LED Headlights - Which are best?

[george man]

Hi guys,

I remember a thread from the summer debating LED vs Standards with new bulbs etc. After reading that i got some new bulbs and there was a definite improvement but when compared to my friends car with LEDs fitted there was no comparison... his were way better (in my opinion anyway).

He is running the Britpart Lynx Eye lights but i just wondered if anything has come out since then which is better? Ideally from a reputable brand and roughly the same price £200/300.

I only ask this as LED tech is constantly improving so someone out there may have a better idea than i do!

Thanks in advance

 

[doriz]

I think @vilguy fitted these to one of his many land rovers with success.

 

[danny6801]

I fitted led h4 bulbs amazing is all I can say new lenses and led bulbs done.

 

[mojo247]

Sorry to bomb this post but can you just do a straight swap to LEDs without any electrical changes?

 

[george man]

I fitted led h4 bulbs amazing is all I can say new lenses and led bulbs done.

Have you had chance to compare this fix to a complete LED unit? Do you have a link to where you bought yours?

 

[saxavordian]

Sorry to bomb this post but can you just do a straight swap to LEDs without any electrical changes?

You could but you would have a short live LED bulb. You need to step down the wattage as the LED are not filliments type in a vacuum. Modern cars are adopting LED for commercial sense but the kits available still can be pricey.

 

[Barbados]

This is an ongoing question and yes technology is improving while prices are dropping which is good for us. When I was researching this 3 years ago, LED headlight kits were as high as USD 700.00

Many Landy guys have used this type/style and have had great results, they are fairly affordable and for what they are, I think its worth it...
There are many sellers on Ebay, dont know if one manufacturer is better than the other within this price range, there are some US manufacturers who sell theirs at higher prices. Some come with Angel eyes too if thats your thing, they were intended for the Jeep Wrangler 1997 to present.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-7-Inch-...ash=item542549adcc:g:3VMAAOSwFnFWEuNe&vxp=mtr

 

[300bhp/ton]

Hi guys,

I remember a thread from the summer debating LED vs Standards with new bulbs etc. After reading that i got some new bulbs and there was a definite improvement but when compared to my friends car with LEDs fitted there was no comparison... his were way better (in my opinion anyway).

He is running the Britpart Lynx Eye lights but i just wondered if anything has come out since then which is better? Ideally from a reputable brand and roughly the same price £200/300.

I only ask this as LED tech is constantly improving so someone out there may have a better idea than i do!

Thanks in advance

Pretty much all the LED headlights you can buy use old crappy LEDs in them. Waste of money at the moment IMO and hugely pricey for what they offer.

 

[george man]

Pretty much all the LED headlights you can buy use old crappy LEDs in them. Waste of money at the moment IMO and hugely pricey for what they offer.

The ones my friend uses (Britpart Lynx Eye) are easily comparable to the headlights of a 2015 Audi A6 that his dad has... IMO, Audi quality lights in a defender is a pretty good way to spend money!

 

[300bhp/ton]

There are many sellers on Ebay, dont know if one manufacturer is better than the other within this price range, there are some US manufacturers who sell theirs at higher prices. Some come with Angel eyes too if thats your thing, they were intended for the Jeep Wrangler 1997 to present.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-7-Inch-...ash=item542549adcc:g:3VMAAOSwFnFWEuNe&vxp=mtr

Those lights will be no good for anyone in the UK. Beam cut off for cars that drive on the left hand side of the road should be down and left. N. America drive on the right, cut off for their lights (and anywhere else in the world that drive on the right), will be down and to the right.

i.e. not suitable for UK roads without blinding oncoming traffic.


Those lamps also only claim 1800 lumens. That will be at the LED not out the front and is likely a guess or a fudge anyway. Real output is likely 20-30% lower. Which makes them the same less than an Osram Nightbreaker halogen H4 bulb.

Total waste of money.

 

[300bhp/ton]

The ones my friend uses (Britpart Lynx Eye) are easily comparable to the headlights of a 2015 Audi A6 that his dad has... IMO, Audi quality lights in a defender is a pretty good way to spend money!

I bet they aren't. I bet you are just looking at the colour of the light and thinking 'wow', rather than how well they are actually illuminating objects in front of you.


Have a look:
http://www.britpart.com/parts/lighting/light-conversion-and-upgrades/lynx-eye/da6282/


It says they use Cree XML emitters. Which aren't even made anymore and are old tech. The replacement for the XM-L is almost ready for replacement.

It says they are 6000-6500k, which means random collection of cheap 2nd grade emitters. As Cree do actually bin (categorise them) to specific colour bins, not a massive range.

Also Cree XM-L emitters of this colour temp all have a **** poor CRI rating (go look up the Cree data sheets if you don't believe me). Probably looking at 70CRI tops, which is just rubbish for a headlight.


Then look at the number of errors in the specs. They claim 4 different lumen outputs, plus spelling mistakes. So it proves the claims are mostly bull**** anyway.

And they also tell you the amp rating. Well once again go look up the Cree data sheet, as you won't be getting anywhere near the lumen claims from the amp draws.


I've seen people running these lights and they give a horrid nasty blue/purple tinted light, just like you get from crappy £5 ebay Chinese LED torches. And the beam profile is dreadful on them and does dazzle other drivers or cars in front.

If those lamps where £55/pair they'd still be over priced!!!

Utter garbage sold to the naive for mass profiteering reasons.

 

[300bhp/ton]

You could but you would have a short live LED bulb. You need to step down the wattage as the LED are not filliments type in a vacuum. Modern cars are adopting LED for commercial sense but the kits available still can be pricey.

That's not quite true, it's not wattage. Most LEDs will need a 'driver', i.e. a circuit board to supply the correct voltage and regulate amps.

You can fit LED bulbs as direct replacements, but for headlights you need to consider beam profile and the housing it's going in. A little research and thought on it can yield positive results for little outlay. But jumping in blindly will just give you poor output or a headlight that blinds other cars.

 

[Barbados]

Those lights will be no good for anyone in the UK. Beam cut off for cars that drive on the left hand side of the road should be down and left. N. America drive on the right, cut off for their lights (and anywhere else in the world that drive on the right), will be down and to the right.

i.e. not suitable for UK roads without blinding oncoming traffic.


Those lamps also only claim 1800 lumens. That will be at the LED not out the front and is likely a guess or a fudge anyway. Real output is likely 20-30% lower. Which makes them the same less than an Osram Nightbreaker halogen H4 bulb.

Total waste of money.

Yes, directional lighting has to be considered. Though I posted that link, I was not advising the OP to get that specific one..

In this post I wrote a few mins ago I stipulated the fact that buyers must research well since many re sellers can be misleading.

KBX Headlight surround.....before I break it!!

 

[Barbados]

Just found this re-seller who is in the US too and for the NA market.
They claim that they actually assemble these in house in the USA at USD 129.00.

Nice to see that they took the time and effort to do an actual unbiased and continuous unedited video demo of the product.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Inch-Roun...ash=item25ad39309f:g:~3IAAOSwj85YL1l-&vxp=mtr

 

[Barbados]

After reading many of the negative reviews from quite a few sellers, failure rates are still too high IMO for the $130 to 200 range kits...so you have to choose well. I use Amazon to read the reviews, most sellers use both ebay and amazon, but amazon is better for reading customers reviews.

 

[300bhp/ton]

Your link goes straight to ebay.com, no product listing.

 

[vilguy]

This is an ongoing question and yes technology is improving while prices are dropping which is good for us. When I was researching this 3 years ago, LED headlight kits were as high as USD 700.00

Many Landy guys have used this type/style and have had great results, they are fairly affordable and for what they are, I think its worth it...
There are many sellers on Ebay, dont know if one manufacturer is better than the other within this price range, there are some US manufacturers who sell theirs at higher prices. Some come with Angel eyes too if thats your thing, they were intended for the Jeep Wrangler 1997 to present.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-7-Inch-...ash=item542549adcc:g:3VMAAOSwFnFWEuNe&vxp=mtr

I did use these for a few days but found them to be utterly shit to be honest.

Ive had a set of Phillips ones on my 110 for about a year now, and they are the bees pyjamas.

These type.

Ive just bought another set for my 130.

They are FAR superior to the other type on ebay. The penetration is excellent, even into gloomy weather. With a very focused high beam which I like.

£87.00 for a pair and they were delivered within 2 days.

sorry I cant post the link as I am on a work pc but if you do a search for 7" round led headlight jeep in ebay you will find them. Theres a seller doing them for £90 or best offer. He accepts £87

 

[Barbados]

Vilguy its a hit and miss lol. There is one of the projector led head lamp seller who got great reviews over all, everyone loved the brightness but they burnt out after while. Looking at his kit, I did not see a voltage/current limiter or driver, however he has a regulated power supply in his demo which shows his voltage pegged at 12.1V and his current at 7.9 amps which makes no sense.

I think his kit would last if he had a limiter included his kit....some may tend to install a voltage regulator to keep the voltage lower and constant but as you know, this will increase the current thus heating up the diode causing even a quicker burn out.

I was looking at the one on you posted, my only concern was beam spread. In theory the manufacturers can articulate the beam spread on yours with the multiple LEDs easier, than that of the single LED projector type.

 

[vilguy]

I agree, some of the cheaper LED ones can be a bit.... cheap, and one cant expect them to last.

However there are numerous parts sellers here selling the ones I have shown for upward of £250 on their advertisements in the mags. The cheeky swines lol.

With Beam spread I had lots of problems with the ones listed at the top of the thread. But with the ones I have shown, they are excellent, and don't seem to blind anyone. Its also passed an MOT with them in without any bother.

Ive covered about 15,000 miles with the 110 since fitting them with no loss of any of the LEDS.

 

[300bhp/ton]

That's not really how LEDs work with voltage and amps. They aren't like bulbs.

Most Cree LEDs have a vf of about 3.x volts. This means you can normally run them directly from a 4.2v Li-ion battery. And then regulate current.

You can get drivers that buck (reduce) or boost (increase) the voltage, as well as regulate current.

There are 6 and 12v Cree LEDs, but none of which seem to be used in any of these headlights.

You also would NOT run 7 amps through an XM-L emitter. Maybe 4-5 amps max, but still with risk of failing and it will produce MASSIVE heat. Most flashlights run XM-L's at nearer to 1.6amps for around 600 lumens. Newer LEDs will run higher with more lumens. But heat will be an issue. Even 3amps through a modern LED will make it very hot after a few mins of use.

However these LED lamps have multiple points of failure, be it the LED or the driver or any of the wiring inbetween.