LED replacement globes

[PT75]

Hi all. I’m looking at replacing headlight globes, high beams, and fog lights to LED.
Any recommendations? Cheers

[Keithyv]

Pretty sure no LED replacements are street legal in lights designed for Halogens.

I'd be putting LEDs in the high beam at most.
Doing fog lights would likely wreck their beam pattern too - they are designed to be low and spread to assist in fog only.

[NFT5]

Pretty sure no LED replacements are street legal in lights designed for Halogens.

I'd be putting LEDs in the high beam at most.
Doing fog lights would likely wreck their beam pattern too - they are designed to be low and spread to assist in fog only.

Correct on all three points.


In some recent and interesting news Osram have managed to convince the German traffic authority that their H7 LED bulb can comply with the regulations, but only in a few, selected headlights. Thus, in Germany only, it is now possible, if you have one of the listed vehicles, to convert to the Osram H7 LED and be legal. To be compliant you must then carry a copy of a document that confirms that use in your vehicle has been tested and found to comply.


What's interesting is that they tested other headlights as well and they all failed. It is also important to note that "complying with" only means that the lights, when tested with the LED bulbs, met the minimum UN/ECE standards. It does not mean that they outperformed the original halogen bulbs, in fact the consensus is that they didn't, supported by the fact that Osram have not published any actual test results. One must also remember that approval by the German authority does not mean that approval is to UN/ECE Reg 112 and, by extension, to any applicable ADRs.



They are available on Amazon here. Only 170 Euros per pair.



The usual Ebay junk will definitely not comply and will definitely produce excessive glare. Note that the Osram bulbs are rated at 19W - which would be a lot less than most of the Ebay rubbish. It's a given that higher quality would mean greater efficiency but it also indicates that most of the Chinese made product is probably way too bright - something that is subjectively confirmed by the excessive glare obvious in almost every vehicle that has them fitted.

[brewski]

Correct on all three points.


In some recent and interesting news Osram have managed to convince the German traffic authority that their H7 LED bulb can comply with the regulations, but only in a few, selected headlights. Thus, in Germany only, it is now possible, if you have one of the listed vehicles, to convert to the Osram H7 LED and be legal. To be compliant you must then carry a copy of a document that confirms that use in your vehicle has been tested and found to comply.


What's interesting is that they tested other headlights as well and they all failed. It is also important to note that "complying with" only means that the lights, when tested with the LED bulbs, met the minimum UN/ECE standards. It does not mean that they outperformed the original halogen bulbs, in fact the consensus is that they didn't, supported by the fact that Osram have not published any actual test results. One must also remember that approval by the German authority does not mean that approval is to UN/ECE Reg 112 and, by extension, to any applicable ADRs.



They are available on Amazon here. Only 170 Euros per pair.



The usual Ebay junk will definitely not comply and will definitely produce excessive glare. Note that the Osram bulbs are rated at 19W - which would be a lot less than most of the Ebay rubbish. It's a given that higher quality would mean greater efficiency but it also indicates that most of the Chinese made product is probably way too bright - something that is subjectively confirmed by the excessive glare obvious in almost every vehicle that has them fitted.

Hi NFT5 Chris, What about replacing the High Beam tungsten lamps with the HID ones from the Exceed? Surely these would be compliant. I'm talking about a 2012 NW Pajero 3.2L

[NFT5]

The NW Exceed had halogen H9 bulbs in the high beams. In fact all HID low beam Pajeros had the same - only difference being that they went to D4S in the lows from MY14.

Certainly you can replace the H9s with HID bulbs in the high beams but the delay in the high beams up to full output will drive you nuts unless you have halogen driving lights or an LED light bar wired in conjunction with your high beams. You'll need H9 base HIDs if you do this - neither the D2S or D4S low beam HID bulbs will fit.

[brewski]

The NW Exceed had halogen H9 bulbs in the high beams. In fact all HID low beam Pajeros had the same - only difference being that they went to D4S in the lows from MY14.

Certainly you can replace the H9s with HID bulbs in the high beams but the delay in the high beams up to full output will drive you nuts unless you have halogen driving lights or an LED light bar wired in conjunction with your high beams. You'll need H9 base HIDs if you do this - neither the D2S or D4S low beam HID bulbs will fit.

Yeah I know what you mean by the delay. I have HID driving lights and they take approx 5 seconds to reach max intensity. This would be intolerable with high beam as you would be blind for at least several seconds on a dark country road