i have a DS5 from 2013 and there are normal halogenlights in it, i believe H7.
I really want to have some more light, can anyone tell me wich led lights i need to buy for the headunit, without any problems??
I saw the nighteye H7, are these the one i need??
There are legal Halogen replacement bulbs that cost more than standard ones but are vastly superior. I swapped out the Berlingo's factory standard ones for some posh ones and it was almost literally a night and day difference. Many also have a colder colour, more towards blue rather than the brownish of standard ones. I'd highly recommend them, there are lots that are similar from Osram, Philips and others. Besides the price, the other downside is a shorter lifetime, but I've been using them for lots of years and they seem to last pretty well.
LEDs can't be made legal, as the element will almost always be bigger than or located differently to the filament the headlight was designed for, therefore the optics will be wrong and you will dazzle others. And if it's me or anyone similarly minded coming the other way you'll get a face full of their full beam, as it will look like you've left your full beam switched on. LED headlights need to be designed from the start around the LED light source.
Buy some posh legal bulbs, don't annoy anyone, don't get in trouble and pass your MOT without needing to fraudulently swap them in and out every time as some selfish muppets do.
OK if the reflectors are designed for LED bulbs but they are as you noted quite expensive.
My son recently lost his mind and has bought a Ford Ranger. Bit of a change from his Seat Cupra - original, not the current abomination.
When he drove here a few weeks ago I could see him coming three streets away, not him exactly but the lights. Apart from the normal headlamps the whole front of the thing was covered with LED lights that are very, very bright and can't possibly be legal.
Factory fitted though so there may be a loophole.
It's fine if they are factory-fitted LEDs as they have to go through testing, but the EU regs are so old now they are not fit for purpose. I agree that an LED can be a vast improvement from the driver's perspective, but many are far too bright from the on-coming vehicle's point of view and can be very dazzling.
Whether this can be partly explained by the poor halogen performance and light throw of one's own vehicle (where there are no streetlights, for rural drivers in particular), when one is suddenly confronted with a football stadium floodlight from an oncoming vehicle. Your eyes would take time to adjust and I think this can be a reason. Whereas if you had a whiter, brighter LED output on your own vehicle and had been driving for some time with a brighter output on the road, then it may not be as starkly contrasted when seeing on oncoming LED.
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I suspect the factory adjustment and MOTs are lacking too.
I bought my DS5 at six years old, mine has the optional LED/HID headlights. It had just passed an MOT but the dipped beam was the equivalent of full beam, and the full beam was lighting the sky, I could see very well but it was ridiculous and I got about five flashes on a short journey of a few miles.
After a tweak it's a good balance. But what I've noticed is that these modern lights have a much harder edge than halogen. There's a sharp cut-off from bright to nothing, so if you have them dipped as you should then the tarmac in front of the beam is completely dark. With Halogens it's more of a fade. The garage had adjusted them very low, I subtly lifted them to make them a better compromise, but nothing like as high as they were before and much more considerate than many others I encounter. But sadly the worst offenders are newer cars with factory lights, not pimped up bangers with dodgy conversions.
There is a campaign to regulate lighting more in the USA, but I don't think much is happening here and I don't think our govt really cares about regulating anything any more, it's all got a bit wild west out there on the crazy roads these days in lots of ways.
OSRAM are experimenting with a range of LED bulbs for retro-fitting in a Halogen lamp, but at present each marque and exact model have to be individually approved and certificated. You would need to carry the certification in the car for countries like Germany. The last time I looked I could count the number of vehicles atpproved on 2 hands!
Please note, I'm no longer active on the Forum, so won't respond to messages.
