LED Lights

GRTV8

Well-Known Member
A few years back I converted all the ancillary lights on the Ol' girl , over to LED.
Much better at being seen at night now. This was after I nearly ran up the arse of a Morrie Minor trundling along on 60's "Prince of Darkness " lights. If I couldn't see him - maybe other drivers can't see me . Hence the shift to LED side back and interior bulbs. She looks esp bright at Xmas.
Ive noticed one can purchase main beam LED light bulbs now with low current draw. Esp nice and easy on the P6 fuse box. [ ooh and they last 50,000hrs] Outlast the damned car!!
Question- anyone done their homework and gone so far as to purchase these new Main beam LED for their P6?
Gerald
 
Not a hope in hell of these being UK legal unless engineered and approved as OEM standard which no LED "bulb" will be. LED lights are engineered as units with the correct reflector or more likely optics for proper spread.

I cannot imagine anyone not getting enough light from any of the high output halogens available.
 
Gerald, have you changed to LED for the indicators also?
I understand you might need a load resistor fitted to stop fast flashing (if this is the case for our cars too?) as I know later model cars flash faster if a bulb goes
 
Years ago i fitted LEDs to the front sidelights, with a successful result. However, when one of these started to fail, i went back to the original bulbs since the car is used rarely now.
I also made an attempt to replace the tail/stop light bulbs with LEDs, but the result was so poor in comparison with the original bulbs, especialy on the stop lights, that this coversion didn't progress any further.
 
The problem with a lot of these LED replacements is that unless you buy a lot of them, when they fail you inevitably have to go looking for the latest version as the ones fitted a couple of years ago will have been superceded. As an example, if I was to post a link to the LED stop/tail lamps I have fitted, which are excellent in my opinion, they would no longer be available as they were fitted two years ago and are no longer available. This site is pretty good for LED lamps though Better Car Lighting

Dave
 
LED are getting to a mature point, so what Dave mentioned is becoming less of an issue, both in reliability & staying available. The biggest (only?) advantage to LED headlamps would be the much reduced current draw for a given output. LED H4 & H1 conversions are of course not legal but that shouldn't stop anybody. What should stop them is so far, none of them work as well as a proper halogen bulb in the lamp as far as pattern & glare. This is slowly improving., but in addition to pattern problems LED suffer the same problem as the HID conversions (also illegal of course): They all have some sort of box or attachment to the bulb or wiring that make them big. Many are too big for the Lucas headlamp buckets without bucket surgery, and the ones that do fit have a small box you still have to accommodate near the bucket.

Yours
Vern
 
Gerald, have you changed to LED for the indicators also?
I understand you might need a load resistor fitted to stop fast flashing (if this is the case for our cars too?) as I know later model cars flash faster if a bulb goes
Yes - had to change the load resister to to one suited for LED use - cheap as - plug and play. Local auto spark sorted me.
 
All good feed back guys - thanks.
My local WOF guy wasn't bothered with ancillary LED lights and gave them a pass/big tick. Haven't tried him with main beams -hence my question.
 
Hi, As Peter says LED 'bulbs' light source is bigger than incandescent filaments and are out of the focal point of the reflector and the consequential light scatter. In the UK there have been changes to the MOT regs in as much as it's not just about the aim but the image or pattern of light produced. How does the WOF work in respect of light output down yonder? There's a member on another forum I use that put xenon bulbs in he says it gives improved light to drive by in his local rural roads, But it has just failed the MOT on 'incorrect image'. He replaced the halogens for a retest and got a pass.

Colin
 
Hi, As Peter says LED 'bulbs' light source is bigger than incandescent filaments and are out of the focal point of the reflector and the consequential light scatter. In the UK there have been changes to the MOT regs in as much as it's not just about the aim but the image or pattern of light produced. How does the WOF work in respect of light output down yonder? There's a member on another forum I use that put xenon bulbs in he says it gives improved light to drive by in his local rural roads, But it has just failed the MOT on 'incorrect image'. He replaced the halogens for a retest and got a pass.

Colin
Just read an advert for the whole unit . 51/2" unit with the bulb and reflectors .I'll give it a longer study when Im not in such a rush . The price x4 was the "loss of interest" .
 
assuming we use good a fuse/relay setup? we can possibly convert to Xenon? these are the recommended high /bright output lights used on many cars these day .especially pricey ones! LED's are causing problems it seems. I have not found my lights to be a worry though to be honest do not drive it when dark so cannot comment outright. have noticed previous owner has had all replaced so assume new sealed units maybe brighter ?
 
Really just use the halogen conversions. The units have the correct reflectors, they are well understood and will pass an MoT. If standard H series bulbs aren't enough then you can get the high output options. These just burn hotter (but burn out quicker) and Philips claim to have +130% the light output.

Mine have regular bulbs and are every bit as good as my new(ish) car. The current draw is the same as the sealed beam lamps.
 
The sealed beams will not be any brighter even when new as the outer dipped beams are only 37.5 watts.
Best upgrade is the h1 or h4 kits.
The original upgrade was the Lucas bright eyes h1 if you are lucky enough to find some.
A few people on ebay are selling upgrade lamps.
Fitting xenon bulbs may be brighter but won't give correct beam patterns.
Clive.
 
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