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Led Headlights


nelmo

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I read into these a while back for various cars. There was a lot of grey area over the levelling/washing systems or something? Some said if LED's then you need them, others using the "if fitted" argument and therefore not required if they weren't there originally....despite the LED upgrades. Don't know if this has been closed out but I would be interested in this too.

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Blimey, bit of a minefield - this site seems to be the most up-to-date (May 2018) about the requirements - LEDs fine as long as the spread and intensity is right (no need for levellers or washers - only tested if fitted).

 

Not sure how they test spread or intensity - my last MOT on my tin-top and they just seem to check height, unless that also somehow measures the other stuff?

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Just had one of our cars mot'd and talked to the tester about changing bulbs in the lamps. He said to be careful with replacement bulbs and lamp units as the beam/spread pattern can come up as unacceptable at mot time particularly if the type of unit was not fitted as original equipment.

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Not sure how they test spread or intensity - my last MOT on my tin-top and they just seem to check height, unless that also somehow measures the other stuff?

 

That gizmo-on-runners thing that they position in front of each headlight has markings in it, the tester looks at the spread of light inside the unit against these markers and checks that the pattern conforms to the requirements. It's not just height they're checking (or should be checking ;) )

 

edit: here you go, if you're interested ;)

Edited by brumster
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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest dieselnut

Resurrecting an old thread a little, I've just bought some LED lights and by lordy they're bright!

 

I have H4 conversions to replace my sealed beam lamps. The beam pattern is correct if the emitter of the LED unit is in the same place as the filament was in the halogen bulb, so all I did was shim the LED block in the H4 adaptor it came with until it lined up with the original halogen.

 

Beam pattern looks right (I drew the outline on the garage door with masking tape using the old bulbs before I changed them). The pattern appears to be a function of the molding of the glass rather than anything bulb related for mine.

 

I work near an MoT garage so I might tempt fate and drop in tomorrow to see if they'll check them - they've done free brake tests in return for biscuits for me before when I was trying to fettle the handbrake so I'm hoping the same deal works for lights!

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@dieselnut are you just using LED bulbs in the normal glass lens? The ones linked at the top are the entire unit so the beam pattern is whatever they designed. As you say if you fit led bulbs in the same place as filament bulbs then the beam should be the same through the original lens as that controls the beam pattern.

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