LED headlight upgrade for NM 2002

[Billy500]

Hi
I noticed the other night that my headlights appear to be very dim and really I am only seeing not far in front.

I have a set of spotties which are connected to my high beam through a isolating switch so last night I was driving with my high beam on without the spotties.

The globes are original and the front cover of the headlight is clear and clean. Can anyone give me some indication what I should upgrade to if replacing the original ones and also if I want to replace with LED ones.

Are the LED any better and do they just fit in as the original globes. Do I need to do any modification? I also would like to replace the reversing bulbs also.

My car is a 2002 NM Pajero.

Manufacturer and part numbers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

[Bill Coddy]

Hi
I noticed the other night that my headlights appear to be very dim and really I am only seeing not far in front.

I have a set of spotties which are connected to my high beam through a isolating switch so last night I was driving with my high beam on without the spotties.

The globes are original and the front cover of the headlight is clear and clean. Can anyone give me some indication what I should upgrade to if replacing the original ones and also if I want to replace with LED ones.

Are the LED any better and do they just fit in as the original globes. Do I need to do any modification? I also would like to replace the reversing bulbs also.

My car is a 2002 NM Pajero.

Manufacturer and part numbers would be appreciated.

Thanks
Bob

I also have a NM and I am looking at replacing my headlights with MARS performance.I will be checking them out this week.

[old Jack]

Forum member NFT5 is the resident lighting expert.

I had a quick look at the Mars a Performance website.

https://www.marsperformance.com.au/Black-High-power-LED-Angel-Eyes-Projector-Head-Lights-Mitsubishi-Pajero-00-06-NP-NM

It appears the lights they offer are more about the cosmetic appearance of the light assembly rather than the amount of useful light projected onto the road ahead. If they were serious about lighting performance they would have photo metric tests done and published.

Standard Halogen run a colour temperature of around 2700K to 3000K and these globes have the longest life. High performance Halogens have a colour temperature of between 3300K and 3900K but have a much shorter life 1/4 to 1/3 and cost 2x to 3x as standard halogen globes. Most factory fitted HID's have a colour temperature of 4100K to 4800K and this seems to be the maximum colour temperature you can go to without a huge decline in Colour Rendering Index, the CRI is important as it determines the contrast that your eyes can see. Lights with 6000K or greater give you less contrast and less actual vision at night. Ultimately it is a combination of reflector and bulb design combined with bulb output that determines light performance.

OJ.

[Bill Coddy]

Forum member NFT5 is the resident lighting expert.

I had a quick look at the Mars a Performance website.

https://www.marsperformance.com.au/Black-High-power-LED-Angel-Eyes-Projector-Head-Lights-Mitsubishi-Pajero-00-06-NP-NM

It appears the lights they offer are more about the cosmetic appearance of the light assembly rather than the amount of useful light projected onto the road ahead. If they were serious about lighting performance they would have photo metric tests done and published.

Standard Halogen run a colour temperature of around 2700K to 3000K and these globes have the longest life. High performance Halogens have a colour temperature of between 3300K and 3900K but have a much shorter life 1/4 to 1/3 and cost 2x to 3x as standard halogen globes. Most factory fitted HID's have a colour temperature of 4100K to 4800K and this seems to be the maximum colour temperature you can go to without a huge decline in Colour Rendering Index, the CRI is important as it determines the contrast that your eyes can see. Lights with 6000K or greater give you less contrast and less actual vision at night. Ultimately it is a combination of reflector and bulb design combined with bulb output that determines light performance.

OJ.

I have done a fair bit of photography and I know about colour temperature. I bought some LED globes and put them in my standard headlights, and whilst they improved vision, I think they also blinded on coming traffic, so I took the out.


I will go to.their store and see what they have, I noticed on EBay that there were LED's available from Thiawan but they were pretty pricey.

[old Jack]

I have done a fair bit of photography and I know about colour temperature. I bought some LED globes and put them in my standard headlights, and whilst they improved vision, I think they also blinded on coming traffic, so I took the out.


I will go to.their store and see what they have, I noticed on EBay that there were LED's available from Thiawan but they were pretty pricey.

Standard headlights have reflectors designed to halogen globes so when you fit LED globes the position point of the light source is different and in the incorrect position in relation to the reflector.

OJ.

[NFT5]

Gen 3s have a reflector headlight which uses an H4 bulb. The bulb has two filaments - one for high beam, the other for low.


What's important to consider is that the reflector has been designed and optimised for the shape and positioning of the H4 filaments and the degree of accuracy required in positioning is +/-0.5mm.


While an HID bulb may get close in terms of position, the different shape of the arc means that there will be stray light which will result in glare. LED bulbs most commonly use an array of 3 or 4 square LEDs which are generally positioned on the side of the bulb, leaving large areas top and bottom, unlit. Of course, the shape of the array does not come even close to the cylindrical shape of the halogen filament. Result is usually a malformed beam with misaligned hot spot (if there even is one) and ridiculous glare. The lack of output from the top and bottom results in poor low beam performance closer in and poor high beam performance at a distance.


So, both LED and HID are poor choices in this instance. They're also highly illegal and the police are well aware of them and apart from periodic blitzes, will issue a defect when they see them.


The best choice is a high output halogen bulb. Note I said high "output", not high "wattage". The actual output, in lumens, from a "Plus" series bulb is actually usually more than that from a high wattage (e.g. 100/90W) bulb. The "Plus" series bulbs also produce less heat and are much less prone to exploding. The higher output comes from better quality materials, more accurate positioning and much higher quality control. The downside is that they do have a shorter life.




From there, the next step up is to retrofit a bi-xenon projector. Extreme care needs to be taken in this case, first with choice of projector since quality and performance can vary from excellent to abysmal. Some are optimised for low beam performance, others for width or high beam but remember that few offer the high beam performance of a good halogen reflector headlight. This is not something that you make a choice on based on price. Good projectors are expensive and warrant the use of an experienced professional to guide you through their strengths and weaknesses as well as actually fit them for you. If not fitted properly they can move or even fall right off (yes, I've seen this happen, more than once) while alignment is extremely important. I use jigs and laser levelling which allow accuracies in the order of millimetres on a sight board at 10m.


The ultimate is full custom lights, incorporating a separate high beam reflector. Not many lights are big enough for this, but the Gen3 headlight is.


In terms of the headlights themselves, the Mitsubishi genuine lights are streets ahead of anything else. TYC can be ok, as can Depo. Anything else is junk, including, especially, the brand OP mentioned, and anything made in China.


A set of Philips Extreme Vision or Osram Night Breaker bulbs will cost around $50. The Osrams are marginally better at the moment. For retrofitting budget from $800-$1000 while full custom lights go from $1500. Seems a lot, but really good lights are worth their weight in gold when it comes to vision and safety



A final note on colour. OJ is on the right track in his post. Lights that produce in the range of 3700K to about 4800K have the highest Colour Rendering Index. The CRi gives a measure of how "real" colours will look under those lights. In terms of headlights it helps to be able to see objects that may have similar colouring to the background, such as wildlife. It also assists in being able to see variations in the road surface, such as potholes or dips. Since natural sunlight actually has some yellow in it, lights that go close to reproducing this are the best for vision and are less tiring than those of higher colour temperatures (e.g. 6000K +) which have a much too strong blue component.

[Bill Coddy]

Thanks for all that.


I have LED driving lights, and when I switch to low beam it takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the dimmer headlights. So I am looking for a solution.


As too seeing wildlife, I use to live in Canberra and travel the back way to Adaminaby. I fitted some Hella yellow fog lights and was amazed at how many more Roos that I saw. The yellow light made them stand out at night.

[NFT5]

I have LED driving lights, and when I switch to low beam it takes a while for my eyes to adjust to the dimmer headlights. So I am looking for a solution.

The problem is not that your headlights are dimmer, but that you're changing colour temperature from 6000K to ~3800K. The blue in the LEDs has made your pupils contract and it takes a few moments for them to dilate again.



Two solutions:
1. Swap the LEDs for Fyrlyts. Similar wide beam coverage and better range than most LEDs while having the same colour temperature as your headlights. Much better CRI, too.


2. Retrofit projectors with 5000K bulbs.

As too seeing wildlife, I use to live in Canberra and travel the back way to Adaminaby. I fitted some Hella yellow fog lights and was amazed at how many more Roos that I saw. The yellow light made them stand out at night.

That way is Roo City at night. Accounted for 3 of my 7 hits, so far. Quickest way to the snow, though.


Yes, the yellow adjusts the CRI upwards and really makes them stand out.

[rushy]

Yup - I went the projector route.

However, it is not my first install. I have done about 15 installs for other people in other car makes. This was my first for the pajero.

When deciding what route to take, I had a range of different projectors to choose from. When I built these, i set myself the goal of building from my parts bin, so as to not eat into too much cost.

I ordered a replacement set of lights. I found a good genuine second hand set with good lenses. I heated these up to open them up.

I could have gone for a projector light the Morimoto Mini D2S, which is 'plug & play' to a certain extent. In the end, I went for the Morimoto FX-R project, not plug and play at all. Much hacking of the factory housing was needed. But as you can see, if all came together, and looks factory. Dust boots on the back work as per spec too.

I also removed the orange lense, and fitted a LED globe to the indicator housing. I also sprayed some of the inner light in satin black for a darker look

Pictures speak for themselves, crisp white HID headlights. I went the 5000k D2S globes, Perfect cutout lines too. However, not legal for road use, so off-road only

A few pictures are below.

Not for everyone as the cost will put people off. Rough break down below:
- 2x projectors $250
- 2x headlights $100
- 2x HID kit with globes $100
- 2x Projector shrouds $50
- 2x LED orange $30