LED H4 bulbs from Amazon - success

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NorthernEscapes

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So - I risked £25 and bought a pair of 10000 lumen (yeah - off Amazon or eBay it's just a made up number right) H4 bulbs and fitted them last night. They also come with a fake CE mark and a box that makes them look like laser canons.
  • Units are waterproof (they claim)
  • They are bright. I don't have a calibrator so cant say how bright - eye-hurtingly-bright. Also have not compared to decent Osram or similar filament units,
  • Cant have rubber covers on back of lamp units as the heatsink on the back of the LED won't fit under them. Not planning on driving through water that deep anyway...
  • So far they have lasted one day of not being turned on. I guess longevity might be an issue.
However - pattern and brightness is good. I am pleased. I was going to spend £300 on some proper LED headlamps and may later in the year, but for now these are just fine. If it wasn't dry January I'd be celebrating with a beer.
 
JonnyAwesome said:
So - I risked £25 and bought a pair of 10000 lumen (yeah - off Amazon or eBay it's just a made up number right) H4 bulbs and fitted them last night. They also come with a fake CE mark and a box that makes them look like laser canons.
  • Units are waterproof (they claim)
  • They are bright. I don't have a calibrator so cant say how bright - eye-hurtingly-bright. Also have not compared to decent Osram or similar filament units,
  • Cant have rubber covers on back of lamp units as the heatsink on the back of the LED won't fit under them. Not planning on driving through water that deep anyway...
  • So far they have lasted one day of not being turned on. I guess longevity might be an issue.
However - pattern and brightness is good. I am pleased. I was going to spend £300 on some proper LED headlamps and may later in the year, but for now these are just fine. If it wasn't dry January I'd be celebrating with a beer.
Click to expand...

That will fail it’s MOT under the new laws.
 
mick 1986 said:
That will fail it’s MOT under the new laws.
Click to expand...
Not only that but sadly replacement LED headlamp bulbs do not comply with the your cars Whole Vehicle Type Approval and are therefore illegal.
Because UK regs on car lighting were written in 1989 they do not consider LED bulbs. This means even on cars where LED headlamps are fitted as standard, in order to ensure conformance with the Type Approval you have to replace the entire unit not just the bulb.
The Police could chose to pull you over, but I doubt it.
 
Not being trainspotters, just making sure you understand the possible implications of what you are doing. I doubt the Police would pull you over, but they might. Whether you get through an MOT depends on the tester. It is also possible that if you were involved in a collision at night and the mechanical assessment spotted the LEDs, that the other party might claim they were blinded by your lights. It could certainly weaken any claim that you were not at fault.
Now, it's almost time for the 2215 to Aylesbury...
 
JonnyAwesome said:
So - I risked £25 and bought a pair of 10000 lumen (yeah - off Amazon or eBay it's just a made up number right) H4 bulbs and fitted them last night. They also come with a fake CE mark and a box that makes them look like laser canons.
  • Units are waterproof (they claim)
  • They are bright. I don't have a calibrator so cant say how bright - eye-hurtingly-bright. Also have not compared to decent Osram or similar filament units,
  • Cant have rubber covers on back of lamp units as the heatsink on the back of the LED won't fit under them. Not planning on driving through water that deep anyway...
  • So far they have lasted one day of not being turned on. I guess longevity might be an issue.
However - pattern and brightness is good. I am pleased. I was going to spend £300 on some proper LED headlamps and may later in the year, but for now these are just fine. If it wasn't dry January I'd be celebrating with a beer.
Click to expand...

Are these bulbs or whole light units like the JB Speaker and Trucklite ones?
 
dieseldog69 said:
Are these bulbs or whole light units like the JB Speaker and Trucklite ones?
Click to expand...

I read it as “H4 bulbs”, so just replacement bulbs , presumably anyway.

I don’t have a problem with upgrading whole light units, even the cheap Chinese versions are better than reflector headlights using LEDs and HIDs.
 
So I’m a bit confused. The LED units have the same shape and cover inside as a normal filament bulb. Today on my mates MOT test for headlight aim and spread they passed. He said that changing the only affects the spread when they are the HID units that spread the light in every direction. Against the wall outside the light spread is the same.

So what are you all going on about? Vehicles that have terrible spread on Chinese illegally marked aftermarket headlight units or worse, the people who have installed RHD units from eBay rather than LHD?

If it’s CE marked, in a legitimate headlamp and passes an MOT test for aim and spread what’s the issue? The bulbs don’t cause the spread the position of the light source within the reflector and the deflectors in the glass do.

I’m confused by the negative attitude?
 
JonnyAwesome said:
If it’s CE marked, in a legitimate headlamp and passes an MOT test for aim and spread what’s the issue? The bulbs don’t cause the spread the position of the light source within the reflector and the deflectors in the glass do.
I’m confused by the negative attitude?
Click to expand...

No attitude, my point is only that individual replacement LED/HID headlamp bulbs are currently not legal in the UK regardless of whether they are CE marked or make it through an MOT. Whether you fit them is entirely your choice, but you should understand the position. Similarly I have no EGR on my TD5; that is my choice which I make in the knowledge that it could fail an MOT as a result. I have LEDs on all my D2 lights except the indicators (flash rate issue) and the headlights (legal issue and inability to reinstall the waterproof cover). If it were legal and they were a one for one swap without compromising waterproofing I would probably fit LED headlight bulbs too - the LED replacement headlamp units on my son's D90 are way better than the originals.

Clearly if LED headlight bulbs were dazzling other road users, then a responsible and considerate motorist would adjust them appropriately.
 
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