LED Lights Help

[Christian]

I have decided to change some of my bulbs with LEDs. I have tried already some of ebay, halfords and few other website but still I get some errors.
Does anyone know where I can get 581 x 4No Error Free and 382 x 4No?
Can i change the rear fog 566 to LED Canbus , Reversing 382 ? Front fogs HB4 LED Canbus ?
Indicators can be amber, rear can be red. Looked at them ones on ebay but they're not saying Free Error Canbus for Mercedes.
If anoyone has them in London or around I am prepared to collect them over the weekend.
Thanks

 

[Troon]

I'd strongly recommend not doing this for mandatory exterior lamps, as you will be invalidating the lamps' type approval and possibly your insurance.

RVLR 1989 section 14:

14.—(1) Where a motor vehicle first used on or after 1st April 1986 or any trailer manufactured on or after 1st October 1985 is equipped with any lamp of a type that is required by any Schedule to these Regulations to be marked with an approval mark, no filament lamp other than a filament lamp referred to in the Designation of Approval Marks Regulations in–
(a)regulation 4 and Schedule 2, items 2 or 2A, 8, 20, 37 or 37A; or
(b)regulation 5 and Schedule 4, item 18,
shall be fitted to any such lamp.

( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/regulation/14/made )

If you were ever in an accident and the other party's insurance - or the police - found out you were using illegal lights, you may find yourself in a poor situation.

Your lamps' lenses and reflectors are designed around a very intense filament in a precise position. Bulb-replacement LEDs don't provide this, so the beam is sub-optimal and often significantly less bright. OEM lamp assemblies with LEDs are designed around these from the start.

 

[Christian]

LEDs Canbus are not illegal lights ! I am not asking for HIDS !
I know the law too but thanks

 

[Clkrichard]

Try Killerhertz on the other forum

 

[tode]

LEDs Canbus are not illegal lights ! I am not asking for HIDS !
I know the law too but thanks

Try reading post No. 2 very slowly

 

[NW_Merc]

LEDs Canbus are not illegal lights ! I am not asking for HIDS !
I know the law too but thanks

Ebay has error free LED bulbs, the same as KillerHertz's but less than half the price in some cases

 

[Troon]

LEDs Canbus are not illegal lights ! I am not asking for HIDS !

Yes, they are illegal for exactly the same reason HIDs are. I might risk fitting them in sidelights and number plate lights, but never in the mandatory functional lamps. See the RVLR excerpt.

 

[Christian]

Read all that. Thanks.
Changed side lights with some Bosch Blue tint and they're ok.
Now 581 and 382.
Not going back to ebay as they lie and i ended up with few extra but all i get is errors or not lit at all.
killerhertz? pm

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Try Killerhertz on the other forum

Im on here aswell

 

[Clkrichard]

Sorry K I forgot !

 

[orb the Impaler]

Changed side lights with some Bosch Blue tint and they're ok.

Nice.

 

[ianstaley]

I have a canbus error free led reversing light with built in beeper, works great. And it isn't illegal, when that bit of legislation was made there weren't any LED vehicle lamps. And if it is illegal every AUDI, Mercedes Benz , BMW, JAg Rols Royce and Bentley plus all the other car manufacturers wouldn't be allowed to sell their cars because the don't comply with EU law. Personally never seen an EEU stamp on a led? bit small really you would have to be superman with x ray eye's to read it.

 

[Clkrichard]

The 1989 regs quoted refer to filament lamps.
Surely an LED bulb isnt a filament bulb ?

 

[Troon]

I have a canbus error free led reversing light with built in beeper, works great. And it isn't illegal

I'm sure you'll never get pulled or fail an MoT test for a functionally-working reversing light, but if you asked VOSA, they'd disagree with you.

when that bit of legislation was made there weren't any LED vehicle lamps. And if it is illegal every AUDI, Mercedes Benz , BMW, JAg Rols Royce and Bentley plus all the other car manufacturers wouldn't be allowed to sell their cars because the don't comply with EU law. Personally never seen an EEU stamp on a led? bit small really you would have to be superman with x ray eye's to read it.

It isn't saying that LEDs are not valid light sources: as you point out, many OEMs use them all over the place. My S211 has OEM LED sidelights and high-level brake lights. However, the lamp assembly as a whole is subject to type approval, and for units with replaceable bulbs, the type approval is only applicable if approved bulbs are used in them. LED "bulb replacements" do not fall into this category; nor do HID "kits".

See the responses Autobulbs gives here: http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/blog/42/led-bulbs/

OEM LED assemblies are type approved as a whole unit. Not that you'd want to, but it'd be illegal to crack one open and replace some of the LED emitters with filament bulbs.

The 1989 regs quoted refer to filament lamps.
Surely an LED bulb isnt a filament bulb ?

This is true, and this is because the rule was written when there was no available alternative.

 

[Clkrichard]

So if those are still the prevailing regulations changing to a non filament bulb i.e LED doesnt contravene them ?
I agree about potential incompatibility of LEDs with reflectors designed for filament bulbs but that is a different issue from the regulatory one.

 

[Troon]

So if those are still the prevailing regulations changing to a non filament bulb i.e LED doesnt contravene them ?
I agree about potential incompatibility of LEDs with reflectors designed for filament bulbs but that is a different issue from the regulatory one.

The key is the marking. If you can find a genuinely E-marked LED replacement, it'd be legal to use. But you won't be able to...

I do take your point on the "filament" word, which looks like a sharp lawyer could get around it. That's clearly not the intent of the law though, and I'd fear for my insurance validity using legal-very-grey-area light sources for brake lamps and position marking lamps (dip, tail & rear fog).

You've probably seen this DfT PDF, which talks about HID but still applies to LED: http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/dft-information-sheets/aftermarket-hid-headlamps.pdf

 

[Miffy]

Try Killerhertz on the other forum

or try Killerhertz on this forum

 

[Christian]

done that Miffy.
Sorry for the delay but got home 2 hours ago from abroad.
Bed time now.

 

[RANGY]

since we are all having a chat about led's....could someone recommend front lights for me, i have a 2009 220cdi 204,i dont know if the halogen lights are just old now as they all look kind of brownish looking,kinda old fashioned looking to be honest,i would just like to update them,that being the front fogs and head lights,along with eyebrows to match,not a blue tint, just white will do, i have been through most of the ebay sites/shops and dont realy trust them and many others but would like expert advice from people on here who have brightened up the front of there car to look fresh and new again,i.e.tried and tested,if possible,what kind of product,where i buy them,strength and model and part numbers if possible,im sure the answers on the thread wil come in handy for many people wanting to do likewise,usa threads have plenty of chat about them but its all US sites they send you to,any leads for uk?
thank to anyone in advance

 

[Troon]

since we are all having a chat about led's....could someone recommend front lights for me, i have a 2009 220cdi 204,i dont know if the halogen lights are just old now as they all look kind of brownish looking,kinda old fashioned looking to be honest,i would just like to update them,that being the front fogs and head lights

I won't repeat my legal rant above, but you won't find an LED bulb replacement for a headlamp bulb that gives adequate performance. You'll never get through an MoT with an LED unit in a halogen reflector headlamp: replacing a single accurately-positioned very intense filament with a bunch of wide-spaced relatively-less-intense LED dies will screw up your beam and brightness even if it looks crisp white and intense.

No point replacing the fog lamp bulbs, as it's not legal to have those on except in seriously-reduced visibility.

Your options are:

better halogen bulbs: Osram Nightbreakers or Phillips Extreme;
HID kit: more expensive, potentially dazzling, not legal;
replace with OEM HIDs: much more expensive, best performance;
sell car, buy one with HID option