Legal Lights

Nodferatu

just wondering what is the highest legal wattage bulbs for my car, the dims are very dull i drive a 99 vw polo.

Midnight_EG

7000k HID's I think...anyone confirm?

Atomic Pineapple

Moved to main motors.

L1011

Midnight_EG wrote: »

7000k HID's I think...anyone confirm?

Fitting the self levellers and washers for those to be legal would be complex and pointless on an 11 year old Polo.

You probably have 55w bulbs in it now, just crap ones. Philips Xtremepower or Osram Nightbreakers are 55w, fully legal, and a LOT brighter than most OEM bulbs or petrol station bought replacements. Just don't pay Irish prices for them - eBay is a lot cheaper.

peasant

55/60 Watt for normal filament bulbs

Nodferatu

MYOB wrote: »

Fitting the self levellers and washers for those to be legal would be complex and pointless on an 11 year old Polo.

You probably have 55w bulbs in it now, just crap ones. Philips Xtremepower or Osram Nightbreakers are 55w, fully legal, and a LOT brighter than most OEM bulbs or petrol station bought replacements. Just don't pay Irish prices for them - eBay is a lot cheaper.

thanks for the help

Nodferatu

just looking at these would they be ok?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230550139402&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

mathepac

MYOB wrote: »

Fitting the self levellers and washers for those to be legal would be complex and pointless on an 11 year old Polo. ...

That is only a UK requirement and the current NCT manual testing of HIDs / headlight has no such requirements.

Washers and self-levelling mechanisms have been factory fitted to certain high-spec cars which don't have HIDs for some time.

L1011

mathepac wrote: »

That is only a UK requirement and the current NCT manual testing of HIDs / headlight has no such requirements.

Washers and self-levelling mechanisms have been factory fitted to certain high-spec cars which don't have HIDs for some time.

Its European type regulations, not UK. The NCT doesn't test every European type regulation; having an NCT cert does not exempt you from these.

L1011

Nodferatu wrote: »

just looking at these would they be ok?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230550139402&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

Once they're the right type, obviously; they're grand. I have those as my main lights and Osram W5W's on my sidelights; but their W5W's should be grand too.

rotinaj

Can anyone recommend a place to buy nightbreakers online?

Midnight_EG

rotinaj wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a place to buy nightbreakers online?

http://www.osram.com/osram_com/Consumer/Automotive_Lighting/Products/Headlights/NIGHT_BREAKER_PLUS/index.html

Tropheus

55w for halogens is the max AFAIK. The k rating on HIDs is the colour of the light, not the amount of light they give out. 4300k is used for OEM fitment. It's said that anything above that gives a more bluish colour and actually gives less light on the road.

K is the Kelvin rating. The lower the Kelvin rating, the more yellow the light, the higher the rating, the light is more blue.

jaffa20

I have halfrauds supreme brilliance in my car atm. I find it a big improvement on originals. It's bogof at the moment but they would need to be at 26.99 each.

Del2005

Nodferatu wrote: »

just wondering what is the highest legal wattage bulbs for my car, the dims are very dull i drive a 99 vw polo.

Have you tried cleaning your lenses? It can make a big difference if you drive on rural roads regularly.

angelfire9

Del2005 wrote: »

Have you tried cleaning your lenses? It can make a big difference if you drive on rural roads regularly.

+1

With the rain on the road during the weekend I ended up pulling over at one stage to wipe my lights with baby wipes cos they were FILTHY and worse than useless
Oh the joys of travelling around the back of beyond

Nodferatu

its not the lens, their clean, its just the bulbs are muck. ill invest in a set of them nightbreakers

biko

Aye, Nightbreakers are good.
After fitting them, do a quick headlight alignment against a wall to make sure they're not totally out of wack and will blind oncoming traffic.

If you know your current light are adjusted right you can drive up to a wall and mark the spots where they aim.
Then change bulbs and check again.
Note that old bulbs will be very hot from usage.

Nodferatu

ok thanks for the info, thanks everyone

kay 9

Lads, are Ice Blue xenon dims and heads legal here in good ole eire? Curious as thinking of upgrading:)

L1011

Xenon headlights are only legal in the entire EU if you have self-levellers and washers fitted for starters.

Ice Blue ones are probably even more illegal to retrofit; due to not being the right colour light. Only white to yellow spectrum heads are legal here.

Tropheus

Aftermarket xenon kits are "legal" at the moment. I have a set in my wife's car and they came through the NCT no problem last year.

The washers and self levelling is only enforced for factory fitted xenons.

Some cars work well with the aftermarket kits and some don't. As a rule, projector headlamps are good as they focus the light more accurately, non projector headlamps are very hit and miss and you run the risk of blinding oncoming traffic. I'm sure we've all seen examples.

I've read several times over the last couple of years that the laws around aftermarket kits will be tightened up, but haven't seen anything close to becomming law so far.

L1011

Again, the NCT testing handbook and EU vehicle type standards aren't the same thing...