Sadly not legal on a car this new. Used to be, but not after somewhere mid 70s I think.
Thanks..but why not legal? As long as the beam is mot specific I can't see why not. When next at work in garage I'll have a word with our mot tester. I just wondered if anyone else had done this. I have two spare head light units as spares.
MOT tester may not know about the legal requirements. He only has to ensure what is fitted works and the beam is correctly set. So asking them may not give you the right answer. Of course, few police officers will know the rules either, but if you run with two pairs of dipped beams you will draw attention to yourslef, and eventually someone will check the rules.
Vehicle Lighting Regulations:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/schedule/4/made
The following bit relates to adding extra dipped beams.
The key bit is that only one pair may be illuminated at any time.
This allows a vehicle to have four headlamps, with two left-dip and two right-dip, perhaps for a vehicle that visits the continent regularly.
PART II Requirements relating to optional dipped-beam headlamps
1. In the case of a vehicle with three or more wheels having a maximum speed exceeding 25 mph first used on or after 1st April 1991, two and not more than two may be fitted and the only requirements prescribed by these Regulations in respect of any which are fitted are–
(a)those specified in paragraphs 2(c), 4, 7, 10 and 12(a) of Part I,
(b)that they are designed for a vehicle which is intended to be driven on the right-hand side of the road,
(c)that they form a matched pair, and
(d)that their electrical connections are such that not more than one pair of dipped-beam headlamps is capable of being illuminated at a time.
2. In the case of any other vehicle, any number may be fitted and the only requirements prescribed by these Regulations in respect of any which are fitted are those specified in paragraphs 2(c), 4, 7 and 12(a) of Part I.
You can of course run with foglamps on in addition to the headlamps, which as long as they are a pair, and used with the dipped beams, are in fact legal. However, most police seem to think that the rules for rear foglamps apply to front ones, so you'll attract all the wrong attention.
Front foglamps, as a pair, can be used with sidelamps, in fog or falling snow. They can also be used as a pair, or singly, with dipped beams.
Rear foglamps can only be used in fog or falling snow, when visibility is reduced to 100m or less.
If you have front fogs, the warning lamp is green, for rears it is yellow. A clue there. Green is information, yellow a warning, as there are legal implications.
Back in the early nineties I had a copy of the regs in my desk at work, as I worked on aftermarket replacement lighting for a major parts supplier. Sad, I can still remember the key points.
