[sirleeofroy]

Hi guys

So I thought I would create a thread covering my experience with the H7 LED's I recently bought and fitted just this morning. I had mentioned to a couple of members here that I would be the guinea pig and post my results so, here they are.

I had intended on installing some LED fogs as well however, I was time limited with the garage space I was using and to get to the fog light housing I need to remove the arch liner and I simply didn't have the time to do that today. I will update the thread once I do.

So these are the H7 LED's I bought: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/H7-LED-Phi...53.m2749.l2649

And these are the fogs: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2x-HB4-27-...53.m2749.l2649

I chose those H7 LED's based purely on the LED type they use and the style of cooling. The Lumiled LED's are smaller (1.6mm x 2mm) and positioned so that they mimic the halogen filament as much as possible. I'm certainly no expert but the bit of reading I did do on HID conversions (and the way they distribute light) into halogen housings vs LED offerings, these LED's made far more sense. There are plenty of H7 LED's out there but many of them use bigger LED types and are usually positioned in a manner that does not mimic a halogen and simply throws light everywhere, much like those HID conversions we all know and love...

The heatsink is reversible which I initially thought would be handy, and I'm sure there is a situation where it would be but for me, the stock configuration is the only way I could use it as the clip that holds the bulb in fouls the heatsink if you try to use it the other way around.







I was pleasantly surprised to find some sort of thermal compound when unscrewing the heatsink, looks like toothpaste but hey, the thought was there!

Here is the LED next the the halogen bulb it will replace (Osram, not sure which) and sorry for the fuzzy pic, it looked better when I took it, honest!



You can see (just about!) that the LED is similar in position and size to the halogen filament....

This is the power converter that reduces the 12v down to whatever the bulb uses. Looks similar to the ballast in HID kits...



It's worth noting the build quality of this bulb, I really set my expectations low with regards to both build quality and performance but upon opening the box and having a look, I was mildly impressed. Don't get me wrong, whilst these feel pretty sturdy with their solid aluminium build, closer inspection shows the very average production quality with sharp edges and metal burrs along with fuzzy writing. Maybe I'm nitpicking, what did I expect for £45....

On to the the install, once you've got to the back of the headlight (I removed the wheels for ease of access) and removed the halogen bulb, installing the LED is pretty straightforward. You do need to remove the heatsink and thread the wire through the bulb retaining clip, this then clips back on as normal once the bulb is in situ.



You can then screw on the the heatsink. Be careful with the power wire.



It was at this point I realised I was going to need to make a hole in the dust cap to feed the wiring through..... (apologies for swapping sides, I didn't get good pics all on one side!)



Unfortunately, this is where things get a little ghetto...... I didn't have a drill to hand or I would have made a much nicer job of it.... Stanley to the rescue....



Here it is with the wiring fed through.



I might as well get this out of the way now as that picture shows the reason the dust cap doesn't quite go back on properly. It's that inward block at what would be the top and inside when closed. It fouls the heatsink so it will need revisiting with a dremel to cut out whatever is needed. As it stands, it almost closes but not enough to get the clip on so for now, I have used some strong 3M tape to hold it shut until I get back to it.

This is how it looks from the front...



And now we get to the bit that matters, the performance......

I will hold my full judgement until I've actually been out in the dark and used them but feel free to let me know what you think of the pics...

These are the original halogens. Note: these look much whiter in this pic than they are, you will see in another pic.



This is after the first LED was installed. Note: The drivers side was still jacked up when I took this which is why the LED light is higher, this is more to illustrate the difference in colour and light output.



This is with both LED's install and the car back on the floor.


I put the original halogens right under the LED pic so you can see the difference.

It's probably worth mentioning that the bulb has some adjustment on the collar where you can rotate the bulb to your desired position and then lock it out. I have no idea how that adjustment will affect the light pattern, cut off, spread etc... I'll test this as soon as I can..

Edit: I forgot to add that these don't appear to throw any errors, after plugging each side in and turning on the ignition to check, the light did flicker for a moment and I did get an exclamation mark on the dash but this only came on once for each side and not since. There has been no flickering since and the lights come on immediately, this is without any additional resistors.

What do you think guys?

[Dormermike]

Nice write up. Thanks for this. Wonder if you could pass an MOT with those.

I would love to see this done for projector halogens. Perhaps I should buy them and try it. Projector's with a halogen bulb are even worse than reflectors with a halogen bulbs

[nick46]

Excellent write up and fair play for opting to be our guinea pig. I look forward to seeing and reading your views on what they're like on the road. Just a shame the dust covers need to be modified.
If I decide to go down this route I'll add my thoughts and experience to this thread. Also as my mechanic is an MOT tester I'll ask if I can take it to his garage for before and after pics on the test rig just to see what the difference is and to see if they would pass an MOT test.

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by nick46

Excellent write up and fair play for opting to be our guinea pig. I look forward to seeing and reading your views on what they're like on the road. Just a shame the dust covers need to be modified.
If I decide to go down this route I'll add my thoughts and experience to this thread. Also as my mechanic is an MOT tester I'll ask if I can take it to his garage for before and after pics on the test rig just to see what the difference is and to see if they would pass an MOT test.

Originally Posted by Dormermike

Nice write up. Thanks for this. Wonder if you could pass an MOT with those.

I would love to see this done for projector halogens. Perhaps I should buy them and try it. Projector's with a halogen bulb are even worse than reflectors with a halogen bulbs

Thanks guys, I agree on the MOT front.... My indy also has a tester on site so could ask about checking it out too. It's probably worth mentioning that the bulb has some adjustment on the collar where you can rotate the bulb to your desired position and then lock it out. I have no idea how that adjustment will affect the light pattern, cut off, spread etc...

I will get to that as soon as I get enough time to pull out the arch liners to do the fogs!

[nick46]

Right well I've been in touch with Classis Car LED'S and here's the response I got. I recon these are worth a go. Going to order the top of the range ones (£55) with the extension leads to mount the control unit. Going to take a chance on any errors but if I get any I'll order the cancellers.
Just out of interest, where did you mount your control units?

Hi Nick,


Thank you for your email and sorry for the delay in replying, we get a lot of enquiries over the weekend.


The difference between our H7's are the top range ones have a longer and wider beam.* They also have the external control unit that needs to be mounted but is fully waterpoof.* We can supply 40cm extension leads if you have no room in your headlight housing. Both produce very defined beam patterns and we've had no MOT issues with them in reflector or projector headlights.


Canbus issues are hit and miss on German cars, most are fine but some of the same model will throw an error.* The German systems are highly sensitive and unpredictable as a result.* We do carry warning cancellers should you need them.


We've no experience with the space for the dust cover on your headlights so cannot advise if this would be an issue.* The heatsink on the top range ones is reversible to give you options on length dependent on what you need.* The overall length in short mode behind the mount is the same as a standard H7 with the wiring block attached .Dimensions are given in the pictures.


Finally, regarding adapters, we don't think you would need one but if you can send a picture of your current fitting, we can advise further?


Please let us know if you need any more information.


Kind regards


Duncan

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by nick46

Right well I've been in touch with Classis Car LED'S and here's the response I got. I recon these are worth a go. Going to order the top of the range ones (£55) with the extension leads to mount the control unit. Going to take a chance on any errors but if I get any I'll order the cancellers.
Just out of interest, where did you mount your control units?

Hi Nick,


Thank you for your email and sorry for the delay in replying, we get a lot of enquiries over the weekend.


The difference between our H7's are the top range ones have a longer and wider beam.* They also have the external control unit that needs to be mounted but is fully waterpoof.* We can supply 40cm extension leads if you have no room in your headlight housing. Both produce very defined beam patterns and we've had no MOT issues with them in reflector or projector headlights.


Canbus issues are hit and miss on German cars, most are fine but some of the same model will throw an error.* The German systems are highly sensitive and unpredictable as a result.* We do carry warning cancellers should you need them.


We've no experience with the space for the dust cover on your headlights so cannot advise if this would be an issue.* The heatsink on the top range ones is reversible to give you options on length dependent on what you need.* The overall length in short mode behind the mount is the same as a standard H7 with the wiring block attached .Dimensions are given in the pictures.


Finally, regarding adapters, we don't think you would need one but if you can send a picture of your current fitting, we can advise further?


Please let us know if you need any more information.


Kind regards


Duncan

Interesting, I'd be keen to see how you get on with these, they look remarkably similar to the ones I have.

As for the control units, I didn't have any extensions but to be honest, I don't think I need them. I have mounted mine just behind the headlight on the archliner with 3M VHB double sided tape. It's not going anywhere.

[nick46]

Thanks for your reply, and I'll keep this thread updated on how it goes.
I may not need the extension leads but thought I'd get them just in case. Double sided tape for the control units sounds good or maybe cable ties if there's something I can attach them to.

[nick46]

One other thing - I see from your pictures that you installed the bulbs via the access panel. How did you find this cos when I did my angel eyes the other day I took the arch liner out which made it very easy. Obviously if it's easy enough to do via the access panel I'll do that.

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by nick46

Thanks for your reply, and I'll keep this thread updated on how it goes.
I may not need the extension leads but thought I'd get them just in case. Double sided tape for the control units sounds good or maybe cable ties if there's something I can attach them to.

Originally Posted by nick46

One other thing - I see from your pictures that you installed the bulbs via the access panel. How did you find this cos when I did my angel eyes the other day I took the arch liner out which made it very easy. Obviously if it's easy enough to do via the access panel I'll do that.

No worries, zip ties would definitely work too as I'm sure I saw several points that I could have tied to.

As for installing the bulbs, if I had been able to take the arch lining out in good time I definitely would have done that as I would have fitted the LED fogs I have too! I got as far as removing the screws from underneath (where the splitter would be) and a couple from edge of the arch but even after removing those (I know there's a few more but I just wanted to pull the corner out for the fogs) the damn thing wouldn't budge, like not even a bit! I figured that would take more time than I had so just went for the access hatch instead. No doubt having the arch liner out of the way would have made things a touch easier but it certainly wasn't difficult at all. The passenger side took about 20mins after spending an hour on the drivers side! (I check and double check I've done everything right so the first one always takes me a bit longer!)

[nick46]

Yep I'm the same! When I did the angel eyes the first one took me about 45 mins - 1hr while I sussed everything out. The second one took about 15-20 mins!

[nick46]

Well I've got the green light from my mechanic to use the mot test rig
Have you had a chance to see what yours are like out on the road yet?

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by nick46

Well I've got the green light from my mechanic to use the mot test rig
Have you had a chance to see what yours are like out on the road yet?

Ah thats good....

Not had a real oppurtunity to test them in the dark just yet, my route home from work is very well lit and to be honest its been a busy week with early nights!

I'll go out after work tonight and test them out and snap some pics etc..

[nick46]

Well they arrived today and first impressions are very good. Really well packaged and the build quality looks very good. Allen keys are included for the heatsink and for the adjustment of the bulb. There are even cable ties included for the control boxes. Communication and customer service is so far faultless. When I placed my order I only ordered one extension lead as I assumed they came as a pair. This was communicated to me in an email, but they said they'd throw in another one free of charge.
Just got to get them installed and tested now!

[Dormermike]

Not to be the killjoy but "off road use only".

Are they "better" than HID in that regard?

The legality ofHID retrofit is uncertain either way AFAIK. And the DoT guidance refers to reflector not projector usage.

Why can't someone make a HID or LED retrofit which is approved for road use?

Edit each to their own, just don't want to be dazzling people. And if they don't dazzle I might fit them, if they are actually better than halogens.

[sirleeofroy]

I'll get some more pics over the weekend but here is one for reference.....

[Digitalize]

HID kits have never been designed for reflectors and that's the issue, they throw light everywhere destroying the beam pattern.

In theory these LED's are replicating where a filament bulb creates light, allowing the reflector to still do it's job.

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

Why can't someone make a HID or LED retrofit which is approved for road use?

I doubt there's sufficient demand to make the considerable expense of gaining approval financially viable.

[nick46]

Originally Posted by sirleeofroy

I'll get some more pics over the weekend but here is one for reference.....

Looks good

[Dormermike]

These are E marked approved.. apparently.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01...2QL&ref=plSrch

[jamherber]

Originally Posted by Dormermike

These are E marked approved.. apparently.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01...2QL&ref=plSrch

Judging by the dodgy spelling and grammar in the rest of that ad, I would definitely assume not.

[ally_bassman]

These look great, how are you both getting on with them? I've done my Angel eyes, so really want to upgrade the dipped beam now, the E90 halogen headlights are pretty poor IMO so anything to improve the lights can only be a good thing!

[sirleeofroy]

Originally Posted by ally_bassman

These look great, how are you both getting on with them? I've done my Angel eyes, so really want to upgrade the dipped beam now, the E90 halogen headlights are pretty poor IMO so anything to improve the lights can only be a good thing!

I'll be honest, I've not actually been out in the dark much and where I have been has been pretty well lit however, even in these conditions a few things are noticable - The reflective stuff on signs is very apparent now, even from quite a distance. The light emitted is is very clean and white and I seem to notice things I didn't before but I can't be sure if I'm actually seeing more.

Bottom line, I'm quite impressed with the overall performance and the way they look when on. I already had LED Angel Eyes so having Halogens just looked odd. I will probably do the main beams too.....

A couple of things I've noticed over the last week or so:

Because the dust cap is not clipped on fully due to fouling on the LED heatsink, recent wet/cold weather has drawn a little moisture onto the headlight lens. I kind of expected this and I have no doubt this will be resloved when I modify the dust cover and seal.

Initially I said that these did not flicker apart from the first time I plugged them in but I noticed randomly this week that they flickered if the headlight swith was left at "0". That said, I normally have it set to auto and don't notice any flickering. I've not yet disabled the voltage check so might do this next time I'm coding something.

Again, randomly this week I had a headlight warning pop up on the dash but it was on then off again so quickly that you could have missed it. Not seen it since and the lights show no issues. This again is probably down to the voltage check so once disabled I probably won't see the above again.

I should be able to get out tonight/this weekend to get those pictures!