Bulbs and headlights general and legal

[NewcastleFalcon]

I think I hit lucky with the spec of my Leaf. It has replaceable light bulbs in the headlights.
An odd spec to me. H13 rather than H4 or H7.

Shopping for the H13’s I am offered a wide range of colours and brightness, and many LED alternatives, no doubt with a little extra paraphernalia to make them work.

Being a bit of a delver, thought I would dig out the MOT testers manual see what it says about such things.
I also landed on the "My Nissan Leaf" forum looking for a how to change the light bulbs thread seeing as this is the first time, and the relevant pages of the owner’s manual were both missing and useless.

That also led to a thread about the 2018 next generation of the Leaf, where the replaceable bulb has been consigned to the museum of reasonably affordable lighting, in favour of an LED integrated headlight unit. Totally irrelevant to being an electric vehicle, such hideously expensive units are increasingly becoming the norm in newer vehicles.

Should be a little bit of discussion matter around the subject. If not I will just follow through with my H13 purchase, replacing like with like, but probably if I read the M.O.T. rules right I may have to replace both bulbs as a matching pair of colour/intensity..

Neil

[bobins]

I'm sure I remember reading or hearing many years ago that C&U / Lighting regs required that lamps should be able to be changed without the need for specialised tools. I did go looking for the relevant regs once, but drew a blank. Anyone know better ?

[myglaren]

Eminently sensible regulation no doubt chucked in the bin with the need to make cars 'prettier'. Which has failed miserably anyway.

[NewcastleFalcon]

My take from this blurb is that if I have H13's Halogens in the headlamp unit, they must be replaced with H13 Halogens, and they must be a matching pair within the substantially within the same colour and intensity condition.
The many many "H13 LED bulbs" would appear to me to be a failure at MOT time so not an option.

There appears to be a concession if the whole headlight unit is replaced with an LED/or HID headlight...not going to happen with my vehicle.
Selected extracts...
MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles
Published 20 May 2018 Updated:6 February 2023,

4.1.4. Compliance with requirements

You must inspect all ‘mandatory’ headlamps fitted.
Mandatory headlamps consist of a matched pair of main beam headlamps and a matched pair of dipped-beam headlamps. These can be separate or a single pair of headlamps.
Lamps are matched if they:
emit light of substantially the same colour and intensity
are the same size and shape that they are symmetrical to each other

The colour of the light headlamps emit must be one of the following:
white, predominantly white with blue tinge, yellow
In a four-headlamp system the outer headlamps do not need to emit the same colour light as the inner pair.

The precise position of lamps is not part of the inspection, but you should check visually that they are at about the same height and the same distance from each side of the vehicle.

Existing halogen headlamp units on vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp for light source and lamp not compatible.

This does not refer to complete replacement headlamp units which may be constructed with HID or LED light sources. If a complete headlamp unit has been replaced with a unit that was manufactured with HID or LED light sources, it must not be failed for ‘Light source and lamp not compatible’ but it must meet all other requirements detailed in section 4 of this manual specific to the type fitted at the time of test.

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

So it seems that you can swap out the entire headlights but not upgrade from halogen to anything else for post 86 cars. However can you convert older vehicles ? If that is allowed then I'd judge that as a bit weird!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Just an article, not horses mouth stuff....

https://www.motoringassist.com/news/how ... ar-legally

LED lamps, fitted to new cars, have been tested and pass EU Whole Vehicle Type Approval. This means that the lenses and light sources work together to optimise driver visibility and reduce dazzle to oncoming traffic.

So, are LED headlights legal in the UK? They are, because these new car LED lamp units pass European / UNECE technical standards. This is the same with other lamps, including those fitted to the side and rear.

Nonetheless, the ‘bulbs’ on those newer cars thus equipped, at the time of writing, cannot be renewed. If an LED light source fails, the whole lamp has to be replaced.

er fingers crossed you don't have to troop into a approved dealer workshop and ask them to give you an estimate for "changing a bulb" on one of those fancy lighting units which have stopped working. You will be greeted with..."the whole headlight has to be replaced". Prepare yourself for wallet emptying.

Then again because they have chosen to move away from replaceable bulbs as a fairly trivial service item into large expense territory, wonder if the warranties offered cover failure of the lighting units.

Neil

[bobins]

Nonetheless, the ‘bulbs’ on those newer cars thus equipped, at the time of writing, cannot be renewed. If an LED light source fails, the whole lamp has to be replaced.

er fingers crossed you don't have to troop into a approved dealer workshop and ask them to give you an estimate for "changing a bulb" on one of those fancy lighting units which have stopped working. You will be greeted with..."the whole headlight has to be replaced". Prepare yourself for wallet emptying.

Then again because they have chosen to move away from replaceable bulbs as a fairly trivial service item into large expense territory, wonder if the warranties offered cover failure of the lighting units.

Neil

Oh, it's better than that, Neil Some cars have to have their replacement headlamps coded in to the car by the dealer. The name Tesla springs to mind........

[NewcastleFalcon]

So it seems that you can swap out the entire headlights but not upgrade from halogen to anything else for post 86 cars. However can you convert older vehicles ? If that is allowed then I'd judge that as a bit weird!

The article I found has this to say

https://www.motoringassist.com/news/how ... %2C%201986.

6. I drive a classic car and the headlights are very dim, compared to modern vehicles. Is there an exception for classic vehicles? Due to its age, my car does not have to comply with Type Approval.

Since Brexit, the DVSA and the MoT permit LED conversion bulbs to be used in halogen exterior lamps but only on vehicles used on, or before, 1st April, 1986.

Neil

[Michel]

So it seems that you can swap out the entire headlights but not upgrade from halogen to anything else for post 86 cars. However can you convert older vehicles ? If that is allowed then I'd judge that as a bit weird!

That is indeed the case, however from experience, MOT testers turn a blind eye if it's a quality LED bulb with the correct aim.

[moizeau]

Mid eighties, certainly after '84, seems to be when a few changes came in. For motorbikes for example, the rule on indicators changed. Many smaller bikes with a 6v battery used to have indicator issues. Also I remember taking mine off my 350lc (1984) after one broke due to a dance down the road and it still passed an MOT without them. Then later when I had my Zeph11 (1991) I was doing a rear end modification and the mini indicators hadn't turned up in time for the MOT so I took them all off only to be told by the tester that he couldn't MOT it because if the bike was fitted with them in the factory it had to have them on.

[NewcastleFalcon]

What Car? did a bit of research into the "replace a bulb" costs of the of LED lighting units fitted to a variety of quite ordinary popular cars. Select something more exotic and the price rockets. As well as the lighting unit itself, the fitting involves more dismantling and reassembly, again adding to costs.

How much does it cost to replace a headlight bulb?

https://www.whatcar.com/news/how-much-d ... lb/n18172/

Neil

[Paul-R]

It's a pity that list didn't include a Tesla. Especially if it's true that a replacement unit has to be coded to the car. I note it's dated in 2018 so could do with updating.

[mickthemaverick]

I found that article well worth the read Neil. You do have to go to the end to get the most sensible information and earlier on I found this quote:

"Of the 13 small hatchbacks we looked at, three had LED lights and four had HID lamps as standard on some or all trim levels. That’s a good thing, because they give drivers better visibility at night and in poor weather conditions."

Whatever happened to the basic democratic principle of doing what is best for the majority rather than an individual? The lights may be of benefit to the one person who is driving the car but to the detriment of everyone else who has to face the oncoming, or even stationary in some inconsiderate people's case, car!. Yes I'm old but so are a vast number of drivers and I bet nearly all of them have suffered by such dazzling!! So much for the principle!!
Please don't come on and point out that the driver can see further so is less likely to have an accident making it an improvement for safety!! It is far more likely that drivers facing the oncoming car will have an accident as a result of being dazzled!!

Fundamentally we have another case of some ill informed boffins designing a system to fix a problem that didn't exist!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

A bit of an archives dig up, this provoked a little bit of a rant from our Mick! who didn't think much of the exciting new headlight tech coming to AUDI's back in 2020 when it was announced...

Headlights are heading for even more expense should you ever break one, or the software and hardware behind them goes kaput...one thing is for sure no-one will be able to fix them!

The digital matrix LED headlights. Soon you will be able to project a movie on your garage wall with the things!
Article and vid about such lights on an Audi E-tron.

https://electrek.co/2020/10/14/audi-hea ... tric-suvs/

[/quote]

Neil

[bobins]

BigClive pulled apart a Tesla Model X headlamp to see what makes it tick. It's utter madness. There's more engineering in that one headlamp than my entire Land Rover And my Land Rover has lasted decades longer than that Tesla headlamp. Over £1000 for something that only lasts a few years - Citroen beware, you've got competition !