LED bulbs swap from Halogen

wijcc · 14 Dec 2023 at 23:20

My focus currently has standard H7 halogen bulbs, I am thinking of changing to LED ones.. the ones that just plug into the current, no adapters needed. Has anyone done the same and can recommend good LED bulbs?
I previously had osram nightbreakers, but they did not last very long.. less than a year before needing replacing.

MrRockliffe · 14 Dec 2023 at 23:58

Reflector or projector housing?

wijcc · 15 Dec 2023 at 00:56

Just a straight replacement of the bulbs, like these for example

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0CHYHYLXK/

The car in question is a 2010 ford focus. I need to replace the bulbs as one has died, so thinking whether to just stick to standard halogen bulbs or change to LED. I changed the side lights to LED ones (501) and they were a great upgrade.

GuruJockStrap · 15 Dec 2023 at 01:22

If your headlight unit has reflectors don't use LED bulbs.

wijcc · 15 Dec 2023 at 01:27

It's just the standard so I am guessing it is reflectors??

Rroff · 15 Dec 2023 at 02:05

My recommendation would be Philips X-tremeVision or RacingVision ideally with one of the longer life variants - retrofitting LED headlights, even ones supposedly compatible, can have complications including the housing and potentially with the electronics.

Personally I err towards Philips for this as their experience with lighting shows - the X-tremeVision have some kind of bias element to the light which helps things to stand out at night, which the Osrams don't have and you might not find ad hoc fitted LEDs do as well.

wijcc · 15 Dec 2023 at 04:00

Thanks

Rroff · 15 Dec 2023 at 04:28

I've heard mixed stories as to the lifespan on these kind of bulbs - both Osram and Philips - but I've had X-tremeVision 130% in my truck for 2 years, with a lot of driving at night, without an issue so far.

If you are looking for LED like white the Osrams are better if not using LEDs, especially on dipped beams where the Philips have a bias yellow hue. But again personally I prefer it as it cuts through rain and mist, etc. better than the Osrams do and doesn't have that tired look of traditional halogens.

squerble · 15 Dec 2023 at 08:09

Don't bother; just get good halogens, the Philips or the Osrams.

MrRockliffe · 15 Dec 2023 at 09:12

wijcc said:
Just a straight replacement of the bulbs, like these for example

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0CHYHYLXK/

The car in question is a 2010 ford focus. I need to replace the bulbs as one has died, so thinking whether to just stick to standard halogen bulbs or change to LED. I changed the side lights to LED ones (501) and they were a great upgrade.

You need to consider if there is a reflector lens or projector lens.

Have a look on Google to see the difference.

You definitely shouldn’t use LEDs with reflectors - you risk blinding all other drivers on the road.

You shouldn’t really use LEDs in halogen projector lenses either. The beam pattern will be better, but still won’t be great. You’ll have: light bleed at the sides, blinding oncoming traffic at times, and you won’t have auto levelling.

Nasher · 15 Dec 2023 at 11:15

Sometimes the pattern is ok but good bulbs are super expensive so it's not not worth it.

Also you need to keep LED lights cool inside the sealed housing somehow, otherwise they won't last long.

Resident · 15 Dec 2023 at 11:21

IF the car wasn't fitted with LEDs at the factory then they're illegal, to the point that they're an MOT fail and if caught by plod, a £250 FPN

You can get away with it in a projector housing provided you're not stupid about it (buying a quality set not ebay specials)

Nasher · 15 Dec 2023 at 11:26

Resident said:
IF the car wasn't fitted with LEDs at the factory then they're illegal, to the point that they're an MOT fail and if caught by plod, a £250 FPN

You can get away with it in a projector housing provided you're not stupid about it (buying a quality set not ebay specials)

Never seems to happen though. Often the bulb is obscured by the lens (especially on projectors) and they can't take the bulb out to confirm it on an MOT, so it doesn't fail.

You aren't even supposed to retrofit sidelights, but I have a car with some which always passes MOTs.

Weirdly it's legal on cars made before 1986 though.

wijcc · 15 Dec 2023 at 17:52

Osram night breaker laser (+200%) or Philips H7 Racing Vision GT200 (+200).. which to get both are similar price.. do the Philips bulbs last longer than osrams??

Resident · 16 Dec 2023 at 10:41

Nasher said:
Never seems to happen though. Often the bulb is obscured by the lens (especially on projectors) and they can't take the bulb out to confirm it on an MOT, so it doesn't fail.

You aren't even supposed to retrofit sidelights, but I have a car with some which always passes MOTs.

Weirdly it's legal on cars made before 1986 though.

I've replaced every bulb in my car with LED with the exception of the dipped/main headlight bulbs. Never had a mention at the MOT for the last 7 years

MrRockliffe · 16 Dec 2023 at 11:40

wijcc said:
Osram night breaker laser (+200%) or Philips H7 Racing Vision GT200 (+200).. which to get both are similar price.. do the Philips bulbs last longer than osrams??

There’ll be so much variance between each bulb, even the same brand, that I would say it’ll be imperceptible.

Get the cheaper of the two :-)

Terminal_Boy · 16 Dec 2023 at 12:02

Rroff said:
I've heard mixed stories as to the lifespan on these kind of bulbs - both Osram and Philips - but I've had X-tremeVision 130% in my truck for 2 years, with a lot of driving at night, without an issue so far.

If you are looking for LED like white the Osrams are better if not using LEDs, especially on dipped beams where the Philips have a bias yellow hue. But again personally I prefer it as it cuts through rain and mist, etc. better than the Osrams do and doesn't have that tired look of traditional halogens.

My first set of 130%ers dipped beams lasted just over 3 years in my Duster (separate dipped and main lights) which does a lot of night driving on unlit and very bumpy rural roads.

They do an amazing job of picking out the verges which are basically just different shades of grey/brown than the roads out here in winter.

Rroff · 16 Dec 2023 at 13:15

Something to consider - if headlight bulbs aren't lasting long you might have moisture/water ingress in the headlight housing and/or the bulbs are being handled wrong when installed - you should avoid touching the glass of the bulbs.

ianh · 17 Dec 2023 at 14:47

Fitting LEDS into a reflector unit is also an instant MOT fail. The wording used in the MOT inspection manual para 4.1.4 is -

"Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.”

There are newly designed LEDS which are way better than the original LED designs now. They have cut-off patterns which are designed to put the light output in exactly the same place as the halogens in an omni-directional way (same as halogens) and therefore work really well in reflector units, even showing the same type of very precise "beam cut-off" pattern normally associated with Xenons etc.

I bought a set of these "new design" LEDS for my halogen bulbed Citroen C1 and they looked great (very similar to my RS6 OEM lights in brightness, colour and cut-off) with a crisp 6000k white beam and a great cut-off so no dazzling, and then I found out they're a MOT fail :eek:

so I swapped to OSRAM Halogen Nightbreaker Silver (+100) instead which are "worse" looking to my eyes than the LEDS but still way better than the OEM halogens and they have the bonus of being legal.