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Is a LED sidelight conversion road legal?


mjt
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I was looking at this link posted by Luke Grimbley last year and noticed there's a disclaimer stating they're only for internal use as external use is not road legal. Can anyone confirm this (Stoney)?

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Considering LED day time running lights are legal as are full LED lights there shouldn't be an issue. I know it's technically illegal to fit hid's due to self levelling, projector, washers and so on. But there is nothing stating LED's have the same problem that I've heard of. 

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Led side lights are ok but tbh aren't likely to last long.

I had some on my last car and they started flickering within weeks.

Also due to a reduced resistance they caused strange lighting errors, namely dash lights coming on when braking and flashing headlights.

I got around this by temporarily adding a spare bulb holder into the circuit with a standard w5w bulb which re-introduced the correct resistance into the system.

Canbus bulbs or added resistors should help but resistors chuck out a lot of heat that may melt plastics and as stated above the bulbs tend to crap out pretty quickly.

If you can find cree bulbs that fit then they are a better option.

Sent from my SM-G930F

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heat is the issue, something with a largeish metal surround will help, the problem is how much space you have, I'm not sure about the mk3 but the mk2 has a very tight and awkward location for the sidelight.  I had some cheapo Halfords ones, they lasted a few days, I got some even cheaper ones from china which look like knocked off Cree LEDs and after I fixed them up and they have been good for a few months, the build quality was terrible as you would expect but a bit of solder here and some glue there and they have been ok

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I dont know why people bother tbh, I bought some that lasted less than half an hour and they looked daft anyhow being so bright...

Swapped to Phillips Xtreme sidelights which match the factory HIDs fine and have lasted 9 months now without issue...

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Well, we've got a bit off-topic :biggrin: and the subject of LED reliability has been exhaustively covered elsewhere.

I was actually querying the disclaimer on the eBay seller's page that stated they weren't road legal. As a (retired) electronics engineer I'm well aware of the shortcomings of CAN-bus friendly LEDs so would probably not be going down that route anyway but if I did I would get non CAN-bus LEDs and arrange my own ballast resistors remote from the headlamp.

It would be nice to get some whiter bulbs though as the current ones do look very yellow. Trouble is on my Mk3 they come on every time I open the doors or boot so they get a lot more on-off cycles and need to be pretty robust.

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they are illegal if not e marked for road use which most are not less are a waste of money they don't last give no useable light output at all these days you get extreme white w5w bulbs that cost a few pounds last for at least a year and are designed for the job....also led lights should be fitted to led compatible lenses

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1 hour ago, artscot79 said:

they are illegal if not e marked for road use which most are not less are a waste of money they don't last give no useable light output at all these days you get extreme white w5w bulbs that cost a few pounds last for at least a year and are designed for the job....also led lights should be fitted to led compatible lenses

However, how many MOT stations have you known to fail an MOT due to a non-e marked component be it an LED or a lens? 

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ilegal or not, who is going to check? do let me know? police arnt going to care less, more important stuff to fill there time i should hope! mot tester isnt going to check e marks on LED Bulbs or any lamps on your car,

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Agree on the comments about LEDs not lasting long. Bought a proper expensive pair too, and they only lasted about a month or two before starting to flicker. Useless, went back to the stock bulbs, not worth the headache.

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and when do you look at side lights anyway, i tend to be sat in my drivers seat when light levels lower to the point of side/ headlights are switched on. then i cant see them. i just dont see the point.

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You don't drive past many shop windows at night or in the rain I guess?  Seeing yellow sidelights against the white Xenons really annoyed me... :lol: 

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Side lights on Eurospec cars suck anyway imo. The soul purpose is to mark the outline of the car/make the car distinguishable from a motorbike is what I believe. The americans got that right with their amber side markers and sidelights in the indicators. I've noticed a lot of motor cycles with ambers now and it makes a difference in being able to tell a car with a knackered headlight and a motorbike!

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21 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

You don't drive past many shop windows at night or in the rain I guess?  Seeing yellow sidelights against the white Xenons really annoyed me... :lol: 

nope

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21 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

You don't drive past many shop windows at night or in the rain I guess?  Seeing yellow sidelights against the white Xenons really annoyed me... :lol: 

nope, takes alot to annoy me. 

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Ah, takes very little to annoy me...not that you'd guess... :laugh: 

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im so chilled out most of the time, my partner isnt so calm as me and that annoys her even more. lol 

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Had a set in the Landy for over 7 years (can bus), no issue, always passed MOT and survived many a dunk in a lake. Current set have been in the focus Mk3 for 2 years with no issues. My experience is that reasonable quality, metal bodies LEDs are very reliable

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  • 3 years later...
On 7/27/2016 at 9:38 PM, madmole said:

Had a set in the Landy for over 7 years (can bus), no issue, always passed MOT and survived many a dunk in a lake. Current set have been in the focus Mk3 for 2 years with no issues. My experience is that reasonable quality, metal bodies LEDs are very reliable

What kind are those? Name etc...

I’m toying with the idea of getting some brighter sidelights for my 2013 (62 plate) Ford Focus as they are awfully dull - just to be seen and don’t use main lights all the time. I find the DRL a stupid idea as people forget to switch lights on when poor visibility due to bad weather as there’s no lights at rear. I have no idea what CANbus means etc. Shall I just forget about the led’s then? Reading on here seems it’s kinda pointless. Any other brighter bubs that can be used if not led? 

Decisions, decisions... Thanks in advance, anyway! 

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Send these guys a message stating your car, superb quality! Used them in a previous Mercedes, and I've had them in my Focus for over a year now, and still bright as ever and rock solid. Don't buy cheap Chinese ones, you'll have nothing but hassle, and the good ones aren't big money anyway!

http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/premiumledstore

 

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Illegal if you dont notify your insurance company. Technically a modification if they wanna get picky.

Matt

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2 minutes ago, matt77303 said:

Illegal if you dont notify your insurance company. Technically a modification if they wanna get picky.

Matt

Matt, stop being such a spoilsport! LOL I wouldn't change mine back to the Victorian type ones if you paid me! My LED sidelights are brighter than the headlamps in my first car, though that was 40 years ago 🤣

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mmmm, they last far better than normal bulbs as sidelight's. Set in Landy have been in for over 10 years and many dunks in water. Set in Focus have been in over 6 years. all bulbs on all my cars other than dips are LED's. All on Focus are canbus

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1 hour ago, StephenFord said:

Matt, stop being such a spoilsport! LOL I wouldn't change mine back to the Victorian type ones if you paid me! My LED sidelights are brighter than the headlamps in my first car, though that was 40 years ago 🤣

Lol

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