H4 Headlights and the AA bloke

[Alan Walsh]

Yesterday I needed the AA, He too had a T6 with H4 headlights and couldn't believe how bad they are and felt they were unsafe for unlit roads. He told me he had fitted Ring R484 lamps and it was safe as the fuses are large enough!

Might try them as a temp fix.

 

[DaveyB]

Says something when the AA bloke has had to adapt his van.

 

[Kingsway]

Just looked these bulbs up and it says they're for off road use only.

 

[Pauly]

Road legal maximum is 55 W these are higher so technically not for the road but .......

 

[xpfloyd]

Would these be a straight swap?

 

[T6 Dave's Dad]

@Alan Walsh Stay legal, don't risk your license as it could be separate points for each bulb and you'll find every front, rear and side bulb will be checked once the first ones are discovered.

 

[PaulE]

If they are close to 80-100W then you might risk of buring your reflector for good as the heat from those bulbs are way higer than on 55W ones.

 

[xpfloyd]

Hopefully someone makes aftermarket LED replacements that are reasonably priced soon. Seem to be loads of T5 options but minimal T6

 

[T6 Dave's Dad]

Why not investigate the H7 route?

 

[andys]

I've got the H7s and I've found them to be scarily crap so god knows what the H4s are like. Huge mistake on my part, been used to Xenons or LEDs on the car for 10yrs now, should have found the money somewhere for LEDs on the van

 

[travelvolts]

Using higher wattage bulbs is not the answer. Just fit better quality ones like Philips Extreme 130

 

[Captain Mainwaring]

I've got the H7s and I've found them to be scarily crap so god knows what the H4s are like. Huge mistake on my part, been used to Xenons or LEDs on the car for 10yrs now, should have found the money somewhere for LEDs on the van

Interesting comment. I have the twin H7's that were about a £450 option on the Highline and find them quite OK, and my previous 3 vehicles all had Bi-Xenons

 

[former member]

Interesting comment. I have the twin H7's that were about a £450 option on the Highline and find them quite OK, and my previous 3 vehicles all had Bi-Xenons

I find mine okay too. Not exactly death beams but perfectly useable. We don't use our much at night but when we do, it's perfectly acceptable. The more I see LEDs in the daytime too, the more I think they managed to make the incredibly fussy LED DRL look slightly ridiculous and rather chavvy.
Not as bad as the bizarre Cayenne but close.

 

[Roadrunner]

Saying all that I used to use 100w H4 bulbs on my Mini back in the 1970's, and had no problem with them. Kept them for future use and fitted them on a later Mini only to find the current was too much for the switch which kept burning out. They are illegal on road cars but I doubt any one would check thing is will the wiring and switches cope with the current

 

[T6 Dave]

Ok, if you look at the ETKA parts listing for h4 and h7, you will find that you have "long life" bulbs fitted.. Change to normal life or upgraded like Osram night breakers, Philips +130 etc, and you will see an improvement. Long life is due to different elements etc, that probably burn slower, as normal won't last as long, as they burn brighter..

 

[andys]

Yes I put Night Breakers in the H4s on my last T5 and they made a decent difference. I drove at night in the T6 for the first time over the weekend, and like I said, I found them crap. I had to drive so much slower as the range I could see was much shorter than in the car. I also found that the illumination was worse on full beam than dipped beam, the light just seems to scatter everywhere and leave a big hole in the middle in front of you

 

[former member]

Yes I put Night Breakers in the H4s on my last T5 and they made a decent difference. I drove at night in the T6 for the first time over the weekend, and like I said, I found them crap. I had to drive so much slower as the range I could see was much shorter than in the car. I also found that the illumination was worse on full beam than dipped beam, the light just seems to scatter everywhere and leave a big hole in the middle in front of you

Hmmm, mine don't do that.
They aren't as good as my BM xenons but on a par with our Subaru Outback lights.

 

[mopardave]

Interesting......I just went on eurocarparts website to look at bulbs......put my reg in and it's showing me H7's......they obviously know something I don't! Wish they were H7's!!

 

[andys]

I've got the H7s and I've found them to be scarily crap so god knows what the H4s are like. Huge mistake on my part, been used to Xenons or LEDs on the car for 10yrs now, should have found the money somewhere for LEDs on the van

Thought I'd better revisit this thread to come clean!

I had just assumed for some reason that I had H7s, I was even sure I'd seen the two separate bulbs, but today I realised that I actually have H4s!!

In the light of this, please totally disregard all my comments above, I am a cretin and will sit at the back of the class for the rest of the week