LED Headlamps - Some nastiness on FB

[mj2k]

As @g8rpi point out.

"It is your own responsibility to ensure that the use of the LED retrofit lights complies with applicable local legal requirements.
The lamps are not permitted to use on public roads."

I suspect that if the UK "Anti-tampering proposals and legislation gets passed the in the UK Philips would not be allowed to market let alone advertise these with such a *small* disclaimer at the end of all the marketing and the picture example of the difference of standard verses Pro9000 taken on what appears to be a public road

Ah yes, that'll definitely be one of the advantages of the "anti tampering" legislation if it does come into existence assuming it doesn't just muddy the water even more than it is at the moment, and assuming UK customs get the power to seize any imports which they find.

Much the same as silencer-free cat-free exhaust systems with the bore of a baked bean tin are not permitted for use on public roads they're still freely available, and I suspect many a young person has fitted one at great cost and then got a nasty surprise on Southend sea front when they're pulled by the police and fined for noise pollution. Unfair on the poor young soul since they've then had the double blow of having to bin their fancy new exhaust system (which most likely doesn't do much except impress their friends and annoy their parents/neighbors anyway), and pay a fine too; would be much better if the law restricted their sale to those who could prove they genuinely need one for track use.

Legislation would be much simpler for aftermarket LEDs and HIDs since they're not needed for track use either; would be far more sensible if LEDs / HIDs had a different fitting to incandescent bulbs though to make spotting 'illegal' ones easier for customs, the police and MOT testers.

 

[vexorg]

Legislation would be much simpler for aftermarket LEDs and HIDs since they're not needed for track use either; would be far more sensible if LEDs / HIDs had a different fitting to incandescent bulbs though to make spotting 'illegal' ones easier for customs, the police and MOT testers.

It wasn't illegal when they were first sold as upgrades.

There's more than just track as a motorsport, rally or off-road activity can still use them.

 

[mj2k]

It wasn't illegal when they were first sold as upgrades.

There's more than just track as a motorsport, rally or off-road activity can still use them.

I'd class all of those as motorsport use, but normally in those cases they'd be added as separate spotlights rather than in place of the existing main beams.

 

[AndyRKett]

Just found out that I can buy fully road legal ECE approved LED headlight replacements for my Golf definitely considering this this, only down side is the price…. Availability is a bit limited these days as well as they came out a few years back.

 

[portland_bill]

Just found out that I can buy fully road legal ECE approved LED headlight replacements for my Golf definitely considering this this, only down side is the price…. Availability is a bit limited these days as well as they came out a few years back.

Only caveat I'd give, is be careful that they are RHD lights. The biggest market is of course LHD, and often sellers will list these without considering the need for different beam patterns for RHD. Found this a while back when looking for an upgrade for the Panda's candles.

 

[AndyRKett]

Only caveat I'd give, is be careful that they are RHD lights. The biggest market is of course LHD, and often sellers will list these without considering the need for different beam patterns for RHD. Found this a while back when looking for an upgrade for the Panda's candles.

Interestingly it seems a lot of the LED headlight units our Mini Countryman included are not left or right handed they don’t have the up-fleck on the near side of the beam. The bonus to this is no need for beam adaptors when driving abroad. The new lights I was looking at are for right hand drive but yes it is an important consideration

 

[DaveMcT]

I put some LED H7 bulbs into a BMW motorbike and found they were fine but the dip had to be set on minimum down angle to avoid dazzle. I asked a friend to check it for dazzle as I drove by. He said it was great and I never had anyone flash me for causing dazzle. The OEM headlamp was truly horrible. I nearly crashed the bike when the "auxiliary headlights" failed. It had a pair of 50 watt back up spots that supported dip beam.

I know its a bike not a car but the headlights do the same job with the same technology. By the way - the dip beam had no near side flip.

It tried some H4 LEDs in the Panda. The emitters were pretty much same size and location as the halogen filament coil (as were the H7s) so should be fine. However, they aimed much too high and could not be adjusted low enough. They would be dangerously bright to oncoming drivers. I put the halogens back and accepted the headlights would only ever be adequate at best.