XC70: Electrical UPGRADING TO CHEAP H7 LED CANbus GLOBES

[Agro]

This follows on from this earlier thread where I mistakenly purchased non-CANbus globes and received a malfunction message.

Thought I'd start a new thread for anyone interested in changing from Halogen to LED globes.

Saw these 55W globes very cheap on Ebay and decided to give them a go. They arrived yesterday.

Hooked one up to a 12v power source for 45 minutes to determine how hot it would get. Placed a cooking thermometer (not very scientific) up against the heatsink for a few minutes and it reached 75degC - heatsink didn't radiate as much heat as I expected and I could touch it briefly without getting burned (the lamp portion was luke warm). Disconnected it and the heat dissipated very quickly. Could touch the heatsink shortly thereafter, the wiring to the connector was warm'ish.

Hooked up the OEM halogen globe the same way, stopped it after about 5 minutes. Didn't measure the temperature, the heat radiating from the thing felt substantial - certainly much higher than the LED globe. The fastener, the connections where very hot to touch.

Fitted the new globes, no malfunction messages, far better and brighter light than the stock halogen globes.

Note the photo with dimensions. This one fits easily inside the cannister with about 2cm between its base and the cannister cover. Others have longer heatsink with built in fan and may be too long to fit inside the cannister without modifying the cover plate.

Word of warning, with my experience with cheap LED globes for the home, these are unlikely to have anywhere near the lifespan of brand name globes (which are up to 10 times more expensive). I'd expect 2-5 years life depending on how much night time driving and whether one keeps their lights switch on auto.

I'm happy to replace them more regularly and will be purchasing an extra pair to keep as spares and replace them every couple of years as part of normal servicing.

Hope this helps. Will report back when they eventually fail.
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[Tatsfield]

Which function do these bulbs fulfil; main beam or dipped beam?

[Agro]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Which function do these bulbs fulfil; main beam or dipped beam?

Dipped beam

[Agro]

Well, after a few drives with the lights on the "Dipped Beam Malfunction" message is back up

Back to the drawing board.

[Tatsfield]

Oh No! I have just ordered a pair following your positive report. The suppliers also said that the bulbs wouldn't trigger the warning but then they also said that I should try a set and see what happened! After your follow up report, I'm now loath to bother installing them at all. What's the latest situation with your installation?

[Agro]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Oh No! I have just ordered a pair following your positive report. The suppliers also said that the bulbs wouldn't trigger the warning but then they also said that I should try a set and see what happened! After your follow up report, I'm now loath to bother installing them at all. What's the latest situation with your installation?

I thought to myself at the time,..... just wait a little while before posting anything up but no, I went ahead and did it anyway.

They've sent me a free return label and I'm getting a refund (no issue there) but also messaging the seller to see if they have an alternative they can confidently recommend. If not I'll order a canbus resistor to use with the earlier ones and see how that goes.

It may have just been the globes I received that had a problem, hard to tell. I know with LED globes for the home that there is quite a variation in lifespan, most last a couple of years while some go quite quickly.

I tend to approach these things hoping for the best, expecting the worst, and give them a go. Was about 20-30 minutes to replace them (x2 now) and will be a 3rd. What to do would depend on where your stress levels would be under similar circumstances. At least with ebay it will be very easy to cancel and get a refund.

[Tatsfield]

Well before I make any complaint to the bulb seller, I just wanted to check that your units are the same as mine, so I attach a picture of the ones I bought. They are described on the box and in the instructions as an "all-in-one conversion kit" rather than just bulbs. I need top know whether they could have electronics to deal with the cam bus problem that your bulbs didn't have so that I can decide whether to fit them and see if they work or to just reject them and ask for my money back.

[Agro]

Originally Posted by Tatsfield

Well before I make any complaint to the bulb seller, I just wanted to check that your units are the same as mine, so I attach a picture of the ones I bought. They are described on the box and in the instructions as an "all-in-one conversion kit" rather than just bulbs. I need top know whether they could have electronics to deal with the cam bus problem that your bulbs didn't have so that I can decide whether to fit them and see if they work or to just reject them and ask for my money back.

No not the same. Different colour, mine don't have a cover on the connector. Fingers crossed they work.

Can you upload a link to the product.

[Tatsfield]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H1-H4-H7-...53.m2749.l2649

Don't jump the gun. Odds on they won't work!

[Tatsfield]

Update: I don't know if they would have worked as the project fell at the first fence. The bulbs have rather nice moulded plugs attached to them but the connectors in the car do not fit them. So I can't install them. They are going back. Pity because they looked well made and they did say that they had built-in CANbus decoders so they might have worked.