Lights.. and the law., What are the maximum wattage allowed for dipped healights? Options

[ShaneGreen7]

Im looking to upgrade my lights with some Ice Blue Ring Sportz, and ive heard someone say that the maximum is 100W but my mate is running a HID Upgrade kit and they are super bright but he gets no bother, these are just replacement bulbs im looking at and surely they will be nowhere near as bright as a HID kit?

Thanks,

Shane

[scotty ibiza]

hid's are bright and brill too but generally 35 or 55w and if they are aligned right so not to blind other drivers you're generally ok. although beem scatter cam be a problem with some reflector lenses.

i would say go for hid's no more than 6000k cause u invite attension otherwise... but remember to get the r version if you have reflector lenses.

[Lal_B3N]

HID's are illegal unless you have headlight washers, self leveling headlights etc. Most people get away with them though unless you get an arsy copper.

They don't pass an MOT either if your car is designed to have them as far as im aware. But that's just a case of pulling them out for MOT.

Just watch with some bulbs that are 100watt, there has been a few stories where the wires have been damaged that power the headlight due to it requiring nearly triple the wattage.

[ShaneGreen7]

HID's are illegal unless you have headlight washers, self leveling headlights etc. Most people get away with them though unless you get an arsy copper.

They don't pass an MOT either if your car is designed to have them as far as im aware. But that's just a case of pulling them out for MOT.

Just watch with some bulbs that are 100watt, there has been a few stories where the wires have been damaged that power the headlight due to it requiring nearly triple the wattage.

Im selling the car so im not going to go through the trouble of buying and installing HID's, Think i will just get the 80w or 100w replacement bulbs.

Thanks,

Shane.

[M/PORT LAD]

Put in what ever you want, But keep the other bulbs in the car just incase you pulled and just plead ignorant, Say your sorry and tell them you have spairs and will swap them on the spot

This post has been edited by M/PORT LAD: Dec 3 2009, 05:15 PM

[ShaneGreen7]

Put in what ever you want, But keep the other bulbs in the car just incase you pulled and just plead ignorant, Say your sorry and tell them you have spairs and will swap them on the spot

That was my plan

Cheers bud.

[HondaPower]

There is nothing in the MOT test to fail HIDs as long as they are either white or yellow, and form the correct beam pattern when tested.

Bulbs of any power are legal as long as they provide enough light to illuminate the road, dont dazzle other motorists and are a matched pair. Just be careful not to blow the cars fuses or burn out the wiring with bulbs of too high a power.

I am also not aware of any law preventing the use of aftermarket HIDs as long as they are correctly aligned. Apparently alignment is difficult on old style reflector lenses, but on modern projector lights is usually OK. The requirement for headlight washers and self leveling lights is that cars fitted with HIDs as standard need to be manufactured with these. The requirement does not apply to anything you fit aftermarket.

[M/PORT LAD]

Ive heard some horror storys about people melting there lenses and reflectors due to the extra heat from high powered bulbs, But you wont have this problem with hid's as they run cooler.

[ShaneGreen7]

Ive heard some horror storys about people melting there lenses and reflectors due to the extra heat from high powered bulbs, But you wont have this problem with hid's as they run cooler.

More £££ though, id love the HID's though, cant go wrong with better night time vision

[The XE man]

Im looking to upgrade my lights with some Sportz, and ive heard someone say that my mate is running a Upgrade kit and they are super but he gets bother, these are just bulbs im looking at and surely they will be nowhere near as bright as a kit?

Thanks,

Shane

must be a good bit of kit your mate has

[Dirty Derv]

i've had 35W HID's in reflector lights for over a year, they are ok but the beam scatter is quite bad. they passed MOT ok and i never got flashed that much it just looked a bit tat. also i had to purchase some 100W bulbs for main beam and some bright sidelights so they matched the 6000k HIDs (because it looked rediculous with normal yellow bulbs next to white/blue HIDs) and the problem with the bright white halogen bulbs is they are blue, which cast blue in the reflectors and looks a bit chavvy if you ask me, also they are 100W and were probably close to causing a fire!

anyway to sort it now i've ordered some projector headlights, and anoher HID kit (55W 6000k) which i will use in dipped beam, and i plan to put the old HID kit in the full beam so they will match up spot on.

and if anyones interested, if you buy from HIDS4U.com (good quality HID kits, with 2 year warranty) and type in the coupon box "toyota pro" it knocks 25% off

oh and another thing, HID's knock out FM radio! I drive all over the country, most places are ok it just goes a bit crackly if anything, but as soon as i get back to cumbria where the signal is probably not as strong it knocks it out *most* of the time so i have to put a CD on

[broth]

Agree with the comments above, regarding HID's whatever you do dont go highier than 6000k pref 5000k and below. Even 6000k are worse.

OEM ones are 4300k this is the optical light output but they have a slight yellow tint, 6000k lose around 20% lighting over 4300k.

After all they are headlights.

My mate has 5000k and they are white with no blue tint/yellow tint and slightly worse lighting performance than 4300k

[scotty ibiza]

anyway to sort it now i've ordered some projector headlights, and anoher HID kit (55W 6000k) which i will use in dipped beam, and i plan to put the old HID kit in the full beam so they will match up spot on.

might not be you're best bet! remember hid's need to warm up which is ok for dipped beem but darrrn useless in full beem when you need to flash some one lol!

get some osram nitebreakers in you full been, although there will be yellow compared to hid's they give great light and are cheap and bright!

[HondaPower]

might not be you're best bet! remember hid's need to warm up which is ok for dipped beem but darrrn useless in full beem when you need to flash some one lol!

get some osram nitebreakers in you full been, although there will be yellow compared to hid's they give great light and are cheap and bright!

I disagree, cold HIDs are enough to flash someone, and are awesome for driving at night on full beam.

[M/PORT LAD]

Im planning on putting 50w 5000k hid's in the dipped and main beam on the lasses car.

[stef...]

When you have dipped beam on and go to full beam, does it take a few seconds to warm up then? or is the cold full beam hid about as bright as the dipped beam?

As in does it go really dark when you put your full beams on from dipped?

[HondaPower]

They take a second to reach full brightness, but when cold they are still bright enough to notice for flashing someone.

[M4RK]

BiXenons FTW! Dipped to full beam just as quick as standard, Passed MOT, and hardly ever get flashed! I get dazzled by half of the tossers who dont set their lights correctly with being so low down so i just ignore the odd guy who flashes. Been past plenty of police cars without any bother also.