LED replacement bulbs/lights

classicalgreen

Active Member
just perusing the weekly classic car paper and noticed an article on how it illegal to use ( buying and selling too) these as replacement lights but do recall seeing advertising for such in other magazines . maybe this site ought to have a recommended or do not use! section that contributors can add to or update.
I was thinking of replacing my headlight bulbs with these and a aware a few owners have already. now it seems these are illegal as fall foul of Uk road traffic act as well as others ( road vehicles construction and use 1986, road vehicle lighting regulations 1989)
it IS legal however when an 'entire' lighting 'unit' is fitted that has been approved (EU mark etc) some components show this mark but are not actually EU certified on whole unit and so on. a bit of a minefield .
oh well seems bulbs it has to stay though I am aware we can replace headlight units with sealed beams as these are legal!
 
I can understand why too. Even the ones that manufacturers fit seem to glare and blind people. When people DIY them, it's obviously more error prone...
 
what do other people think about an extra section as suggested? Happy to add if there's consensus!
 
Major problem on the roads today is night driving. I have to drive to work in the dark and home in the dark and am really dazzled by some cars lights even though they are dipped.. Today's cars headlights are much too bright. There should be something done about them. Even the side lights on some cars are as bright or even brighter than the dipped headlights. And why is it that many newer cars have badly adjusted lights!? I am certain the nights are not any darker than when I was a child some 50-55 years ago? Am I the only one who thinks like this?
 
The MOT requirements on head lamp adjustments have changed.
I currently set them now to the new lower beam setting.
New car lamps are very bright and some manufacturers are using LED s instead of bulbs.
That said many headlamp bulbs are incorrectly fitted/ cheap rubbish and do not give correct beam patterns, there is hardly any cars that i test that don't require some adjustment or bulb replacing.
HIDs are different, when working correctly ( factory fitted HIDs) they have automatic height adjustments.
Many aftermarket HID kits will not pass MOT requirements as they do not produce any correct beam patterns and just dazzle oncoming drivers .
Clive.
 
I'm with Rockdemon, these things are a bloody menace even in some OEM applications. It's about time there were tighter rules on maximum brightness and strictly defined aiming patterns. I've simply pulled over on several occasions because I've been dazzled by the vehicle following me. This is more the case with 4x4s and vans.

If you want more brightness, then there are brighter halogen bulbs available which are perfectly legal, like the Philips xtreme vision.
 
Hi, The problem is not with standard filament or factory fit HID lights, the problem comes when people fit higher wattage filaments, HID and LED in standard light units. The problem is the standard filament is in the focal point of the reflector, so larger filaments, retro fit HID and LED bulbs are larger than the filament and so there's a lot of light scatter. It's not so bad for the driver because it looks like there's more light but if your coming the other way all can seem to see is all the scatter. Factory fit HID,s have properly designed reflectors and glass prisms to control the beam.

Colin
 
Responding to ClassicalGreen's original posting this isn't exactly relevant but -
15 years ago, when I was running a 1955 Sunbeam as a daily driver I replaced the sealed beams with halogens with built-in sidelights which then allowed me to utilise the original sidelights as indicators with halogen 25w mini-bulbs for enhanced brightness. Overall it was still less visible than a contemporary (MY2001) car but it was far better than originally built.
I also fitted LEDs in the instrument lighting and was probably the only one in the owner's club who knew if he was overheating at night. Rootes instrument lights made P6 instrument lights seem like daylight
Sod originalty, I'd rather be seen and survive - I've got bright but unobtrusive DRLs on my P6.
In reality, I seriously doubt if the average motor patrol copper has total grasp of the current regulations concerning vehicle lighting or (gasp) even cares!
 
Major problem on the roads today is night driving. I have to drive to work in the dark and home in the dark and am really dazzled by some cars lights even though they are dipped.. Today's cars headlights are much too bright. There should be something done about them. Even the side lights on some cars are as bright or even brighter than the dipped headlights. And why is it that many newer cars have badly adjusted lights!? I am certain the nights are not any darker than when I was a child some 50-55 years ago? Am I the only one who thinks like this?
No you aren't alone - (writing as someone who was a young adult at that time!)

John
 
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I was running a 1955 Sunbeam as a daily driver I replaced the sealed beams with halogens with built-in sidelights which then allowed me to utilise the original sidelights as indicators with halogen 25w mini-bulbs for enhanced brightness.
Sod originalty, I'd rather be seen and survive -
I replaced the semi seal P600s & incandescent bulbs on a 1954 Sunbeam Alpine 1 with Japanese semi seals and halogens which I ran for 25 years. Then before selling it took the car back to original. The difference was night and day (running with an alternator, would have been even worse if it still had a generator)

Replaced the original sealed beams on the P6B with Cibie semi seal Halogens in 1979, and those with Narva freeform halogens last year. Each change increased the ability to see the road at night.
 
If you are going to fit halogen type lamps to replace old sealed beams units you will require aim checking / adjusting as the beam image is as per later lamps ( outer lamps giving new patterns) instead of using a hot spot measurements which was checked on main beam when you had sealed beams.
Clive.
 
Major problem on the roads today is night driving. I have to drive to work in the dark and home in the dark and am really dazzled by some cars lights even though they are dipped.. Today's cars headlights are much too bright. There should be something done about them. Even the side lights on some cars are as bright or even brighter than the dipped headlights. And why is it that many newer cars have badly adjusted lights!? I am certain the nights are not any darker than when I was a child some 50-55 years ago? Am I the only one who thinks like this?

I totally agree with you, modern xenon`s and led drl`s are far too bright. A lot of the cars on the road have defective lights, either badly adjusted or one headlight out

To compound the problem, a lot of drivers seem to think that if their headlight bulb has gone the answer is to put their foglights on!

There is a collective noun to describe them :)
 
Major problem on the roads today is night driving. I have to drive to work in the dark and home in the dark and am really dazzled by some cars lights even though they are dipped.. Today's cars headlights are much too bright. There should be something done about them. Even the side lights on some cars are as bright or even brighter than the dipped headlights. And why is it that many newer cars have badly adjusted lights!? I am certain the nights are not any darker than when I was a child some 50-55 years ago? Am I the only one who thinks like this?

I agree too its ridiculous, especially where i live in the countryside it makes it very difficult
 
i'm not really into these LED bulbs or any other bulb that is too bright. Especially when used on headlights etc. I'm putting Lucas sealed beams on mine and fitting some spot/fog lamps to make up the difference. However, i am considering getting an LED bulb for the reversing lights. As this will help when backing up outside my house or anywhere when it is really dark. But will this be too powerful for the original system?
 
Hi, The problem is not with standard filament or factory fit HID lights

I would disagree. All lighting in use in various situations has a tendency to be un-necessarily powerful.
Even the emergency services are equipped with blues that destroy your night vision unless you consciously keep it out of your line of sight.
Amateur fitment of 'improved' lighting just compounds the problem.
 
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