LED Headlight bulbs

[Ryannn]

I'm contemplating swapping the H4 bulbs in my mini to LED versions. Is there any reason why I shouldn't do this? I'm assuming it will reduce the load on the wiring and switches?

Thanks

[colnerov]

Hi, conventional headlight reflectors are designed to have the filament in the focal point of reflector which would give a pencil beam. The prisms in the glass direct the beam into the pattern you see with the cut off of light. The trouble with these LED bulbs is the same as HID, the light source is too big to be in the focal point and you get lots of light scatter. So unless you can get a light unit that is designed for an LED bulb, which I'm guessing you can't, I wouldn't recommend them. The other problem from a quick search is they are only single "filament" for the want of a better word, so aren't any good for a dip/main light unit.

Colin

[cobblers]

Drop in LED headlamp bulbs are absolutely useless at the moment. The cheaper ones (Sub £30) aren't anywhere near powerful enough to be used as anything more than marker lights, and the more expensive ones with the fans hanging off the back still aren't as bright as HIDS but have all the problems of curse word beam pattern due to the geometry of the light source being completely different.

If you just want to reduce the strain on your switches and wiring, just adding some relays drawing power directly from the battery (or alternator on a Mini) will do that, and most likely improve the brightness of your existing bulbs substantially by making sure they have a full 13.xV instead of 10 or 11v that they will be getting at the moment.

You can buy 7" light units you can buy proper full projector lamps that will take a HID bulb and give a decent beam pattern if that's a route you want to go down, but at the moment LEDs are not usable unless in dedicated housings.

[Ryannn]

Cheers guys, I've had the best responses from this forum yet again!

My current headlights are awful, I was just trying to get them better without adding any relays as I'm a bit tight for space in the engine bay.

Thanks

[ChasR]

Despite what many people say I would go with one of two options in your case, besides adding relays before doing anything else (since this mod will make the most of what you have got, with any setup):

1) Cibie/Valeo 7" lights with Osram Nightbreakers - This is the best setup I have seen IMO (whilst being fully legal and not having anything questionable by anyone (yes, I know some things are legal, but if there is a solution not much pricier, why muck about?).

2) Wipac Quadoptic 7" Lights with the same bulbs. I had this very setup in my Triumph Spitfire with good results. It is not quite as good as the Cibies but the price of them is a touch cheaper.




The above was done without relays as well .

Don't settle for anything else IMO out of the Halogen range. The 'OE' Autopal lights in both my Stag (I had them from new) and the Dolomite) were pretty pants TBH although some people do like them (I wonder however what lights they came from ; i.e would almost anything have been an improvement?)! Crystal lights are better but IMO they still do not compare to the above two combinations.

As said, without spending a small fortune LEDs are not really worth considering.

[MiataMark]

As above, Osram nightbreaker bulbs are excellent for the money (got some from eBay and fitted to the Disco much better).

[Ryannn]

I've got Quadoptics already but just some generic bulbs. They rave about the Nightbreakers on the Pajero forum aswell so I'll probabaly get some!

I rarely drive the car at night but it's always a pain when I do, especially in the rain.

[adam73bgt]

I've got 7" headlights on the MG without any relays, the two things that have made the most difference for me were fitting units that have the beam pattern built into the reflector rather than the glass and fitting some Bosch Xenon Power bulbs. That gave me really good headlights

I've since put some high wattage 80/100W Bosch Cobalt H4's in there which are even better, though technically off road use only and I will be adding some relays as I don't entirely trust the wiring with the higher output bulbs lol

[ChasR]

In your case then I would invest in some NightBreakers and some relays. Surely you can get relays to in a Mini? . What do you have in your engine bay in addition to a normal Mini? Also what year is your Mini, Some Minis from the factory only came with 40W sealed beams with no fuses in the headlight circuit.

[Ryannn]

Feb 19, 2015 20:18:37 GMT ChasR said:

In your case then I would invest in some NightBreakers and some relays. Surely you can get relays to in a Mini? . What do you have in your engine bay in addition to a normal Mini? Also what year is your Mini, Some Minis from the factory only came with 40W sealed beams with no fuses in the headlight circuit.

It's a 1994 so I've got the headlight fuses behind the dash yeah!

Well I don't have anything more than any other mini lol, but the best place to mount them would be right where my servo and heater ducting is. It's more the fact that it's frigging awkward to do tidily and I'm not feeling it right now lol.

[Rich]

My MGB has PIAA Iodes. Find a set of those and you are laughing. They are only fitted with Bosch 'oe' bulbs on a relay loom but the light output is by far the best of any car I have owned. Even my 2000 hyundai with HID projector lamps doesn't have such a nice light distrobution. Keep your eyes peeled for those. Also, ford (and a lot of other companies to be fair) use relays that are half as wide as standard relays so you can glue a pair together to make a double relay that is only the size of one relay, if it helps you in your quest for space. I frequently use these in headlight looms, due to their compactness. Last one I did I built into a waterproof maplin project box, you could do that and cable tie it up pretty much anywhere.

[mrabody]

I've just fitted Osram Nightbreakers to my wife's E30 and she's very pleased with the increased output.

[stealthstylz]

I just bosh HIDs in everything now,they're cheaper than replacement bulbs and take 5 minutes to fit.

[steveo3002]

relays make a HUGE improvement , well worth doing I'm sure you can tuck a couple of relays in somewhere , makes full use of the bulbs and removes the load for the switch

[usedabused]

For the record you plant bulbs in the garden and fit lamps into you light fittings/head lamp/cluster...

And yes even after spending upwards of £50 each L.E.D's lamps for headlamps are worse than HiD conversions..

[Ryannn]

I really hate HIDs so I won't be going in that direction I'm afraid.

Just purchased a couple of relay holders so I'll start looking for space on my inner wing.

[mdh]

What's the deal with the physical light Chas? Why are some better? Have you tried the 'clear' glass ones?

Any experience/recommendation with square headlights?

[DavidB]

Calibra and XM - both have rubbish long headlights cured by Osram Nightbreakers.
My mate has them in her Nippa and sometimes get flashed as they're really bright and look like high beams.

[ChasR]

Feb 20, 2015 22:39:39 GMT mdh said:

What's the deal with the physical light Chas? Why are some better? Have you tried the 'clear' glass ones?

Any experience/recommendation with square headlights?

I believe (from what I have seen) it is down to a few things

-Quality of the glass and the optical patterns they deliver.
-Quality of the reflectors.

I have not personally had Crystal lights (I shall admit bias in that I am not a fan of them) but a friend with a Mini did which I was once seeing every other week to fix for a friend of mine! We did get the Crystal lights to work well, but in all honesty the Wipec QuadOptics were superior in their beam pattern and output. He did write about this somewhere as well which I shall try and find.

I have however had all three 'normal' lights. The Autopals simply had terrible reflectors IMHO (they looked painted on inspection if I am honest!) ; I guess that for £30 for a pair of lights I cannot expect miracles, even if I did come from sealed beams (albeit newish ones). The Cibies are superior (with the same bulbs) on full beam, something a number of people have noticed. The reflectors are similar in both it seems but it seems that the glass pattern of the Cibies gives them the edge.

Square lights I cannot say but I would expect a similar outcome.