Headlights

[d2d4j]

Hi

If you look back on this thread, I posted 2 pictures showing beam pattern and brightness.

Decide for yourself, but to me the bean pattern certainly goes to the left with little to the right and if brightness was to bright, fog reflects lights so would be blinding to me, which is not.

Hence I am soo pleased culzean posted these led and why I have never been flashed

Big 4x4 and Audi, bmw, Mercedes and minis all have lights which blind me, and there factory fit

Many thanks

John

[Ralph]

My factory fitted led lights had to be adjusted at the first service because they were too high and they are supposed to be self levelling. Still in that first year I never got flashed

[culzean]

Big 4x4 and Audi, bmw, Mercedes and minis all have lights which blind me, and there factory fit

Many thanks

John

I agree,  large German staff car lights ( well large cars and German cars in general including small German cars ) dazzling lights were the bane of my life when I was commuting on B roads,  and as you say they are CE marked and supposedly legal,  seemingly legal does not mean they don't dazzle you and seemingly illegal does not mean that are dazzling.. The beam cut-off on my headlights is better than the filament bulbs I used to buy and the placement of light more on the nearside verge much more useful for driving and less likely to bother other road users whether you are approaching them or following them.

[guest4871]

Big 4x4 and Audi, bmw, Mercedes and minis all have lights which blind me, and there factory fit

Many thanks

John

I agree,  large German staff car lights ( well large cars and German cars in general including small German cars ) dazzling lights were the bane of my life when I was commuting on B roads,  and as you say they are CE marked and supposedly legal,  seemingly legal does not mean they don't dazzle you and seemingly illegal does not mean that are dazzling.. The beam cut-off on my headlights is better than the filament bulbs I used to buy and the placement of light more on the nearside verge much more useful for driving and less likely to bother other road users whether you are approaching them or following them.

You are missing the point. It is not where the lights point but the colour of the light.

I believe new regulations are presently being considered.

[d2d4j]

Hi zzaj

Many thanks but I understand what you are saying

I was told by the MOT garage, they check colour/intensity of headlights and of wrong colour, it is fail. Eg bluish light etc...

Those cars I mentioned have brilliant white light which is blinding and very distracting. Even some of the DRL factory fitted do not dim when sidelights are turned on and been in a small car with an approaching car with those on, does blind you. Well it certainly does me... that is my point...

Also, culzean led are not max lumens, so the fact they produce white light, is not blinding white light.

In fact, I would say they do not show more of the road ahead, it is just clearer due to been white light (not yellowish light) and the road signs are more visible

Have you looked at my 2 pictures, taken in fog. These show the led for what they are as taken from a dashcam

Would you like me to put up pictures of the other cars blinding lights (we record front and rear). If so, you may have to wait until I drive at night

Many thanks

John

[Jocko]

I was told by the MOT garage, they check colour/intensity of headlights and of wrong colour, it is fail. Eg bluish light etc..

Yes and no. They only check that both lights are the same colour and intensity as each other. They don't care if they are bluish, white or yellowish, as long as they are both the same. Same goes for intensity. You are not allowed a bright light and a dull light, but they can be dull or bright, as long as they are both the same.

[d2d4j]

Hi jocko

Many thanks

I am not mechanical so just repeating what they told me. They did state strongly, bluish light was a fail which I guess is hid lights

Many thanks

John

[culzean]

Big 4x4 and Audi, bmw, Mercedes and minis all have lights which blind me, and there factory fit

Many thanks

John

I agree,  large German staff car lights ( well large cars and German cars in general including small German cars ) dazzling lights were the bane of my life when I was commuting on B roads,  and as you say they are CE marked and supposedly legal,  seemingly legal does not mean they don't dazzle you and seemingly illegal does not mean that are dazzling.. The beam cut-off on my headlights is better than the filament bulbs I used to buy and the placement of light more on the nearside verge much more useful for driving and less likely to bother other road users whether you are approaching them or following them.

You are missing the point. It is not where the lights point but the colour of the light.

I believe new regulations are presently being considered.

Well I don't think I am missing the point at all some of those German HID light sources go up to 9000K which is very blue indeed...and it is the blue component of the light that gets scattered by the jelly in your eyes and causes glare,  also I am not in the habit of confusing lumens with colour temperature...

[guest7494]

If I can just say on the recommendation of Culzean I purchased and fitted LED bulbs. Some time ago.
They improved without doubt the safety and vision capabilities of the vehicle,I have not been flashed by oncoming vehicles or indeed any other signs of vexation from approaching traffic.
So all these  expert and technical observations are completely over my head, these bulbs are safer for the pedestrians and cyclists using our local B roads and narrow lanes during dusk and darkness especially as there are NO street lights in the rural retreats also for myself an improved and less stressed journey.
So all in all a success all round and £70.00 well spent.
All I can say is in the interest of general road safety during night driving they are bang on,
However I would say this dammed auto headlight system is a pain in the a—- I would really like to have the facility to decide when headlights are to be turned on and off, and when to dip or main beam.
Sorry about the rant but these bloody EU rules and regulations get right up my nose.

[Kenneve]

+1 to all that Jaffa Jazz has said regarding these lights, particularly his comments about the Auto lights. Why they should turn on, in bright sunshine, just because i happen to be stopped at traffic lights, under overhanging trees, is beyond me. Can't imagine what the guy in front of me thinks!

As an aside, my Jazz is booked in 20th August at our local Honda Franchise Dealer, for it's 3rd service and it's 1st MOT.
I will let to all know what happens regarding the headlight approval.

[Steve1962]

Well,
After due consideration and taking into account all the comments posted on here, both for and against, I have decided to take the plunge and buy the LED bulbs from classiccarled.
I called the garage I use and asked their opinion - they have told me that as long as the beam pattern is not affected and the colour of the light is correct, they would have no issue with the bulbs being fitted.

I will let you know how I get on and will no doubt refer to the excellent fitting guidance offered here.

Thanks all.

Steve

[culzean]

Well,
After due consideration and taking into account all the comments posted on here, both for and against, I have decided to take the plunge and buy the LED bulbs from classiccarled.
I called the garage I use and asked their opinion - they have told me that as long as the beam pattern is not affected and the colour of the light is correct, they would have no issue with the bulbs being fitted.

I will let you know how I get on and will no doubt refer to the excellent fitting guidance offered here.

Thanks all.

Steve

Good man, you will not regret it come the dark nights, IMHO the lack of heat from the front end of the LED bulbs  ( The heat comes out of the heatsink at the rear of bulb ) really helps with the clouding of the plastic headlamp covers and stops dirt baking on. I have for many years used AutoGlym super resin polish on our headlamp covers once a month or so and they stay shiny and no sign of fading ( it works on PVCu house window frames as well to keep them sparkling - I only do them once a year though ).

If you look back through this thread nearer the beginning ( post number 13 ) I posted photos as PDF attachments showing beam pattern in my wife's MK2 of the bulbs.  I have LED bulbs from classiccarleds in my Civic, but because it has 4 headlamps with seperate dip and main using H1 and H7  I decided only to fit them to dipped lamps, when you go to main beam all 4 headlamps come on anyway, and you use dip 90% more than main anyway, and main beam bulbs are easy peazy to replace...

On both our Jazz and Civic I have no hesitation driving around on dipped beam during the day now, as the LED bulbs do not 'wear out' like filament bulbs and draw less than 1/3 of the power...

[Steve1962]

Good man, you will not regret it come the dark nights, IMHO the lack of heat from the front end of the LED bulbs  ( The heat comes out of the heatsink at the rear of bulb ) really helps with the clouding of the plastic headlamp covers and stops dirt baking on. I have for many years used AutoGlym super resin polish on our headlamp covers once a month or so and they stay shiny and no sign of fading ( it works on PVCu house window frames as well to keep them sparkling - I only do them once a year though ).

If you look back through this thread nearer the beginning ( post number 13 ) I posted photos as PDF attachments showing beam pattern in my wife's MK2 of the bulbs.  I have LED bulbs from classiccarleds in my Civic, but because it has 4 headlamps with seperate dip and main using H1 and H7  I decided only to fit them to dipped lamps, when you go to main beam all 4 headlamps come on anyway, and you use dip 90% more than main anyway, and main beam bulbs are easy peazy to replace...
[/quote]

Thanks Culzean,

Any handy tips for installing them - I am notoriously ham fisted at anything practical ( I call it bad luck, but the wife begs to differ..... ).....

Steve

[culzean]

Most findings about fitting are in this thread.

You will find a couple of hexagon Allen keys in with the bulbs, these fit the grub screws on the bulbs.  One grub screw is holding the body of the bulb static in relation to the orientation tabs on the bulb mounting flange - there are instructions with the bulb which number to line up for RH drive car, the people on here who have bought the bulbs have found they are already set up properly for UK. Just make sure the grub screw is nipped up properly.  The other grub screw locks the heatsink to the rear of bulb, the heatsink screws on and make sure grub screw is fully slackened off before trying to unscrew it.  The Allen keys are very close is size so check you have the correct one.   You will have to screw heatsink off to fit bulb, with the heatsink off you can easily flick the spring clips on the back of Honda reflector that hold bulb in place ( it makes bulb easier to fit if you bear in mind that the widest of the 3 tabs on the bulb flange faces vertically upwards to line up with its slot in reflector flange ) once bulb is clipped in you can refit the rubber seal that you removed when you took old filament bulb out - then rescrew the heatsink back onto bulb, heatsink can screw on two ways, make sure the threaded portion of heatsink that sticks out screws on first so that main finned body of heatsink sits away from back of bulb and more towards bulkhead, this improves the air flow around heatsink by taking fins further away from rubber grommet. Hand tighten heatsink and do not worry about tightening the grub screw as you will find it impossible to do it anyway, mine have been in over two years with no grub screw fitted, let alone tightened.  I did smear a bit of computer heatsink compound on my threads, but it gets really messy.  They supply cable ties with bulbs to fix the bulb power supply ( constant current driver )  to somewhere convenient nearby.   I found the heatsink never really gets hotter than 40 to 50 degree C ( can easily hold you hand on it) so it is quite safe to mount near cables, the power supply module barely gets warm.

[Steve1962]

Most findings about fitting are in this thread.

You will find a couple of hexagon Allen keys in with the bulbs, these fit the grub screws on the bulbs.  One grub screw is holding the body of the bulb static in relation to the orientation tabs on the bulb mounting flange - there are instructions with the bulb which number to line up for RH drive car, the people on here who have bought the bulbs have found they are already set up properly for UK. Just make sure the grub screw is nipped up properly.  The other grub screw locks the heatsink to the rear of bulb, the heatsink screws on and make sure grub screw is fully slackened off before trying to unscrew it.  The Allen keys are very close is size so check you have the correct one.   You will have to screw heatsink off to fit bulb, with the heatsink off you can easily flick the spring clips on the back of Honda reflector that hold bulb in place ( it makes bulb easier to fit if you bear in mind that the widest of the 3 tabs on the bulb flange faces vertically upwards to line up with its slot in reflector flange ) once bulb is clipped in you can refit the rubber seal that you removed when you took old filament bulb out - then rescrew the heatsink back onto bulb, heatsink can screw on two ways, make sure the threaded portion of heatsink that sticks out screws on first so that main finned body of heatsink sits away from back of bulb and more towards bulkhead, this improves the air flow around heatsink by taking fins further away from rubber grommet. Hand tighten heatsink and do not worry about tightening the grub screw as you will find it impossible to do it anyway, mine have been in over two years with no grub screw fitted, let alone tightened.  I did smear a bit of computer heatsink compound on my threads, but it gets really messy.  They supply cable ties with bulbs to fix the bulb power supply ( constant current driver )  to somewhere convenient nearby.   I found the heatsink never really gets hotter than 40 to 50 degree C ( can easily hold you hand on it) so it is quite safe to mount near cables, the power supply module barely gets warm.

That is what I call guidance - brilliant!!

Will post a response when the deed is done......assuming I still have enough fingers left to type....lol.

Steve