LED H7 headlight bulbs upgrade - impressed (so far)

[2x2camper]

Drew I totally empathise with you on this. I am going to try out the H4 versions in my Fiesta mk7. All the people bleating on about CE marking just didn’t get the point of your original post. You said right off the bat that they weren’t E marked and that you didn’t want this thread to develop into a legality issue rather than something interesting about beefing up your headlights. So how good are they? Lighting can be very subjective, do you feel you can see further down a given road? Sounds like you have experience with changing headlight bulbs, do you think they are as good as, or better than the “Rally spec” 100/95w types you and I used to fit in our humdrum euro boxes? When are the videos or photos going to be posted? Don’t let the bleaters get you down!!


Cheers!

Russ

Surely if you cannot see adequately with the oem headlights you are going too fast for the conditions in that vehicle

 

[RustyRuss]

Deleted as I was falling into the trap of arguing with someone who obviously doesn’t share my view of being able to see more clearly when driving at night....

 

[2x2camper]

I have a Morris Minor (1965) that used to have sealed beam headlights in it, I had to have SHMBO walk in front of me with her white stick to make sure we stayed on the road when going anywhere during the hours of darkness. Now I let her walk behind the car because I converted them to H4 halogen types, I can see much further than I need to now as potential velocity versus distance seen is the inverse of what it used to be!

Regarding your fatuous assumption that better headlights means greater speed, headlights are designed to replicate the amount of light you would have available to you during daylight, mostly they do a reasonable job, what’s wrong with wanting to see further and locate obstacles more positively and get a little closer to daylight conditions? Doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be driving too fast!!

True but a lot are too bright when you are looking into them.

 

[gpat]

There is a big difference between deliberately doing something and unintentionally doing something.

Not in the eyes of the law.

 

[RustyRuss]

What was the OP posting about? I seem to forget..... maybe it was about how effective a new set of headlights might be...... not about whingeing about driving too fast for the conditions or being dazzled by other motorist’s poorly aligned or inconsiderately used lighting. OP how effective are your new headlights? Maybe we could get the thread back on track?

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[gpat]

Hah I agree but good luck with that one. The OP has been trying since the start but to no avail. Now I have been drawn in too. There needs to be a thread on being back on track

 

[gus-lopez]

I have never read of any prosecution that hinged on whether a CE or non-CE part was in use. I have never heard of an MoT failure due to use of non-CE marked parts. The Police, the MoT regulations, and insurers take a far more pragmatic approach: would the part or accessory in question contribute to an accident or third party injury; is it safe? MoT headlamp tests comprise dip pattern measurement and a check on whether main beam works. They are not interested in markings of any description or in the type of light emitter in use.

MOT Test of Lights and Headlamps | What is checked | Headlights | Reflectors - MOT Test Information

Headlamps for aim and operation Sidelights (known as position lamps) for location, operation and condition Side marker lamps and end outline marker lamps (as appropriate) for presence, location, operation and condition. Stop lamps for presence, operation and condition.

www.motester.co.uk

That's why you can get up to anything in the Uk,fit what you want,modify tat & with unqualified people being let loose.

I understand the football ones but why do some lorry drivers advertise Scania with a huge neon sign ?

They are pointing out that they are driving what they consider to be the best truck available.
" Buy a Scania,
buy the best,
buy a tow-rope,
for all the rest"

 

[34127]

What was the OP posting about? I seem to forget..... maybe it was about how effective a new set of headlights might be...... not about whingeing about driving too fast for the conditions or being dazzled by other motorist’s poorly aligned or inconsiderately used lighting. OP how effective are your new headlights? Maybe we could get the thread back on track?

I thought the post was about breaking the law and fitting illegal headlights

 

[gpat]

I can’t discuss the disadvantages and danger yet, I’ve only just put them in!
I wanted to share my findings in case they were useful along with some pointers for others wanting to upgrade. Clearly this has not been useful to you, so I apologise for wasting your time and thanks for reading

I simply wanted to be clear that I already know they are not e-marked and didn’t want the thread filling up with people saying “they’re illegal and you’re breaking the law” because it’s not helpful

Merry Christmas

Err. No. Yes the first post doesnt stress this.....but I think the OP makes it clear herein. Last paragraph

 

[andyman]

Am I correct in thinking that the anti campaign on here have the tyres removed from any second hand vehicle they buy to make sure it its had a puncture it has been repaired to the correct standards.
If not they may be breaking the law by driving a dangerous vehicle.

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[DrewE127]

Seems like ignoring a motoring law because you don't agree with it.

It’s not a motoring law

Drew I totally empathise with you on this. I am going to try out the H4 versions in my Fiesta mk7. All the people bleating on about CE marking just didn’t get the point of your original post. You said right off the bat that they weren’t E marked and that you didn’t want this thread to develop into a legality issue rather than something interesting about beefing up your headlights. So how good are they? Lighting can be very subjective, do you feel you can see further down a given road? Sounds like you have experience with changing headlight bulbs, do you think they are as good as, or better than the “Rally spec” 100/95w types you and I used to fit in our humdrum euro boxes? When are the videos or photos going to be posted? Don’t let the bleaters get you down!!


Cheers!

Russ

Thank you Russ, I was starting to think I’d been sent to a parallel universe where common sense was non existent. I will get a video tonight and put the link up here would be interested to hear how you get on with the H4s.

It seems a bit of an odd posting, promoting something that the OP agrees is illegal and then says he doesn't want to go down that route of debating that point.
Also the OP states '(Frankly I think that halogen headlights should be banned as they are so dim, rubbish and dangerous.)'. - I would be interested to know if you are more qualified than the specialists who deal with motoring law and legislation.
Does it not occur that there may be reasons why they have not yet been approved for road use.

They haven’t been approved for road use because the regulations haven’t been updated since the 80s, as I’ve already mentioned.
I’m not an expert but I have enough experience, common sense and sense of sight to be able to work out whether the bulbs I’ve fitted are suitable for road use.
Any problems I would adjust the fitment or remove completely.

Surely if you cannot see adequately with the oem headlights you are going too fast for the conditions in that vehicle

That’s nonsense, halogen headlights are just worse than more modern LED ones. Otherwise my Merc would have “adaptive halogens”
I’m guessing you don’t approve of the new laserlight headlights either, the new 7 series should have halogens?

I thought the post was about breaking the law and fitting illegal headlights

Lol! Oh you..

 

[DrewE127]

Last week I handed my notice in because I got fed up with computer problems. I was a secure gov cloud engineer for 8 years, started straight out of University.

Unfortunately I still can’t escape the misery of IT because every time I read anything on the internet there is always one or two people who just don’t leave it. They continue to rage on their keyboards, ignoring any slightest attempt to agree to disagree. It ends up completely off topic, and often the thread title ends up being irrelevant.

And here we are

 

[Jake Royd]

DrewE127 could I ask if they draw the same current as the OEM bulb?
I fancy some but wonder if the Canbus might think you had a failed bulb if the current drawn is too low? (X250 Ducato)

 

[bridgedino]

The factory fitted Fiat/Peugeot headlight bulbs are woefully poor after dark, they're almost criminal. Top marks on your upgrade, Im not far behind you. Almost every new car has led headlights that i find too bright and dazzle when they are oncoming. I suppose thats how they all are now. My car included

 

[DrewE127]

DrewE127 could I ask if they draw the same current as the OEM bulb?
I fancy some but wonder if the Canbus might think you had a failed bulb if the current drawn is too low? (X250 Ducato)

The LED bulbs are 55w which is the same as the original halogens. They have cooling fans attached to the back of the bulbs as the LEDs used are incredibly bright, but they still don’t get as hot as the halogens

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[DrewE127]

The factory fitted Fiat/Peugeot headlight bulbs are woefully poor after dark, they're almost criminal. Top marks on your upgrade, Im not far behind you. Almost every new car has led headlights that i find too bright and dazzle when they are oncoming. I suppose thats how they all are now. My car included

Yes everybody’s dazzlin’
At least I didn’t do this...

 

[34127]

It’s not a motoring law

Okay, a play on words, should have said 'not authorised for road use'.

 

[34127]

Last week I handed my notice in because I got fed up with computer problems. I was a secure gov cloud engineer for 8 years, started straight out of University.

Unfortunately I still can’t escape the misery of IT because every time I read anything on the internet there is always one or two people who just don’t leave it. They continue to rage on their keyboards, ignoring any slightest attempt to agree to disagree. It ends up completely off topic, and often the thread title ends up being irrelevant.

And here we are

If you read your OP, would you honestly expect not to get all this flack when you are advocating the use of led lighting that has not been authorised for road use.

 

[gus-lopez]

I’m not an expert but I have enough experience, common sense and sense of sight to be able to work out whether the bulbs I’ve fitted are suitable for road use.

So do I but it doesn't make it legal.

 

[DrewE127]

If you read your OP, would you honestly expect not to get all this flack when you are advocating the use of led lighting that has not been authorised for road use.

I’m not advocating anything, just telling people which bulbs I’ve fitted. I just wanted to answer the question “Are they good enough to recommend” before even worrying about the legality.

I bet you’re a right laugh at a party.

That was sarcasm.

So do I but it doesn't make it legal.

I never claimed that they are legal


Seriously has lockdown made everyone this miserable and pedantic?

Leave me alone f f s

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[34127]

I’m not advocating anything, just telling people which bulbs I’ve fitted. I just wanted to answer the question “Are they good enough to recommend” before even worrying about the legality.

I bet you’re a right laugh at a party.

That was sarcasm.


I never claimed that they are legal


Seriously has lockdown made everyone this miserable and pedantic?

Leave me alone f f s

Cheap jibe but never mind.

 

[DrewE127]

If anyone hasn’t seen Bobs video on the subject, here it is (click here)

(It seems Bob shares my views)

 

[Lenny HB]

The factory fitted Fiat/Peugeot headlight bulbs are woefully poor after dark, they're almost criminal.

You don't know what you are talking about they are brilliant loverly bright headlamps - Compared to the Hella projector lamps they fit in A Class vans.

 

[DrewE127]

You don't know what you are talking about they are brilliant loverly bright headlamps - Compared to the Hella projector lamps they fit in A Class vans.

Out of interest, do you mean like these...?

I’d have thought they were better than reflectors!

 

[Lenny HB]

Out of interest, do you mean like these...?
View attachment 446675
I’d have thought they were better than reflectors!

Yes, they are the same Hella unit fitted to BMW's 30 years ago, well the classic version is. There is a newer version that Hymer were fitting the only difference was a lever to change to flat dipping instead of rotating the lamp. The latest Hymer headlamps with the plastic lenses that use a single H7 for both dip & main are even worse.

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[Pausim]

Leave me alone f f s

Just supporting a statement you included in your opening post.

I have fitted these knowing that they aren’t authorised for road use

 

[RustyRuss]

Drew just ignore the pedantic bleaters, they’re only jealous because they can’t see where their going with the poorly designed headlights they have in their vehicles.

When I worked for Philips OEM lighting division they pioneered High Intesity Discharge lighting with Valeo, the headlight manufacturers. That was 25 years ago. The likes of BMW, Mercedes etc. loved them but it took ages to get them type approved/ E marked and consequently fitted into vehicles because of all the European bureaucracy from 20+ Governments that they had to satisfy. One of the issues was that the head lights didn’t need such a large lens at the front of the vehicle, this meant that there was a potential aerodynamic benefit but this also meant that the new headlights wouldn’t meet the minimum dimensional requirements for a headlight because they were too small!

It’s very likely that they will be type approved, just that the process doesn’t move anything like as fast as new technologies. LED headlights (that is the actual headlights, NOT the bulbs inside them), have only been around for a relatively short period of time in vehicle development terms. If a company has gone to all the trouble of manufacturing such a complex piece of kit with cooling fans and engineered aviation grade materials, do you really think they’ll have decided not to get it type approved? I can’t see any reason, from a vehicle lighting perspective, why this product wouldn’t meet the criteria required for a vehicle bulb. It’s got the correct type of lamp caps (H1, H4, H7 etc.) it’s got the correct lamp centre length, meaning the light emitting component is going to sit at the required focal point of the reflector and lens/refraction components of the light fitting to retrofit into existing headlights, it switches instantly from dipped to main beam filament/light source, it’s compatible with vehicle canbus systems and it is as powerful in terms of actual light output as it’s contemporaries in the specific vehicle headlight market. Products like this normally help the legislators to write the specification that drives type approval, your average legislator is very unlikely to know much about lighting design and will want someone/ a company to help them write the spec. What’s not to love?
If we didn’t embrace technology like this we would still be using acetylene and cotton wicks in our vehicle headlighting.
So I say again, ignore the bleaters, I’m looking forward to seeing a before and after (if possible) video of your new lighting.

Cheers!

Russ

 

[DrewE127]

Cheers Russ, it’s interesting that you worked for Philips, I’m sort of jealous - if I’d gone into the automotive industry I probably wouldn’t have quit my job

But you’re right, I will continue with my thread as intended. Just finishing my cuppa then I’m off to record some footage, using my Mrs as a phone holder (don’t worry pedantites, I won’t be adding another layer of legal confusion to the whole experience)

I was tempted to put the video in a new thread entitled “A short video of illegal headlight bulbs that nobody should buy” but I won’t be defeated, it’ll be in this thread later on

 

[Jim]

RV lights are notorious for having less output than a candle in a jam jar. I replace mine with LED's I have had five MOTs with LED's installed that will give you a suntan at noon. I love em.

 

[RustyRuss]

I live near Liverpool so consequently I come across quite a lot of black cabs, not the really old clunkers but the more modern versions. Check out the headlight lenses the next time you see one, you’ll see that the lens is cloudy in the centre of most of them and there is actually a burnt hole in the middle of the lens in many, this is because the filament of the lamp is focused by the reflector on to the lens as the light leaves the headlamp to illuminate the road. Around 85% of the energy put into a filament lamp is turned into infrared light - heat to you and I, only about 10-15% of the output is from wavelengths that we can see. These new LED lamps create very little infrared wavelengths, that’s why they are so much more efficient as a light source. Your new LED headlights would be a dream come true for cab drivers, a new headlight is reputedly around £150!!

You got me on to my favourite subject..... I love lighting!!

Oh! Looks like I went off thread again!!! People in glass houses and all that.....

Cheers!
Russ

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