Better headlights than halogen

[monkeh]

Originally Posted by simboc2004

Headlight bulbs, that is...

Full beam too, Ask me how I know! £26 from a local motorfactor and I got a pass. They watched me fit the lamps, Showed them working, I pulled out, They then saw me remove the halogens from the main beam and put LED back in.

Originally Posted by dingov70

Erm , not quite accurate . I am an MOT tester and you MUST NOT install HID or LED light sources into any headlight not designed for them . however you are allowed to replace OEM units with suitable manufacturer OEM projector items or after market items with projector modules .

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-insp...ical-equipment

It's what I refer to daily especially when failing cars fitted with green or worse still blue front position ( side ) lights

It boils my urine seeing blue sidelights, My Dodge import passes its MOT with amber sidelights though.

But in anycase... If I can get the headlight apart to stuff a H1 projector housing in, I will be reasonably happy.
I had an MOT tester ask me how the F**k did I get projectors into a 940 housing, and grind all the glass fluting off? Dedication, cordless drill and lots of diamond cutting/polishing discs from various grades from 50-100,000 and glass polishing paste. THAT was a perfect beam pattern. Set up a treat.

Originally Posted by dingov70

Good luck , find a quiet spot , gentle music , large hammer , strong drink & get going

It has begun. Warmed up headlight, acetone works a treat. I'm waiting on a decent pick set to dig into the PU sealer. I need a regular break though, warm acetone is wonderful stuff.

[uknowiama]

I had a p3 v70 with Halogens and know what you mean, they are shocking. When I went back to v70 I made sure to get one with xenon. However, I disagree the projectors are less prone to ageing and dulling of light than the reflectors in the halogen units getting tarnished and dulling the light. That said when I got the car with the xenon’s, they didn’t seems that bright - having had other cars with xenons for comparison. Read into it. Xenon bulbs getting duller with age. Replaced bulbs with OEM replacement. Sorted. Lights working how should. With the ABL I really like the lights - work brilliantly now.

[Tatsfield]

Yes, it is too easy to forget that even xenon emitters age and their light output drops. With incandescent bulbs we all wait for them to blow and then there's no doubt that they need changing but with HID bulbs, like fluorescent light tubes, the light output deteriorates with long term use and you need to question your illumination and make a judgement on if it is up to par. I've found that after market xenon HID bulbs need changing after about 3 years or so.

[ferg55]

I posted the below in another thread the other day which was also discussing bulbs etc. But it may have got missed, so I'll ask it here as well:

I'd be interested in upgrading my sidelight bulbs to a brighter (LED?) version, so they are bright enough to use them on their own in the daytime, and turn off my dipped beam - to preserve my xenon bulb life. Has anyone done this, and what sidelight bulbs can you recommend? '08 S80. Thanks.

[monkeh]

Originally Posted by uknowiama

I had a p3 v70 with Halogens and know what you mean, they are shocking. When I went back to v70 I made sure to get one with xenon. However, I disagree the projectors are less prone to ageing and dulling of light than the reflectors in the halogen units getting tarnished and dulling the light. That said when I got the car with the xenon’s, they didn’t seems that bright - having had other cars with xenons for comparison. Read into it. Xenon bulbs getting duller with age. Replaced bulbs with OEM replacement. Sorted. Lights working how should. With the ABL I really like the lights - work brilliantly now.

My Chrysler had projector HID's and they were dire. Only when I took apart the projectors to clean I saw that the reflective finish had burnt/tarnished. I got hold of retrofitlab. Apparently these had the similar valeo reflectors to VW/audi and supplied me an adapter plate and a little kit to convert from d1s to the standard h1 projector setup, decent Aharon brand. The difference was amazing, you could say "night and day". Apparently the reflectors are known in certain cars to tarnish worse than others, Despite being bright on lens, can't throw a single lumen onto the road.
RFL sent me another set of aharons with universal fittings, So hopefully I can bake these buggers open. If not, I'll keep an eye out for projectors. I dont mind if the Active beam doesn't work, I'll be able to convert those to standard projectors.

Ferg55, No, you can't buy brighter sidelights. I've tried. You are limited with space. So either buy the cheap w5w led single chips and replace them when they start flickering or change your foglights to led and pretend they are DRL's. Or you could just start your own thread and others might chime in.