.
Don't fog lights run at same wattage as dipped headlights, round about 55w ?
Sorry, I thought H4 was a headlamp bulb.
I'd like my headlights to be more of a white than a yellow.
Led lights are the current new thing in the landrover world
Check out
Mobile centre uk for lots and lots of lights
Sharkbait
Its not really to do with power, normal bulbs are filament (which LED's obviously are not) so have a continuous circuit which the system can detect when a bulb blows, canbus LED bulbs for cars usually have a resistor connected in parallel to the LED to fool the system into thinking its complete.
I was lead to believe that some cars (and I mean Volvo here) use the power usage to detect blown bulbs - some people who wanted to run led running lights had to also run another, hidden, bulb on the same circuit to increase power usage to a level the canbus deemed acceptable.
They'd be OK for sidelights, indicators, etc but not for headlights. The reflectors in headlights are designed around the position of the lamp filament to focus the light output properly. Which is why the crappy aftermarket HIDs that chavs fit to their Corsas blind oncoming drivers.
Hmmmm you may well be right, think there is maybe a couple of different systems out there, might work on volt drop too !!
I tried some LED H4 headlamp bulbs just to see what they were like. Absolute pants I'm afraid, look nice from outside the car as the colour temperature is spot on but they give out not much more light than the sidelight bulbs, dangerous to drive by.
If you want a clean, bright, white light you need to get some LED/SMD sidelight bulbs, and then fit a 6000k HID kit for the dip/main. Don't be put off they're not that difficult to fit, everything is plug and play however you should only bother if you have crystal headlamp lenses, preferable projectors. An old style headlamp with the beam refractor built into the lense invariably looks crap with an HID kit and will dazzle oncoming drivers.
If you want whiter and brighter, try uprated bulbs. Such as Osram nightbreakers or Ring Ultima. I've got the Ring knees and they are better
Tybian, Type Philiips Crystal Vision and/or Diamond Vision into Ebay along with the fitting type for your car.
The Crystal Vision are 4300k colour temp which is similar to pre 2010 BMW Xenon and the Diamond Vision are 5000k which is closer to 6000k Xenons which is what post 2010 BMW Xenons are.
I use them in all of my cars for both headlights and foglights; They're superb lights.
Thanks for the help peeps. I'll be checking them ones out daffy.
Many of the vehicles where I've just been have LED headlights - I suspect because they are far more robust than filament lamps. The are very very bright with an intense white light. The whole unit is designed to run LED "bulbs", at I guess I'd say there are about 20 to 30 LEDs in each unit.
Many of the vehicles where I've just been have LED headlights
Where is that ?
Are you also going to fit an aftermarket ICE unit and some bigger aftermarket alloys?
Neil, Kandahar airfield..
@ Hora... not on my '96 D21
Rockhopper - Member
Neil, Kandahar airfield..
So UK Type Approval not an issue then? 🙂
'What headlight to deflect RPG's?'
A mate told me that retro fitting HID kits from a better model to a base model is causing vehicles to fail the MOT as they also have to have all the system fitted along with headlight washers.
Perhaps anyone on here you does MOTs will confirm ?
Perhaps anyone on here you does MOTs will confirm ?
I'm not an MOT'er but pretty sure that's true - something about the headlights being able to [physically] dip also.
The HID thing with washers is a bit of a myth, the MOT rules say that if washers etc are fitted then they must work but there is no requirement to fit them if you don't already have them.
What cars are failing on is the beam pattern as the HID bulb doesn't sit in quite the same position as the original bulb so the beam is all over the place.
Construction and Use regulations are a whole other can of worms and could land you in deep trouble if you were to have an accident that could be attributed to your HID headlights.
New MOT Law says:
Where HID or LED dipped beam headlamps are fitted the tester will switch on the headlamps and check the operation of any headlamp levelling and cleaning devices fitted.
The car will fail if a headlamp levelling or cleaning device is inoperative or otherwise obviously defective.
If you haven't got it, it can't be checked... So does this mean you can have HID's without self levelling and cleaning? Not sure.
Thats exactly what it means - if fitted they must work but you don't have to retro fit.
I've used Osram Nightbreakers before to good effect. Better penetration and a much whiter light than standard.
If replacing standard bulbs with brighter ones, is it worth doing all of them, or just dipped beam, or just main beam?
Got me thinking about winterising the car now...
I've seem good feedback on this company on a landrover forum:
http://www.hids4u.co.uk
The reflectors in headlights are designed around the position of the lamp filament to focus the light output properly. Which is why the crappy aftermarket HIDs that chavs fit to their Corsas blind oncoming drivers.
As with HIDs a projector style head lamp would sort this. Unfortunately most cars don't haves these though as they are expensive!
Which is one of the reasons I'm always baffled that my Fabia has projector headlamps - the equivalent Polo GTI has reflectors...Unfortunately most cars don't haves these though as they are expensive!
-- Just decided to order a HID kit for mine. 4300K so not chav blue
Rachel
From the hids4u FAQ:
Are HID kits legal:
Unfortunately no aftermarket HID kit is strictly road legal as you are changing the lighting system (from halogen to gas discharge) in your car and for this reason the bulbs can't be E marked which is a legal requirement. You also won't have the self leveling and washer systems installed which is also a legal requirement for HID and without these installed the kit would be an MOT failure. HID kits are plug and play so they are easy to remove and replace with standard bulbs come MOT time.
From this it seems the car DOES have to have levelling and washer systems to pass an MOT (my XC90 has self levelling suspension which apparently counts).
That quote is wrong I'm afraid, the MOT regs quoted earlier are quite clear.
It seems the VOSA documents and the MOT regs are at odds with each other (or they where last year), although the VOSA docs may have been changed since.
There are posts on pistonheads of even cars fitted with HIDs from new being failed last year as they didn't have washers.
I guess the best thing to do would be to have a word with your MOT garage and see what their view is.
Maybe hids4u should keep up as their FAQs could put some people off.
our golf failed for lack of washers in march last year.
tbh once i fitted nightbreakers to the stock lights it wasnt much different to the HID kit the previous owner fitted
remember bulbs degrade - most folk never change them so are running crap bulbs from 19 oatcake in their lights and wonder why its like holding a candle up half the time.
Interesting article from landrover monthly [url= http://www.mobilecentre.co.uk/images/Data_Sheets/JWS/LRM_LED_Headlights.pdf ]here, [/url] on the site orange boy mentioned. Cost of the led conversion is pretty eye watering.
Do a search for "Daniel stern lighting" very useful info.
You don't need Crappy drop in Xenons, (Which are illegal and will fail an MOT)
If the car is fitted with Xenons, it must have self levelling headlamps and headlamp washers.
And if fitted they do need to be checked to be working.
If you have Xenons, (Or even xenon look bulbs in many cases) with no self levelling and no washers it will fail.
Philips Diamond Vision H7 bulbs are a styling product for motorist wanting a bulb that will stand out from the crowd. They produce a distinctive blue look in the headlight due to their colour temperature of 5000K. If you are looking for greater light output, then this isn’t the choice for you as this product is specifically designed for styling and they are not road legal within the EU
Not a resounding endorsement.
ScottChegg - Member
Philips Diamond Vision H7 bulbs are a styling product for motorist wanting a bulb that will stand out from the crowd. They produce a distinctive blue look in the headlight due to their colour temperature of 5000K. If you are looking for greater light output, then this isn’t the choice for you as this product is specifically designed for styling and they are not road legal within the EU
Not a resounding endorsement.
...and completely inaccurate.
Well, that's the eBay description from a UK seller.
It doesn't make you want to press 'Buy', does it?
If the car is fitted with Xenons, it must have self levelling headlamps and headlamp washers.
And if fitted they do need to be checked to be working.If you have Xenons, (Or even xenon look bulbs in many cases) with no self levelling and no washers it will fail.
Dom have you read the first page? We have pretty much arrived at the fact that the above is now incorrect.
To be honest that's not an article - it's more like an (old) advert.
Beam shots didn't even look very impressive - get Trout on the case!
Ordered my new car with LED headlights, cost £795 as an option .
Sharkbait I presume you are referring to this bit :
Milkie - MemberNew MOT Law says:
Where HID or LED dipped beam headlamps are fitted the tester will switch on the headlamps and check the operation of any headlamp levelling and cleaning devices fitted.The car will fail if a headlamp levelling or cleaning device is inoperative or otherwise obviously defective.
If you haven't got it, it can't be checked... So does this mean you can have HID's without self levelling and cleaning? Not sure.
Rockhopper - Thats exactly what it means - if fitted they must work but you don't have to retro fit.
Rockhopper still misses the point.
HID`s and LED Headlights where fitted MUST be fitted with self levelling systems and Washers.
MUST be fitted in order to comply with homologation requirements.
All factory fitted HID / LED lighting systems have these systems in place.
Therefore if they are not fitted, but the car has HID /Xenon look bulbs, then it will fail, because they are not factory fit Lighting and not road legal.
If it has HID`s it MUST have self levelling and washers.
Its an easy spot for the testers
DS lightings site was written a while ago, but the information contained within is still very valid for anyone with Halogen bulbs (Especially on older VW`s which suffer huge voltage drop before the bulbs)