LED Headlight upgrade

[PaulB]

I am considering a LED headlight upgrade from either Classic Car LEDs or Better Car Lighting.

Does anyone on the forum have experience of either of these products, please?

Do they actually provide better visibility.
Do they, both H4 and H1 parts, fit within the original steel headlight buckets. If not, do they fit in the aftermarket plastic buckets which provide a little more room. I have asked the question of both suppliers. Better Car Lighting either don't know or won't tell me. All they will say is that they have been working with the SOC and private owners for several years and are not aware of any problems. Which I thought was rather a disappointing reply. Still waiting for Classic Car LED to respond.
Any issues with the MOT tester?

Any experiences would be appreciated.

[StagJonno]

The ones I've got (not yet fitted as doing very little driving at night, which is mainly dual carriageway) require a circular hole to be opened up in the bowl, though didn't buy from either of the suppliers you mention.

Asked my MOT test guy this question - his response was that provided the beam pattern was correct, it would pass. Therefore, suggest you confirm this issue with your potential suppliers.

[mole42]

I bought some Nighteye LED H4 replacements which have a small fan cooler on the back. They fit in my plastic bowls but IMHO do not give better lighting. What they do is reduce the power consumption- I recently left my car parked with the headlights on for about three hours and it started just fine when I returned.
I think it’s worth remembering that the Stag headlamps were designed for tungsten or halogen lamps and the new LEDs have a different light source shape, it would seem unlikely that the older technology could extract the best from the newer light source.
Since I use my car for historic rallies and most of the regulations prohibit LED headlights, I will be returning to the Osram NightBreaker bulbs.

Richard

[KOY 23]

Paul.

I think the fact that the suppliers will not confirm legality says it all.

MOT's have tightened in the last few years and now you must have a light source fitted in a housing that is approved for that light source. You may be lucky and find an MOT tester who will turn a blind eye on this and possibly other areas, personally I would prefer an honest test but that's your call.

Richard is spot on, particularly the different shape shape of the light source which will cause misalignment and scatter, which can dazzle oncoming drivers.

Also check with your insurance company.

John

[Bakdraft007]

I took the following view after asking muyself the following questions:

1. How often am I going to be driving at night or in bad weather - raerly
2. How much of a consideration is it to save power - not much due to #1 and I converted every other buld to LED so the car does not use much power
3. Do I want to worry about MOT's - sticking with standard or Halogens are less of a concern taking points #1 and #2 into account

Having considered the above, I changed to Halogens, added relays and am very happy!

The general LED's are great, a real improvement, easy to fit, bright, and reduce power. The Cluster was a real pain... but in the end sorted

Dave

[Phil S]

I have the warm white led's in H4 from better car lighting, they fit in the stag metal housing without any problems, I have not had any problems with oncoming drivers being dazzled (well nobody has flashed me) or flashed their lights. my H1 are just as set of led's I picked up elsewhere and are a daylight white (6000k) with all 4 on it's like daylight.
mot tester was a bit unsure but the light pattern was ok

[mike@thenook]

To get significantly better lighting go for Wards wiring kit to convert to 4 dip and 4 main - I have it and it is excellent plus, the whole system runs on relays which is safer and you can use whatever bulbs you feel best (legally) but they will all be H4's so possibilities are pretty endless - I have Osram Nightbreaker or something like that, better than any modern car I've been in even with with HID lights!

[sujitroy]

I upgraded my Stag to LED head lights I wrote a blog about problems you may face as I did. I bought some cheap LEDs but from the photo they OK

https://triumphstagblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/14/head-lights-dipped-beams-and-main-beam/

[blue 464]

I have just had them fitted to my car, they came from better car lighting. They have led daylight running lights built in , they use plastic bowls as the daylight bulb will not fit into the steel bowl. new light units were used. it went through the mot no problem. There was an article in a national paper recently about the department for transport cracking down on illegal car lighting after complaints from the public. there will be roadside checks and spot fines. cars are only allowed 2 dip and 2 main beam lights, 2 or 4 rear red lights and the brake lights must not flash. derek

[wilf]

I checked with my local MOT man about how many dipped lights the MOT will allow - he said 4 was fine. Did that before I converted mine to 4 + 4.

There seems to be a difference between what the IVA low volume "super MOT" test (basically construction and use regs) says and the MOT regs. The former does indeed specify only 2 dipped lights, the latter does not care about the number fitted, so long as the beam aim and shape is correct. (must have the "kick up" to the nearside etc.)

This is all as I understand it.

[DJT]

I have just had them fitted to my car, they came from better car lighting. They have led daylight running lights built in , they use plastic bowls as the daylight bulb will not fit into the steel bowl. new light units were used. it went through the mot no problem. There was an article in a national paper recently about the department for transport cracking down on illegal car lighting after complaints from the public. there will be roadside checks and spot fines. cars are only allowed 2 dip and 2 main beam lights, 2 or 4 rear red lights and the brake lights must not flash. derek

Check the Vehicle Lighting Regulations: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/made

The relevant bits are Schedule 4, Part 11 and Schedule 5 Part 11. Effectively, if the vehicle is first used before 1st April 1991, the limit of 2 doesn't apply.

[blue 464]

thanks, thats good bedtime reading. derek

[bullstarz]

My outer lamps are HID and the inner are LED. The LED's are bright from the start while the HID take a while to warn up. The HID's were fitted 3 years ago and the LEDs about 6 months. The LEDs are far easier to fit and much cheaper.

[Neil in Deal]

Morning all,

Re the Better Car Lighting products, I ordered a full set (H1 main, H4 dip/main) of LED bulbs, replacement light units (Wipac on the boxes, Autopal on the glasses) and new plastic buckets for the dip/mains.
(New buckets required, as I wanted to also fit Daylight Running Lamps at a later date, and as others have previously stated there is insufficient room in the original steel buckets - the DRL lamp connections will touch down on them. Also, the H4 dip/main LED's leads are very close to the surface of the original steel buckets, almost making them at right angles to the LED heat sink - not ideal - chafing a possibility..?
I daresay if NOT fitting DRL's, you could keep the original buckets, but cables bent at 90 degrees to metal (the heat sink) plus vibration/chafe never ends well.....

It does clearly state on their website that LED head lamps are legal to use in the UK.

Prior to buying, I phoned Gil Keane, so I got my information direct from the horses' mouth, so to speak. He is usually available during working hours, and is more than helpful.

Opinion on whether LED's provide"better" lighting than halogens seems to be divided. However, I'm taking the view that using LED's should provide better, brighter illumination, with the significant benefit of reducing load on the existing wiring, without having to use multiple relays.

So far I've only changed the H1 main beams, and they are nice and bright - have still to try them out on a totally unlit road - but am sure they will be better than the originals.
Hope to change the outer dip/mains soon. Note they came with a short harness the LED's "flying lead" plugs into, with bullets on the other end for a good connection to the original wiring.
Note the Autopal dip/main light unit shells have been subtly modified around the bulb mounting to let the LED bulb fit.
Also note I have no connection with Better Car Lighting, I'm just a satisfied customer.

Happy Stagging….

Neil.

[Neil in Deal]

Hi again,

Forgot to mention, the BCL LEDs have a 5 year warranty - naturally this appealed to my Scottish side....!

Neil.