Pathetic Headlights

[Miles69]

Hi, have you thought about uprating your wiring and bulbs to 100w/80w? You can buy a relay and wiring loom kit from Moss Europe for £50 and then buy the high wattage bulbs in safety. This will really make a difference to your lighting. I used one of the kits on my old impreza and the difference was amazing. The kits takes the power feed straight from the battery so it places no additonal current loads on the switches or nongo wiring loom. I'm going to fit the kit on to our bongo as my wife keeps complaining about the poor light pattern. Its easy to fit and much better than fitting spots or fogs.

Heres a link to the kit:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... ortOrder=1

You can buy the bulbs from Halfords, however, don't buy the cheap ones as the dim pattern isn't as good as the branded bulbs.

[francophile1947]

Hi, have you thought about uprating your wiring and bulbs to 100w/80w? You can buy a relay and wiring loom kit from Moss Europe for £50 and then buy the high wattage bulbs in safety. This will really make a difference to your lighting. I used one of the kits on my old impreza and the difference was amazing. The kits takes the power feed straight from the battery so it places no additonal current loads on the switches or nongo wiring loom. I'm going to fit the kit on to our bongo as my wife keeps complaining about the poor light pattern. Its easy to fit and much better than fitting spots or fogs.

Heres a link to the kit:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... ortOrder=1

You can buy the bulbs from Halfords, however, don't buy the cheap ones as the dim pattern isn't as good as the branded bulbs.

Also totally illegal for road use

[ICB]

Yep, wouldn't touch higher than 55/60W rated bulbs personally.

The two best H4 bulbs (direct replacement) on the market at the moment are Phillips Xtreme (1st) and Osram NightBreaker (2nd), see
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/products/p ... _test.html

I just bought the Osram's on ebay for £11.40 (cos I'm tight and the Phillips are quite a bit dearer). Also got some high power (SMT) LED sidelights which should be a good colour match.

I've had Phillips VisionPlus in my Nissan for 4 years, excellent bulbs but I'm expecting the Osram's to be quite a bit brighter

[mikeonb4c]

Hi, have you thought about uprating your wiring and bulbs to 100w/80w? You can buy a relay and wiring loom kit from Moss Europe for £50 and then buy the high wattage bulbs in safety. This will really make a difference to your lighting. I used one of the kits on my old impreza and the difference was amazing. The kits takes the power feed straight from the battery so it places no additonal current loads on the switches or nongo wiring loom. I'm going to fit the kit on to our bongo as my wife keeps complaining about the poor light pattern. Its easy to fit and much better than fitting spots or fogs.

Heres a link to the kit:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewP ... ortOrder=1

You can buy the bulbs from Halfords, however, don't buy the cheap ones as the dim pattern isn't as good as the branded bulbs.

it was also said on here long ago that this could be dodgy, heatwise, as Bongo light covers are plastic not glass.

I've bored everyone with this but I'll bore them again, fit an FDB and mount some powerful (100W from ebay, legal as legal sells) spots - job done.

I'll fetch me coat

[David Edwards]

Yep and fit higher than legal bulbs and you are committing a moving traffic offence, which when stopped means you can be asked to provide a specimen of breath, also if your headlights cause an accident ( or traffic incident) as it is now called, then you are deep in it and it will be classed as a modification and your insurers will probably cop out and you wont be covered. It is also an mot failure as it does not comply with the law etc etc, then you will also probably melt the bloody lenses on the bongo, is it worth the hassle to dazzle, lol, not worth the poser points I suppose, dont forget the 50% brighter bulbs are still at my famous "what" shop for around £3.00 a pair also Lidl sell pretty good ones too. I can still pop em in the post if anyone wante em. Just let me know, lol.

[Miles69]

Yes, legally you are right, you will be committing an offence in the UK, it’s a weak argument as how many people do you see driving round with their fog lights on when it isn’t foggy – this is also illegal but I’ve never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it.

Provided that your headlights are correctly aligned then you will not have a problem and you won’t be prosecuted – My car has always passed the mot and even passed an informal road inspection by the police when I got pulled over for speeding. There are no “poseur” points for having correctly aligned headlights – unlike driving around with your fog lights on in perfect visibility or having 100W spot lights which blind on coming traffic…

In reality an 80w dip beam will only be a bright as the new generation of HID lights that are now fitted to most new cars.

[mikeonb4c]

Yes, legally you are right, you will be committing an offence in the UK, it’s a weak argument as how many people do you see driving round with their fog lights on when it isn’t foggy – this is also illegal but I’ve never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it.

Provided that your headlights are correctly aligned then you will not have a problem and you won’t be prosecuted – My car has always passed the mot and even passed an informal road inspection by the police when I got pulled over for speeding. There are no “poseur” points for having correctly aligned headlights – unlike driving around with your fog lights on in perfect visibility or having 100W spot lights which blind on coming traffic…

In reality an 80w dip beam will only be a bright as the new generation of HID lights that are now fitted to most new cars.

I think you've summed it up pretty well. In my case, the 100W spots are set at a decent angle of declination, are wired to work on main beam, and - just as with main beam itself, are extinguished as soon as oncoming traffic is in sight. But I accept they are technically in breach of the legal rating (itself a bit arbitrary I'd suggest as - depending on how the reflectors focus the beam, the illumination / candella power and thus ability to dazzle could be higher with a lower rated bulb than with a higher one).

Common sense and reasonabeness should be the key. I can only say this: the illumination I get from my lights now has made driving down darkened roads a pleasure instead of a strain. Also, unlike more powerful headlamps bulbs, I don't have to activate the spotlamps at all if the road is not especially dark

[francophile1947]

Yes, legally you are right, you will be committing an offence in the UK, it’s a weak argument as how many people do you see driving round with their fog lights on when it isn’t foggy – this is also illegal but I’ve never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it.

You have now I didn't even realise I had them on (bulb in warning light had failed and I must have hit the switch ). The local police were having a campaign against faulty/illegal lights at the time.

[Miles69]

Oh dear John, sorry to hear that, the only time I've known anyone get knicked for having their fog lights on is when they were travelling through France. The French police will happily issue a fine for having your fogs on in good visibilty.

[mikeonb4c]

Yes, legally you are right, you will be committing an offence in the UK, it’s a weak argument as how many people do you see driving round with their fog lights on when it isn’t foggy – this is also illegal but I’ve never heard of anyone being prosecuted for it.

You have now I didn't even realise I had them on (bulb in warning light had failed and I must have hit the switch ). The local police were having a campaign against faulty/illegal lights at the time.

This forum is amazing. Where else would I have found that rare occurence of someone who got done for spotlights (do I recall you mentioning this at the time France or is my faulty memory at work again?). Was the 'pull' because they saw you driving with them on. Did they get involved in checking that the bulbs were ratings compliant and if so, how did they manage to ascertain the wattage?

[missfixit70]

Franco got done for foglights Mike, not spotlights

[francophile1947]

Correct Kirsty - not spotlights Mike and it was roadside checks.
However, they did give the car the once over and I wouldn't want to have illegal bulbs fitted if I was stopped again I was lucky, they let me off because the warning lamp had gone, but they did make it clear that I should get it fixed and NOT use the fog lights again (unless visibility was below 100 yards) - they also gave me a nice little bit of paper to take to my local police station and show that the fault had been repaired.
The policeman, who gave me the little slip of paper, was actually very nice about it all and told me that they were having a week of pulling over cars with faulty/illegal lights and he couldn't believe how bad some of the faults on the cars were. He was fairly new to the job (looked about 10 years old ) and was amazed at some of the ridiculous excuses some people gave. His partner, who had been in the job for years, just laughed and said he hadn't heard a new excuse for 10 years
Amazingly, the word soon spread and those little blue LEDs (and blue exhausts) disappeared for several months
To be honest, they could do with another session like that, because the number of cars with only 1 front or rear light is staggering

[mikeonb4c]

Franco got done for foglights Mike, not spotlights

Yup, I know. I was waiting - no pun intended - for someone to spot that. It was my roundabout way of returning the debate to the delicate issue of whether it matters having illegal bulbs in your lights. You see, I think it is the general point that Miles69 makes, and that Franco is confirming with his last post, that is the key I think. Unless you prod the bees nest with a stick (as when being collectively careless in having ill fitted lights that dazzle drivers, driving with one out etc. etc.) then it is unlikely they will swarm all over you. Even when they do, they are more likely to give you a ticking off than pursue you through the courts (do bees do that?. )

PS - also implied in Francos post I think is that it is unlikely, in the absence of a larger sticker saying 'these bulbs are 100W' that the police will have a ready way of knowing what wattage they are

[francophile1947]

PS - also implied in Francos post I think is that it is unlikely, in the absence of a larger sticker saying 'these bulbs are 100W' that the police will have a ready way of knowing what wattage they are

As you've said Mike, the 100W are a lot brighter than standard ones. They checked all the lights on mine and I'm sure an experienced copper would enquire as to why yours were so bright. Also, as David said, you could well invalidate your insurance in the event of a claim.
I'm still puzzled as to why you need 100W bulbs, as my main beam lights up the road fine. With a couple of legal spotlamps fitted, I can't envisage any circumstance when you wouldn't be able to see clearly

[Wedge]

Well I've fitted, the new bulbs (Ring Xenon Max) and I'm very pleased with the results . I also got some new sidelight bulbs for free.

Now I've got white lights instead of dodgy yellow ones!

I'm now thinking of replacing the interior festoons for some LED's!