LED Bulbs
- Thread starter RyanTay
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The general consensus on here is that LEDs should not be fitted into reflector headlights.
Dipped beams will cause light scatter and the DRL function of LED H15 is far too bright and reflect a light that from the outside appears to be too similar to main beam.
Don't let that stop you if it's what you really want to do tho'.
Dipped beams will cause light scatter and the DRL function of LED H15 is far too bright and reflect a light that from the outside appears to be too similar to main beam.
Don't let that stop you if it's what you really want to do tho'.
Thought it was law and an MOT failure?
Don't be sucked in to the whole "blue" thing. Human eyes have evolved to see best in daylight which is around 6000kelvin colour temp. If you start to go "bluer" than that, your eyes can't actually see the light, no matter how powerful the bulbs are. They might look cool, but are useless for night driving.
Correct, and if your unlucky to be pulled by dvsa they won't let you drive it away. Has to be towed and usually rectified including a fresh MOT!
Apologies for going off piste. We tend to ramble on a bit sometimes & not answer the original question. Hang around long enough & you’ll:-what I'm basically asking is can anyone recommend anything?
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H7 Phillips racing Vision GT200 5 stars
H7 Ring Xenon 200 4stars
H7 Osram Night Breaker 220 3 and a half stars
H7 Halfords 200% Brighter 3 stars
H7 Lucas LIGHT booster 200%
H1 Philips X-treamVision Pro150 5Stars
H1 Ring Zenon 150 4stars
H1 Osram Night Breaker laser 3 and a half stars
H1 twenty20 daylight 150 3 stars
H7 Phillips racing Vision GT200 5 stars
H7 Ring Xenon 200 4stars
H7 Osram Night Breaker 220 3 and a half stars
H7 Halfords 200% Brighter 3 stars
H7 Lucas LIGHT booster 200%
H1 Philips X-treamVision Pro150 5Stars
H1 Ring Zenon 150 4stars
H1 Osram Night Breaker laser 3 and a half stars
H1 twenty20 daylight 150 3 stars
I’ve got the H7 Osram Intense Blue and they are slightly ’whiter’ than standard halogen bulbs but nothing like LED or xenon. They have lasted 2 1/2 years so far and give out a decent amount of light for a halogen bulb. But not quite as much as say a Nightbreaker 220 but these don’t last as long and are a more yellow colour.
As mentioned above, LEDs in a standard halogen headlamp are illegal and an MOT failure. Your choice though of course.
As mentioned above, LEDs in a standard halogen headlamp are illegal and an MOT failure. Your choice though of course.
Things might well change in the future. In the EU Philips and Osram have manufactured LED Bulbs for replacing halogen Headlamp bulbs in reflectors. These have passes very stringent EU rules for homologation and come I understand with qualifying paperwork for specific vehicles. Unfortunately that will not legalise them for here anytime very soon but it sure to come, after all if someone from the EU comes over here with these bulbs that are legal in the EU are the authorities here going to prosecute them here, I am not quite so sure. Each country within the EU has little things that other member countries might not have but generally each accepts new legislation ans we would have done had we remained however I suspect that their will be some latency in following suit. I have written about this somewhere including reference to particular bulbs but not very good at searching sometimes.
Im driving in Germany and I know here its legal and in the uk not . I've just changed my bulbs over to the Philips Led( No canbus errors) and a vast improvement ! I based my info mainly on this article that's in German but if you use a page translator its interesting ! Time the uk catches up ! Led in reflectors work! 2025 Test: Beste Plug & Play H7 LED-Scheinwerferlampen – Philips vs Osram für Autos & Motorräder
Thanks.
I followed the link and from that article followed the link to the Osram approved vehicle list for Germany.
To me this was interesting as, for example, there are no approved (for use in Germany) H4 LED bulbs for the T5.1, while there are H7s, but there are approved H4s for the T6 (and even T2!). This probably highlights how individual reflectors can alter the light beam pattern and cause glare (assuming this is why the T5.1 is not approved for h4).
A lot of testing required by the bulb manufacturers. Trying a ‘bulb’ in every single vehicle (and even then several variations- such as the H4 and H7 units used on transporters) and determining if it meets standards.
The UK are still ‘looking at it’ apparently. Plenty of pushback to LEDs due to glare.
I think the lack of adherence to existing regulations in the UK has made it a minefield - people swapping headlamp units for aftermarket versions, people fitting cheap Chinese LEDs and MOT testers just passing them. I can’t see Osram will test bulbs in anfter units and some users won’t even know if their headlamps are original or not if they bought the vehicle second hand. So still plenty of room for error which there wouldn’t be if people were stuck with OE headlight units.
Recent article on LED ‘bulbs’ here for general interest. UK steps up review of headlight glare as drivers complain of being dazzled
According to the RAC “Government collision statistics shows that since 2013, there has been an average of 280 collisions a year where dazzling headlights were a contributory factor. Of these, six a year involved someone losing their life. The actual number may be higher if an investigation was unable to determine whether or not a collision was directly or indirectly caused by the glare from another vehicle’s headlights.”
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