I've just read that these will be MOT legal from OCT14, if a sticker is displayed. The sticker will be in the box with the LED. Apparently the sticker indicates the replacement is compliant on position and beam pattern.
Some MOT testers seem to be saying they won't bother looking for the sticker if the beam pattern and aim are OK.
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That’s correct , as long as they Ece approved.
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Does this mean replacements for e.g. halogen bulbs, i.e. substitutes rather than replacements?
Could be interesting.
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>> Does this mean replacements for e.g. halogen bulbs, i.e. substitutes rather than replacements?
>>
>> Could be interesting.
Currently seems that only H11's are easily available.
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It's been a thing on (parts of) the continent for a few years. For example, Osram have offered fully legal replacement LED headlight bulbs for the Fiat Ducato for quite some time. Certainly approved for use in Germany (and that has been expanded over the years, but is country-specific), but the approval depends on matching the OE headlight fitting with the appropriate replacement LED bulb (key for the required light pattern). I looked at them for my last 'van, but the approval didn't cover the UK.
The Ducato headlights are H7.
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Where do you display the sticker?
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>> Where do you display the sticker?
On the slam panel under the bonnet, similar to the aircon / asbestos / xenon warning/info stickers.
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So everyone wants brighter lights, and everyone complains lights are too bright.
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>> So everyone wants brighter lights, and everyone complains lights are too bright.
No, everyone elses headlights coming towards you are too bright, so you can't see, so you need brighter headlights. Similar to M.A.D. ;>)
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Have said before, but my optician says that our society will soon realise how bad these extra bright lights are for our eyes.
I have yellow tinted clip on shades to use when driving at night - make a huge difference
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>> Have said before, but my optician says that our society will soon realise how bad
>> these extra bright lights are for our eyes.
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>> I have yellow tinted clip on shades to use when driving at night - make
>> a huge difference
>>
I can see how they reduce the glare, but surely that’s just because they block a portion of the visible light spectrum from reaching your eyes? And all that’s going to do is darken your overall surroundings and makes it harder to spot hazards, road markings, cyclists and pedestrians. Certainly if I forget to lift my sunglasses when driving through a tunnel I can see a lot less, and I wouldn’t feel safe driving like that. But then I don’t find modern headlights a problem so it is of course easy for me to say. I think the now common-place use of auto dipping headlights by many manufacturers actually means I’m dazzled much less than I used to be in rural / semi rural areas because I don’t have to rely on oncoming drivers to dip their lights - their car does it for me :)
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>> And all that’s going
>> to do is darken your overall surroundings and makes it harder to spot hazards, road
>> markings, cyclists and pedestrians.
Exactly, which is why opticians etc strongly advise people NOT to wear yellow tinted glasses at night (or, indeed, any colour tints!). From this month's Which? article on blinding headlights: "Yellow-tinted ‘night driving glasses’ are unproven, and the Association of British Dispensing Opticians told us they cause more problems than they solve, namely that they make dark areas of a scene appear even darker, which could hide other hazards."
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I find it harder driving at night these last several years than I used to. The problem seems to be the dynamic range of my vision. When under attack from LEDs or HIDs I just can't see into the darker areas at all.
Even a neutral filter would leave me with the same problem. Contrast reduction might work. The only way the yellow filter could do that is if a disproportionate amount of the spectrum is yellow but I doubt that is the case.
It must be something worth working on because I know I am not the only person who struggles. I just don't drive at night now unless I have to.
I hasten to add that my eyes are still pretty good when tested.
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>> I find it harder driving at night these last several years than I used to.
Me too and it's actually not that recent.
By the time I was 50 there was a bit of my commute through a neighbouring village where I was struggling with seeing what might have been just on a verge while it was dark. Sort of place kids might lurk and run out.
With hindsight it might have been changes in street lighting affecting contrast but I'm not sure.
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>> By the time I was 50 there was a bit of my commute through a
>> neighbouring village where I was struggling with seeing what might have been just on a
>> verge while it was dark. Sort of place kids might lurk and run out.
I did a horrible commute for three decades where the darker days of winter, horrible weather and muck/salt spray made it difficult to judge road edges with peripheral vision. My optician said the use of some varifocal glasses wouldn't help as the lenses were designed to "blur" at the edges. I was recommend Specsaver's Superdrive lenses (other brands are available) and I decided to try them out , albeit more expensive of course. These have a much wider field of vision especially with mid/long range vision and with me they really helped with commuting in dark wintry conditions.
I retired in 2021 but ended up driving back down the same roads in the dark. I still have Specsaver Superdrive lenses - so all good. But my goodness, if you can't beat them , join them. The LED headlights on my Swace are amazing especially in also illuminating the edges of the road. These are LED cluster headlights, not projector lens.
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>> I find it harder driving at night these last several years than I used to.
>> The problem seems to be the dynamic range of my vision. When under attack from
>> LEDs or HIDs I just can't see into the darker areas at all.
>>
>>
>>
I no longer drive at night, the glare from oncoming headlights is too much. I'm alright round town where there is street lighting but that isn't an option living in a rural village. My eyesight is tested annually and gets a clean bill of health, hopefully when thew remaining cataract is sorted I'll be ok again.
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Decline in night vision is mainly due to the reduction in the ability of the pupils to open as wide as they did together with the yellowing of the lens which lets less light through to the retina. Combined with other problems like incipient cataracts eyesight is simply not going to be what it was.
Good headlights help.
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>> Some MOT testers seem to be saying they won't bother looking for the sticker if
>> the beam pattern and aim are OK.
I fitted aftermarket LEDs a couple of years ago (dip & main beam), and have had them checked on a beam testing machine, which gave them the all clear.
At least now I won't have to swap back to candles again for future MOTs, especially when the stickers start appearing on eBay, Amazon, Temu, ect :)
motester.co.uk/mot-led-headlight-rules-2026-retrofit-bulbs/
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 12 Oct 26 at 11:17
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LED replacement headlamp bulbs - carmalade
