After fitting some LED lights to my side lights, and interior I've been wondering about the rest of the bulbs in my car because I like modern look.

Are these legal however? MOT fails?

I have a faulty rear fog light as it is, and I'd like to upgrade the rear sets of fogs and brakes to these LED's, perhaps the indicators too at some point, but I don't know if they are legal or not.

Thanks!

Edited 10 October, 201015 yr by apmaman

I'd go for it if they wasn't so bleeding expensive! just go for it mate!

Think technically they have to be 'E' marked, but unlike HIDs it's not as argued over as they don't blind people in the same way. As long as they don't look blue I'd be amazed if anyone ever said anything.

Worst case the MOT station will fail the car and youy'll have to put all the old bulbs back in. For the test.

Tail/Fogs, Good luck finding anything to fit! I've tried!

Indicators, Do-able but you'll need to fit resistors!

Reverse lights, No issues!

Brake lights, Do-able but you'll need to fit resistors!

Tail/Fogs, Good luck finding anything to fit! I've tried!

Indicators, Do-able but you'll need to fit resistors!

Reverse lights, No issues!

Brake lights, Do-able but you'll need to fit resistors!

What brand ( or ebay link?) did you use for the reverse lights? Aren't all the bulbs the same fitments anyway? Looking at them they all seem the same size bayonet type bulb...

If not, what are the bulb sizes for each light?

Just tested what bulbs I have that are working and my tail lights are really dim, and I have NO fog lights, The Fabia's suppose to have both tail lights come on when the rear fogs are engaged isn't it?

Edited 12 October, 201015 yr by apmaman

grr666 is the expert on led's for this site, he'll be along shortly I guess. As for your reversing lights only one of them is wired up from the factory but you can add a wire to the nearside bulb holder so you'll have 2 working. Yes the sides should be on the same time, if they are dim, have the lenses been sprayed with any paint to make them darker? some chavs do this this to make them look "Cool" apparantly. If they go off when the fogs are swiched on you'll have to check the wiring and bulbholder for corroded connections and loose wires.

Edited 12 October, 201015 yr by Soot1e

. As for your reversing lights only one of them is wired up from the factory but you can add a wire to the nearside bulb holder so you'll have 2 working.

Fogs you mean? I thought both reversing lights worked as standard.

Both my reverse work together, although I've seen a lot of "new" cars that only have one coming on. Not very helpful. when you are behind them!

I was asking about when you pull the light switch out, to engage the rear fog lights.

Edited 12 October, 201015 yr by apmaman

Then only one fog light should come on (the side with the driver on, changes depending upon country).

Tail/Fogs are a 21/4w bulb with offset pins! So far I've been unable to find an LED alternative!

Twin rear fogs aren't an issue, I modded mine took about 10 mins!

If there's enough interest I'll cost up a kit and post a 'How To' guide!

If there's any interest

Alright, so I'm only suppose to have one rear fog light come on. I thought it was suppose to be two. Thanks for the info. I'd like to see a how to guide as it would make the car look better with both lights for uniformity on the rear.

Got two 36 LED bulbs in the post today.

They fit all the bulb holders. The reverse lights are the easiest for them to fit into. The rest require some encouragement but they do fit. Going to get some yellow/amber ones for the indicators next.

The white ones do not work well with the red plastic covers, where the tail and brake lights are. I found the original bulbs seem to look better, and give a clearer red light than the LED's.

I'd try with the red coloured ones, but I dont have one, so if anyone has one I'll take it and see if it fits

Here's a terrible quality picture of the what the reverse lights look like compared to the originals. The tail lights are also on, so its a bit of a mix in colour but IRL they are super white and clear!

Edited 2 November, 201015 yr by apmaman

It's hopeless trying to photograph lights - I put LED front sidelights in today and got this image:

Not nearly this bright though the colour's correct

Got two 36 LED bulbs in the post today.

<snip>

The white ones do not work well with the red plastic covers, where the tail and brake lights are. I found the original bulbs seem to look better, and give a clearer red light than the LED's.

<snip>

The downside to white LEDs is that they don't emit a continuous spectrum of light: They are made from a blue LED chip with a yellow phosphor coating to make them appear white to the human eye. So they mostly emit just blue light and yellow light, and hardly any red.

(The warm white types have a better spread of colour (higher Colour Rendering Index), but tend to be harder to find and more expensive.)

Hope that helps a bit!

So I've pretty much tested LED's in all the possible light slots and I've found this..

Front indicators have offset bayonet fittings, dont try and force LED bulbs in (especially cheap ones because the bulb breaks, holder is made of of what looks like bullet proof material)

Amber LED's do not perform in any way as good as the original halogen. Very poor light, while they were "oranger" they were no where near bright enough for me to consider safe.

Rear indicators are much the same, very poor light so avoid.

Rear Reverse lights, excellent, produces a very white light instead of grey. Using higher power ones its almost like having low powered head lights at the back of the car, highly recommend!

Brake lights and tail lights with white LED bulbs they do not work well with the red lenses compared to original bulbs, not exactly bright enough. When engaging the rear fog light option after dipped beams are on there is no increase in visible light output with the tail lights, obvious safety flaw so I would avoid.

None of the LED's I used required resistors fitting, and some of the bulbs required a bit of encouragement to fit, but they did in the end.

So really the only ones I would bother with are the reverse lights, but that might be down to me buying cheaper LED lights.

... so you didn't check out the foglights then

There is nothing in the MOT manual about the source of the light, only that they have to be of the correct colour and that their function must not be affected by other lights.

My furbie doesn't have front fogs