I've tried and failed to find the current rules on aftermarket LED headlights.
I've seen that the rules are changing, from the FBHVC website, and that one will need headlight washers.
My reason for asking though is an odd one. I don't want brighter, though it's handy, but the lower current consumption is what interests me. My vintage car has a not terribly good charging circuit and whilst I could uprate it, I'd have put an alternator on open display.
To make matters more confusing, it's exempt all the tosh about 'E' marks etc, so the aftermarket LED side lights I have are legal, yet illegal for most users.
Anyone got any pointers?
H4 dual brightness LEDs are available, and of course, the web site says they are legal...
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Are you asking about HID's (High intensity discharge) not LED's? If you are, it would seem aftermarket ones will fail the MOT after 1st January 2012 as they don't self-level like ones fitted as original equipment. tinyurl.com/3g6onvk
Last edited by: Victorbox on Sun 18 Sep 11 at 20:12
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No, as I said, LEDs.
I'm concious that HIDs need to be self levelling, and possibly LEDs as well, but I really want to read the regs since E marking does not apply to a car built in 1930.
FBHVC has asked for clarification of the new MOT rules anyway as there are a couple of unexplained oddities.
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www.phoenixautobulbs.co.uk/pr/led-472-h4-headlight-bulbs/
says "Off road and show use only"
Several sites say H4 for fog lights.
www.autopartslights.com/6000k-pure-white-102smd-h4-led-fog-lights-lexus-sc430-p-503.html
"Attention: LED bulbs are NOT recommended for using on low beam/main beam"
www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=-gQ7tjo8LPE
Harley- Davidson demo with proper replacement headlamp unit.
Looks impressive to me. Better/ brighter than HIDS ?
All very confusing re car applications.
On modern cars with "bulb failed warnings" an additional resistor is required.
Will the insurance man be informed of the bulb change on a modern car ?
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>> Several sites say H4 for fog lights
I thought H4 were twin filament dip/main beams?
It's H1 / H7 for single filament units e.g. fog lights, surely?
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>> >> Several sites say H4 for fog lights
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>> I thought H4 were twin filament dip/main beams?
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>> It's H1 / H7 for single filament units e.g. fog lights, surely?
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Thats what I understood. Hence its confusing.
IIRC I had H4s on my Sierra. I now have H1/ H7 for head/ dip and H3 for fogs on my Mondeo.
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Phoenix say off road and show to cover themselves, but actually, forgetting headlights for a moment, its a very complicated set of rules. My 1972 car can have some, but not others, and 1969 and earlier, I think most are legal. (There's no one date for E marks).
The market for bulbs for 1969 and earlier vehicles is tiny, hence the words.
You can get dual brightness H4 bulbs but I've not found any by Googling this evening. Link is on my laptop, but I'm not powering it up now, sorry.
I suspect the 'bulbs' are a bit useless to be honest as they can't match the reflectors but I wanted to see if the decision is made for me, or if I can choose.
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>>I suspect the 'bulbs' are a bit useless to be honest as they can't match the reflectors but I wanted to see if the decision is made for me, or if I can choose.
The only images of the bulbs I found show LEDs on the top of the bulb and a comment I read said that H4 bulbs and the spares I have, have a black top on them to restrict light.
The regulations certainly seem to be very obsure as are the applications.
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Now powered up laptop, and the link to dual brightness LEDs is as follows:
www.m-99.co.uk/Car_Neon_LED_Lighting/H4_Headlight_Bulbs/h4_headlight_bulbs.html
They won't be legal for the car photographed, despite them saying they are, as they won't be E marked.
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>>They won't be legal for the car photographed, despite them saying they are, as they won't be E marked.
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Of course they also do not mention that "Bulb failed" systems on modern cars may not work correctly and give a false warning.
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>> www.m-99.co.uk
I've previously used this company for mobile phone accessories. However the last time I used them they sent me the wrong phone case. No reply back to any emails I sent them, no correspondence whatsoever. When I googled the name, there have been numerous complaints along similar lines. There are also several other websites set up under different names that all relate back to the same owner.
www.everymobilephone.co.uk
www.the-internet-shop.co.uk
www.mobile-phone-battery.co.uk
Googling again, it appears that all these other sites had been set up because of bad feedback.
tinyurl.com/5vkxzqn - www.wirelessforums.org
tinyurl.com/64jvrgk - www.mobilebanter.co.uk
tinyurl.com/6a4pdt4 - nokiafree.org/forums
tinyurl.com/69rxnsu - www.trustpilot.co.uk
tinyurl.com/6yd949h - www.complaintsboard.com
In short, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole anymore.
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Aftermarket LEDs - Victorbox
