LED replacement headlight bulbs

Now I need to figure out what lamps are in my Disco. The Euro spec housings use a different lamp than the US spec ones

Changing bulbs will only do so much if the basic optics of the the head light are compromised. Plus, the optics are generally designed for the light source to be in a very specific location. Rarely do HID or LED bulbs replicate this exactly. 

It would be an interesting research question to find out if US DOT lighting requirements have matched the increase in state speed limits, which I understand can be up to 80 mph.  The hwy limit in much of central and western PA is 70 MPH and even the high-beams in my 2008 GC are barely adequate at that speed.  

I ended up ordering those LED bulbs I posted. At $35, it's cheaper than most "upgrade" bulbs, so I'll give them a shot and see how they do. 

Also, you want to talk about inadequate headlights? My 1997 Dodge Dakota is absolutely horrendous. No matter how I clean the lenses or what bulbs are used, they barely light the road. Even the high beams are awful. I could (and have) driven around with the brights on and no one even cares because you can't even tell that they are high beams. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

A lot of headlights from the 90's were terrible - I remember my mother's '93 Intrepid being especially bad.  It seemed to be a thing.  Who knows why.  It's not like the principles of optical engineering were brand new. But this was shortly after the wholesale change from sealed beam headlights, so I suppose some growing pains were to be expected. If I were to pull a guess out of my butt, they may have designed the lights for a certain bulb wattage and then through long term testing discovered it got too hot and burned out too quickly. At the 11th hour it was too late to re-engineer the entire assembly so they "fixed" the problem by reducing the power of the bulb. Result: crap light.

I think they hadn't quite figured out reflectors in weird shapes yet either. There was a lot of designing to make the lights look cool with the assumption that the optics guys would sort it out. They weren't too far off from drawing things out on a chalk board at that point so it's not surprising that they didn't always get it right. 

There were *so many* horrible headlights in the late 80s and 90s!  Some I've had personal experience with: '94 Taurus, '94 Lincoln MkVIII, 2000 Taurus, 2000 Excursion,  and '88 Thunderbird.

My wife's '14 Impala LT was worse than horrible, because it had projectors designed for HID emitters, but had Halogens. I dropped in a pair of OPT7 kits, and that problem mostly went away. They're still a little too "on center" for most backroads action, but they're not so bad on interstates. I'd like more side spill. 

If you want GREAT headlights, get an '87-91 Ford pickup. Those lights were bigger than some TVs, and, damn, did they work!

Also good: 2002-ish Explorers. The bulb that was a turn signal on a Ranger was an extra high beam on an Explorer. Its little tiny reflector meant that it put light *everywhere*, while the main headlight put some down the road aways. 

spandak said:

Mazda used the thinnest wiring they could in these cars. I put amazon HIDs in my 2008 and had issues right away. A relay harness fixed most of them. Highly recommended if you don't have one.

LEDs use much less power than halogen headlights, so there shouldn't be any wiring problems.

the lights in my disco were pretty bad in 2003, then I changed them out for the Euro versions. Where the USDOT lights put light EVERYWHERE but down the road, the E1 lights put out a flat spread of light not that far off of something you would see from a projector. I didn't even know you could do that with a non-projector!

In reply to mad_machine :

Sure you can. The '01 Taurus did that. In fact, it was so effective that the high beams did the same thing. It wasn't like you wanted to *see* or anything. 

mad_machine said:

the lights in my disco were pretty bad in 2003, then I changed them out for the Euro versions. Where the USDOT lights put light EVERYWHERE but down the road, the E1 lights put out a flat spread of light not that far off of something you would see from a projector. I didn't even know you could do that with a non-projector!

Same thing with the Euro lights in my Jeep.  Worlds better than the US lights.  And glass lenses instead of plastic in my case. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Any update on how those worked out for you?  My mr2 needs a headlight bulb and these are very intriguing. 

I put Beamtech brand ones from amazon in my motorcycle. The cut off is W shaped and not great. For the bike it’s fine, but I would feel bad putting them in a car. 

Light output is excellent. 

Bumpity bump. 

I pulled the trigger on a set of beamtechs for my DD. They turned out great and I’m very happy with them. Great cutoff so no blinding other drivers, same light pattern as the original lights, and the output is pretty good. 

I know that I was too close to the house for the full pattern, but you get the idea of the output and the cutoff. 

NEALSMO said:

pointofdeparture said:

LEDs need proper LED projector housings or you will be “that guy” who blinds oncoming traffic. Do a proper projector retrofit or stick with halogen.

 

Some LED conversions really are direct replacements.  The manufacturers did a good job of placing the filaments and reflectors in the same location.  I was impressed with my install.

 

its not that hard to fit the LED in a bulb type socket the problem is the reflector is specifically designed for the light source center as they bounce light off different surfaces in a way that it meets the OEM and legal requirements. When you move that focal point the original reflector may be close but it doesn't make it right. 

but cops dont know and only idiots like me who have worked in lighting notice things like this. 

I really have no experience with putting LED bulbs in cars but did install some in a motorhome. Motorhomes are notorious for poor headlights. I think the reason is that the housings typically used in motorhomes were designed for automotive use. Even though they are DOT approved they are mounted in a higher position then that of a car. I’m sure they are used is that it would be very expensive to design housing specifically for a motorhome, tool up and then buy in small quantities.

I did purchase and install the correct LEDs recommended for my housings. Immediately noticed a much brighter and whiter light. However also noticed the LED bulbs did not have a flat cutoff at the top of pattern but a more diffused pattern on the low beam. High beams lit up the whole area as well as side of the road. My driving immediately after installation was mostly on the interstate so didn’t have other drivers blinking light high to low indicating the light was blinding. Shortly after installing we sold the motorhome to purchase another. I removed the LEDs and reinstalled the old halogens. My take away is there was an immediate improvement in lighting but also think that there would need to be some experimenting with adjustment needed to get a good light pattern and not piss off other drivers on two lane roads. 

It’s worth mentioning that my experience with LEDs has been that while they are brighter the light doesn’t always throw as far. This could be a lens issue but I think it has something to do with the color temperature as well. Brighter isn’t always better. 

A friend of mine had an issue with  the lights on a reasonably late model Toyota appliance. The reflective coating on the inside of the housing had broken down and was effectively no longer reflective. New housings with regular old halogen bulbs were the fix for his situation.  “Bright” bulbs did nothing for the problem.  I assume that many plastic light housings from the late 1980s through today have a finite life span. Your mileage may vary. 

Spoolpigeon said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Any update on how those worked out for you?  My mr2 needs a headlight bulb and these are very intriguing. 

Ha, just seeing this now, months later. 

I like them a lot. Definitely an upgrade over the stock bulbs. They focus the light A LOT better than the cheapo HID kit I had in the car, and the color is close to what an OEM LED would put out. They don't seem to blind anyone, either. I've never been flashed since I put them in, and I used to get flashed once a week with the HID's. 

They could still be better, but for this car, it's as good as I'm going to get. 

irish44j said:

I have an 09 WRX. The stock halogens SUCK so badely. I then upgraded to a Morimoto HID setup (HID bixenon projectors, bultbs, and stock STi ballast). I'll be honest. it is only marginally better than stock. I think the small projectors in this car and the shape of the housing just diffuses the light and it sucks no matter what. The ebay halogen projectors on my old e30 are twice as good at night!

 

The Morimotos are less than optimal in the WRX? Those are a fairly standard upgrade in the Audi B5S4 and make a material improvement over a fairly decent HID system. There must be something going on with the housing or face window.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

89?

Spoolpigeon said:

Bumpity bump. 

 

I pulled the trigger on a set of beamtechs for my DD. They turned out great and I’m very happy with them. Great cutoff so no blinding other drivers, same light pattern as the original lights, and the output is pretty good. 

 

I know that I was too close to the house for the full pattern, but you get the idea of the output and the cutoff. 

Thread bump bump!

I'm looking for good direct-replacement LED high beam lamps to replace the halogens in the '04 TSX.  The lows are HID but the highs are H1s.  If they are an upgrade, I'll put a set in the S60 which semi-inexplicably has halogen highs as well.

What's the current fan fave for good light throw and distribution in a stock housing designed for H1s?

Thanks.

Watching this with much interest.  I want to upgrade the lights in my 94 Fordzda Branger which takes the 9007s.  In the past I have tried the brighter/whiter versions of the same bulb and I can't get them to last more than about a year.  Makes sense... hotter light, less life.

What's the deal with the 9005/9011 swap?  How are they brighter but still 55/65w?  Will they last, or are they a higher Kelvin and they'll blow just as fast as a "hyper white" replacement?

I put in the 9005/9011 swap in the Accord rather than LEDs. I believe they are 10w more than the original spec. Honestly I didn't notice much difference. 

9005 to 9011 should be extremely noticeable, as you’re going from something like 1300 lumens to 2100 lumens. I noticed a hell of a difference in my outback and my wife can tell the difference in her CRV. 

Theyre bright because the bulb capsule, while still halogen, is designed to amplify the light output through some sort of tech voodoo. Look up HIR bulbs.