HID Lights in the NCT

I recently fitted Bosch +90 halogen bulbs to the main beam chamber in my car and it got me thinking about the NCT..



These +90s have a blue coating around the top of the bulb and when the lights are turned off you can see the blue tint in the reflector. Furthermore the light is fairly white out of them, not as pure white as a Xenon bulb but certainly less yellow than the old halogen bulb it replaced. For an NCT tester it may be fairly hard to tell the difference between an uprated halogen bulb and a Xenon replacement.

I know some of the Xenons have a distinctive blue tint to them but the white ones (I guess the lower temperatures ones) are very similar to halogens to the point it's hard to tell.
Full HID kits are a different story of course...

What are the specific differences between so? Things that you can definitely say one has over the other?
I know there is an obvious difference between standard halogens and high temperature xenon bulbs I'm just playing devils advocate as to why they have been turning a blind eye when the NCT manual blatantly says its a fail if it doesn't have cleaning/leveling...

I'm thinking partly the reason the NCT were turning a blind eye to Xenons was there was very little they could do if they failed someone for Xenons* and the car owner says 'no they are blue tinted halogens'. They'd have to take them out and look.
*failing just for having them fitted (assuming properly focused everything else ok)

thats not gone well wrote: »

My OEMs are about 10yo at this stage and the warm up time is 2-3 seconds from cold in the morning.

a "warm"(off for 30~minutes) start they are virtually instant.

Mine would be the same. Usually take a couple of seconds to hit full power when cold.

Can we please stop using the term "xenon" to describe bulbs? It's completely misleading since it can be used to describe either halogen or HID bulbs.

HID capsules normally use xenon gas (though gas discharge lamp technology can use other gases too).

Halogen bulbs can also use xenon as the filler gas to help provide longer lamp life.

There are perfectly good names for both technologies so why use what's essentially a marketing term to confuse things!!!

Regarding the difference between the technologies at the NCT centre, ballasts are the obvious sign like other posters have mentioned. A lux meter would also be a dead giveaway (HIDs are that much stronger) and I wouldn't be surprised if the headlamp aiming equipment in the NCT centres has a lux meter built in. If aftermarket HIDs are fitted to reflector headlamps the glare from beam scattering will be pretty obvious too.

Chimaera wrote: »

Can we please stop using the term "xenon" to describe bulbs? It's completely misleading since it can be used to describe either halogen or HID bulbs.

HID capsules normally use xenon gas (though gas discharge lamp technology can use other gases too).

Halogen bulbs can also use xenon as the filler gas to help provide longer lamp life.

There are perfectly good names for both technologies so why use what's essentially a marketing term to confuse things!!!

Regarding the difference between the technologies at the NCT centre, ballasts are the obvious sign like other posters have mentioned. A lux meter would also be a dead giveaway (HIDs are that much stronger) and I wouldn't be surprised if the headlamp aiming equipment in the NCT centres has a lux meter built in. If aftermarket HIDs are fitted to reflector headlamps the glare from beam scattering will be pretty obvious too.

I'm purposely using the word xenon to describe bulbs filled with xenon gas intended as a like for like replacement for halogen ones -no ballast. A HID setup requires ballast that's why I'm using the three different terms to avoid confusion.

Halogen (tungsten filament in halogen filled chamber)
Xenon (tungsten filament in xenon filled chamber)
HID (no filament works by arc in xenon/other gas. Required ballast)

If a bulb has halogen gas it's a halogen bulb. If it has no halogen gas but xenon gas instead it's a xenon bulb.

I'd say 90% of the glaring badly focused lights in daysul Carinas/Caddy vans I pass on the road are Xenon replacements (not HIDS).

Just doing some more trawling there through the NCT manual, I could swear that the section we are discussing referred to HID/Xenon headlamps not just HID's?!?!? That's why I had in my head that it 'may' be hard to tell the difference between like for like Xenon bulbs and the halogens they replaced. The section only says HID no mention of Xenon in the entire handbook!! Looks like the types of Xenon bulbs I'm talking about are perfectly fine in terms of an NCT:o...

Is that a revision?
Maybe I read it on a forum?!?
Maybe I'm genuinely gone scatty...

I'm still wondering about my FTO GPX. The GPvR comes with factory HID and the headlamps (afaik) are identical on all the FTOs with the exception of the facelift and pre-facelift bracket positions. They are projector lenses. So if one headlight unit is considered ok, should it also be considered ok for HID kit, considering the headlights are the same?

My GPX is currently in the garage having regular bulbs fit and corroded brake line replaced for retest in Northpoint. I am disgusted that they failed it on HID :mad: It's a good kit with 8000k light and warm up time is a couple of seconds.

Chris_Heilong wrote: »

I seen your engine bay and you can see the Hid controller unit box so they look after market, usually the factory HID box is directly below the lighting unit themselves and cant be seen. I dont think the NCT guys really know what an FTO is.

You must be thinking of another fto Chris. My kit was only visible from underneath the car. The garage removed it today

I now have ****ty dull yellow lights. Safety my effin hole:mad:

Also, there was NO CORROSION where they said there was. The mechanic said that the did see the yellow mark, but that I had steel braded hoses with a small piece of rubber peeled away and not a bit of corrosion.

debabyjesus wrote: »

Hi all, my A6 has hid's in projector lenses, no washers and manual levellers. Its a 2004 1.9 C5. NCT coming up in June. They look pretty much factory and the headlight assembly has both H7 and D2S printed on it, the full beams are halogen H7's.

Does anyone know the story with audi's around that year did they have factory hid's minus the washers and auto levellers, or are mine just very convincing aftermarkets?

I would say aftermarket. My C5 allroad has factory HIDs and has washers and auto levelling.

Just took the Hid's out of the A6, they're aftermarket alright. I suppose this is nearly better that them being stock and trying to fight my case in the NCT. Only problem now is that the hid bulb had an adaptor to fit in the lens, its the twist type with two locking tabs, the H7 halogen I tried to fit has no way to lock it in place, I guess i'm missing some locking piece for the H7 bulb, the hid adaptor doesn't allow the halogen to lock in place either. Anyone ever have this issue?

debabyjesus wrote: »

Just took the Hid's out of the A6, they're aftermarket alright. I suppose this is nearly better that them being stock and trying to fight my case in the NCT. Only problem now is that the hid bulb had an adaptor to fit in the lens, its the twist type with two locking tabs, the H7 halogen I tried to fit has no way to lock it in place, I guess i'm missing some locking piece for the H7 bulb, the hid adaptor doesn't allow the halogen to lock in place either. Anyone ever have this issue?

There is a small wire piece that locks the H7 in on my A4. There is no other piece to the locking mechanism. However it is also used to hold in the HID bulb.

Tropheus wrote: »

Once they're focused correctly they'll get through the NCT. I put a Passat through two weeks ago with an aftermarket HID kit and there were no issues.

Not true - my A4 with perfectly focused aftermarket HIDs failed for not having the washers. It passed no problem a year ago.

I unhooked the HIDs (I could even leave them within the light fittings and put the original H7s in) - then passed no problem.

just a note to say my Impreza with factory HIDs, manual sensors and no headlight washers passed

thats not gone well wrote: »

I'm in a similar situation being that, I wanted xenon lights the most legitimate way I could.

They were offered as an option on my car as xenon reflectors.
I bought two complete xenon units, installed and aligned them.
There's no distinguishable difference from the outside with the lights off that they are totally different from standard halogens.

Now, when they were factory fitted, washers and self levelling were fitted also.
But being a Volvo, not all cars that have headlamp washers have xenons:rolleyes:

From my understanding the NCT manual says manual adjusters are adequate as long as they work.


They washers are a different story however.
I could install a separate washer pump and jets in the bumper if required.

If there are early 00's cars that never had washers or self levelling will that mean that my set-up is equally legitimate and legal?

thats not gone well wrote: »

The wipers are a pain.
new bumper, arms and motors.

anyone that has had them on another forum in the uk took them off when the gave trouble.

The headlight swap is 2 hours work. Not the end of the world but a hassle I could do without.

Beginning to think I'd have been better off with a Chinese HID kin in the halogen lamps blinding everybody :pac:

Just a follow up,

Passed today in Limerick without mention, 6000k no washers, no self levelling.

Example of the beam cut off from a few days ago.

Good to hear that you had no issues. I do feel that it might be a case of some testers still turning a blind eye while others are being more strict, but hopefully some common sense is starting to be applied now.