Panda 169 comes with fairly good headlights. But for those of us who can't ever get enough light, the good news is that 2024 gave us street-legal LED headlight 'bulbs' with a claimed 330% more oomph than regular H4. Being a light addict (or is it just old age...) I've done the silly thing and gotten hold of a set of these DK-streetlegal gizmos.
Are they difficult to install? How does the light output stack up against plain H4 or for that matter Osrams' Nightbreaker filament bulbs? I'm particularly interested in the beam-forming performance. Yesteryear's awful H4-LED products are not to be recommended; they're not streetlegal for a very obvious reason!
Read on to learn about the applicability of Osram 64193DWNBSM-2HB H4 headlight 'bulbs' to any Panda 169 vehicle:
Spoiler: According to statement by @koalar, british readers will unfortunately not be able to upgrade.
Another thing to note is that legality is tied to the OE (Magneti Marelli) headlight assemblies - aftermarket headlight assemblies cannot be used with these and retain legality.
Let's get started.
Installation process
Physical installation
The box contains this:
You might think 'how hard can it be?'. However the innocently looking little pamphlet unfolds to something A3-like with four different scenarios to choose from.
Also, my first thought was 'will they even fit in the reflector housing?' - but that's for you to find out by reading on
This is a no-tools-needed process.
Start by opening the bonnet and removing one of the plastic lids on the back of the headlights. It's done simply by pushing the wire-snaplock to one side and extracting the lid which fits on one end with a pair of prongs:
Next, remove the existing bulb by pulling off the three-pin-power connector, undoing the two springy wire-hooks atop the reflector housing and carefully wiggling the bulb from its position.
Take out one of the LED-units, noting it has a small fan at the end which is NOT TO BE touched, pushed or grabbed in any way!!
The unit won't fit directly; the springy wire-hook isn't really designed to accomodate the fan/cooling thingamabob protruding backwards from the mounting plate of the unit. Luckily this mounting plate comes off the unit through a bayonet-like twist-action (rotate the unit counterclockwise in relation to the plate):
Install the mounting plate, plastic ring facing out. It goes in in only one position.
Snap closed the two springy wire-hooks to fasten the mounting plate to the reflector housing.
Grab the unit ribbed end (not touching the fan) and guide the light emitter into the plastic ring bayonet. Fasten by a clockwise turn until 'click':
Connect the black wire exiting under the fan to the existing power connector and wiggle the wiring into the plastic housing. It will fit just fine like eg this:
Remember that the reflector can move under motorcontrol (height adjustment from dashboard in the cabin), so retain some wiggle-room for the wiring.
It looks like you won't be able to put back the lid - but it fits just fine. Before you put it back, attach one of the little stickers from the box on it, to indicate LED unit make & model. LED upgrades are still new to the police and authorities, and it's apparently a requirement to carry a compatibility-list in the vehicle. At least in Denmark. The sticker adds creditability to your installation; it's actually a proper one.
Put back the lid and close the wire snap-lock.
Turn on the ignition and observe that the headlight unit lights up. Also, have a listen to hear the little fan on the unit emitting a very discreet 'whirrrr!'. See - it fits just fine under the lid.
Repeat on the other headlight unit.
Electrical/power related observations and notes
One nice thing about the Osram units is that they draw a modest 20 watts each as opposed to their power-hungry filament-based predecessors. That saves us 80 watts in total, leaving that energy for operating eg. your rear-window demister with less stress on the battery.
Functionality
Now, are they any good? I'll give you my subjective review on these parameters:
Beam-forming
This subject primarily relates to dipped beam, as this is when there's risk of blinding oncoming traffic. With high beam it's just a matter of 'more is better'. So let's examine the dipped beam pattern by splattering it onto a wall.
N200:
NLED:
Switching back and forth between dipped and high beam:
I'm quite surprised! Having experimented with older generations of H4 LED bulbs, my expectations were modest, but the Osram units excelled - way above and beyond!! Razor-sharp dipped-beam cutoff - exactly what I had been wishing for. And a nice right-hand cyclist/pedestrian light too.
Colour
N200:
Please note that these bulbs are already 'high power' and as such emit a higher temperature light. Regular H4 will appear oil-lamp-yellow in comparison.
NLED:
Colder than the N200s. Yet not overly cold in my opinion.
Amount
N200:
Please note that these bulbs are already 200% of a standard set of bulbs! Regular H4 will appear like one bulb is burnt out...
NLED:
To me, this is the other important half of a set of new bulbs. Light that lets me see further. And the LED units deliver an astounding performance unrivalled by any filament bulb I've ever tried. Combined with the sharp beam cutoff and - for lack of better words - 'precision', I've quickly identified a need for aim adjustment. Simply because it's so visible when beams are not parallel or both pointing ever so slightly off-center.
Let me repeat that: These light sources REQUIRE that your headlight aim is spot-on!
Other thoughts and observations
Yes, they're expensive. But given the quality, precision and sheer amount of light output it'll be an unpleasant step-back to operate a conventional filament-headlight again.
Imagine on a cold and dark night, reflective road furniture jumps out at you from a good mile away on high beam. It's bonkers! 'Line-of-sight' just got a new meaning to it.
Aim: I've already said it, but let me repeat; installing these bad boys means you must re-evaluate your headlight aim! Any cross-eyedness or up/down misalignment will impact your fellow (oncoming) motorists negatively. Besides, getting your aim right also maximises performance, with both reflectors actually pointing at the same stuff out there in the darkness.
Dipped vs high beam light distribution: Dipped beam is just beautiful. The best I've ever seen! High beam however contained a small surprise; it's as if it's cut off downwards - sort of like 'inverse dipped beam'. Driving over a hilltop on high beam lets you see rooftops in the distance, but leaves the road ahead less lit-up than expected. With oldskool filament bulbs and their lack of 'precision' this was not so much of an issue.
Longevity LED vs. filament bulbs: Yes, that'll matter to me. The filament-based high-yield bulbs tend to live not that long and be somewhat expensive too. 300 hours is what most motorists spend each year in their cars, and 300 hours is what Nightbreaker 200 bulbs promises. This makes 'em a yearly-replacement-consumable. With a price tag of nearly half that of the LEDs, it becomes an easy choice for me. The LEDs are rated at 1500 hours minimum with a nice twist-action replacement procedure, much more comfortable than what traditional H4 bulbs offer. Comfort, performance and relative economy - in my view it's a no-brainer!
Are they difficult to install? How does the light output stack up against plain H4 or for that matter Osrams' Nightbreaker filament bulbs? I'm particularly interested in the beam-forming performance. Yesteryear's awful H4-LED products are not to be recommended; they're not streetlegal for a very obvious reason!
Read on to learn about the applicability of Osram 64193DWNBSM-2HB H4 headlight 'bulbs' to any Panda 169 vehicle:
- The installation process
- The functionality
Spoiler: According to statement by @koalar, british readers will unfortunately not be able to upgrade.
Another thing to note is that legality is tied to the OE (Magneti Marelli) headlight assemblies - aftermarket headlight assemblies cannot be used with these and retain legality.
Let's get started.
Installation process
Physical installation
The box contains this:
You might think 'how hard can it be?'. However the innocently looking little pamphlet unfolds to something A3-like with four different scenarios to choose from.
Also, my first thought was 'will they even fit in the reflector housing?' - but that's for you to find out by reading on
This is a no-tools-needed process.
Start by opening the bonnet and removing one of the plastic lids on the back of the headlights. It's done simply by pushing the wire-snaplock to one side and extracting the lid which fits on one end with a pair of prongs:
Next, remove the existing bulb by pulling off the three-pin-power connector, undoing the two springy wire-hooks atop the reflector housing and carefully wiggling the bulb from its position.
Take out one of the LED-units, noting it has a small fan at the end which is NOT TO BE touched, pushed or grabbed in any way!!
The unit won't fit directly; the springy wire-hook isn't really designed to accomodate the fan/cooling thingamabob protruding backwards from the mounting plate of the unit. Luckily this mounting plate comes off the unit through a bayonet-like twist-action (rotate the unit counterclockwise in relation to the plate):
Install the mounting plate, plastic ring facing out. It goes in in only one position.
Snap closed the two springy wire-hooks to fasten the mounting plate to the reflector housing.
Grab the unit ribbed end (not touching the fan) and guide the light emitter into the plastic ring bayonet. Fasten by a clockwise turn until 'click':
Connect the black wire exiting under the fan to the existing power connector and wiggle the wiring into the plastic housing. It will fit just fine like eg this:
Remember that the reflector can move under motorcontrol (height adjustment from dashboard in the cabin), so retain some wiggle-room for the wiring.
It looks like you won't be able to put back the lid - but it fits just fine. Before you put it back, attach one of the little stickers from the box on it, to indicate LED unit make & model. LED upgrades are still new to the police and authorities, and it's apparently a requirement to carry a compatibility-list in the vehicle. At least in Denmark. The sticker adds creditability to your installation; it's actually a proper one.
Put back the lid and close the wire snap-lock.
Turn on the ignition and observe that the headlight unit lights up. Also, have a listen to hear the little fan on the unit emitting a very discreet 'whirrrr!'. See - it fits just fine under the lid.
Repeat on the other headlight unit.
Electrical/power related observations and notes
One nice thing about the Osram units is that they draw a modest 20 watts each as opposed to their power-hungry filament-based predecessors. That saves us 80 watts in total, leaving that energy for operating eg. your rear-window demister with less stress on the battery.
Functionality
Now, are they any good? I'll give you my subjective review on these parameters:
- Beam-forming
- Colour
- Amount
- Other thoughts and observations
Beam-forming
This subject primarily relates to dipped beam, as this is when there's risk of blinding oncoming traffic. With high beam it's just a matter of 'more is better'. So let's examine the dipped beam pattern by splattering it onto a wall.
N200:
NLED:
Switching back and forth between dipped and high beam:
I'm quite surprised! Having experimented with older generations of H4 LED bulbs, my expectations were modest, but the Osram units excelled - way above and beyond!! Razor-sharp dipped-beam cutoff - exactly what I had been wishing for. And a nice right-hand cyclist/pedestrian light too.
Colour
N200:
Please note that these bulbs are already 'high power' and as such emit a higher temperature light. Regular H4 will appear oil-lamp-yellow in comparison.
NLED:
Colder than the N200s. Yet not overly cold in my opinion.
Amount
N200:
Please note that these bulbs are already 200% of a standard set of bulbs! Regular H4 will appear like one bulb is burnt out...
NLED:
To me, this is the other important half of a set of new bulbs. Light that lets me see further. And the LED units deliver an astounding performance unrivalled by any filament bulb I've ever tried. Combined with the sharp beam cutoff and - for lack of better words - 'precision', I've quickly identified a need for aim adjustment. Simply because it's so visible when beams are not parallel or both pointing ever so slightly off-center.
Let me repeat that: These light sources REQUIRE that your headlight aim is spot-on!
Other thoughts and observations
Yes, they're expensive. But given the quality, precision and sheer amount of light output it'll be an unpleasant step-back to operate a conventional filament-headlight again.
Imagine on a cold and dark night, reflective road furniture jumps out at you from a good mile away on high beam. It's bonkers! 'Line-of-sight' just got a new meaning to it.
Aim: I've already said it, but let me repeat; installing these bad boys means you must re-evaluate your headlight aim! Any cross-eyedness or up/down misalignment will impact your fellow (oncoming) motorists negatively. Besides, getting your aim right also maximises performance, with both reflectors actually pointing at the same stuff out there in the darkness.
Dipped vs high beam light distribution: Dipped beam is just beautiful. The best I've ever seen! High beam however contained a small surprise; it's as if it's cut off downwards - sort of like 'inverse dipped beam'. Driving over a hilltop on high beam lets you see rooftops in the distance, but leaves the road ahead less lit-up than expected. With oldskool filament bulbs and their lack of 'precision' this was not so much of an issue.
Longevity LED vs. filament bulbs: Yes, that'll matter to me. The filament-based high-yield bulbs tend to live not that long and be somewhat expensive too. 300 hours is what most motorists spend each year in their cars, and 300 hours is what Nightbreaker 200 bulbs promises. This makes 'em a yearly-replacement-consumable. With a price tag of nearly half that of the LEDs, it becomes an easy choice for me. The LEDs are rated at 1500 hours minimum with a nice twist-action replacement procedure, much more comfortable than what traditional H4 bulbs offer. Comfort, performance and relative economy - in my view it's a no-brainer!
