**Controversial Thread** Anyone Using Retrofit LED Headlights?

MrJoshua

Member
Messages
175
As per the title... Anyone Using Retrofit LED Headlights?

I know they're not E Marked and therefore are "for offroad use only", but has anyone tried any in a non-Xenon 4200?

If you have, what was your experience like? Any issues with the aim, anyone flash you for being too bright?

I'm interested in the Osram / Philips 2nd Gen ones, not cheapo eBay things by the way :)

eg. https://www.philips.co.uk/c-e/au/car-lights/headlights/led-bulbs
 

Oneball

Member
Messages
11,071
Was watching the Gordon Murray vid and he was talking about huge heatsinks in the T50 headlights to cope with the LEDs so presumably they get very hot. Hotter than halogens as they don’t seem to need a heatsink.
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
You could put retrofit xenon, they don’t have the massive heat sinks you get with LEDs.
 

Danny

Member
Messages
442
I have done a xenon conversion on a 3200. Works brilliantly. Gone are the tense night drives, finally I get to see something in the dark!

The conversion took a couple of hours and about 80 pounds in total. At a later stage I also changed the foglights to led, in order to match the more white-ish colour.

Some pics of the conversion:
lh6OWft_wqmbqxnLyhOX9DuOy7eqDUN6r0Y76WaxKGEev6Vfr-Y0BbR0os-rTJe8vemV3V6Aga2Pta63kpdJXGZRujJgZCbWOhUhCTmZvoKF2oNiXZeU7aDOpmm0eDQkR3an_8a3WMU


Remove H1
LvqHxkEKF1Khy_Imb0hbbZMDrDnWt1AuIZYXDl2gWE4ka7glAhM05mBx3URnlBgsR0KAgtK5MfysOU1XecK4-wHKyGwmdWKKsu6x93u-6ps0YVgbAyzFKiLZsxD45x2NeHcz0gS8jo0


abIxbJSO8sG8VpZOXwNRbC4jcqp84TefY52gLdj4T1e3iMNBSff_KPPc2wtGAFsirLWrtUp6xPVUq-LWhIthGFxJReW6OQxtTWnL87R90BIxUaVLJ5e6hAd8RQNdeL9dY9wPXIc5qgw


J0vBcLZLbIP1qCu0vKZL1hayr8hoWmRZPpP-sVCGKCiclMH_xpaBnMv-Os2LvdslDS5FcX1k01LCLJnJORweevdnmhHi5vaWti-qOOM1wAdj-flaQ3ZMLD0YvANclMk-F8VnY1V_lck


Nice small ballasts
GvnvFoUtEUgVs3f-Qkssh8wnP6pwW6fb21LPOnuuv4OvQwLDFCDmTSVT9j9ZfdZ1XEFSs8JNzXnNTTO9A3dprUrvZI5BaOXCvIiAx22A59uBnVI5J3THzqFUjzkUFpcf2FDC5LvM7QA


lt0V33WUoYQmMGNRvSWjmwx8GTsVEhMNGKfcnE46SaKqD-2HpadLVLLm_wCnuX4zxDUwZfce72tNljzRa88GyGZwOab9t4KNTIxKqBQqBG6ZWcxfIPA7uxbJWRKepK3i73rY7mXCE3c


OEM look afaic
2ggeWOYnlI3gi2paxSD-tD9b1GCfeOENYnlprUCnQFVi-wliJ1PW_Ctbklv89AAgJfOtyUno27lA7Yal9oKazS-AwTTnvSDiSYsj1yQzO6S7C2Q8U_iPSO2YfF4SxhTgpkBzj4mieWk


Result
TbjINMzLOdzot_smCqAyj0gJ8o0UtpFDg-wXoNVtFq5wbtY6taQpCcZbYOZI4HfbCccrwSUinb3jTxO26tIzLPvzlzVHlFPO3AcN0qcVbzMe4rGt02a45kqZvv1owwbeO3kiNyeGxb8


km9ERnKBLK8ZidKVb7pf8fa011y6B1O6K-H74-F6Hbrda6l7QMJSp0kzudWyz5lZdoEpDGL5Vb8m2kdD6GjD7g9epdkX1dnO344IadMhzxniVQRJwGFZLbbTVNcKsvnlrant37hld8M
 

midlifecrisis

Member
Messages
16,102
I can't see anything potentially controversial about this thread.

LED is the future, bright white light output, long life compared to halogen. I'm sure Gordon Murray could have done something else with the heatsinks, say use aerodynamics to wick away the heat and lower the pressure underneath the car.
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
The issue is people retrofit because they are so blind they shouldnt have a driving licence...no wait! That came out loud; as you passed me ,coming the other way, robbing me of my night vision for a few minutes...Oh wait- it was daytime, and you still blinded me with your bl00dy lights...
No wait- its still out loud...the issue is people retrofit massive lumen outputs into lenses that were specifically NOT designed for their use...Thats why it's not really legal ( as in fails to meet OEM sepecs which are designed to meet regulations about width, throw and lumen output) and folk think as OEM are fitted with LEDs, it is all b0ll0x that they cant have sliiy bright lights when " everyone else has funky white light...I WANT ONE..."
sob sob...
Whatever did we do when we had to set fire to our oil lamps for illumination before we set off at speed into the darkness on our velocipedes ...?!! :bart_simpson-226:
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
The issue is people retrofit because they are so blind they shouldnt have a driving licence...no wait! That came out loud; as you passed me ,coming the other way, robbing me of my night vision for a few minutes...Oh wait- it was daytime, and you still blinded me with your bl00dy lights...
No wait- its still out loud...the issue is people retrofit massive lumen outputs into lenses that were specifically NOT designed for their use...Thats why it's not really legal ( as in fails to meet OEM sepecs which are designed to meet regulations about width, throw and lumen output) and folk think as OEM are fitted with LEDs, it is all b0ll0x that they cant have sliiy bright lights when " everyone else has funky white light...I WANT ONE..."
sob sob...
Whatever did we do when we had to set fire to our oil lamps for illumination before we set off at speed into the darkness on our velocipedes ...?!! :bart_simpson-226:

I hear you, those polos with std headlights with super bright bulbs are really annoying. Both the std and xenon Coupe's have the same projector lenses, so they don't dazzle, but the light is a lot better.
 

TimR

Member
Messages
2,654
I hear you, those polos with std headlights with super bright bulbs are really annoying. Both the std and xenon Coupe's have the same projector lenses, so they don't dazzle, but the light is a lot better.
Are you sure..? I had reason recently to peer at the design of the headlight units via images on eBay, and concluded that xenon units allowed for adjustment of both low & high beams....
. My cheap seats halogen units definitely dont have low beam adjustment...
 

Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
Are you sure..? I had reason recently to peer at the design of the headlight units via images on eBay, and concluded that xenon units allowed for adjustment of both low & high beams....
. My cheap seats halogen units definitely dont have low beam adjustment...

They aren’t self levelling and the projector doesn’t move to a high beam position. But in the years I had them I was never flashed or had comments regarding dazzling. High beam remained as useful as ever though.
 

doodlebug

Member
Messages
913
Was watching the Gordon Murray vid and he was talking about huge heatsinks in the T50 headlights to cope with the LEDs so presumably they get very hot. Hotter than halogens as they don’t seem to need a heatsink.
Halogens are designed to operate at about 540°C with no heatsink other than the bulb connector and the ambient airflow. LEDs have a maximum operating temperature of around 150°C, but have a much longer life if run at less than 100°C. Halogens have a 3.5% efficiency; LEDs are around 10 times better but it is unreasonable to expect an LED dissipating about 20W to keep below 150°C without a physical heatsink.