H7 LED Head Light bulbs - Road Legal?

sudo911

Fed up of those crappy H7 bulbs blowing every week in my Volvo - so decided so see if I could get a set of LED units instead.

Seen these for sale in the UK, however just wondering if they would be legal for road use? Doesnt seem to state on the website - anyone any thoughts on this, or heard anything in relation to these?

http://www.m-99.co.uk/Car_Neon_LED_Lighting/H7_Headlight_Bulbs/h7_headlight_bulbs.html

You can get them on Ebay for a smaller amount..... :rolleyes:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/2-x-Car-27-LED-SMD-Xenon-White-Bulbs-H7-Fog-Day-Light-/270620622844?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item3f023efffc

langdang

Uses less than 1W of power? They would be red raw useless as dipped/main beams.
As good as LED technology is you would have nowhere near the same light, it would be terrible out-of-focus even if it did produce the same light power.

HID conversion kit is probably your best bet, as much as I hate to recommend them (because most of them don't suit the cars people put them into either, but at least they generate some light)

If you have projector lenses then you are fine for HID conversion apparently - really bad description - projector lenses look like a round ball of glass inside in the headlight.

http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/mytightride/SierraChromeProjectorHeadlightsSmall1.gif
Light on the left is projector, light on the right is normal style.

Matt Simis

LED headlights can work, but not at a mere 1w consumption (note your car will give you constant warnings you headlights are blown). The Audi R8 introduced all LED headlights to the market:
http://www.worldcarfans.com/10708133838/audi-pioneers-all-led-headlamp-with-r8-model
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q3/2010_audi_r8_led_headlights-tech_dept

They use 50odd LED emitters, twice the amount as in the OP link and consume about 50w. Cost is $5000 per set..

Andrew Campbell

Due to the recent significant improvements in lighting technology, when comparing different light sources its better to compare them on the amount of light they give out rather than the amount of power they consume.
A H7 bulb uses 55w of power and gives out 1500 Lumens of light. What you need to find out is the Lumens from the LED's you are considering and see how it compares.

MarkR

I got a H7 HID kit for just over 40 including shipping on ebay. I had them fitted in twenty minutes (not the first time - my first set was fine for months, then a bulb went, never got around to replacing int) and working grand. My car has projectors, so the light doesn't scatter around the place blinding people like the reflector lamps tend to.

langdang

With classified captured alien technology it may be possible to produce the same amount of light from 1W LED, but not with any current human technology on sale on ebay for 20quid.

I have 2 x 1W Led (SSD p4) flashlights that produce 240lumens each apparently. (Very bright in fairness, but very tightly focused)
Even if you could get the power from LEDS, they would need different reflectors/lenses to the ones you would put a H7 in. (especially if they were the same design as the ones linked to)

Also, to answer the question in the title - they would not be road legal as they would not be E-marked*. As per Matt Simis link, Audi have got some special dispensation to go down the LED route.

*not that there isn't plenty of people driving around with bulbs/hids that are not legitimately E-marked for on road use

Prabhu Deva

You'd need about 6 watts LED to get equivalent 50 watt incandescent brightness.

at 5k it would never pay off. They will save you about 1% fuel consumption compared to regular bulbs