LED headlight bulb

Car_54

clive0510 said:

led headlamps or xenon as we call them are about £1200.00 for the average car. they take their power from something called a ballast resistor. the headlamp doesn't come with the ballast, its extra. also what you need to consider is that the wiring plug on the car, may not fit the new headlamp. you may get round the wiring plug issue, but then theirs a chance that once you got the headlamps in, (provided they fit your car) nothing works. leave well alone.

LED and xenon are two entirely different things. That makes the rest of your advice (at least) questionable.

clive0510

Car_54 said:

clive0510 said:

led headlamps or xenon as we call them are about £1200.00 for the average car. they take their power from something called a ballast resistor. the headlamp doesn't come with the ballast, its extra. also what you need to consider is that the wiring plug on the car, may not fit the new headlamp. you may get round the wiring plug issue, but then theirs a chance that once you got the headlamps in, (provided they fit your car) nothing works. leave well alone.

LED and xenon are two entirely different things. That makes the rest of your advice (at least) questionable.

thats fine. when it all goes wrong, as it wll, only you to blame.

sevenhills

Grey_Critic said:

So you changed your sidelights to LED - they are not OE so did you inform your insurance company? They are a modification.

My brake discs are not OE, but I think they will be ok.
Same with my winter tyres, the question would be is what is classed as a modification, roof bars maybe?

cymruchris

sevenhills said:

Grey_Critic said:

So you changed your sidelights to LED - they are not OE so did you inform your insurance company? They are a modification.

My brake discs are not OE, but I think they will be ok.
Same with my winter tyres, the question would be is what is classed as a modification, roof bars maybe?

OE specification is the key - not necessarily made by the car manufacturer, but to their spec and standards. Insurers will be more than happy if you've fitted OE specification equipment - so a decent set of branded independent brake discs will be OE spec. If you'd fitted something off Ali Express made of compressed aluminium foil that cracked when you hit the brakes, resulting in you totalling your car, I'd expect the insurance company to spot it and not pay out. 

In terms of modifications - the definition is quite broad - but yes roof bars is one - as taken from 'Which' (other sources available): 

Common car modifications include:

• Bodywork modifications, such as spoilers or body kits
• Engine or mechanical modifications that have an impact on car performance or reliability; these might include cold-air intakes, exhaust systems or ECU modifications.
• Modifications that change how your car handles, such as uprated brakes or lowered springs.
• Visual modifications, such as resprays, vinyl wraps, new alloy wheels or tinted windows.
• Car accessories, such as roof racks, tow bars or immobilisers.
• New or upgraded sound and entertainment systems.

Not all of these modifications will increase the cost of your car insurance – an immobiliser, for example, might even bring your premiums down. But even if you are worried about cost, don’t be tempted to stay quiet about the modifications made to your car; there is a real danger you will invalidate your insurance.

prowla

To clarify, the MOT advice says:

Section 4.1.4 of the current MOT inspection manuals for both motorcycles and cars and passenger vehicles states ‘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.

Does that mean that if there are direct-replacement LED bulbs they will be alright?

Plus, what if the headlamp unit is replaced rather than converted?

I think the reason for the advice may have been that there were some dodgy conversions about.

Car_54 said:

clive0510 said:

led headlamps or xenon as we call them are about £1200.00 for the average car. they take their power from something called a ballast resistor. the headlamp doesn't come with the ballast, its extra. also what you need to consider is that the wiring plug on the car, may not fit the new headlamp. you may get round the wiring plug issue, but then theirs a chance that once you got the headlamps in, (provided they fit your car) nothing works. leave well alone.

LED and xenon are two entirely different things. That makes the rest of your advice (at least) questionable.

Yep xenon and LED are not the same technology at all.

Ebe_Scrooge

user1977 said:

The real energy-saving champions would just keep the headlights switched off, surely?

Wow, I've got a new-found respect for BMW drivers now.  All this time I've been thinking they're just lazy, now I realise they're trying to do their bit to save the planet by not using indicators

clive0510

thats correct. i just googled it. xenon and led are two different things. but my earlier advice still applies. you can not just convert your headlamps from halogen to led. its not that straight forward.

Flight3287462

Just what modern car allows you to change any bulb to LED without having a yellow light on the dashboard (wattage discrepancy)?

I changed the number plate bulbs to LED on my daughter's car and even with an OBDeleven it took me ages to figure out the correct settings to put the warning light off.

diystarter7

clive0510 said:

led headlamps or xenon as we call them are about £1200.00 for the average car. they take their power from something called a ballast resistor. the headlamp doesn't come with the ballast, its extra. also what you need to consider is that the wiring plug on the car, may not fit the new headlamp. you may get round the wiring plug issue, but then theirs a chance that once you got the headlamps in, (provided they fit your car) nothing works. leave well alone.

I recall fitting them to a big suv years ago, good post,

We have two cars that have LED all round front and back - I bought my first LED headlight car, a brand new car in  2010 and noted the lights/headlights dance, and moved around on the cars we have inc two of our kids, why is that - some sort of adjustment or shoing off. Btw, all cars I've noted follow the road on a bend etc.

ontheroad1970

diystarter7 said:

clive0510 said:

led headlamps or xenon as we call them are about £1200.00 for the average car. they take their power from something called a ballast resistor. the headlamp doesn't come with the ballast, its extra. also what you need to consider is that the wiring plug on the car, may not fit the new headlamp. you may get round the wiring plug issue, but then theirs a chance that once you got the headlamps in, (provided they fit your car) nothing works. leave well alone.

I recall fitting them to a big suv years ago, good post,

We have two cars that have LED all round front and back - I bought my first LED headlight car, a brand new car in  2010 and noted the lights/headlights dance, and moved around on the cars we have inc two of our kids, why is that - some sort of adjustment or shoing off. Btw, all cars I've noted follow the road on a bend etc.

It's an adjustment check for the level of the car to prevent dazzling.  All of my cars have done this, even the Xenon on a Mercedes.  The difference is that legally you have to have washers for Xenons whereas you don't have to with LED.  I believe it is a requirement for the auto level check which makes aftermarket LED questionable legally - I'm not sure whether the auto level check is an MOT check requirement.