Legal LED headlights (mk 7.5)

[Fiesta1968]

Hi, just asking to see what would be The best LED headlights for a fiesta mk7.5 which are UK legal

[Jonro2009]

Simple answer is that unless your car came with LED headlights, there are no road legal LED options.

Obviously lots of people, myself included have aftermarket LEDs, I am in no way preaching about legalities.

[Comares2001]

So surely if your lights don't have type approval the car should fail its MOT, apart from any pedantic officer during a roadside check giving you a ticket.

[Jonro2009]

My car went through MOT in December and the only advisory was because I have a child seat in the back so the seat belt couldn't be checked 

[TomsFocus]

MOT testers don't have the time, or indeed the option, to remove bulbs to check if they're EU approved or not.  

As long as LED's are in projector lenses and roughly the right colour they'll pass.  They'll also pass in reflectors if you have a lazy tester that can't be bothered to check the beam properly.  Passing MOT is mostly about loopholes and dodgy testers, it isn't an indicator of something being road legal.

[Jim H]

"Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp."

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/4-lamps-reflectors-and-electrical-equipment#section-4-1-4

 

[Wino]

I asked the Brother in law regarding this. He has his own garage and does our MOT. When I asked about converting the lights his answer was dont bring it here unless you want it to fail. So for now its staying with Halogen unless I can persuade her indoors to convert to full fixed LEDs. I think it might be easier with hindsight to change the damn car 🤣

[Jonro2009]

I think it's safe to say we all know what the DVSA standpoint is, it gets quoted on every single post like this. But as @TomsFocussays, individual testers don't all do the same thing, right or wrong that's the way it is. The 'to the letter' testers will fail the vehicle, the 'if it looks ok and doesn't dazzle' will pass the car and the ones who just don't check should absolutely be avoided. 

[Neb_engineer]

the person i take my car to for MOT said that as long as 1: the LEDs are the same on both side, 2: are white or yellow not blue or red or any other colour, 3: ypu haven't changed the halogen dipped beam or high beam bulbs to LED, but side light and indicator bulbs are fine, reverse lights and number plate lights are fine. then he will pass the car MOT on bulbs