New laws on LED bulbs in halogen headlights since 01 Jan

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Not sure if you realise Andy, most USA OE spec headlights are sealed beam units which are 45/40W (listed in the US as something slightly higher but that's what we know them as) and not even halogen, just basic tungsten filament. The conversion being sold there is a left hand drive with SAE pattern dip (so barely legal even in the EU where they also drive on the wrong side of the road) with a replaceable bulb.

In other words, exactly what we already have in our 7/9xx models.

I see where you're coming from though, finding an aftermarket HID or LED headlamp unit and a way of fitting it into the existing housings in place of the original relfector and lens with some form of bezel to cover the bits that shouldn't be seen would be the answer.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/led-stealth-headlamp-7

Something like those ^^^^^ or these :

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/70mm-p...d-compact-lamp

Also available in main beam options for a similar price.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/70mm-p...adlamp-compact

Alternatively a pair of those main beams as the inner lamps and a pair of these as the outer :

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/hella-...headlamps-90mm

that :P would be why

something Like
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mod-f8HJn2k

*but Right hand drive and Uk safe

was included in the post

having had the "joys" of a 945 with bog stock standard volvo "naffi candle in a coal mine @ midnight" head (so called) lights, i totally get why Laney wishes to be able to see cant imagine your 7XX being much better bogo stock units ?
,,, its one of the "whys" the 940 went and S40 replaced it ,,,



Yes if it was Possible to find an original shape headlight unit With Halogen powered projector units And the Clear light cover they need,, Fresnel lenses ala 7&9 series - are a no no (lighting regs)

modifying the original units to take the projector - Possible ,, But still left with the issue of Fresnel lenses meaning "not legal see lighting regs",, and finding a Clear lense to fit is atm harder than finding a Whole replacement unit with a better + uk legal light source

the only option i Can find as of now is "brand new version of what the 7xx/9xx comes with out the factory", which would help "some" but nowhere near as much as "new lighting tech" would, as the reflectors Wont be tarnished or burning/burnt out as well as inside of lense "clean" and outer of lense "chips + abraded surface free" .. not ideal, not "the optimum" and perhaps only as good as 2 naffi candles down the coal mine @ midnight :P

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by andy_d

that :P would be why

was included in the post

having had the "joys" of a 945 with bog stock standard volvo "naffi candle in a coal mine @ midnight" head (so called) lights, i totally get why Laney wishes to be able to see cant imagine your 7XX being much better bogo stock units ?
,,, its one of the "whys" the 940 went and S40 replaced it ,,,



Yes if it was Possible to find an original shape headlight unit With Halogen powered projector units And the Clear light cover they need,, Fresnel lenses ala 7&9 series - are a no no (lighting regs)

modifying the original units to take the projector - Possible ,, But still left with the issue of Fresnel lenses meaning "not legal see lighting regs",, and finding a Clear lense to fit is atm harder than finding a Whole replacement unit with a better + uk legal light source

the only option i Can find as of now is "brand new version of what the 7xx/9xx comes with out the factory", which would help "some" but nowhere near as much as "new lighting tech" would, as the reflectors Wont be tarnished or burning/burnt out as well as inside of lense "clean" and outer of lense "chips + abraded surface free" .. not ideal, not "the optimum" and perhaps only as good as 2 naffi candles down the coal mine @ midnight :P

The bit about the SAE lights in the USA being barely legal in Europe, despite being for LHD cars was more about the beam pattern Andy, not nit-picking over you mentioning the RHD version. This is what i mean, perhaps i should have said DoT beam pattern but SAE applies equally :



Top one is USA dipped beam, middle is EU with a kick-up to the right and bottom one, UK with a kick-up to the left so street signs etc can still be seen easily at distance.

The light units i suggested above have their own lenses so a bezel in the shape of the original glass Fresnel lens would have to be constructed with "tubes" in it to surround the new projector lights or in the case of the 7" LED, around that, harking back to the 240 style when it was first new.

The lights in my 760 are what i call the 940 prototypes, the fog light is top inner and the driving light bottom inner so on H4s, is barely a candle in a coal mine, especially with tarnished/burnt reflectors. One good thing about the LED bulbs is they are pretty cool so don't burn the reflector any more.

Out of the Volvos i've owned, the 760 has the best headlamps but even then they are still pretty poor in comparison to contemporary cars of the time. In fact, almost every other car of that time (except the Jeep) that i've owned had better lights.

[andy_d]

yeps light pattern as well as them driving on the wrong side of the road
was what i meant by my "uk safe/rhd"

if "clear outer lenses " were available for 7xx/9xx lamp units then the Fiddle to get the projector units in, 1 for dip 1 for main would be worth the faffing / aggro,,


Same with me + other cars of the time having better light on the road/able to see @ night headlights than the 940.

what i find laughable, All of the Volvos High beams have been Outstanding,,
the current V50 has 2 lighthouse beams for "high beam",, easily up to the task of "national speed limit " on unlighted roads (well a Lot more than that tbh,,not that id ever find out) while the "dip" beams are at best pathetic once you get out of an area with Good street lighting, and in reality utterly disgraceful and dangerous .


the projector replacment i did on the V50

looked like that on first fit, the blue tape is from the Orrig units and used to align the u/g ones Prior to toddling off to a MOT station to use there light box to get it Spot on per the regs,, its an acceptable "uk approved" light pattern *when aligned correctly


https://www.retrofitlab.com/en/aharo...-design-1.html

Those ,in H7 fitment for halogens & uk "left hand traffic/right hand drive" flavour

Mounting them in the 7xx/9xx lamp unit Would be possible, its the clear outer lense that is the "oh can not find/get" ,, with there 3 mount points and Adjustable "flap" to allow them to Support main beams when on they are leaps and bounds ahead of the "stock v50/s40" units from volvo.
its as said the clear outer lenses stopping it being a "possible"

[DSK]

I never bothered with bulb conversions some 15/20 years ago. The likes of the following cars with standard lights and halogen bulbs, I've never had an issue with. As in, the light was plenty decent and good, further good enough comfortably highlighting the chevrons on dark country roads in good time and the road signs on normal roads.

1997 - BMW 328 - H7
1998 - 2000 Volvo S70/C70 (lamps and reflectors in good shape)
1995 - UK Spec Supra TT
2013 - Astra GTC

The 2007 Mercedes CLS was a true shocker despite crystal clean lamps and good halogen bulbs. Others with similar model year and new Mercedes with halogens are generally disgusted by the headlight performance. Even parked behind a car, switching the head lights on was pointless, country roads became undriveable at anywhere close to the permitted speed limits and its absolutely wrong, how these passed any form of testing/legislation. Fitting a decently designed set of LED bulbs into them made the car just barely OK at night.

[SwissXC90]

it doesn't matter what you retrofit - if it is not tested and certified and type approved for use on roads in the country of registration of the vehicle, then it is not allowed.

Look at all those numbers and letters and markings on the headlamp: they are there for a reason.
That's the proof of certification, using the bulbs that the headlamp is designed for.

Anything else is, very simply, not certified, and thus not allowed.
Doesn't matter how good or bad it is.
If it's not certified as fulfilling all the standards of beam height, angle, width, light output, etc, then it cannot be used.

This is true around the entire world.
The only thing that varies is enforcement of the rules.

Here where I live, enforcement is quite strict, and the police are not stupid. They recognise the LED headlamps in cars of an era before LED headlamps were commonplace, and they pull you over, give you a ticket, and mandate that you get your vehicle "fixed" within 14 days and then inspected at the vehicle testing station to confirm it is road legal. You then have to go to the police station and present proof of the vehicle having passed inspection.
And the inspectors are not stupid either (I was there last week).

The MOT text just translates the certification requirements into a common, easily understood layman's text that Mr Grease Monkey Mechanic Shop and their Honoured Customers can understand.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

it doesn't matter what you retrofit - if it is not tested and certified and type approved for use on roads in the country of registration of the vehicle, then it is not allowed.

Look at all those numbers and letters and markings on the headlamp: they are there for a reason.
That's the proof of certification, using the bulbs that the headlamp is designed for.

Anything else is, very simply, not certified, and thus not allowed.
Doesn't matter how good or bad it is.
If it's not certified as fulfilling all the standards of beam height, angle, width, light output, etc, then it cannot be used.

This is true around the entire world.
The only thing that varies is enforcement of the rules.

Here where I live, enforcement is quite strict, and the police are not stupid. They recognise the LED headlamps in cars of an era before LED headlamps were commonplace, and they pull you over, give you a ticket, and mandate that you get your vehicle "fixed" within 14 days and then inspected at the vehicle testing station to confirm it is road legal. You then have to go to the police station and present proof of the vehicle having passed inspection.
And the inspectors are not stupid either (I was there last week).

The MOT text just translates the certification requirements into a common, easily understood layman's text that Mr Grease Monkey Mechanic Shop and their Honoured Customers can understand.

What you're saying then is that if the LED bulbs are "E" Approved then they're legal for use?

[Clan]

Originally Posted by XC90Mk1

I used to update my bulbs back in the day. NORMAL white bulbs, not stupid boy racer blue ones 🤣.

I found them to be much better!

with decent reflectors and 80w/100w H4 bulbs and properly aligned they will be fine ..

[tofufi]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

What you're saying then is that if the LED bulbs are "E" Approved then they're legal for use?

You can't approve LED replacement bulbs

[Clan]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

What hasn't been taken into account with the new laws is that there are LED headlamp bulbs available that are designed to be direct replacements for the H4 bulbs - they are what i have and also what Ellie has in hers and they use very tiny, Philips "Lumileds" LEDs that accurately mimic the original filaments and the resultant light propogation etc.
They give sharper, brighter "crisper" light than H4s, much sharper beam pattern with no light-wash into the anti-scatter areas and most of all, relieve eye fatigue because the coour temperature is close to natural daylight. As far as i see things they are an important safety addition, don't dazzle other motorists unlike many EU produced cars that arrive with badly aimed headlights (whether H4, HID or LED) from the factory and so don't get corrected for at least 3 years.

The "dreaded annual" shouldn't be about what type of light source is used but whether that light source still allows the lights to function as they should. That however seems to have been ignored by VoSA although they do have rules about the beam pattern, anti-scatter area etc. This should weed out the badly designed LEDs/HIDs that cause glare.

As for DRLs remaining on with headlamps, it used to be they had to extinguish when the headlamps were used. However there is now a loophole that allows them to stay on if they are part of the sidelight system. As for this from the govt, they encourage fitting of LEDs to DRLs not previously fitted with them! Make their minds up, they can't have it both ways!

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...running-lights

One day they'll surprise us all and pull together in a sensible direction instead of what they are currently doing, pulling in multiple directions with no sense of what they are pulling for or towards.

Over the last year I have tried three different pairs of LED H4 bulbs in 3 different types of reflectors , NONE had a suitable beam pattern , they did look reasonable on a wall but out on the road you can see blank patches with no light and light in other areas where there there should be none ... some were ok on main beam , others had a big hole with no light just where you need it .

The best combination was a H7 in a V50 light unit , but even then main was patchy ..

I can see why they are banned ... you just cannot get a light source with a LED that radiates in all directions like a filament . Just go for higher power 80 / 100 w H4

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Clan

Over the last year I have tried three different pairs of LED H4 bulbs in 3 different types of reflectors , NONE had a suitable beam pattern , they did look reasonable on a wall but out on the road you can see blank patches with no light and light in other areas where there there should be none ... some were ok on main beam , others had a big hole with no light just where you need it .

The best combination was a H7 in a V50 light unit , but even then main was patchy ..

I can see why they are banned ... you just cannot get a light source with a LED that radiates in all directions like a filament . Just go for higher power 80 / 100 w H4

You must have been trying the el-cheapo carp that passes for LED bulbs on ebay, i have a few pairs of those floating around that i'll eventually use for something but not in a car.

As for 100/80W bulbs, they're illegal for road use anyway, not to mention burning the reflectors quickly and the wiring loom too.

More should be done to get the good LED bulbs approved legally, good ones are far better than H4 bulbs.

By the way, you know on H4 bulbs, under one filament you have that little shield? That's to prevent light radiation in all directions on dipped beam.......................