Which LED Headlights

As you may be aware I am rebuilding my 110 after an electrical fire: link

I am looking to reduce load on as much of the electrical system as possible during this rebuild. As much as I do not agree with led headlights because they are not in keeping with the nature of the vehicle, they are the best way to reduce load on the lighting circuit.

I know that there certainly used to be a lot of dogey versions around, and the am not looking at the cheap ebay specials unless someone can report back they are legal, and good quality. I am at the very beginning of my search and in no rush yet as still have a fair amount of other bits to rebuild first. This was prompted by another members thread about replacing HID with them that lead me to this site (link) from which I would be looking at the "LAND ROVER DEFENDER LED HEADLIGHTS (6500K)" (link). I do not want halo lights, nor do I want DLR and I would also be more interested in low beam light output than main beam light output due to having additional lighting on both the bull bars and the roof (which are also being replaced with LED).

What other makes/brands/models can people recommend form their own experience with fitting LED headlights. Within reason price is not too much of an issue, obviously cheaper is better, but I want good quality and legal as a priority over cheap. The vehicle is a daily drive and I do about 30k miles a year so it is easier to justify more expensive quality parts.

(Please do not recommend me the boomslang harness, I bought one of those, was thoroughly unimpressed with the design and quality, got halfway through modifying it to improve it (taking things back to the battery, placing relays somewhere waterproof, etc) before realizing that for the effort and cost I could build my own which is far superior.)

I would just stick with std halogen, cheap and they just work.

I would love some LED headlights that looked visually like standard halogen - at least when turned off!
This would be the most aesthetic and pragmatic upgrade.

I know they’re not LED’s but the osram night-breaker bulbs are a good upgrade. I’m also looking at getting a set of wipac crystal headlights which get very good reviews. I’d suggest the pair together would be a worthwhile upgrade.

None, stay with std incandecsant bulbs. They warm the glass and snow melts off

Put a relay in and a fresh (fused) wire to the battery, will reduce the load and you stay with regular lights, plus it's cheap

lynall said:

I would just stick with std halogen, cheap and they just work.

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Knappster said:

I know they’re not LED’s but the osram night-breaker bulbs are a good upgrade. I’m also looking at getting a set of wipac crystal headlights which get very good reviews. I’d suggest the pair together would be a worthwhile upgrade.

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miktdish said:

None, stay with std incandecsant bulbs. They warm the glass and snow melts off

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I know all of the benefits of keeping with standard but it does not achieve the the desire to reduce the the electrical load.

Hellsteeth said:

I would love some LED headlights that looked visually like standard halogen - at least when turned off!
This would be the most aesthetic and pragmatic upgrade.

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That I completely agree with and would be the ideal.

@dag019 , can really recommend WIPAC Crystal lenses together with Osram Nightbreaker H4's. Combined with relayed lighting cct they are first rate.

If LED a must talk with Gil Keene at BetterCarLighting. He designs/has built properly robust LED bulbs for classic/historic cars. I know of no other man who really knows his/this subject in the UK - his bulbs are not cheap but are of far superior quality to any other manufacturer/supplier https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/ I have his LED's on all my secondary lighting [side, tail, brake, indicators] all hiding behind original lenses and BPF for original bulb holders.

v8250 said:

@dag019 , can really recommend WIPAC Crystal lenses together with Osram Nightbreaker H4's. Combined with relayed lighting cct they are first rate.

If LED a must talk with Gil Keene at BetterCarLighting. He designs/has built properly robust LED bulbs for classic/historic cars. I know of no other man who really knows his/this subject in the UK - his bulbs are not cheap but are of far superior quality to any other manufacturer/supplier https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/ I have his LED's on all my secondary lighting [side, tail, brake, indicators] all hiding behind original lenses and BPF for original bulb holders.

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I already have the night breakers currently although the light units themselves do need replacing anyway as the reflector is beginning to corrode. Unlike most of the headlight threads on here I am not looking for improved lighting performance I am looking at reducing current draw.

I have come across the better car lighting website before so will get in touch and see what their recommendation would be.

@dag019 , re' current draw individual 4point relays are the way to go. I installed a Boomslang which uses 1x 5pin twin o/p and 1x 4pin relays...I can't recommend the Boomslang as the overall quality if poor and I'll replace with separate left/right relayed looms in a few weeks time. Re' light units, the WIPAC Crystals are excellent, there are a good few happy LZ'ers who use these too.

Re' BCL, I think it's lower cost to buy only the bulbs you need rather than the full Land Rover kit available, i.e. these headlight bulbs https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=833 but Gil can advise/recommend.

v8250 said:

I can't recommend the Boomslang as the overall quality if poor

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I have already experienced that. Do not have a good word to say about it. And if the solution is relays rather than LED I would certainly be making my own loom to achieve this.

dag019 said:

I know all of the benefits of keeping with standard but it does not achieve the the desire to reduce the the electrical load.

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I 'think' what you mean by this is that you want to reduce the current flowing through the existing/original wiring loom and switches.
The 'only' way to do that is to reduce the current consumption of the lamps or by bypassing the existing loom/control circuit to provide the current through alternative wiring.
Reducing the current by fitting LEDs has (as discussed) a (serious, IMO) down side, so the alternative/solution is to fit two relays and higher current rated cables, through a fuse, to the battery directly.

I'd be interested in where you will place the relays and how you route the cable back to the battery/power source.
Will you fuse both the dipped and main beam together or seprately ?
I've been wanting to do this for a while now and just haven't answered the above questions ..... I have been thinking of using the spare fuse in the main fuse block under the bonnet in my 300tdi.
Any pictures greatfully received

Well, they were £80 and they generate a lot more light than the old candles did - I’ll be adding an A Bar with long range Driving Lamps at some point as the high beam is not as good as the dipped….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252244428591



They passed MOT with them fitted….

miktdish said:

I 'think' what you mean by this is that you want to reduce the current flowing through the existing/original wiring loom and switches.

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I want to reduce the amps running through as much of the electrical system as possible, not just the original wiring. It is my understanding that it is the amount of current that causes problems with overheating/melting, and having just had a very sericeous case of this want to reduce as much as possible. Easy example of what I mean and am trying to achieve:

I currently run six roof lights with 120watt halogen bulbs in them they are wired in pairs with a relay for each pair. Each pair pulls 20amps at 12V. By replacing them with equivalent brightness led units (which I have fitted to my td5) each led unit has ten 2watt led bulbs meaning each light is 20watt, that makes each light 1.66666amps t 12v. All six lights combined therefore are 9.6666amps at 12v so I can run of a single relay (simplifies the wiring added bonus) and still have reduced the current running through that circuit.

v8250 said:

I think it's lower cost to buy only the bulbs you need rather than the full Land Rover kit available, i.e. these headlight bulbs https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=833 but Gil can advise/recommend.

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The LED headlight bulbs recommended above claim "They generate a 250% increase in light output, but reduce the load on the car electrical system by 60%." and it is the 60% reduction that I am interested in rather than the increased light output.

Even if I run separate relays and dedicated new cabling in a boomslang style wiring setup I will still have parts of the lighting circuit running higher amps than using an led setup.

slomofo said:

Well, they were £80 and they generate a lot more light than the old candles did - I’ll be adding an A Bar with long range Driving Lamps at some point as the high beam is not as good as the dipped….

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/252244428591

View attachment 256022

They passed MOT with them fitted….

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Thank you. Looking at the description for those gave me two other high end brands to look as comparison but as they are about £600 a pair I think they are out of the question!
How does the high beam compare to the standard lights? As long as it is as good that will suit my needs, I already have a lot of additional lighting so main beam is less of a problem as long as it is not worse than standard.

dag019 said:

I want to reduce the amps running through as much of the electrical system as possible, not just the original wiring. It is my understanding that it is the amount of current that causes problems with overheating/melting, and having just had a very sericeous case of this want to reduce as much as possible. Easy example of what I mean and am trying to achieve:

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It's also the amount of resistance that old wiring gives, speshully at the connectors...

You may have notice the green oxides at crimped connection ends, this spreads up the wires and sometimes to cut it out you can take a few inches off ...

+! @Dippypud , Land Rover wiring is renowned for this. By far the best way of ensuring good clean lighting is to simply replace the wiring with new. It's not difficult running new wires from the bulkhead to the new headlamps via relays. Ideally replacing any glass type fuses with modern blade type fuses/fuse box [do not use the mini types they fail too often]. New relays can be mounted to the bulkhead giving easy access, either in the engine bay or in the cabin.

It is just a case of understanding the current capacity and voltage drop/resistance on the cable and sizing it correctly for the job in hand. Too small and it generates heat..
Have a wee read through this .... https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/cable-sizing-selection.html

@miktdish , 12voltplanet is a great site

Dippypud said:

It's also the amount of resistance that old wiring gives, speshully at the connectors...

You may have notice the green oxides at crimped connection ends, this spreads up the wires and sometimes to cut it out you can take a few inches off ...

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I know of that but as the wiring currently looks like this (below) it will be getting complete new looms as part of the rebuild so that should not be a problem for a while to come.

miktdish said:

It is just a case of understanding the current capacity and voltage drop/resistance on the cable and sizing it correctly for the job in hand. Too small and it generates heat..
Have a wee read through this .... https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/cable-sizing-selection.html

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I am also aware of the need to use the correct rated and sizing of cable to comfortable handle the current required and prevent voltage drop. That is why my winch (husky) cables are 70mm welding cable. But even with all of that surely there is benefit to reducing the current required in the first place where possible?
I know that you cannot reduce the power draw of the winch without reducing performance (or moving to a 24v system), similarly other things like starter motor, etc., but the lighting seems an easy place to reduce load without impacting performance?