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#1
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Has anyone tried these headlight bulbs?
I was looking at putting Euro lights on my car maybe 2 years ago but it was so complicated that I finally just bought replacement bulbs and put them in.
I just happened to see these which were interesting. The video shows these giving a lot more light than standard bulbs, but I wonder how these bulbs compare to Euro lights like the Euro or Hella brands where you replace the whole entire light assembly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-yZYz3yzkk Last edited by jbach36; 12-29-2018 at 10:03 AM. |
#2
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What do you mean by "Euro lights"?
LED replacement bulbs are widely available and used here in Europe - they give quite a harsh light
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#3
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From what I have heard the LED headlight bulbs don’t exactly replicate the light distribution of the stock incandescent bulb, so this is what creates the harsh light.
An incandescent bulb has a linear filament that gives off light in a 360 degree cylindrical pattern (subject to the geometry of the bulb and the filament supports). The reflector and lens combination in a vehicle is designed around this particular light distribution, based on the point source from the bulb filament. LED replacements attempt to mimic this 360 degree pattern but they can’t, since they are an array of chips that individually only give light in one direction. So they try various arrangements on a cylinder to match what the filament is doing, but cannot match it exactly. The focal length between the glowing filament and the array of LEDs is not the same, so it throws the entire optic system out of focus.
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The OM 642/722.9 powered family Still going strong 2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD) 2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD) both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023 2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles) 2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles) 1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh 1987 300TD sold to vstech |
#4
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I just put a set of LEDs in my 300E. I had them in my Amazon wish list and I must have put them in my cart by accident because they shipped them just before Xmas. It's a hassle to return anything so I decided to install them. The only thing I really like about them is that they don't trigger the bulb failure light on my dash. The xenons I had in before would cause that light to come on. I haven't done much night driving with the LEDs yet, but you definitely don't get the sharp cutoff of incandescent bulbs so I'm worried they might blind other drivers. The other thing is that the high beam is just an extra LED on top of the bulb. It doesn't seem to take proper advantage of the focal characteristic of the reflector or the fresnels in the lens. Testing them in my driveway, something about them just seems off. Again, I haven't done much night driving with them but I'll probably end up taking them off and going back to the xenons. Those did give the proper cutoff and are really effective when aimed correctly.
Another thing about these bulb "upgrades"...LED or xenon, I wouldn't take a road trip without carrying a spare because you might not be able to find a replacement at a Pep Boys or whatever. They still seem to be mainly an internet order product. It's a shame that a lot of tech sites have been touting these as a great way to bring modern LED lighting to older cars. Dazzling, white and blinding doesn't make them good.
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1974 Porsche 914 | 1980 Porsche 911SC 2002 Porsche 911 | 2002 Mitsubishi Montero | 2011 VW Golf |
#5
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By Euro lights, I mean.....
What I was referring to was these bulbs as compared to the Depo or Hella brands where you replace the whole entire light assembly.
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#6
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Quote:
I hope that helps
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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver 1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone 1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy! 1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits! |
#7
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I have the Hella e-code lamps in my 300D. Even with standard H4 bulbs, they work great.
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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl. |
#8
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Improved Headlight Bulbs
If you wish to retain the original seal beam look, just go order in some 6014 or 6016 bulbs, they're for trucks and shed quite a bit more light .
European headlights are nice and thrown much better light than seal beams plus they have a sharp cut off of the light's path that prevents blinding on coming traffic . I tried some Chinese high output H4 headlight bulbs, they were nice and bright but only lasted two years and didn't have the nice cut off of light like Hella and other top quality Germans bulbs do .
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-Nate 1982 240D 408,XXX miles Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better |
#9
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All aftermarket drop in LED headlight bulbs are garbage. Just because the base mounts into your H4 or H7 base doesn't mean the light output will match your halogen bulb. The only headlight swap worth doing is HID projector.
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CENSORED due to not family friendly words |
#10
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How about a purpose built 7” projector lamp?
https://www.amazon.com/GENSSI-Round-Projector-Headlight-Approved/dp/B01DLANFIO If you don’t mind your car looking like a transformer Sixto 98 E320s sedan and wagon 02 C320 wagon |
#11
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Quote:
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CENSORED due to not family friendly words |
#12
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Skip anything that changes the light source. HID or LED in a halogen housing = nope. Skip anything with a blue coating. At best it only costs more and lasts less time and doesn't degrade performance too much(Sylvania Silverstar), at worst it's a dangerous nuisance to other drivers and damages your own night vision(all LED or HID on halogen base products). NONE of these are upgrades. HID projectors done right can be a fantastic swap. If you have sealed beams, you're particularly fortunate. Cibie and Hella make European beam sealed beam replacements which take H4 bulbs that are very good and inexpensive. Several LED sealed beam replacements are available that are fantastic too. BEWARE, there's more junk than good in this realm. If you're paying $20 on Amazon or eBay, you're getting garbage. JW Speaker is a great brand. Do expect to pay for quality.
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617 swapped Toyota Pickup, 22-24 MPG, 50k miles on swap |
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