HID Aftermarket installation regulations and your MOT.

[Brianmoooore]

Are HID headlamps and their problems of not being able to be switched on and off rapidly now irrelevant?
A magazine article led me today to this website: https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php? and this : https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/ind ... t&catId=58 (scroll down to H1)
IF the claims are true, apart from mods. required to accommodate the physical size of the lamps, these are a MOT test friendly direct replacement for standard E30 lamps on all four headlamps.
I've tried a pair of cheap ebay LED lamps in the main beams of a non BMW, and while they are bright, the beam pattern is hopeless, and would never pass a test if used for the dipped beams.

[Foe]

Interesting! I'm really up for upgrading my lights, but is the £100+ vat worth it?
What mod would be needed to the lamp housing to accommodate the led bulb?
Is this something you might try?

[Brianmoooore]

Interesting! I'm really up for upgrading my lights, but is the £100+ vat worth it?

IF they're as good as they claim, and you're E30 is used for what it was intended for, then yes.

What mod would be needed to the lamp housing to accommodate the led bulb?

The black cap with the socket on it at the back of the headlamps would need a hole cut in it, as would the trim panels behind the headlamps.

Is this something you might try?

I'd rather someone else was the guinea pig first, to give their opinions on the first point.

[Cloggy Saint]

Not sure a hole in the panel behind the lights would be needed, they don't look that big.

[Brianmoooore]

Not sure a hole in the panel behind the lights would be needed, they don't look that big.

The one's fitted to my son's Corsa would definitely need holes in the panels, but maybe these would clear. The life of a high power LED depends very much on the effectiveness of its heatsink, and the radiator for the heatsink will be at the back end, so airflow is needed there to keep them cool.

[Moz]

I'm really tempted by these bulbs but don't want to cut too much of the covers as it would lose the OEM look. Has anyone tried these yet?

[paultv]

Is there such a thing as an H1 LED without balast that actually fits without having to carve everything up??

I took my HID's out - whilst they are brilliant for night driving, the slow warm up is very odd when for example you enter a tunnel and need your headlights quickly - never bothered to find an instant
HID kit after the MOT legislation changed.

Paul

[ChrisHC]

I think the latest high-output halogen bulbs which are up to 150% brighter than standard are good LINK
I have LED headlights on my modern BMW, and they are very bright and have such a good cut-off that BMW say they do not have to be adapted for driving on the right, but there is something about their long range performance that I do not quite like, perhaps it is a lack of focus, but somehow the range does not seem to be as good as it should be, I noticed the same on my previous car.

[miniblob]

Are HID headlamps and their problems of not being able to be switched on and off rapidly now irrelevant?
A magazine article led me today to this website: https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/index.php? and this : https://www.bettercarlighting.co.uk/ind ... t&catId=58 (scroll down to H1)
IF the claims are true, apart from mods. required to accommodate the physical size of the lamps, these are a MOT test friendly direct replacement for standard E30 lamps on all four headlamps.
I've tried a pair of cheap ebay LED lamps in the main beams of a non BMW, and while they are bright, the beam pattern is hopeless, and would never pass a test if used for the dipped beams.

Anyone tried these yet???

Tempted to try them in my beam lights and see how they look, just not convinced where is says the light colour is ivory!!!
My 6000k HIDs in my headlights are white and have an almost 'daylight' look!
Had no idea they were no longer legal, (just pointed out to me by Chris - they've just passed an MOT and that tester has even complemented them in the past!)

[paultv]

I got the profile details from them, so gonna measure up and see what needs to be modded

Paul

[paultv]

So the lamps extend from the base by 50mm - 10mm more than the H1 standard, but thats not at issue. Whether or not the light source
is correctly postioned for the projector headlamp or not remains to be seen.

Overall length of the lamp is 90mm and the widest part of the "power unit" at the bck is 52mm.

All in all, not huge.

The rear sticks out by 40mm from the mount point - this leaves a minimum of 17mm clear between the lamp rear and the standard plastic
cover on the E30.

You need this bit of space as the cable comes directly out the back of the lamp and not the side.

The guys at BCL also sell an adjustable rubber boot to seal the lamp - it's not that clear if it will adapt to what our cars are fitted with - and I'm not yet clear
about the electrical terminations - OK here it is:

Paul

[Foe]

Fair play Paul. So.....so far so good?

[paultv]

I think I'm gonna get a pair and see how they shape up, I drive so much distance in the old beast, better lights in the winter really helps -
and I pulled my HID's so back on lowly halogens at the moment.

Paul

[Cloggy Saint]

No one loves throwing money around as much as me, but £100 for a couple of bulbs??? They would have to be exceptionally good to warrant that price!

[paultv]

I agree, but the halogens are really crap - motorway driving in the pissing rain in the dark is not much fun -

I'm willing to try them out...

Paul

[Brianmoooore]

No one loves throwing money around as much as me, but £100 for a couple of bulbs??? They would have to be exceptionally good to warrant that price!

That's a lot cheaper than a couple of quality (= not cheap Chinese tat) HID lamps and ballasts. The problem will be if these turn out to be just overpriced cheap Chinese tat.

[miniblob]

Following this with interest!!!

The quality will decide if they're worth that price really - as Brian suggests, I paid a lot more than that for my HID's, but have never had to change a bulb and the MOT tester has previously commented how good they are!!!
I would assume these LED's will last a long time too!!!

The old focus I was knocking about in seemed to do a headlight bulb every month or so for fun, regardless if it was a £5 or £20 bulb, or who put it in and how carefully!!!

[Cloggy Saint]

My HID kit is probably Chinese tat as I only paid something like £30 for them about 8 years ago but they're still going strong on the original bulbs and ballasts.

[Brianmoooore]

My HID kit is probably Chinese tat as I only paid something like £30 for them about 8 years ago but they're still going strong on the original bulbs and ballasts.

So are mine, but an HID burner is close to a point source of light, so relatively easy to get a good beam pattern if it's placed at the focal point of the headlamp lens. LED lamps are multiple sources of light, so much more is involved with getting the pattern right.
I have used a cheap pair of LEDs in the main beams of a non BMW, and while the light is much brighter, and a vast improvement over the halogens they replace, the evenness of the light is terrible.

[paultv]

Well the guys at BCL are offering 5 year warranty against failure ... so someone must have faith in these, lets see.

Paul

[Cloggy Saint]

The bulbous part at the back looks at least as wide as the diameter of the original twist-on cap with the socket. Is it even possible to retain this part?

[paultv]

I doubt it - they make a rubber boot to seal it - but not sure it will fit..

Paul

[paultv]

So I've decided to try these fancy new LEDs out - I'll update when they arrive with some installation info - lets see how tricky they are to install.

Paul

[Brianmoooore]

So I've decided to try these fancy new LEDs out - I'll update when they arrive with some installation info - lets see how tricky they are to install.

Paul

For main beams or dipped?

[paultv]

For the dipped Brian..

Paul

[Brianmoooore]

It'll be interesting to see the resulting beam pattern! HIDs are an almost point source of light, and as log as they sit in the correct place relative to the lens give a perfect beam pattern. LEDs are not a point source, but these appear to be better than most.
If they don't work out as dipped beams, they should work well with the relatively unsophisticated reflectors of E30 main beams.

[paultv]

I'll be interested too - also they will accept returns on these so as long as I'm carefull with the install - I should be able to send them back if they are awful.

I just have to knock up some kind of plug and play connector for the LEDs so I don't butcher the original wiring and plugs.

Paul

[paultv]

Ok...first impression...the LED lamp unit fits...its a bit of a struggle with the H1 clip as the flange is fatter and the heatsink kinda gets in the way.

So the next issue is finding something to seal the huge gap and stop moisture ingress.


Paul

[paultv]

The position from the base of the leds is identical to a standard H1 as is the length of the filament and the led chips.

There are two rows of chips, one on each side and they face "east west" so there maybe a dull centre north and south...if this makes any sense. Obviously any standard H1 or HID has a point source with 360 degree output.


Paul

[Brianmoooore]

Looks promising so far.
As long as the fitted position of the LED chips is facing horizontally left and right, the dull patches shouldn't affect anything, since they will be in the sky and too close to the front of the car to be seen.
A similar situation exists with The LED striplamps which have replaced industrial fluorescent fittings in recent years. I've fitted hundreds of the former and dozens of the latter over the years, and although the LEDs have a lower total lumens output than the fluorescents they replace, the illumination on the ground is every bit as good, since the LEDs are directional and the fluorescents radiate in all directions, wasting some light to the sky and into the fitting.

[paultv]

To avoid radical changes to the wiring in my car I've removed the "lucar" connections from the bulbs and added waterproof BMW male connectors which plug directly into the loom headlamp socket. This has of course voided the return policy on the lamps. Oh well, all in the spirit of true R&D.

Paul

[paultv]

These are the plugs with cables - 5 quid each:

FYI

Paul

[paultv]

They fit like this:

Paul

[JungleGus]

Very interested to see your results here - looking to do LED headlights for the Boxster at the mo but the E30 fitment seems a bit less common.

Anything to be able to see in the dark would be nice....

[paultv]

I have some results.

In physical terms the lamps are about as small as you can get ( the electronics at the back ) I guess this is as they are 25 watt units. Fitting them is a bit of a pain and as the power cable extends
from the rear of the unit, although flexible, the whole thing impinges on the headlamp plastic housing covers - more on the right hand side of the car .

To avoid the cable rubbing on the plastic and getting damaged in the long term, you need to open a hole in the plastic cover - not so much on the left side where there is a little more room due to the moulding shape to clear the ABS.

Connecting is pretty easy as I posted earlier, just requires two pairs of BMW waterproof plugs.

The big problem as I see it is the fact that there is no easy way to fit a seal around the rear of the LED unit and the lamp housing to keep moisture out - I've made a tempory seal using foil and Tesa loom tape which is tough but not goopy like electrical PVC tape.

I discovered that you can withdraw the lamp from the base - mount the base in the carrier and then push the LED unit into place ( must be the right way round ) This helps with fitting.

So what about the performance? and is it worth it.

I currently use Osram next generation Night Breaker Laser H1 bulbs at around 14 euros a pair and these LED units come in at about 120 euros plus the wiring at 20 euros. The LED's have a 5 year guarantee whilst the Osrams last 50% of normal H1 lifetime. The output of the Osrams color temperature is 3500 Kelvin and produce 1550 lumen.

The LED units color temperature is 4300 Kelvin, so a little whiter but still very warm and almost identical to the Osrams. The output of the LED unit is stated as 4000 lumens so about 2.6 times the light output assuming the manufacturers use the same baseline to measure with.

My first impressions are they are no way as good as my old illegal HID's but the beam pattern is clean - they feel a little whiter and have greater throw than the Osrams - they kind of feel about 25% stronger. I'll take a shot at night to illustrate but it's really hard to quantify.

Is it worth it?

I put a lot of importance good lighting, hacking on the motorway in the dark winter nights in pouring rain, fighting the ludicrous over powered lamps of other drivers SUV's, which are a) so high up in the first place and b) designed to fry your retina's whilst the BMW is so low to the ground - anything helps!! My opinion would be that these units are good - lets see how long they last but I'm not sure they are that much of an improvement on the Osrams and for the price difference its really hard to recommend them I'd say it's down to personal preference.

I'll get some shots done in due course.

Paul