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Which H7 bulbs


Lee_Mc92
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I have a 2014 Fiesta Titsnium and I'm looking to change my dipped beam headlights however I'm unsure which ones to get.

I would preferably like to get ones that do brighten the road up ahead and give off a decent whiter light. I've had a look at auto beam LEDs and seen a few people's pictures regarding the light output.

any suggestions?

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I'm looking at upgrading my lights so will give you a little bit of what i've found out.

 

If you get LED's, they won't illuminate puddles very well and the main beam isn't much further than dipped beam unfortunately. Also, due to the LED's not heating up the same as Halogens, it wont stop frost build up during the winter months.

 

I am going to be upgrading to their HID kits which apparently gives the best of both worlds.

Hope this helps :) 

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What temp HID are you going for? That makes a big difference too. Also, do you have the projector lenses or reflector? I had the mondeo vignale for 3 weeks while mine was in for service and it had the LED adaptive headlights and they where amazing. They lit up the road well with light that was close enough to daylight and the main beam certainly did illuminate the road better than standard. They were factory fit though, I haven't seen many of the aftermarket LED kits. I've always gone for aftermarket HID when upgrading and they have been great, much brighter than standard and less eye strain in the dark. They do take longer to 'heat up' than Halogen which was a problem on the Fabia as the main beam was just the dipped beam bulb with a shutter lifted mechanically. If you wanted to flash another car it didn't work so well.


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7 hours ago, Lee_Mc92 said:

I have a 2014 Fiesta Titsnium and I'm looking to change my dipped beam headlights however I'm unsure which ones to get.

I would preferably like to get ones that do brighten the road up ahead and give off a decent whiter light. I've had a look at auto beam LEDs and seen a few people's pictures regarding the light output.

any suggestions?

I have the auto beam LED H7's the certainty look the part nice white light, I've never had HIDs so I can't compare on that. 

Word of advice if you was to get them you may need some bulb adapters, I have a preface lift so I'm not sure if it's the same fitting, mine cost two quid.

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13 hours ago, SPRAGGYY said:

I have the auto beam LED H7's the certainty look the part nice white light, I've never had HIDs so I can't compare on that. 

Word of advice if you was to get them you may need some bulb adapters, I have a preface lift so I'm not sure if it's the same fitting, mine cost two quid.

Originally looked at getting these myself.  Can you still see puddles etc as I have read somewhere that you can’t with LED's.

also, can you link these bulb adaptors please?

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I just got my chrome indicator bulbs today from autobeam, but want to get all the rest change, like headlights as well, etc. but not sure what is the best? led, halogen etc. not sure best? 

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46 minutes ago, lwatson99 said:

Originally looked at getting these myself.  Can you still see puddles etc as I have read somewhere that you can’t with LED's.

also, can you link these bulb adaptors please?

I've only fitted them a week or so ago so I haven't actually driven with the road wet yet so I'm not sure about the puddles, 

heres the link to the adapters, I haven't actually put them in yet due to work but planning on putting them in tonight

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162491495798 

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18 minutes ago, lew_man said:

I just got my chrome indicator bulbs today from autobeam, but want to get all the rest change, like headlights as well, etc. but not sure what is the best? led, halogen etc. not sure best? 

I do like the chrome indicator bulbs, swapped all mine out from my last car, I think the bulbs come down to a few things, ease of fitting, light temperature (colour) and the light output. 

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14 hours ago, SPRAGGYY said:

I have the auto beam LED H7's the certainty look the part nice white light, I've never had HIDs so I can't compare on that. 

Word of advice if you was to get them you may need some bulb adapters, I have a preface lift so I'm not sure if it's the same fitting, mine cost two quid.

Do you happen to have any pictures of the road ahead when these bulbs are in action?

I've heard that they're like driving with sidelights on when the roads are unlit

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LEDs are a fairly new technology and aren't as problem free as people make out. The LEDs themselves produce a lot of focused heat and this is normally what causes them to fail. The main advantage is that they can be used in reflector headlights safely - HIDs cannot.

HIDs must be used with projectors and cannot be used as a high beam.

Quality HIDs are cheaper and ultimately I think that right now they are the way to go. Give LEDs a few years to catch up.

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I fitted some fan cooled LEDs as the low beam (H7). They are lots brighter and a crisp white colour but don't seem to throw as much as the 100W halogens I had. I'll be changing back until I can find another solution. 

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LEDs are a fairly new technology and aren't as problem free as people make out. The LEDs themselves produce a lot of focused heat and this is normally what causes them to fail. The main advantage is that they can be used in reflector headlights safely - HIDs cannot.
HIDs must be used with projectors and cannot be used as a high beam.
Quality HIDs are cheaper and ultimately I think that right now they are the way to go. Give LEDs a few years to catch up.


Xenon HID bulbs can be used for high beam can't they?

Totally agree with LED being less predictable due to being newer tech, more so as an aftermarket kit than OEM though. And the amount of idiots with HID in a reflector housing is ridiculous, blind you from 1000metres away!


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20 hours ago, Jonro2009 said:

 


Xenon HID bulbs can be used for high beam can't they?

Totally agree with LED being less predictable due to being newer tech, more so as an aftermarket kit than OEM though. And the amount of idiots with HID in a reflector housing is ridiculous, blind you from 1000metres away!


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No they can't as flashing Xenon bulbs damages them. That's why OEM use bi-xenon projectors which use a solenoid to let them act as high beam.

Yes you are correct though when it comes to OEM stuff LEDs are definitely the way to go. It's unbelievable to me that people drive around with dazzling headlights and seem not to notice. Surely everyone must flash them?!

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No they can't as flashing Xenon bulbs damages them. That's why OEM use bi-xenon projectors which use a solenoid to let them act as high beam.
Yes you are correct though when it comes to OEM stuff LEDs are definitely the way to go. It's unbelievable to me that people drive around with dazzling headlights and seem not to notice. Surely everyone must flash them?!


I understand the mechanical solenoid enabling low beams to act as high beam, it was like that on he 'black pack' lights on my old fabia Monte Carlo. How does it work then when the low beams are off and you flash your high beams at another car? The bi -xenon bulb and solenoid would all activate straight away wouldn't it? Therefore meaning you are flashing a xenon bulb.

I have always been unsure on the exact definition of bi-xenon but believed it to be a bulb housing with 2 xenon bulbs inside (see pic) so that 'xenon A' would be the low beam and then the high beam would consist of both 'xenon A & B' being illuminated.

Please correct me if I am well off the mark, I'd genuinely like to know if I've got it wrong in my head [emoji846]


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So in a normal bi-xenon setup the car would have both a Xenon bulb and a halogen. The halogen is used for a high beam only. The Xenon is used for low beam and then when the high beam is on the solenoid activates and allows it to assist the halogen. When flashing the lights the halogen and solenoid both activate. Unless your low beam is on already on it will not contribute to the flash.

In BMWs the halogen is only used for flashing and the Xenon is used for high beam. Some cars also use dual "filament" Xenon bulbs but use this same system so the Xenon is never flashed.

Just to throw a total spanner in the works though.... Some cars do have just a single HID projector and in this case the Xenon has to be used for flashing. To try and get around the problems this causes they use fast start ballasts. This solution must work as several cars come from factory using it but aftermarket kits are not designed to do it.

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So in a normal bi-xenon setup the car would have both a Xenon bulb and a halogen. The halogen is used for a high beam only. The Xenon is used for low beam and then when the high beam is on the solenoid activates and allows it to assist the halogen. When flashing the lights the halogen and solenoid both activate. Unless your low beam is on already on it will not contribute to the flash.
In BMWs the halogen is only used for flashing and the Xenon is used for high beam. Some cars also use dual "filament" Xenon bulbs but use this same system so the Xenon is never flashed.
Just to throw a total spanner in the works though.... Some cars do have just a single HID projector and in this case the Xenon has to be used for flashing. To try and get around the problems this causes they use fast start ballasts. This solution must work as several cars come from factory using it but aftermarket kits are not designed to do it.


Thanks, great explanation. That makes total sense now. The solenoid moves when you flash regardless of wether the bulb is illuminated or not. I see a lot of cars flashing using their xenon though so it must be getting more common. As I said my last car had a single bulb projector lens with solenoid which was originally a Halogen. I retrofitted an HID Kit with a fast start ballast and it was pretty good, I had it in for about 18months and during that time it developed an issue. When you turned the lights on sometimes only one bulb would come on and you would have to flick them on and off until it came on.


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On 2017-6-24 at 10:00 AM, Jonro2009 said:

 


Thanks, great explanation. That makes total sense now. The solenoid moves when you flash regardless of wether the bulb is illuminated or not. I see a lot of cars flashing using their xenon though so it must be getting more common. As I said my last car had a single bulb projector lens with solenoid which was originally a Halogen. I retrofitted an HID kit with a fast start ballast and it was pretty good, I had it in for about 18months and during that time it developed an issue. When you turned the lights on sometimes only one bulb would come on and you would have to flick them on and off until it came on.


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No problem!

OEM HIDs are really very good nowadays and in fact the ballasts can withstand flashing no problem. The igniters on the bulbs however, lose material each time the bulb is turned on. Flashing them uses this material up awfully quickly and there isn't really a way around this. One of the reasons why LEDs are now being used instead.

18 months isn't bad going at all if they were being used as the high beam! Luckily aftermarket bulbs and ballasts aren't too expensive to replace

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On 21/06/2017 at 0:50 PM, Lee_Mc92 said:

Do you happen to have any pictures of the road ahead when these bulbs are in action?

I've heard that they're like driving with sidelights on when the roads are unlit

For anyone who wanted to see the LED H7s 

IMG_2773.JPG

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 20/06/2017 at 10:26 PM, SPRAGGYY said:

I have the auto beam LED H7's the certainty look the part nice white light, I've never had HIDs so I can't compare on that. 

Word of advice if you was to get them you may need some bulb adapters, I have a preface lift so I'm not sure if it's the same fitting, mine cost two quid.

Can I have a link to those adapters please, went to install today and found out I need adapters...

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For anyone who wanted to see the LED H7s 
IMG_2773.thumb.JPG.ea0c03546c42ef21d74f09ee08586feb.JPG

Is that a 'black spot' on the off side? Maybe it's the picture but is does look like it, I thought LED eliminated that. It is a pure white light though, very nice


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