Hi there,

have chance to upgrade my Fabia with OEM Hella headlights for LHD.

I tried to find final solution about legality of this and couldn't find definitive answer?

In my country just like in UK law says that i need washers and automatic regulator( almost impossible to upgrade), but people here drive cars with all  kind of xenon upgrades even xenon  HID kits.

I saw that people on Brikskoda ordered Depo replicas and i am sure that most of them don't have washers and automatic regulation of the beam.

So is this legal in UK, can you pass MOT with just OEM headlights, standard headlight regulation and with no washers?

 

 

There is a clause in the EU regulations that control xenon and LED headlamps. Anything under 2000 lumens light output does not require levelling or washers. BMW and Mini supply xenon retrofit kits certified under 2000 lumens so they are completely legal. Unless your MOT testing station has a light power meter there is no way they can say if your xenon kit is over or under 2000 lumens.

There is a second clause in the UK regulations that state that the washers and levelling must work if fitted and many have interpreted this to mean that they are not actually required, but this is a bit of a grey area in many people's minds.

If I was going to fit a xenon kit, I would be more likely to rely on the 2000 lumen regulation than the 'if fitted' defence.

2000 lumens is pretty bright. I have certified 2000 lumen H7 LEDs fitted to my Fabia vRS and they are very good indeed. They also don't suffer from the light scatter issues you get with the xenon kits in reflector headlamps.

If you are getting normal Fabia xenons then if you fit them with BMW or Mini bulbs they will be legal even without washers or levelling.