Anyone tried this? Maybe a way to get rid of all the HID issues. H7 to LED for the High beams?


Stu

 

If by "conversion" you mean completely removing the stock headlights and replacing them with aftermarket lights, yes, it can be done. HID, LED and Halogen are completely different systems without a single interchangeable part.

 

I see you can now get LED replacement bulbs (globes) with ballasts that use the original headlight housing, meaning you can do away with the HID bulb and it's ballast. Its a straight plug and play swap although you have to find a home for the ballast, its fairly small like some of the HID conversions you see, and the rear cover may not fit.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/72w-6400lm-D...-/181536644839

Stu

 

LED lights do not use ballasts, as they do not have a negative resistance the way gas discharge tubes such as HID arc capsules or fluorescent lights do. Even if you could power them electrically the light source is only a part of the light design, and bulbs, arc capsules and LEDs are all different. A bulb has a filament aligned with the body of the bulb, an HID arc capsule has a horizontal arc, and an LED is a point source (or multipoint depending on the number of diodes.) The reflector design is matched to the light source, so putting HID capsules in a reflector designed for a bulb decreases usable light, and vice versa. An LED would not be any better and will definitely be worse.

I looked at the linked product and it has all the characteristics of snake oil. There is no brand name. The people writing the add can't spell. They refer to HID and Halogen lights interchangeably and the pictures of the installation show a halogen bulb. They claim the beam angle is either 115 degrees or 360 degrees, and I can't imagine why you would want a 360 degree beam angle. They look like they have cheap plastic cooling fans, necessary because LEDs actually produce a lot of heat at the back of the emitter and because light output is temperature sensitive. If the cheap fan fails, so will the LED.

LED headlights, first introduced by BMW in 2012 and Audi in 2013, are complex lighting systems. All LED headlight systems are microprocessor controlled to produce the proper beam pattern and reduce glare. Plugging in a cheap LEB bulb will definitely give you an unusable light pattern.

Finally, the bottom line is that in the U.S., and almost certainly in Europe as well, installing these bulbs makes your car non-compliant with safety regulations and you can't legally license it.

 

I tend to agree with you gm much the same situation when halogen to HID conversions came out a few years ago, ditto the quality, just curious if any one tried them mostly with regard to light pattern, I saw a you tube comparison on a VW golf and the pattern and brightness did not look too bad.


Stu

 

If the car had a normal 7 inch or 5 inch inserts Narva and Hella make complete LED replacement lights now

I have seen a few of these fitted to late model trucks light is very bright

I wouldn't retro fit anything but original style to our headlights they are extremely expensive to buy if damaged

On my old XJR6 I pulled the twin 5 inch lights spent hours washing the insides with dishwashing detergent then drying and polishing the lenses installed Phillips night vision globes worked fantastic did not go up in wattage just used the night vision globes

I was so impressed have done this to all my cars except the X350 it has HID globes earlier last year I was having problems with these and was about to buy new ballasts when it turned out to be the stalk switch replaced the stalk switch lights are perfect again

I was contemplating replacing the HID globes as the car is 10 years old but at the price they cost I'll wait till they die first

If you think you need more light sometimes adjusting them up a bit can help
I adjusted my X350's up as the low beam was set so low ridiculous now I have turned them up a bit much easier to see at night

I would still like to adjust up the high beams a bit more but hardly drive the car at night and when I do its on well lit roads