Hids, Xenons or Bosch Pure LIght

[studmuffin]

Need a bit of advice on the topic title please.

As i do most of my driving when it is dark i need some brighter lights on my vrs. i don’t know a lot about lights, so not quite sure about which ones might be the best.

Xenon’s,

i think these are the daddy of them all, but maybe out of my price range

Hids,

i think these are pretty well thought of and easy to fit but i have heard of possible problems with the canbus, and also not as good as xenon’s. Cost is about £70-80??

Bosch Pure Light Bulbs,

i think that these are the easiest and cheapest way of a getting a brighter light, but how much brighter are they compared to my standard bulbs i already have on my vrs ? Cost is about £15-20 depending on where you buy them

Any advice would be greatly welcomed guys.

[Mike B]

Xenon & HiD's are one and the same!

If you go for a kit you'll need digital ballast's!

Have a look here, http://www.hids4us.c...&product_id=121

4300k for the most light on the road.

Edited 14 December, 2010 by Mike B

[Gizmo]

Xenon's and HID's are exactly the same thing, however OE factory fit and retro fit are entirely different

[studmuffin]

Xenon & HiD's are one and the same!

If you go for a kit you'll need digital ballast's!

Have a look here, http://www.hids4us.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=36_55&product_id=121

4300k for the most light on the road (OEM)

told you i did'nt know a lot about lights !!!

are hids direct, the best place to buy them from ? and is it worth the extra money over the bosch pure light bulbs ?

[Forum User]

Xenon's and HID's are exactly the same thing, however OE factory fit and retro fit are entirely different

As above! Xenons come with washers and auto levellers

[carrock]

told you i did'nt know a lot about lights !!!

are hids direct, the best place to buy them from ? and is it worth the extra money over the bosch pure light bulbs ?

will be illegal for mot from October 2011. Non oe hids=FAIL!!

[Browny_37]

will be illegal for mot from October 2011. Non oe hids=FAIL!!

Provided headlamp washers are fitted with the HID kit, how would a MOT station determine that the lights are self leveling?

[xman]

Don't know how true this is....

The EU have put into place a new directive, number 2010/48/EU which is a revised directive of 2009/40/EU. This will come into force as of the 01st January 2012. The items to be included in the annual MOT from this directive are as follows:

Airbag warning lights

MIL lights

Seat belt pre-tensioners

Battery security

Wiring looms

Headlamp bulb and unit incompatibility

Illegal engine 'chipping'

New diesel emission limits for vehicles registered on or after the 01st July 2008

[ChrisRs]

Provided headlamp washers are fitted with the HID kit, how would a MOT station determine that the lights are self leveling?

Test them

...and there will be no adjustment available by the light switch...another giveaway

Edited 15 December, 2010 by ChrisRs

[Paul007]

That's a remap out of the question then....

[Gizmo]

Provided headlamp washers are fitted with the HID kit, how would a MOT station determine that the lights are self leveling?

Test them

...and there will be no adjustment available by the light switch...another giveaway

Exactly it will be easy to check, when you first turn them on they will not go through the 'self level test cycle' (dancing up and down).

[Hauptmann]

It is not at all clear how the EU regs can be interpreted for the MoT.

For example, the requirement for headlamp cleaning & levelling comes about NOT because an HID light source is used, but because of the luminous intensity of the light source. HID's are not of themselves illegal on this point (a halogen bulb with the same light output would also require levelling and cleaning).

Similarly, how are they going to check for 'illegal' engine 'chipping'. What is 'illegal' (presumably if emission limits are exceeded?). It would be hard to envisage every VTS having a tool to connect to the OBD port and able to detect an ECU software modification on any model of car (even many dealer-level tools cannot do this). Tuning boxes may be easier to detect - but remember that no disassembly is allowed during the MoT...

I think there is a lot more to come on this story and its a bit early to make any assumptions as yet.

[studmuffin]

i think i am just going to get a set of the bosch bulbs, i dont want to get mixed up with all the politics of EU laws, if i have hids fitted, plus the bulbs are quicker and easier to fit

and cheaper to.....

[vectra1]

i think i am just going to get a set of the bosch bulbs, i dont want to get mixed up with all the politics of EU laws, if i have hids fitted, plus the bulbs are quicker and easier to fit

and cheaper to.....

Fit the hid conversions.

>> Put the standard bulbs in for the test

>> Drive home and put the HID's back in

>> Seemples

Edited 15 December, 2010 by vectra1

[pist0nbr0ke]

Fit the hid conversions.

>> Put the standard bulbs in for the test

>> Drive home and put the HID's back in

>> Seemples

Oooh you're going to be accused of being an awful nasty law breaker....

By people who probably break the speed limit every day of their lives...

[gregoir]

Fit the hid conversions.

>> Put the standard bulbs in for the test

>> Drive home and put the HID's back in

>> Seemples

I'd have done the conversion years ago if it was that seemples.

As for 'Illegal engine 'chipping'' does this mean all vehicles will have to be in absolutely factory specification? How can this be done?

Edited 15 December, 2010 by gregoir

[vectra1]

Oooh you're going to be accused of being an awful nasty law breaker....

By people who probably break the speed limit every day of their lives...

Of course here in Ireland we can put them in and not worry until the car is 4 years old for testing LOL

[Jim H]

See page 8-9 "The Future of the MOT test" in the latest edition (No 48) of Vosa magazine 'Matters of testing'.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/publications/newsletters/mattersoftesting.htm

Other items – such as headlamp bulb and unit incompatibility, headlamp levelling devices and illegal engine ‘chipping’ – will need further thought before we can get a workable solution for MOT stations.

The alternative to the Bosch (halogen) bulbs are Philips Xtreme power or Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs.

[Gyp]

The alternative to the Bosch (halogen) bulbs are Philips Xtreme power or Osram Nightbreaker Plus bulbs.

I've got Philips Xtreme Power bulbs in the Octavia and they're brilliant (pun intended). I got them from www.powerbulbs.com

I put aftermarket HiDs on my motorbike and took them off again as the lack of focus from the standard lens made them dangerous IMO

Edited 15 December, 2010 by Gyp

[GoneToBeemer]

I've got Philips Xtreme Power bulbs in the Octavia and they're brilliant (pun intended)

I put aftermarket HiDs on my motorbike and took them off again as the lack of focus from the standard lens made them dangerous IMO

The octavia has projector lenses so as long as they are properly adjusted an aftermarket HID kit will not produce any more glare than a standard bulb

Also during the MOT all that is currently tested is a) that the lights are all working, the headlight alignment c) beam intensity

[Gyp]

The octavia has projector lenses so as long as they are properly adjusted an aftermarket HID kit will not produce any more glare than a standard bulb

Also during the MOT all that is currently tested is a) that the lights are all working, the headlight alignment c) beam intensity

Fair enough, but bearing in mind how good the Philips bulbs are I really can't see the point in fannying about with HIDs

[gregoir]

"The Future of the MOT test" has no information, more discussions to take place. Nothing mentioned about illegal vehicle chipping- whatever that may mean.

The Germans have got around vehicle tuning/enhancements by declaring RUF (Porsche), Alpina (BMW), AMG (Daimler Benz) etc to be manufacturers in their own right.

Non OE tyres/wheels/washer fluid may now be an MOT failure - the possibilities are endless.

[GoneToBeemer]

Fair enough, but bearing in mind how good the Philips bulbs are I really can't see the point in fannying about with HIDs

I have used improved bulbs before, the best of which being PIAA Extreme White Plus, and they are better than standard halogen but nothing compares with HID light output and the colour temperature cannot be matched properly by any halogen bulb.

The closest to natural sunlight is around 4100K, the best HID kits to go for or 4300K where available or 5000K. these produce 300% brighter light output than a halogen bulb and are far superior to using just a simple bulb upgrade.

[silver1011]

Bosch Pure Light bulbs are available in most branches of Halfords... at a price!

Standard Pure Lights are £22.99 a pair, the Plus 50 and Plus 90 Pure Lights are almost £30.00 each!

Needless to say I went for the Osram Night Breakers from www.powerbulbs.com for £25 for the pair with a free set of sidelight bulbs and next day delivery.

An obvious improvement too

[silver1011]

Just had my car MOT'd.

They checked the operation of the lights by standing in front and behind the car whilst I operated the lights to see if they lit up as expected.

No alignment check.