XC70 LED Bulbs (reflector) ?

[al dm]

Originally Posted by monkeh

With full beam, It doesn't really matter, As long as it throws light out there in amounts...
I've been impressed. They work well.
If given the option, make sure you get the one with the fans on.

Sorry, but another question....

Do the ones with fans fit in the back of the headlamps OK - or do you need to remove the plastic cover at the back to give enough room?

So far, I have been looking at LED bulbs without fans, thinking that the fan is a point of failure and might also make the build base to bulky to fit inside the cover.

[simboc2004]

Dipped beam I run Nightbreakers, Main beam I run H9 Genuine Lunex Platinum White 65W 12V 709 Car Halogen Headlight Bulbs 4000K, which are cheap and excellent with a long life so far. I am very happy with them - and only £15 a pair...

[simboc2004]

The problem for me with LEDs (despite the legality of fitting them at all) is that they all seem to be 6500K - giving out light that's far too blue for my eyes. I much prefer 4000K-4500K. This is purely a personal view, of course...

[al dm]

Originally Posted by simboc2004

The problem for me with LEDs (despite the legality of fitting them at all) is that they all seem to be 6500K - giving out light that's far too blue for my eyes. I much prefer 4000K-4500K. This is purely a personal view, of course...

It's definitely a personal thing, my XC90 and my VW Touareg that I had before both had LED headlights (as do all my motorcycles), so I am used to the colour now. The warmer temperature of Halogen just seems a bit wrong to me now.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by al dm

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I have a new to me low end 2011 XC70 D3 2WD care that I recently acquired. It's great, and even driving it home last night I had no problems with the Halogen lights. I was actually fairly surprised with how good they were.

But. I mainly ride motorbikes, all with substantially upgraded LED lighting and I like my LEDS.

So what have you all done with Led headlight upgrades? Can you recommend anything?

Looks like my dipped beams are H7 and the main beams are H9s. I have been looking at the Philips 9000 Pro series LED bulbs, but they are kind of expensive. Not an issue of they are good though...

They have recently been made illegal , mainly for the reasons listed in the posts above !

extract from the MOT Tester's Manual below

Existing halogen headlamp units on vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp for light source and lamp not compatible.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by al dm

Maybe a stupid question, but the Osram Nightbreaker bulbs don't seem to be available in an H9 fitting for the main beam.

So do you just fit an H11 version instead? As best I know, the sockets are more or less the same, just that the H9 carries more power than the H11 socket - and H9 bulbs can't be fitted to an H11 socket without some adaptation - is that correct?

If you have a look on www.powerbulbs.com they have compatibility checker and will list a number of branded options per the lamp type....

For H9 they are listing PIAA Hyper Arros - I have the H4 version of these lamps in my Ford Ranger and they have been excellent - at least as good as Nightbreaker.

[monkeh]

Originally Posted by al dm

Sorry, but another question....

Do the ones with fans fit in the back of the headlamps OK - or do you need to remove the plastic cover at the back to give enough room?

So far, I have been looking at LED bulbs without fans, thinking that the fan is a point of failure and might also make the build base to bulky to fit inside the cover.

Yes, They fit, They have mini fans - Enough to cool them for the 10-20 seconds they are used.

[Tatsfield]

Originally Posted by monkeh

Yes, They fit, They have mini fans - Enough to cool them for the 10-20 seconds they are used.

Unless you live in the countryside when you'd have them on continuously at night on winding country roads and only run on dipped for the rare oncoming car.

[al dm]

A little update, I just replaced the dipped beam bulbs with Osram Nightbreaker 200s.

I am going out in the car this evening, so will see how they perform then. They certainly look a bit brighter and whiter just sitting on the drive in the rain.

The old bulbs in there were bog standard Lucas H7s, so we will see if there is any difference.

On a side note, I am really impressed with how easy it is to change bulbs on this car. Pull the two "stakes", disconnect the connector and the entire headlight assembly comes out so you can take it into the dry kitchen and mess about with bulbs at your leisure.

I can also now see clearly that there is loads of room in the back of the headlight assembly to put LEDs - even with big fans on the back of them.

Now I know this, I will order some LEDs for the main beam and see how well they work. I know it won't pass an MOT with LEDs, but it's so easy to change them out that I am not really worried about that. If LED mains work well, then I will get some more to replace Nightbreakers in the dips, but for now, I will just see how they perform.

[al dm]

Update after a fair bit of night time driving. The Osram Nightbreakers are definitely better than the Lucas bulbs. But they are not a game changer. Still pretty dim and orange looking compared to what I am used to with LED headlights. I still want better lighting for my car. I live in the country and it gets really dark. Many, many cars on the road now have high powered HID or LED lights now and I find the Halogens just don't cut it anymore.

So, I have just bitten the bullet and ordered the new and pricey Philips Ultinon Pro 9100 LED bulbs in both H7 and H11 formats (currently about £112 a pair on Amazon). I think the H11 format should work in the H9 main beam holder, but we will see when they arrive.

I know they are not technically road legal and will need to be changed out to pass the next MOT. But I consider it worth it because I think more light output is actually safer as long as it is well defined and doesn't blind oncoming road users.

I do trust Philips to have done at least some real world testing on beam patterns and such, as opposed to many of the cheap Chinese options available. I have worked with both Philips and their subsidiary Lumileds in the past and know that they both produce (mainly) high quality products with a lot of good R&D behind them.

So I will take a gamble and see what these units do. If they are ****e, or the beam patterns suck (or people start flashing me), then I will just send them back to Amazon.

If they do work well, then £225 and 20 minutes changing bulbs before an MOT for proper lighting seems a good risk/reward calculation.

Will update once they are fitted and I have an opinion to share.