Has anyone got experience of upgrading their DRL/sidelight bulbs to brighter LED ? 

I’ve read online that some LED bulbs can be problematic causing a bulb failure detection warning to show up, which would be the best type to use that avoids this ?

Edited 6 October, 20178 yr by Fitzwilliam

There is an ongoing discussion about LED DRLs in Sasha Grace's Monte Carlo thread which you may find useful.

I’m happy with the Osram bulbs but others have noticed the MTEC bulbs are brighter, it’s personal preference I guess

55 minutes ago, SashaGrace said:

I’m happy with the Osram bulbs but others have noticed the MTEC bulbs are brighter, it’s personal preference I guess

Are the Osram bulbs brighter than the standard bulbs ?

I had MTec fog lamp bulbs in my SEAT Leon. They were very poor and I would not buy MTec bulbs again.

 

Trying my third DRL bulbs now with Twenty20 Cree LED which are very bright although expensive. 

Mtec had a nice bright light but poor longevity.

Osram not bright enough for a sunny day, I think part of the problem is the light isn't projected back into the reflector to spread the light.

16 hours ago, Fitzwilliam said:

Are the Osram bulbs brighter than the standard bulbs ?

Yes. Not by an awful lot though. I’m quite happy with the brightness, not massively brighter than standard and seem to have a long life which is more important to me. The reflector design is poor though hence a lot of users prefer the brighter bulbs as in very bright sunlight (and especially against a white car) they can be hard to see when they are on.

Have ordered a pair of Xenon Superwhites off ebay for £5.95, will report how I get on with them.

4 hours ago, SashaGrace said:

Yes. Not by an awful lot though. I’m quite happy with the brightness, not massively brighter than standard and seem to have a long life which is more important to me. The reflector design is poor though hence a lot of users prefer the brighter bulbs as in very bright sunlight (and especially against a white car) they can be hard to see when they are on.

The reflectors are designed for the standard incandescent bulbs and maximise light output from them.

You'll notice that all standard-fit LED DRLs cover a large front-facing surface area...the light you see simply shines outwards. This is why no LED replacement bulb gives a satisfactory result when fitted into the reflector...it's simply not designed for LEDs.

I know, I don’t mind that the light can be hard to see because it’s only a DRL. When the headlights are on they are pretty good with decent bulbs in place. I wouldn’t change any other bulb for something harder to see but the DRL is a bit useless IMO.

The Xenon Superwhite bulbs arrived today and are now fitted, tbh I’m not sure if they are any more effective than the standard bulbs, the light is certainly very white compared to the rather yellowish standard bulbs but being the same wattage I don’t think they are any brighter, I’m wondering if there are any LED bulbs around that are designed to make use of the reflector built into the lights.

I bought the Halfords blue drl bulbs for not too much money as I have a 13 plate citigo they fit fine .