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chinkamon

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So driving my 2009 mazda 6 Estate in the dark just now, thinking how I wish my works van, a 2014 Nissan primastar had headlights this bright, then wondered how easy is it to install these fancy super bright headlamps in a classic Ford? 

Mine have been updated to halogen but these in my mazda are super dooper white lights with what looks like a sphere magnifying glass as a lens? An they don't half light up a dark country road. 

So does anyone know if its a swop that's easily done??? 

Seen kits on ebay but they're probably crap ?

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56 minutes ago, eeb43 said:

think the hid? are now banned as retro fitment?

Some vehicles may be fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps. It is not permitted to convert existing halogen headlamp units for use with HID bulbs. If it is clear that such a conversion has been carried out, rather than replacing the entire unit with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs, the headlamp should be rejected.

The difficulty here will be how MOT examiners are expected to determine if the housing is "correct"; will they be looking at beam pattern to determine if there is excessive glare - which will require an element of judgement on their part - or will they have to take a harder line, for example by simply failing the car if it didn't come from the manufacturer with HIDs in the first place.

There is some grey area here. For example, I have a car which came from the factory with optional HID lamps. If my car didn't originally come with HIDs, but I obtained the correct HID headlights from the manufacturer, along with all the self-levelling equipment, headlight washers, etc, and fitted them correctly, then my car's headlights would technically be entirely legal - and I think, based on the wording above, this would be a pass.

Less clear-cut is the conversion I have done on a Nissan car which originally had halogen reflector headlights; in this case, I installed an HID projector into the headlight housing with an OEM-standard set of HID bulbs, ballasts, etc - these headlights produce a good warm-white light - same as OEM HID headlights - and have a good, sharp beam cutoff which doesn't cause glare for other road users. In other words, the parts of the headlight which affect light distribution (the projector) are designed for use with HID lamps.

But, the headlight housing itself was originally designed for a halogen reflector headlight, although this doesn't affect the HID beam pattern.

So, again, the new wording seems to suggest that, as long as the headlight puts out the correct beam pattern, with the right colour light (i.e. not excessively blue), then the car should pass.

The devil in this change will be in the detail of how the tester will be expected to judge whether a headlight is designed for an HID lamp.

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30 minutes ago, colr6 said:

Some vehicles may be fitted with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps. It is not permitted to convert existing halogen headlamp units for use with HID bulbs. If it is clear that such a conversion has been carried out, rather than replacing the entire unit with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs, the headlamp should be rejected.

The difficulty here will be how MOT examiners are expected to determine if the housing is "correct"; will they be looking at beam pattern to determine if there is excessive glare - which will require an element of judgement on their part - or will they have to take a harder line, for example by simply failing the car if it didn't come from the manufacturer with HIDs in the first place.

There is some grey area here. For example, I have a car which came from the factory with optional HID lamps. If my car didn't originally come with HIDs, but I obtained the correct HID headlights from the manufacturer, along with all the self-levelling equipment, headlight washers, etc, and fitted them correctly, then my car's headlights would technically be entirely legal - and I think, based on the wording above, this would be a pass.

Less clear-cut is the conversion I have done on a Nissan car which originally had halogen reflector headlights; in this case, I installed an HID projector into the headlight housing with an OEM-standard set of HID bulbs, ballasts, etc - these headlights produce a good warm-white light - same as OEM HID headlights - and have a good, sharp beam cutoff which doesn't cause glare for other road users. In other words, the parts of the headlight which affect light distribution (the projector) are designed for use with HID lamps.

But, the headlight housing itself was originally designed for a halogen reflector headlight, although this doesn't affect the HID beam pattern.

So, again, the new wording seems to suggest that, as long as the headlight puts out the correct beam pattern, with the right colour light (i.e. not excessively blue), then the car should pass.

The devil in this change will be in the detail of how the tester will be expected to judge whether a headlight is designed for an HID lamp.

normal mot tester confusion then! clear as mud! lol

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Well the headlight lens on my cortina are clear glass. 

I see in halfrauds you can but whiter brighter bulbs etc. But wandered if it is just simple swop in job? I guess the light may get reflected / refracted all over the place if it isn't set up correctly? 

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I bought a pair of crystal h4 headlights from bearmach for a landrover .They needed a small tweak to remove some excess plastic on the back. Fitted some updated bulbs from halfrauds,

If you look for bearmach on ebay you will see they sell some halo ones and even smoked glass effect.nice

Neil

 

 

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On 02/12/2018 at 18:37, chinkamon said:

So driving my 2009 mazda 6 Estate in the dark just now, thinking how I wish my works van, a 2014 Nissan primastar had headlights this bright, then wondered how easy is it to install these fancy super bright headlamps in a classic Ford? 

Mine have been updated to halogen but these in my mazda are super dooper white lights with what looks like a sphere magnifying glass as a lens? An they don't half light up a dark country road. 

So does anyone know if its a swop that's easily done??? 

Seen kits on ebay but they're probably crap ?

You must have HID for sure because the normal Mazda 6 estate 2009 I had until recently it was like it had cataracts. Common problem which the manufacturer refused to deal with along with several other known faults. So i splashed out on some PIAA bulbs, bloomin expensive but improved the original poor lighting on that. I recently sold my Mazda as another issue with that of the power steering getting a mind of its own. Again another dangerous common fault the makers didn't want to admit too...but thats for another forum.

Just recently I've bought some rather "jolly bright" bulbs for my Corsair, not been out at night as yet but they do appear much brighter than the original H4 halogen. I've recently seen one or two Classic Fords with the expensive 7" LED lamps, but tbh they really do look out of place on a classic. I'd just try different bulbs- the various bright white versions, or PIAA that sort of thing or as already mentioned the cough cough illegal wattage ones.

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