As with many things in the UK MOT, the tester tests and examines what is presented.

Things fitted will almost certainly need to operate as set out.

 

Where things are not fitted or required to be fitted they do not get examined,

Many of the Proposed Changes to the UK MOT did not get implemented when the time came.

(this allowed the continued fitting of after market lights that can be badly adjusted or fitted.)

Many are fine and dandy, lots are just dangerous or very annoying, not to the driver fitting them, but to other road users.

 

Nothing stops anyone from having a 13 month MOT carries out, and 1 hour later going and modifying a vehicle badly.

They then drive till the next MOT, and they may or may not be OK at that next test.

If not OK, thats a year they have had them like that.

 

More often now the Police do not bother about things like annoying or really badely fitted or set lights,

often they drive BMW's with some of the most obvious to spot at distance lights.

(some even set off on shifts, patrols or journeys driving, never having checked their lights are all working properly.)

 

george

I mean when fitted on cars without washers and self leveling etc

So do I.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk now Free

MB and BMW are starting to fit 5000k as standard instead of 4300k (4its 4300k not 4.3k, the k is a unit of measurement, Kelvin, not short for thousand. )

Yeah i know some are 5000k

And i wrote it short as i couldnt be bothered with all the 0's

Yeah i know some are 5000k

And i wrote it short as i couldnt be bothered with all the 0's

I think it's more about standardisation.

Some firms were using 4300,others 4600 or 4800.

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_170.htm

Issue date january 2012

Changes have since taken place as they were ment to change last year 2012 but ended up been delayed and as such took place this year. Cars fitted with hid lights should have a self leveling system but wont if you fit a kit off ebay..clearly

Changes have since taken place as they were ment to change last year 2012 but ended up been delayed and as such took place this year. Cars fitted with hid lights should have a self leveling system but wont if you fit a kit off ebay..clearly

 

Have you got a link to the current state of affairs please?

Changes have since taken place as they were ment to change last year 2012 but ended up been delayed and as such took place this year. Cars fitted with hid lights should have a self leveling system but wont if you fit a kit off ebay..clearly

 

 

Regardless, they are still passing MOT's 

BrownBarge,  This is April 2013.

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s01000701.htm

 

They never got beyond the 'Where fitted, they must work',  so the UK MOT continues much as always,

The Examiner Examines what is presented.

 

Like Exhausts, they decide what sounds OK, no proper dB test yet or anything just a personal opinion.

While Test Centres are Commercial & can be Private concerns, the Test will be in the UK much the same & the EU can mump all they like.

The UK is one of the easiest countries any place to get a car passed as roadworthy.

& cheap as well.

Even Daytime Only MOT's still available.

 

george

Changes have since taken place as they were ment to change last year 2012 but ended up been delayed and as such took place this year. Cars fitted with hid lights should have a self leveling system but wont if you fit a kit off ebay..clearly

 

WRONG!!

 

Please read the MOT Testers Handbook first, and also note what the Forum members who we know to be Testers are telling you.

 

The Instructions say MAY, not MUST!!

Taken from aprils edition of car mechanics magazine.

Taken from aprils edition of car mechanics magazine.

 

 

Exactly, it says SHOULD, not MUST

I just posted the relevant page from the manual, thats the official manual.

 & it is 'Must'  that is said, but 'Where such systems are fitted they must work'.  

 

Then you get the 'May' bit.

 

There is the HID/LED lights 'may' be fitted with washers etc

 

So May be fitted, Must work if fitted,

its just as always was.

 

http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s01000701.htm

Read this:

New Legislation 2012




The latest directive from VOSA includes their view that unless strict criteria are met, after-market HID kits may not be legal.

There is some confusion regarding the change in legislation towards HID kits. Although we are still trying to determine the full details here is some text that may help! Many thanks to the MX3 Forum guys who bought it to my attention

Here is the relevant text -

"In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.
The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).

For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.

Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:

1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.
2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).
3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.

In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.
2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.
3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.
In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above."

If you are found to be using lights which don't comply, in all likelihood, you may be reported to the Procurator Fiscal and may end up with a fine.

The above seems to be a precursor to the new MOT criteria slated to come into existance on New Years Eve 2011 (for 2012), this is from the MOT Testers VOSA bullitin explaining the new EU MOT regulations which were ratified this year, and includes amongst other things, the testing of wiring harnesses, the testing for illegal HID kits and, wait for it, chipped ECU's, whatever that means The article is quite long, but here is a small extract .....

"As far as changes to the test content are concerned, VOSA has already been analysing the requirements of the new Directive and working out how to implement them. We started this earlier in the year by talking with representatives of the MOT trade at our regular Trade User Group and VTS Council meetings. Both VOSA and the Department for Transport (DfT) are keen to ensure that any changes to the test are introduced in as practical a way as possible, keeping the burden on the trade to a minimum and ideally keeping the changes cost neutral.

In many cases, the changes shouldn’t necessarily lead to an increase in average test times. A good example is the malfunction indicator lamps on the dashboard that indicate defective electronic power steering, electronic stability control and secondary restraint systems. Testers already check the dashboard for other lamps, so no extra time would be required for this addition to the test.

Electrical wiring and batteries are now included in the test’s scope, but testers already check the vehicle structure where wiring is secured – often along the same routes as other testable items, such as brake pipes in the engine compartment. So again, this doesn’t look like an additional burden on the tester. In the pre-computerisation days, testers often (wrongly) failed vehicles for insecure batteries, so they must have been looking at them then! Now, it means that when we implement the new Directive, vehicles can legitimately fail for battery insecurity, for no extra tester effort. 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."

 

So they are thinking and have been now for half a decade, they will get there in he end, but just not yet.

Taken from aprils edition of car mechanics magazine.

 

And?

Firstly that isn't a defenitive statement, as it is just in a Magazine, and secondly it says "should" not MUST!!

I've seen that "statement" before but I don't know what the actual source is, I assume it is from somewhere Scottish.  It doesn't really say anything definitive - it seems to say that aftermarket HIDs aren't not illegal.  There are a number of rather sweeping unsupported statements and it isn't clear what is and isn't a quote.

 

Anyone got the original source for it?

I've seen that "statement" before but I don't know what the actual source is, I assume it is from somewhere Scottish.  It doesn't really say anything definitive - it seems to say that aftermarket HIDs aren't not illegal.  There are a number of rather sweeping unsupported statements and it isn't clear what is and isn't a quote.

 

Anyone got the original source for it?

 

Definitely Scottish.........the Procurator Fiscal has no standing in England whatsoever

 

Just make sure you don't venture abroad  

And?

Firstly that isn't a defenitive statement, as it is just in a Magazine, and secondly it says "should" not MUST!!

 

 

Shall, must, will - You ain't got no choice, you have to do it.

 

Should - meh! If its too much like hard work don't bother.

 

These are the sort of words the legal profession get very excited about and I have spent many "fun" hours with clients, contractors and regulators as a result of people getting them mixed up.

Did anyone read my post?

Did anyone read my post?

 

Yes, Chris

 

But what is the definition of a 'conventional headlight' as opposed to any other sort of headlight?

 

Is a projector headlight a 'conventional headlight', or is any non-HID/xenon headlight a 'conventional headlight'?

Did anyone read my post?

 

I've seen that "statement" before but I don't know what the actual source is, I assume it is from somewhere Scottish.  It doesn't really say anything definitive - it seems to say that aftermarket HIDs aren't not illegal.  There are a number of rather sweeping unsupported statements and it isn't clear what is and isn't a quote.

 

Anyone got the original source for it?

 

 

Well sorry for misunderstanding what i read, unfortunately we cant all be clever ***** like you lot!

The Forum is full of them

Haha, looks I opened a right can of worms here! Shall I just stay away from any HID kit?