Halogen or LED

[Hondaman]

Just had my 07 SE for a couple of weeks now, and loving it. I now feel it's time to start improving it. The first job is to change the headlight bulbs, as the factory ones are so poor .I've come from a BMW with xenons, so obviously these weak halogens are not going to do it for me. I've seen a set of PIAA Hyper Arros bulbs advertised  as 3900k  Brilliant White, but i would like some opinions or recommendations from club members. HID Kits are now illegal due to new MOT rules,so its either quality halogens or a set of LEDS bulbs.

Next job will be new brake pads all around and then looking at the options for adding a bit more oomph to the Bass on the  Mark Levinson system.Thanks for your opinions in advance.

[Koum]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F173205926377

 

Like this? I bought halogen just before Mot changed but never fitted so this could be a good shout

[Hondaman]

Yeah,maybe something like that. Just looking for some recommendations, as I only want to do this once. Taking off the covers, whilst very easy, is just a pain in the a**e !

[iSalajee]

Well I've just seen these pop up online. I have emailed the company and they say they are direct bolt on replacements, with free shipping for a limited time however they do not have the AFS function so I'm not sure if they will trigger the AFS warning light on the dash. 

 

They're made by V-land, the Chinese company who currently make the taillights that everyone (including myself) have!

[Koum]

37 minutes ago, iSalajee said:

Well I've just seen these pop up online. I have emailed the company and they say they are direct bolt on replacements, with free shipping for a limited time however they do not have the AFS function so I'm not sure if they will trigger the AFS warning light on the dash. 

 

They're made by V-land, the Chinese company who currently make the taillights that everyone (including myself) have!

Link? 

[Herbie]

2 hours ago, Hondaman said:

HID Kits are now illegal due to new MOT rules,so its either quality halogens or a set of LEDS bulbs.

I may be wrong but I think it's not only that HID kits are banned but also that the bulb has to be appropriate for the housing.

In other words, if the factory headlamp units are designed to have halogen bulbs then they must have halogen bulbs. It's not just about the light source itself (the bulb) but how that light is thrown out, ie, the reflectors, the flutes and the prisms and how they affect the beam pattern. Putting an LED in a housing meant for a halogen will affect the beam pattern.

[Hondaman]

An interesting interpretation of the rules. So H11 LED bulbs that are a correct fit and size are illegal?

[Shaunomercy]

PIAA bulbs have a great reputation and are very bright.

 

[Hondaman]

Leaning towards these actually: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PIAA-HYPER-Arros-3900K-Briliant-White-Light-Bulbs-H11-55-equal-to-110W-12V/232288669822

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Hondaman said:

An interesting interpretation of the rules. So H11 LED bulbs that are a correct fit and size are illegal?

I think that's correct, yes. Remember that 'headlamp' is the term for the device itself, while 'headlight' is the term for the beam of light produced and distributed by the device (from Wikipedia).

The screenshot below is from https://www.mot-testing.service.gov.uk/documents/manuals/class3457/Section-4-Lamps-reflectors-and-electrical-equipment.html

 

[johnatg]

I think LED headlamp bulbs are just as likely to fail the MoT as HID. Also, they plain don't work - I tried a pair some years ago. Completely useless - I removed them immediately. They were very bright to look at, but they didn't project any light really. Much worse than Halogen. Cars which have LED headlights as standard (or option) (and they are the ones which are dazzlingly bright) have sealed beam headlamps (where you have to replace the complete headlamp unit if a bulb fails - and that is very expensive (see a recent thread referencing a Daily Mail article)).

If you don't want to change bulbs for every MoT, stick with Halogen of whatever sort takes your fancy.

It's not just removing the covers that's a pain when accessing the headlamp bulbs - you have to remove the whole air cleaner to get at the offside and the nearside is just plain ridiculous - you almost need a small child to get their hand in (even after removing the washer filler tube)!

[johnatg]

PS - the LED bulbs referenced (Ebay) are HB3 main beam bulbs - whereas the PIAA ones are H11 - ie dip beam. Make sure you get the correct bulbs for whichever lights you are trying to improve!

MoT regs apply to both main and dip - the main beam type (Halogen, LED or HID) is more obvious because you can see the bulbs

[Hondaman]

That's why I love this forum. I learn something new everyday. I think I will stick with a upgraded halogen bulb, but have read that some of them don't last very long. The search continues. Keep the comments coming folks. 

[Shaunomercy]

On PIAA website it outlines what guarantee the bulbs have and what failures are covered if your still looking at PIAA bulbs

Osram nite breakers are very good too apparently.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[J Henderson]

I fitted Osram Cool Blue Intense bulbs to my car a few months back and find them to be pretty decent. They're said to be 20% brighter than regular bulbs, which sounds about right.

[Koum]

33 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

I fitted Osram Cool Blue Intense bulbs to my car a few months back and find them to be pretty decent. They're said to be 20% brighter than regular bulbs, which sounds about right.

Do you notice a difference? How do they compare to LED etc? I mean my lights are actually rediculous. 

[J Henderson]

Yes, I noticed a small improvement. the 20% brighter claim seems accurate