Anyone upgraded to LED bulbs?

[Deleted User]

Putting aside all the MOT requirements, I don't think anybody that has replied so far has actually used LED replacements, I have and I'm very happy but I don't use eBay crap, you need to spend £100+ to get a decent LED headlight.

I use these:
https://www.osram.com/ecat/LEDriving HL H7 Gen2-LED high and low beam lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/com/en/GPS01_3143582/ZMP_4059095/

5 year guarantee so they won't start flickering after a month and the position of the LED chip is optimised to match the filament on a halogen bulb unlike eBay specials. This also ensures the light pattern matches a halogen and doesn't dazzle or scatter.

Mine have been fitted for 12 months now. I've used nightbreakers and rate these LED's as much better and already lasted longer.

baza52

Deleted_User said:

Putting aside all the MOT requirements, I don't think anybody that has replied so far has actually used LED replacements, I have and I'm very happy but I don't use eBay crap, you need to spend £100+ to get a decent LED headlight.

I use these:
https://www.osram.com/ecat/LEDriving HL H7 Gen2-LED high and low beam lamps-Car lighting-Automotive/com/en/GPS01_3143582/ZMP_4059095/

5 year guarantee so they won't start flickering after a month and the position of the LED chip is optimised to match the filament on a halogen bulb unlike eBay specials. This also ensures the light pattern matches a halogen and doesn't dazzle or scatter.

Mine have been fitted for 12 months now. I've used nightbreakers and rate these LED's as much better and already lasted longer.

These products are not ECE-approved and must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads will invalidate both the operating license and insurance coverage

[Deleted User]

baza52 said:

These products are not ECE-approved and must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads will invalidate both the operating license and insurance coverage

Thanks, I'm fully aware of that thanks and happy to take that risk but good to mention it for anybody else browsing this thread 

I can see much better with these lights which improves safety and they don't dazzle or cause problems to other motorists. They have passed an MOT without issue. I will continue to use them and enjoying seeing everything until I can upgrade to a car that has LED or HID as standard.

facade

The specs look reasonable, 1215 Lumen, the same as a 55W halogen, they only last for 2500 hours though, a standard H7 should be good for 300, a nightbreaker is rated for 100, super dim longlife make 1000.

It must be the colour temperature that makes them seem brighter 6000K vs 3700K, they don't put out any more light than halogens.

The big killer of LEDs is heat, trying to match the size of the filament in a bulb, to maintain the focus, makes for a lot of heat and a short life.

An LED headlight has a different reflector design, so that they can use a physically larger LED array to get the temperatures down (also it is very very cheap to switch parts of the array on and off to give a very very expensive adaptive beam pattern )

JustAnotherSaver

[Deleted User] said:

Mine have been fitted for 12 months now. I've used nightbreakers and rate these LED's as much better and already lasted longer.

Jeez, if your nightbreakers didn't even last 12 months then what sort of mileage are you doing?

Mine lasted a few years at 7k per year.

[Deleted User] said:

car that has LED or HID as standard.

They need to sort those new Mini's out (not that they're going to bother). People say that original is the only way to go but even when they come with LEDs as standard, i think they're pretty blinding. Some Civic's are the same though I wonder if these are just people putting their own bulbs in or whatever. I'd heard they had HIDs in reflector lenses, no idea how true that is.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

baza52 said:

These products are not ECE-approved and must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads will invalidate both the operating license and insurance coverage

Thanks, I'm fully aware of that thanks and happy to take that risk but good to mention it for anybody else browsing this thread 

I can see much better with these lights which improves safety and they don't dazzle or cause problems to other motorists. They have passed an MOT without issue. I will continue to use them and enjoying seeing everything until I can upgrade to a car that has LED or HID as standard.

Say you had an accident. Would you admit your insurance was invalid? Or would you try to claim anyway?

baza52

[DELETED USER] said:

[Deleted User] said:

baza52 said:

These products are not ECE-approved and must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads will invalidate both the operating license and insurance coverage

Thanks, I'm fully aware of that thanks and happy to take that risk but good to mention it for anybody else browsing this thread 

I can see much better with these lights which improves safety and they don't dazzle or cause problems to other motorists. They have passed an MOT without issue. I will continue to use them and enjoying seeing everything until I can upgrade to a car that has LED or HID as standard.

Say you had an accident. Would you admit your insurance was invalid? Or would you try to claim anyway?

I think the insurance refers to the bulb life rather than car insurance.
I would just plead ignorance like most others

JustAnotherSaver

[DELETED USER] said:

[Deleted User] said:

baza52 said:

These products are not ECE-approved and must not be used on public roads in any exterior application. Use on public roads will invalidate both the operating license and insurance coverage

Thanks, I'm fully aware of that thanks and happy to take that risk but good to mention it for anybody else browsing this thread 

I can see much better with these lights which improves safety and they don't dazzle or cause problems to other motorists. They have passed an MOT without issue. I will continue to use them and enjoying seeing everything until I can upgrade to a car that has LED or HID as standard.

Say you had an accident. Would you admit your insurance was invalid? Or would you try to claim anyway?

Don't claim = auto no joy.

Claim = may get joy, may not.

What do you think they'll do then?

seatbeltnoob

JustAnotherSaver said:

Seatbeltnoob - doesn't matter how fancy the halogens are, they're all pretty poor really. My opinion of course but I've spent enough trying out many of the fancy Nancy bulbs. In the end I settle for night breakers as a balance of light output and cost but they're still not great. 

The night breakers aren't fancy halogens?