Afternoon all, i expect this ahs been asked before, 2011 ford fiesta ztec s, the front lights don't seem to bright, is there a upgraded bulb you can buy ?

Many thanks 

Philips or Osram Nightbreaker High performance bulbs, Don't buy a LED conversion as they will fail an MOT. Check to see what bulb types they are first. (H7, H4, etc).

 

 

Osram night breaker for neutral colour or Philip's Xtreme Vision for whiter output. Also check battery health with a multimeter and check the earth strap for corrosion 

Amaryllis at this time of year can't be beaten, For the car, nightbreakers live up to their name and break at night. I have had good results with Philips and have just fitted a pair to the headlights of my MGF. They are a great deal better than they were.

Many thanks all for your reply's I went with the Philips Racing Vision GT200 H7 bulbs.

Thanks again.

Bless you my son, you shall see the light!

i got these https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-twenty20-daylight-200-12v-55w-477-halogen-bulbs.html as they have a longer warranty than most other high performance bulbs on the market.

also currently get 10.2% cashback if you go via topcashback https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/cjay2412

Hi Jeff B,

I fitted the Philips Racing Vision to my S Max last week and in the dry the improvement was good but on a wet road I genuinely can not see where i am going.

I'm going to try the 20 20 recommended by cjay1 to see if they are better.

 

On 12/18/2022 at 4:05 PM, Studiomaster1 said:

Hi Jeff B,

I fitted the Philips Racing Vision to my S Max last week and in the dry the improvement was good but on a wet road I genuinely can not see where i am going.

I'm going to try the 20 20 recommended by cjay1 to see if they are better.

 

Thanks for the reply, i will see how they go, and if you find the ones @cjay1one any better, could you let us know.

Many thanks 

On 12/17/2022 at 8:13 PM, Jeff B said:

Many thanks all for your reply's I went with the Philips Racing Vision GT200 H7 bulbs.

Thanks again.

The only disadvantage is that 'uprated' halogen bulbs, including these burn out much quicker than 'standard' bulbs. Indeed, many sellers will only offer a 6 month warranty on those bulbs you got. Yes, LEDs will fail an MOT but only if you have a super observant tester, and you can easily swap them out the day before if you're going to lose sleep over them. They will also be significantly brighter than halogen, and last so much longer...

On 12/20/2022 at 6:15 PM, StephenFord said:

The only disadvantage is that 'uprated' halogen bulbs, including these burn out much quicker than 'standard' bulbs. Indeed, many sellers will only offer a 6 month warranty on those bulbs you got. Yes, LEDs will fail an MOT but only if you have a super observant tester, and you can easily swap them out the day before if you're going to lose sleep over them. They will also be significantly brighter than halogen, and last so much longer...

Thanks Stephen, If i did go down the Led route in the future, what ones would you suggest to fit and buy ?

Many thanks 

25 minutes ago, Jeff B said:

Thanks Stephen, If i did go down the Led route in the future, what ones would you suggest to fit and buy ?

Many thanks 

I've just ordered a set of LEDs, let me fit them and see what they're like...

I've used Phillips Rally 100w bulbs in the past, strictly not road legal of course.

Only issue that can be had with them, other than the legality if course, is that they do get quite hot and can melt wiring connectors and wiring.

Not sure how they'd fare in a MK7 headlight though.

27 minutes ago, mickywrx said:

Only issue that can be had with them, other than the legality if course, is that they do get quite hot and can melt wiring connectors and wiring...

LOL, I wonder why they are illegal??

At least with the LEDs, it's primarily a bit of bureaucratic nonsense them not being certified as legal replacements. There are now 4 x EU countries which last year allowed them to be retrofitted in 'halogen' designed headlights. I gather that in time, the central EU nutters will fold and allow them, and even though we are not in the EU any longer, the UK will likely follow suit... eventually.

23 hours ago, StephenFord said:

LOL, I wonder why they are illegal??

At least with the LEDs, it's primarily a bit of bureaucratic nonsense them not being certified as legal replacements. There are now 4 x EU countries which last year allowed them to be retrofitted in 'halogen' designed headlights. I gather that in time, the central EU nutters will fold and allow them, and even though we are not in the EU any longer, the UK will likely follow suit... eventually.

They are illegal for road use, because they are 100W bulbs, it's got the square root of sod all to do with how hot they can get. 

Ceramic connectors, and higher rated wiring removes the issue of them running hot.

7 minutes ago, mickywrx said:

They are illegal because they are 100W bulbs, it's got the square root of ***** all to do with how hot they can get. 

They have been illegal since the 1970s when I 1st looked at uprating the bulbs on my Datsun 120Y LOL The additional current draw would have burned my then car to the ground, well before it gently rusted to death 

1 minute ago, StephenFord said:

They have been illegal since the 1970s when I 1st looked at uprating the bulbs on my Datsun 120Y LOL The additional current draw would have burned my then car to the ground, well before it gently rusted to death 

Your car burning to the ground or not, isn't the reason they're illegal for road use though...

3 minutes ago, mickywrx said:

Your car burning to the ground or not, isn't the reason they're illegal for road use though...

You don't understand. Any proper 'boy racer' would just replace the bulbs. Not go to the trouble of replacing all the associated wiring! I know, I installed my 1st set of Cibie Oscars without even installing a relay! I learned a quick lesson when smoke started appearing from the wiring loom when I switched them on. We didn't have YouTube in those days! Making 100w 'illegal' saved lives LOL

25 minutes ago, StephenFord said:

I learned a quick lesson when smoke started appearing from the wiring loom when I switched them on.

Ah! but back in those days smoking in the car was perfectly legal 🤣

If the beam is correctly formed then fine but if it is just the biggest number of lumens you can shine into my face on a dark night then Devil take you. I doubt very much if the cheap bulbs are made to any standard at all although I am more trustful of the established manufacturers. Being dazzled by idiots is getting to be much more common, though and the Fiesta (certainly the Mk 8, )  has perfectly adequate lights.

22 hours ago, StephenFord said:

You don't understand. Any proper 'boy racer' would just replace the bulbs. Not go to the trouble of replacing all the associated wiring! I know, I installed my 1st set of Cibie Oscars without even installing a relay! I learned a quick lesson when smoke started appearing from the wiring loom when I switched them on. We didn't have YouTube in those days! Making 100w 'illegal' saved lives LOL

I guess we just see things differently.

If I'm reading one your post above correctly, you were driving in the 70's.  That means you're either archaic or I'm just some young whippersnapper. 😉

I have delved into the relevant legislation. Any LED bulb other than a headlight bulb can pass an MOT as it meets those requirements (but to be legal it must carry a CE mark.) It won't.

Headlight bulbs are specifically outlawed by a badly written directive from the British Government in 2021. They have cocked it up. Who would have thought it?

I quote:

Please note that since January 2021, the MOT Inspection manual has been updated to include LED bulbs.

Section 4.1.4 now states the following:

“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.”

But if I put an LED bulb into a standard and unmodified existing halogen headlight unit then the headlight unit has not been converted  as the unit itself remains completely standard!

Had the manual not included the words "be converted to " It would have been clearly a no-no but those words are enough to create a loophole.

“Existing halogen headlamp units should not be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If they are you must fail the headlamp.”

Is clearly not what is written!

12 minutes ago, anon said:

Section 4.1.4 now states the following:

“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.”

With no other mention of after-market LEDs in the MOT guidelines, all that is left is for them to check is that the beam pattern is correct and the colour of the light is predominantly white, white with a blue tint or yellow. Any good quality after-market LED bulbs will meet this criteria.

As long as the beam pattern and the colour of the light is correct – then there is no reason an LED upgrade bulb will fail an MOT

In addition, the current 4.1.4 update applies only to England, Wales, and Scotland. I can find no mention of Northern Ireland. Before researching this, when I get my new LED bulbs I had full intentions of swapping them out for my MOT in the summer, I'm tempted now just to leave them in and see what happens...

European law describes that bulbs with H, D and T socket must contain a filament. LED and HID do not meet this requirement. Because of this LED or HID bulbs with H, D and T socket cannot have a CE approval.

Apart from this almost all reflector headlight armatures only have a CE approval for H (Halogen) bulbs. Installing an HID or LED bulb will void the CE approval of the headlight since the type of bulb does not match the headlight code.
 

People seem to forget that an HID or LED conversion can result in serious financial problems. The type of headlights are part of the European Type Approval of the vehicle. After an HID or LED conversion inside reflector headlight armatures the vehicle does no longer comply to the Type Approval. This can be a serious problem once the insurance finds out after an accident.

 

 

This country is no longer subject to European legislation after the people on their wisdom voted to remove their last line of defence against the British Government.

A filament is actually a thin wire or thread. One is used to connect to each LED chip. It has no need to be incandescent.

I am happy enough with filament lights but until led bulbs are correctly legislated for and regulated, a free for all will ensue with dangerous and unreliable bulbs being fitted. There are parallels, of course. Reflective number plates were illegal for years before the authorities caved in to the inevitable.

The reduced current draw does reduce emissions and this will be the eventual reason for their acceptance.