H7 LED advice

The Boy Wizz

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Hi,

Has anyone used the H7 LED bulbs with the built in heat sink and cooling fans? Getting a ML320 (57 plate) on Fri, it has upgraded LED tail lights but standard headlights and was looking to get away from standard halogen lamps.
 

Richard Moakes

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You cannot legally fit anything other than halogen into an H7 fitting.

It's also likely the SAM module won't like the different resistance of the LED vs. A filament bulb and you may get flickering and / or errors logged.

Stick to what Mercedes designed at that point in time, it was tested and validated to work correctly.
 

kid-jensen

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There are a few Canbus compatible ones on ebay, for around £25.

They are a bit of a PITA to fit because of all the hardware BEHIND the monting flange. You will need to dremmel the stainless steel adapter plate that fixes the bulb at present to accomodate them.

BE ULTRA-CAREFUL if you break or damage the adapter plate, they are not available separately.

One dealer told me they are part of the lamp assy (£obscene amount) and another dealer told me they were part of the wiring loom ($obscene amount squared).

Try to pick an LED with the smallest and least number of LED elements. If the light source is spread around, the actual light falling where you want it will not be any better than before, even though there's actually far more ligght output.

In the end, I got fed up with being a LED pioneer and chose Osram Nightbreakers. Not as bright overall, but more light on the road where you need it.

They have compromised lifetime though....
 

Yugguy

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*cough HIDS AND RESISTORS *cough
 

Craiglxviii

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Firstly it is illegal to fit anything other than the homologated lighting source into an automotive luminaire.

Secondly by fitting "cool brav innit" LED H7 analogues into a reflector luminaire you will kill them off in the shortest possible time purely down to the lamp housing design (the LEDs own heat gets reflected back onto them and kills them via heat death in fairly short order).

Thirdly LED lighting sources in a non collimated lamp do not a good coherent beam pattern make.

Fourtly with the availability of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited etcat 2300lm and a choice of colour temperatures you don't NEED crappy LED halogen replacements to get the cool brav innit look.
 

Craiglxviii

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Firstly it is illegal to fit anything other than the homologated lighting source into an automotive luminaire.

Secondly by fitting "cool brav innit" LED H7 analogues into a reflector luminaire you will kill them off in the shortest possible time purely down to the lamp housing design (the LEDs own heat gets reflected back onto them and kills them via heat death in fairly short order).

Thirdly LED lighting sources in a non collimated lamp do not a good coherent beam pattern make.

Fourtly with the availability of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited etc at 2300lm and a choice of colour temperatures you don't NEED crappy LED halogen replacements to get the cool brav innit look.
 
OP
The Boy Wizz

The Boy Wizz

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  • Thread Starter
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Firstly it is illegal to fit anything other than the homologated lighting source into an automotive luminaire.

Secondly by fitting "cool brav innit" LED H7 analogues into a reflector luminaire you will kill them off in the shortest possible time purely down to the lamp housing design (the LEDs own heat gets reflected back onto them and kills them via heat death in fairly short order).

Thirdly LED lighting sources in a non collimated lamp do not a good coherent beam pattern make.

Fourtly with the availability of Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited etcat 2300lm and a choice of colour temperatures you don't NEED crappy LED halogen replacements to get the cool brav innit look.
Cheers, seems LED's are going to be a pain with not much gain. I am not really bother about the cool factor I am more interested in a better light, I have used Phillips bulbs in my current car which promised 120% better light but tbh I didn't notice much difference. Most people seem to be mentioning the Osram Nightbreakers so think I'll opt for those. Thanks
 

JBell

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I have used Phillips bulbs in my current car which promised 120% better light but tbh I didn't notice much difference. Most people seem to be mentioning the Osram Nightbreakers so think I'll opt for those. Thanks

I have used both and the Osram gave a much better pattern spread than the Phillips
 

Chrishazle

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There are a variety of versions of the nightbreaker, the most recent is Laser, previous was Ultimate, then NB+ then NB.
I've used all 4 over the past few years, NB's did not last long, NB+ were better, I currently have NB Ultimate in the dips and NB Laser in the mains, both are better than NB+ but I'm not convinced that Laser are better than Ultimate. I also have NB+ in my 968 cab, and they're good. Be sure to carry spares in the boot though, if they go you can bet it's night time and raining, lovely time to change a bulb at the roadside (ask me how I know!!).
 

turbopete

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just a query, do these bulbs ever SAY theyre 120% better? that would imply that a 55w bulb could somehow be as bright as a 120 (121 if youre pedantic) watt bulb, which I find difficult to believe on ANY bulb. by the very logic of it, surely theyd have to be classed as 120w bulbs if they put out that level of light and would therefore be illegal for road use?
 

LostKiwi

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Your maths is flawed... 55% brighter mean 1.55 of the original so around 85W.

The rating of incandescent bulbs has always been based on power consumed as that's an easy calculation so they are still 55W so still legal. Under lighting regs there is an upper limit on lumens.
 

Craiglxviii

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Your maths is flawed... 55% brighter mean 1.55 of the original so around 85W.

The rating of incandescent bulbs has always been based on power consumed as that's an easy calculation so they are still 55W so still legal. Under lighting regs there is an upper limit on lumens.

Only in America ;) right now the trend is towards brighter/ fuller and more clearly defined beam patterns in Europe
 

turbopete

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Your maths is flawed... 55% brighter mean 1.55 of the original so around 85W.

The rating of incandescent bulbs has always been based on power consumed as that's an easy calculation so they are still 55W so still legal. Under lighting regs there is an upper limit on lumens.

I was referring not specifically to these bulbs but the claims they make, some claiming up to 120% brighter on the packaging, hence the 55w, and 120% of 55w being 66w, added to the original 55w (as the 66w is the claimed increase) makes 121w, hence the thinking behind my maths. had I been referring to the +55% then yes the result would have been much lower, but even so, surely it takes it above the legal maximum of 55 or 60w (I forget what the exact figure is) for legal road use.
 

LostKiwi

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I was referring not specifically to these bulbs but the claims they make, some claiming up to 120% brighter on the packaging, hence the 55w, and 120% of 55w being 66w, added to the original 55w (as the 66w is the claimed increase) makes 121w, hence the thinking behind my maths. had I been referring to the +55% then yes the result would have been much lower, but even so, surely it takes it above the legal maximum of 55 or 60w (I forget what the exact figure is) for legal road use.
No its doesn't make it illegal as it doesn't work on light output. The power consumption is still the same. It's just a more efficient bulb.
 


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