Anyone fitted LED headlight bulbs to their bay? Mine lights are a bit feeble and I though I'd skip straight to the future if I could, rather than fitting better incandescents.
If you can find the proper LED headlamps with the cooling sorted, then you will be OK. But if it is done properly it should cost a lot more than simply buying some Hella H4 units off a Golf and fitting those with halogen bulbs. If you simply fit LED bulbs to the existing headlamps, the light emitting area of the LED is in a different place to the filament of the bulb, and so the beam will be very different and possibly impossible to dip. Also the heat produced by LED's is conducted and has to be taken away from the rear of the LED unit hence heatsinks and fans on the rear of modern LED units. While the greater amount of heat from a Halogen bulb is infrared, it is reflected by the reflector and leaves the bulb from the front, keeping the rear of the bulb fairly cool. If you let LEDs run hot they simply fade out then turn off or start flashing on and off by themselves.
I think you need to fit a full approved headlamp, or any other lamp for that matter for it to be legal, just changing the bulbs wouldn't be for the reasons @mikedjames gives above.
I wouldn't put money on the LEDs plus fans actually fitting in a Bay headlight bowl. Plenty of more efficient, stock H4s around. I've got some Osram jobbies in mine.
I'm with Snotty on that. Convert your standard units to H4 and get some +120% bulbs - Phillips Nightvision or osram nightbreakers or whatever they're called. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I shone my bike light through the windscreen last Thursday night as we were leaving the car park , it was brighter than the bus headlights
Proper LED headlights for a Landrover fit Beetles with a bit of fettling, so presumably they would fit a bay. They are ridiculously expensive though! I would just fit new reflectors and H4 bulbs.
There is a landy that passes me everyday on my way home. It has the LED headlights and they are blinding to oncoming traffic, even on dipped beam.
For a even cheaper fix clean or replace the cable connectors and earthing points at the headlights and fuse box.
Or alternatively stop flooring it and slow down the lights don't need to be that good then I only say this because I restored all mine and in the end went for the easy option bog standard tried 2 lots of Xenon didn't fit so gave up!
I have just seen these? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182376687784?ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1436.l2649
Asked the seller a question he says they will but the little boxes that feed them might have to be inside behind the kick panels.
Just been reading an article in classic car weekly which clearly advises against any led bulbs fitted to any lamp that came from the factory with normal bulbs. In most cases they were not any better but also 100 % they are not legal at all. Even a side light.
sorted ours by replacing these and heat shrinking cabling, not sure how but one side the earth and low beam were crossed. strange as both were original correct cable colours....... check voltage first. fitted higher wattage set too
Apparently they are not E marked. The research showed it is not possible to buy an after market led bulb that has been tested officially. Some had an E mark for some other random reason, which might trick you in to thinking it was legal.