Head light bulbs.

[vtaylor78]

Has anyone used these brighter head light bulbs that claim to produce 150% more light ?
Apparently they have a longer beam pattern, reaching up to 190M that’s 80M longer than standard.
I was thinking with the darker nights on the way of upgrading, would be interested to hear people’s thoughts on these.

 

[Chrishazle]

Many threads on here about upgrading headlamp bulbs if you search. Many members, me included, have changed from factory fit bulbs to Osram Nightbreaker Ultimates or similar. For example : http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?search/3406266/&q=headlight+upgrade&t=post&o=date

 

[LostKiwi]

All my cars are fitted with them.

 

[Wighty]

I fitted some Phillips 150% bulbs , but can't honestly say I noticed the difference . I did it because one of my bulbs had blown so I put 2 new ones in and kept the old working one as a spare

 

[vtaylor78]

I see it’s a bit of a Palava to change the headlight bulbs, wheel off and wheel arch liner off to access .

 

[LostKiwi]

Dead easy on all mine. Smarts the hardest - need to undo a dozen screws and lift the headlight assembly out.

 

[Blobcat]

I’ve used the nightbreakers in the VW but they didn’t last very long so reverted back to normal bulbs. The lights in that were pants. I’ve upgraded the Land Rover to full LED’s and they are very good to drive behind although even though it’s been tweaked it’s never going to be faster than the lights.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Osram Nightbreaker Unlimited are the most consistently brightest on the market for halogen and their Xenarc Unlimited for HiD/ Xenon. It’s fully worth doing, your night drive will be visibly improved.

Edit. On the lifetime thing, the updated lamps have a lifetime of around 500-550 hours of operation. That’s around 1/4 of the factory fitted lamp, but still equal to 3 years of driving.

 

[Craiglxviii]

I’ve used the nightbreakers in the VW but they didn’t last very long so reverted back to normal bulbs. The lights in that were pants. I’ve upgraded the Land Rover to full LED’s and they are very good to drive behind although even though it’s been tweaked it’s never going to be faster than the lights.

Only the full LED setup is illegal...

 

[Chrishazle]

I've had NB Unlimited in my dip beams for 2+ years now, dips are on whenever I'm driving, have done about 20k miles in that time - and they still (touch wood!) work!

 

[Blobcat]

Only the full LED setup is illegal...

Do you wish to see my MOT certificate and DOT approval on the lights? I have both.

 

[ZZZZ]

Only the full LED setup is illegal...

What about errr, partial - say projector lamp, dipped beam, perfect light pattern, verified on HELLA calibration system ...

 

[Craiglxviii]

What about errr, partial - say projector lamp, dipped beam, perfect light pattern, verified on HELLA calibration system ...

If LED lamps are retrofitted into an existing headlamp then the setup is illegal. The lamp assembly is E- marked for its original design layout (H11, H7, D2R etc) and no alternative lighting source can legally replace them because only a halogen lamp can be H7 for instance.

Do you wish to see my MOT certificate and DOT approval on the lights? I have both.

No, and if you have the full Wipac or Bee Lighting plug & play system then they ARE E-marked. However if you have replaced the lighting source within your headlamp then you’ve dehomologated the car...

 

[Blobcat]

I know they’re E-Marked as I’ve replaced all the lights with LED lights, not the bulbs.
I’m not entering World Rally so Homologation isn’t an issue... although it wasn’t for Lancia either at the time.

 

[LostKiwi]

There's a few 7" e-marked Defender kits.
Nolden, JW Speaker, Hella and a half dozen others.

 

[ZZZZ]

If LED lamps are retrofitted into an existing headlamp then the setup is illegal. The lamp assembly is E- marked for its original design layout (H11, H7, D2R etc) and no alternative lighting source can legally replace them because only a halogen lamp can be H7 for instance.

OK thanks Craig

 

[L John]

Edit. On the lifetime thing, the updated lamps have a lifetime of around 500-550 hours of operation. That’s around 1/4 of the factory fitted lamp, but still equal to 3 years of driving.

Not the same thing, but I bought several low energy lamps for the house that were rated at 5 years. None got past 3 years, the earliest was around 6 months before it failed. Whole house has been LED for years now and had no problems.
I think original house incandescent bulbs were supposed to do 1000 hours, I'm sure they never did.
My thinking is incandescent bulbs are rated by unreal accelerated tests and never give actual expectation in the real world.

 

[davemercedes]

I agree - 5 years is very unlikely. I keep the empty packet and scribble the date on it. Worst has been 13 months and most 24-ish.

We leave the light in the hall on permanently- it's only 5 watts and the fitting is totally cool to the touch. It was easier to do that than try to wire in a timer (and it's a dual switch with 2 way on one side for upstairs. So for the pennies cost we have 'security lighting' that also gives light upstairs (which is helpful for calls of nature at 3 am)! All these low consumption bulbs start off quite dim and get brighter but it's really surprisingly how much light this little 5 watts light puts out.

 

[Capra]

We have 50 Megaman LED 6w down lights and they come with 5 years warranties. They were fitted nearly six years ago and have not blown yet. I hope they don't go at the same time as they are all dim-able and not cheap!!!

 

[Craiglxviii]

I agree - 5 years is very unlikely. I keep the empty packet and scribble the date on it. Worst has been 13 months and most 24-ish.

We leave the light in the hall on permanently- it's only 5 watts and the fitting is totally cool to the touch. It was easier to do that than try to wire in a timer (and it's a dual switch with 2 way on one side for upstairs. So for the pennies cost we have 'security lighting' that also gives light upstairs (which is helpful for calls of nature at 3 am)! All these low consumption bulbs start off quite dim and get brighter but it's really surprisingly how much light this little 5 watts light puts out.

With LED the usual mode of failure is not the LED chips themselves but the driver electronics, usually because some twerp in the cost reduction team has been able to source a component that's half the cost with 1/4 of the lifetime of the original spec.

Most household LED lamps should last for 50,000 hours of operation nowadays.