remap = MOT failure?

[Miffy]

Fitting Hids into light units made for halogens is illegal already

They are, but I have had aftermarket HID fitted for the last 2 MOT, passed each time, I never get flashed.

Last weekend I was driving down the M11 at 11pm (ish) and was behind a blackrat (motorway police) for around 10 miles, if my lights were causing any offensive glare, I am sure they would have let me know?

I have been to various meets with this forum, and nobody has ever commented about this either.


Not saying its right, but I notice more misaligned stock bulbs blinding me than HID.

 

[star]

Fitting Hids into light units made for halogens is illegal already

Yes so is driving too fast but who is inforcing it.

 

[Rappey69]

The hids made for halogen reflectors give the correct beam,

well actually they dont and never will.. there is plenty of evidence online to explain why !
there is no such thing as a xenon made for a halogen reflector..
All to do with focal lengths, a xenon bulb "filament" runs from front to rear of refelctor, a halogen filament runs from left to right so source of light is not in same place therefore it physically cannot produce the correct beam pattern !

 

[Miffy]

well actually they dont and never will.. there is plenty of evidence online to explain why !
there is no such thing as a xenon made for a halogen reflector..
All to do with focal lengths, a xenon bulb "filament" runs from front to rear of refelctor, a halogen filament runs from left to right so source of light is not in same place therefore it physically cannot produce the correct beam pattern !

Look up H7R HID (the R denotes for Reflector use), they have a metal covering to move the focal point, and shape the output.

These are the ones I use.
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h7bulbtype.html

QUOTE "These bulbs are designed specifically for reflector style units"
QUOTE "As the market leaders in this technology, we have developed our own (patent pending) anti-glare bulb that is specifically designed to be used in your halogen reflector headlight unit."

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Well, I just got out of there in time then. I too had after market HIDS on an S Class W 220 and they caused no one any offence in 3.5 years. I too had passed 3 MOTs without a problem. I too assumed that self leveling suspension and headlamp washers would meet the requirement.

Sadly, it would appear that logic is no defence. Does the examiner understand the concept, or is it just a "jobsworth situation" - rule book says no?

And the benefits of this are?

I thought that I might 'get away' with the retro-fitted Xenons - but OH NO - when the examiner saw them, it was bonnet up and had a really good look. A shake of the head and it was all over - FAIL

ONLY factory-fitted Xenons are allowed - bugger!

Anyway, once new halogen bulbs were fitted they passed. A few minutes in the garage and the Xenons are now reinstated on both.

The same goes for the ML - Bullbars.! Take them off for the ITV and back on again afterwards.

It keeps them happy, I guess.! :lol:

 

[M80]

I find many factory fitted HID's to be set to high, it's only when they get close and the angle is more acute that you can see the inner lamps aren't lit so not on high beam.

When I get the chance I'll be lowering the beam angle on the C320 a little, Ive been flashed a few times already and the MOT was fairly recent, so acceptable.

I fitted aftermarket HID's to the 2001 C220, cheapo's from China. I went for low frequency 2700Hz for less glare, and adjusted for consideration (and manually lowered when behind another or around town). It's a great shame the legislation causes the legal HID's to be less considerate to others.

Aftermarket HID's are not legal for the majority of applications, so in fitting them you take the chance. It's a shame the legislation didn't cause the legal HID's have a lower aim by just a few degrees, and on higher 4x4's by more degrees.

As for the original question on remaps, I hope someone sees sense before the measure is implemented, but I doubt it. We already have emissions tested, that should be enough.

 

[star]

Look up H7R HID (the R denotes for Reflector use), they have a metal covering to move the focal point, and shape the output.

These are the ones I use.
http://www.hids4u.co.uk/h7bulbtype.html

QUOTE "These bulbs are designed specifically for reflector style units"
QUOTE "As the market leaders in this technology, we have developed our own (patent pending) anti-glare bulb that is specifically designed to be used in your halogen reflector headlight unit."

The same that I have fitted, this thread is not about Hids and there legality, its about whether any modifications will make a car fail an mot, some will and some wont and this mostly depends on the tester.

 

[dieselman]

The same that I have fitted, this thread is not about Hids and there legality, its about whether any modifications will make a car fail an mot, some will and some wont and this mostly depends on the tester.

They will all fail in future as they fall under OT rules. At present they don't.

 

[dieselman]

Look up H7R HID (the R denotes for Reflector use), they have a metal covering to move the focal point, and shape the output.

Unfortunately they still won't be right as an HID arc light source is brightest at the two ends of the arc and a filament lamp is brightest in the centre of the filament, the focus of the light will be wrong, hence they will scatter light.

 

[Rappey69]

Unfortunately they still won't be right as an HID arc light source is brightest at the two ends of the arc and a filament lamp is brightest in the centre of the filament, the focus of the light will be wrong, hence they will scatter light.

now that was put a lot better than my attempt at explaining.. :lol:

 

[dieselman]

Here is a good explanation.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/disadvantages/disadvantages.html

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

 

[Rappey69]

Ahh, thats the site i read ages ago that has the images of beams with and wihout hids, which to the untrained (most mot testers) look the same..
the xenons (right pic) look like they have a normal cut off line but its all the rest of the glow above it that should result in an instant fail as that is the light scatter.
Since many pass a mot with aftermarket hids it must show that mot testers do not understand the difference?

 

[dieselman]

The current MOT test only deals with the cut-off and general beam pattern, not light scatter which can't readily be seen on the testing device.

Come the revolution..

 

[danger bollards]

as for re-map i think its mainly for commercial vehicles as blue fins remove the limiters on tranny vans.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

Ahh, thats the site i read ages ago that has the images of beams with and without hids, which to the untrained (most mot testers) look the same..
the xenons (right pic) look like they have a normal cut off line but its all the rest of the glow above it that should result in an instant fail as that is the light scatter.
Since many pass a mot with aftermarket hids it must show that mot testers do not understand the difference?

Like all other humans, I am sure MOT testers come in different flavours.

There will be the "I won't pass it unless I absolutely have to" (no hair knowingly left unsplit) group and thankfully those with a more pragmatic approach - "I'll pass it unless there is a reason to fail it".

I suspect that the former group just have not been given the new rules yet, otherwise I am sure they will be all over it, especially if it provides scope for their employing garage to earn more fees for rectification and retest.

 

[HeavyOil]

Egr

I have removed the EGR from my non-MB car, and it passes the MoT. It is a fairly stealthy mod, and looks OEM-ish.

If you chip-tune your engine, and then fit garish blue silicon turbo hoses, I imagine that creates a "red rag to a bull" if the MOT man wants to look for other, potentially illegal, mods.