http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/accessories-tyres/consumer-news/94753/dangers-of-illegal-hid-headlight-conversion-kits-explained

 

Shame the MK2 wasn't offered with genuine gas discharge headlamps as an option. I miss them on my MK1 vRS!

The DfT / DVSA / UK Government know what to do then. 

Change the UK MOT and have vehicles with illegal lights fail the UK MOT.

 

They faff about knowing about the Issue, knowing the lack of action the Police Forces take on Illegal Fitments and use on the road, 

so they need to change the UK MOT.

 

Only issue is like Catalytic Converter or DPF removal, it requires the MOT Examiner to identify that they are fitted.

To be fair, the main crux of that article is HID kits fitted into reflector lights that produce a rubbish beam pattern with lots of scatter. I agree that should outlawed, as it is very infuriating when driving towards a tool who thinks he looks cool with his McDonalds special 5h1tbox with a beam pattern that illuminates everything but the road in front of them.

 

If you're fitting them into projector optic lights as you get on the Fabia and Octavia mk2, the beam pattern is exactly the same as if factory fitted xenons.

 

MOT centres really aren't bothered if they're HID or halogen, so long as the beam pattern is correct.

 

This is my Octavia with a HID kit in H7 projectors being MOT tested....

 

Edited 9 March, 201610 yr by softscoop

I hate super bright headlights. One often gets dazzled by them on local country roads round here. The other day I was dazzled by someone coming the other way late at night and flashed him briefly to remind him to dip. He switched to and kept on main beam. I had to stop and wait for my eyes to readjust. So inconsiderate and dangerous, if he couldn't see where he was going he should have slowed down or gone to Specsavers!

It's not just HID's that dazzle people, normal halogen bulbs can do exactly the same if not aligned correctly!

I have no plans to remove the HID's from my Monte Carlo fabia, they've been properly aligned and don't dazzle oncoming traffic and more to the point standard halogen bulbs are horrendous in the black headlights as many will agree!

I hate super bright headlights. One often gets dazzled by them on local country roads round here. The other day I was dazzled by someone coming the other way late at night and flashed him briefly to remind him to dip. He switched to and kept on main beam. I had to stop and wait for my eyes to readjust. So inconsiderate and dangerous, if he couldn't see where he was going he should have slowed down or gone to Specsavers!

 

I don't think him not being able to see where he was going was the issue, it was the fact you dazzled him to tell him he was dazzling you that he took issue with, hence the prolonged use of main beam to prove to you he didn't have main beam on when you flashed him.

 

Some cars have brighter lights than others, some lights are genuinely badly adjusted, some peoples eyes are more sensitive than others.

 

Lorries, vans and 4x4's, especially those with xenon's or LED's, are going to dazzle round corners, on fast undulating roads and the crests of hills and dips, it doesn't matter how good the self leveling system is they aren't infallible.

In my experience rhd french cars seem to almost come out of the factory with a lhd light set up which doesnt get adjusted to rhd until failing an NCT at 4yrs old.. :no:

In the view of your standard MOT test HIDS are legal. People waffle on about the ambiguous comment about requiring headlamp washers and automatic levelling that features in the MOT handbook. These are not required, but if present must be working.

So long as the MOT test stays as it is in that respect then I will continue using HIDS. If others wish to drive around country lanes barely being able to see 20 feet ahead then be my guest. I will use HIDS and make night journeys safer for myself and passengers.

In the view of your standard MOT test HIDS are legal.

 

That really depends. Some after-market kits are able to meet the beam pattern requirements of an MOT test but not all, projector headlights doing better than reflector headlights. Even so, this is only in terms of cut-off and there is no guarantee the beam pattern under the cut-off is any good.

 

Regardless of the ability to pass an MOT, after-market kits rarely, if ever, meet the requirements of the ECE regs so they still aren't actually road-legal.

 

I have nothing against using drop-in kits in well adjusted, clean projector headlights but I feel the MOT should be updated and that people should be fully aware their car isn't road-legal which may have other implications.

People drive on country lanes on full beam and even with spot lights or fog lights if there are no other road users or motor vehicles. The dipped lights when used should not stop other road users or motorists from seeing because they are dazzling because illegal or badly adjusted as is often the case with aftermarket kits and bulbs and sometimes even OEM set ups that come from a Dealers badly set up.

HIDs are a fail for Nct in ireland now, England might follow suit.

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More likely it would be. Great Britain and Northern Ireland that would follow suit if the DfT / DVSA are told to by the UK government. Or even the EU.

Edited 13 March, 201610 yr by GoneOffskiroottoot

I'm a fan of HID lights and have always retro fitted kits into my cars that have projector lenses. I recently did a lot of reading about this subject as I do champion the use of them.

Just because a car passes an MOT it doesn't make it 'legal' as there are many areas that are not tested or skimmed over. It is correct to quote the 'where fitted' wording and say that it's ambiguous/subjective, but the bottom line is none of these after market kits, not one of them is 'type approved' or 'e' marked to comply with ECE reg 48. This is what makes them illegal.

Again, as I said I have always fitted them to my cars and encouraged others to do the same. I still like them and would probably fit them to my next car unless they are policed more aggressively. It's just from now I won't be arguing that they are legal.

In the view of your standard MOT test HIDS are legal. People waffle on about the ambiguous comment about requiring headlamp washers and automatic levelling that features in the MOT handbook. These are not required, but if present must be working.

So long as the MOT test stays as it is in that respect then I will continue using HIDS. If others wish to drive around country lanes barely being able to see 20 feet ahead then be my guest. I will use HIDS and make night journeys safer for myself and passengers.

 

I drive with standard headlights in an area where street lighting is almost non-existent, and funnily enough they give me a lot more than 20 feet of illumination, even on dipped beam!

Perhaps that comment says more about your driving style than the extra light the HID's provide.

My local MOT tester reckons he fails 1 in 20 cars fitted with after-market HID's, either on incorrect colour, because they have bought the wrong light level units, or because they do not provide a  correct beam pattern.