Freelander 2 (LR2) LED headlight upgrade - basic question .....

I own a Freelander 2 SD4 HSE on a 60 plate and am upgrading my headlights to LED. Despite all of the web info to the contrary, my headlight combination is H7 bulb (main) and H11 bulb (dip).
I have purchased the relevant bulbs and the H11 change is no problem. However the H7 bulb needs a specific bulb retainer. I have purchased this but cannot seem to fit it! Have I ordered the correct version? Photos of the H7 LED and "retainer" attached. Happy for advice please.

You're probably going to get roasted for doing this, because long story short these sort of aftermarket LED converison kits put the light source in a different position than the filament in an incandescent bulb is meaning the lenses / reflectors no longer correctly focus the light creating a light pattern that is notorious for dazzling oncoming motorists. This is more prevelant on dipped headlights, and it tends to be free reign on full beam as you cannot, or at least should not run them when near other vehicles, so it doesn't matter where the light source is in relation to the lenses as there shouldn't be anyone there to be dazzled by them.

Now, that being said, with the style of lamp you are using, that large heatsink is likely to cause issues when trying to close up the headlight's caps/seals, however, if you can get the sealed up you'll need to keep an eye on how hot those heatsinks get. On one hand this might work in your favour by drying out the headlights from the inside negating/preventing any condensation/misting, however you need to be aware that these might melt the headlight if they generate too much heat with insufficient ventilation fo the headlight unit.

Other than that, good luck and let us know how you get on with the beam pattern and luminosity?

Many thanks for the response and all comments duly noted. Other than the alignment, your other observations/warnings were already known to me. However, that said, my main issue is with the bulb retainer, as the ones shown (and ordered for the freelander) do not seem to fit. I suspect at some point the headlight units on my vehicle are the same as on the early discovery sport, and therefore different than those in the relevant freelander 2 manuals. If you can advise on this aspect, I would be grateful.

TimekeeperPhil said:

Have I ordered the correct version? Photos of the H7 LED and "retainer" attached. Happy for advice please

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Those H7 LEDs won't provide as much range as the standard H7 bulbs.
The focal point is too large, so the light will simply disperse and won't light down the road, which is the point with main beams.

If you must use LEDs (they'll technically fail the UK MOT), then use LEDs that have an emitter that is a similar dimension to an H7 filament, but be aware that LEDs as small as an H7 filament, don't produce as much light as a conventional filament.

The best I've seen to date are the Philips Pro9000, but they are spendy.

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h...ywNRpqbXNYzJ46yRh18dx20P2PSXKS30aAhGXEALw_wcB

Cheap Chinese offerings don't come close, especially if they have large COB emitters (like the ones you show) and will disappoint (I've tried them, and they don't light down the road very far), and will almost certainly fail the MOT too.

TimekeeperPhil said:

Other than the alignment, your other observations/warnings were already known to me. However, that said, my main issue is with the bulb retainer, as the ones shown (and ordered for the freelander) do not seem to fit. I suspect at some point the headlight units on my vehicle are the same as on the early discovery sport, and therefore different than those in the relevant freelander 2 manuals.

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The LEDs aren't specifically for the FL2. They're just designed to fit in an average H7 bulb holder, however being universal, they might not fit every vehicle that takes an H7.

Thank you all for your replies, which are duly noted. If anyone can advise on higher rated / brighter bulbs for the FL2 without compromising rules of the road or the lighting set-up, I would be happy to receive your comments.

TimekeeperPhil said:

Thank you all for your replies, which are duly noted. If anyone can advise on higher rated / brighter bulbs for the FL2 without compromising rules of the road or the lighting set-up, I would be happy to receive your comments.

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To keep completely legal, then you'll need to use filament bulbs that comply with the regulations, which means using E marked bulbs.

There are several higher brightness bulbs available from Osram (Night Breakers) and from Philips (Extreme) both available in a couple of + % outputs, at reasonable prices.

I've been using Osram Rally 64217 for many years in the main beam lights. These aren't E marked, but look standard, and were rated at 65 Watts, producing 2100 lumens, compared to 1650 MAX lumens of a standard 55W H7. Unfortunately the Rally 65W haven't been available from Osram for many years, and I'm down to my last pair.
They've been made especially for an American lighting seller called Daniel Stern, who has stock of them, unfortunately they're more expensive than the original Osram 64217, but should be as good.

My alternative is to make my own (using H9 capsule fitted to and H7 base), which is possibly the way I'll go, when my last pair fail.

TimekeeperPhil said:

Thank you all for your replies, which are duly noted. If anyone can advise on higher rated / brighter bulbs for the FL2 without compromising rules of the road or the lighting set-up, I would be happy to receive your comments.

Click to expand...

I've not got a FL2, but I've done so many headlight upgrades I wonder was I retrained as an autoelectrician without my knowledge, and based on that I can tell you that the "bluer" the light is, the brighter we percieve it at night. It's surprising how good some of the blue coated chinese 100+ watt halogen bulbs are. A set of £9 blue tinted chinese lettered box eBay special H4 bulbs were an absolute revalation in our 300tid discovery, and similarly in our FL1. I've also ran those in H1 & H7 fitments and are surprisingly good bang for buck. If you want to get something of a more known quantity, OSRAM Cool Blue Boost look promising. I'd also say stick to the Auto Dulbs Direct website as they are reasonably priced and sell quality gear, and DO NOT buy halfords "super ultra laser +3000% mega-hyper 400x as bright as the sun off road only" bulbs as all halfords upgrade bulbs I've tried have been utter pisch, and cost as much if not more than a genuine quality product like those Osrams would were you to buy them online.

However, if you're willing to spend the sheckles on an "ultimate solution" - those Philips LED bulbs that Nodge linked to are the absolute bestestestest ever lights you're going to find, and won't fall foul of the potential gotchas we spoke about earlier in this thread. I'm going to feel slightly sheepish if it was these you were originally looking at rather than the typical chinese eBay junk. Anyways, while these are pricey at ~£135 + postage, given they have a five year warranty, they work out at less than sixty pence per week.

Hi there @TimekeeperPhil
Did you resolve this? I am having the same issue.
What retainer did you purchase?
Many thanks