LED Bulbs in Halogen Lights

Kenai · 12 Jan 2021 at 17:37

Howard said:
Maybe not in a normal reflector enclosure but what about projectors?

It's normally the dodgy looking wiring and ballasts hanging out the back of headlamps that are stamped HCR rather than DCR that gives it away

[TW]Fox · 12 Jan 2021 at 17:47

Howard said:
Maybe not in a normal reflector enclosure but what about projectors?

I even fitted the OEM brackets to the headlight units and the BMW warning stickers to the headlight unit and I bet you could still tell it wasn't OEM.

jpaul · 12 Jan 2021 at 18:34

Howard said:
I understood that there was a minimum lumen requirement for washers and a rare few cars with HIDs fell below this.

yes

jpaul said:
The pistonheads thread is interesting suggesting
legally LED>2000 lumens need washers/self-levelling (sealed units excepted) - is that because it is dirt that gives undesired beam deflection ?
Philips Ultinon aftermarket were not ce qualified sep17 - are there any aftermarket bulbs that are ?
The H4 comparison video shows how much light actually comes out despite these 6000/10000 lumens claims -lol

gailjon · 12 Jan 2021 at 23:21

Howard said:
I understood that there was a minimum lumen requirement for washers and a rare few cars with HIDs fell below this.

Interesting. I wonder which cars they were? I remember when HIds first cam rout and I was super jealous of anyone whose car had them.

Lopéz · 12 Jan 2021 at 23:25

Nasher said:
No external lighting is allowed to be retrofitted.

Ehhh.... what? Can you clarify exactly what you mean by this?

Howard · 13 Jan 2021 at 08:04

gailjon said:
Interesting. I wonder which cars they were? I remember when HIds first cam rout and I was super jealous of anyone whose car had them.

Porsche Cayman is one example I found.

WJA96 · 13 Jan 2021 at 08:12

Lopéz said:
Ehhh.... what? Can you clarify exactly what you mean by this?

He missed out the comma as in “No, external lights are allowed to be retrofitted” - makes all the difference.

Nasher · 13 Jan 2021 at 09:35

Lopéz said:
Ehhh.... what? Can you clarify exactly what you mean by this?

They cant be E marked so technically they cant be road legal. Though no one really cares.

[TW]Fox · 13 Jan 2021 at 09:42

Nasher said:
They cant be E marked so technically they cant be road legal. Though no one really cares.

There are plenty of E marked external lighting systems for cars?

gailjon · 13 Jan 2021 at 09:59

Howard said:
Porsche Cayman is one example I found.

It appears that many owners of these are unhappy as well!

It would seem that on the standard boxster Porsche provide the Bi-Xenon lights in the UK as standard. But to save pennies, they have found a way of providing these lights with NO headlamp washer and that has resulted in a 25 watt arrangement to make them legal, as opposed to a 35 or even 55 watt package, as found in normal high wattage Bi-Xenon lights.

The net result is a low output and dim light. Its almost ok in dry conditions, but on wet and shiny roads, normal xenon lights just light up the road and these are completely lost

The bulbs are a DLS variety and no one makes an upgraded bulb yet !

Nasher · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:14

[TW]Fox said:
There are plenty of E marked external lighting systems for cars?

No retrofit LED bulbs are. You would have to replace the whole unit for a sealed LED one from a later model car etc.

Kenai · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:17

Nasher said:
No retrofit LED bulbs are. You would have to replace the whole unit for a proper LED one.

Regardless of that being true or not though, it's not checked at MOT, which is why you've never had any issues with LED bulbs at MOT - it's not because your tester doesn't care, it's because the MOT doesn't care.

Headlamps are the only place they're specifically mentioned and that only changed 2 days ago.

Nasher · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:19

Kenai said:
Regardless of that being true or not though, it's not checked at MOT, which is why you've never had any issues with LED bulbs at MOT - it's not because your tester doesn't care, it's because the MOT doesn't care.

Headlamps are the only place they're specifically mentioned and that only changed 2 days ago.

But E marks apply to every external bulb. It should fail but it wont.

Kenai · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:20

Nasher said:
So your first post is fake news then?

In what way?

Kenai · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:22

Nasher said:
But E marks apply to every external bulb. It should fail but it wont.

MOTs don't check for E Marks and none of the test criteria require any bulbs except the headlights to be checked for being the 'incorrect type' that I can see?

There's no reason an LED sidelight, as per your original example, should fail an MOT.

That's not necessarily the same thing as being road legal or not.

jpaul · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:29

Nasher said:
They can't confirm it has LEDs though.

the instant on/off, of led, is a giveaway for headlights vs halogen at an MOT ? EDIT:and colour
not sure how responsive hid are, in their turn eg. for flashing people ?

Lopéz · 13 Jan 2021 at 10:39

Nasher said:
They cant be E marked so technically they cant be road legal. Though no one really cares.

So not "No external lighting is allowed to be retrofitted" then

[TW]Fox · 13 Jan 2021 at 11:06

Nasher said:
No retrofit LED bulbs are. You would have to replace the whole unit for a sealed LED one from a later model car etc.

You didn't say that.

mrgubby · 13 Jan 2021 at 18:49

[TW]Fox said:
It isn't difficult to spot an aftermarket HID install - and if one is spotted, it fails. It's that simple really.

My projector headlight car has gone through every MOT since 2015 with a clearly visible aftermarket HID.

jpaul · 13 Jan 2021 at 20:59

If mot regulations are more stringent will Insurance companies follow suit "modded/illegal lights that won't do nicely sir, 3rd party's only"