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Phillips Ultinon LED


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Hello all. I’ll get my new Rapid 1,4 TSI DSG on Tuesday. I’ve heard that the factory bulbs are not that good. Since I do quite a bit of night driving, I was looking at the Philips Ultinon LED bulbs. Have anyone here fitted them?

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Reviews here :

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-headlamp-h7?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhKC58oy_2AIVzDLTCh3VTwT2EAQYBSABEgKNFvD_BwE

 

They look great, but I'm sure most Rapid owners have to buy food for their families instead of 200 Euro headlight bulbs :o

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15 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

Reviews here :

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-x-treme-ultinon-led-headlamp-h7?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhKC58oy_2AIVzDLTCh3VTwT2EAQYBSABEgKNFvD_BwE

 

They look great, but I'm sure most Rapid owners have to buy food for their families instead of 200 Euro headlight bulbs :o

You might be right, but it’s probably the only set of bulbs I’ll ever have to buy for the car. And they’re gone below 150 € now. As for not being road legal? If they’re not blinding other cars, I don’t see a problem.

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21 hours ago, Fed1 said:

You might be right, but it’s probably the only set of bulbs I’ll ever have to buy for the car. And they’re gone below 150 € now. As for not being road legal? If they’re not blinding other cars, I don’t see a problem.

When the retail packaging is explicitly telling you that it's not for use on public roads it means that a relatively well paid compliance team couldn't find a loophole for these to be road legal... If you want, fit 'em to your daily driver, but bulb swaps like that is why I'm thinking of installing a pair of rear-facing xenons on my Audi XD

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I looked at these but also spottied the 'not for road use' and decided against it... I'll be honest I find the Phillips racing vision good some days and not so great on others, I can't tell why but some days they're noticeably good others I don't really rate them.

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1 hour ago, wolf89 said:

When the retail packaging is explicitly telling you that it's not for use on public roads it means that a relatively well paid compliance team couldn't find a loophole for these to be road legal... If you want, fit 'em to your daily driver, but bulb swaps like that is why I'm thinking of installing a pair of rear-facing xenons on my Audi XD

I really don’t care what you put on your Audi. I take it you don’t have any relevant info for my question? 

If installed correctly, there shouldn’t be any problems blinding other cars.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tCUyqwXR4&feature=youtu.be

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23 minutes ago, Fed1 said:

I really don’t care what you put on your Audi. I take it you don’t have any relevant info for my question? 

If installed correctly, there shouldn’t be any problems blinding other cars.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tCUyqwXR4&feature=youtu.be

If installed correctly it still runs afoul of what the goddamn manufacturer EXPLICITLY states on the packaging, so how you install it is beside the point. Hell, the site you linked says the same - those are for off-road use only, so unless you want to risk a ticket or potential issues during your next MOT - grab something road legal (ie the PIAA Xtreme).

 

1 hour ago, JonBRapid said:

I looked at these but also spottied the 'not for road use' and decided against it... I'll be honest I find the Phillips racing vision good some days and not so great on others, I can't tell why but some days they're noticeably good others I don't really rate them.

How're they on the longevity/durability front, because my dad's on his second Osram Nightbreaker set already?

Edited by wolf89
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2 hours ago, wolf89 said:

When the retail packaging is explicitly telling you that it's not for use on public roads it means that a relatively well paid compliance team couldn't find a loophole for these to be road legal... If you want, fit 'em to your daily driver, but bulb swaps like that is why I'm thinking of installing a pair of rear-facing xenons on my Audi XD

I really don’t care what you put on your Audi. I take it you don’t have any relevant info for my question? 

If installed correctly, there shouldn’t be any problems blinding other cars.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b8tCUyqwXR4&feature=youtu.be

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I'm guessing that the Rapid, as a budget car, only has reflector based headlights so inserting high performance LEDS are likely to get excessive bleed that will effect other road users.

I don't think 'installed correctly' comes into it, they will still be illegal and no amount of fettling will stop that fact from being  patently obvious to other road users.

There is a very good reasons why factory Xenon's are legally required to be fitted with self levelling systems and headlight washers.

 

There are quite a few threads where cheaper LEDs have been tried and have had focussing problems.

Save yourself some money and try the Osram or PIAA upgrade path first.

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2 hours ago, wolf89 said:

If installed correctly it still runs afoul of what the goddamn manufacturer EXPLICITLY states on the packaging, so how you install it is beside the point. Hell, the site you linked says the same - those are for off-road use only, so unless you want to risk a ticket or potential issues during your next MOT - grab something road legal (ie the PIAA Xtreme).

 

How're they on the longevity/durability front, because my dad's on his second Osram Nightbreaker set already?

 

I'm getting about 12 months... They normally go around October - when it starts getting darker earlier  ;)

 

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20 minutes ago, JonBRapid said:

I'm getting about 12 months... They normally go around October - when it starts getting darker earlier  ;)

 

Heh,his lasted around a year as well,so it sounds like a normal attrition rate and shouldn't worry about them,lol (I was checking, because I'm apparently a tad spoiled by the "good enough" stock lights in my ride that are going strong into their third year). 

@Gerrycan 

Tried to explain that politely (even suggested the street-legal PIAA uprades),mate!No dice.. Hell, I even tried with the "MOT's going to be a problem" tack Btw, isn't it amusing that no one stops to ask him or herself "wait, if LED's are so much better, why new higher end cars still ship with the same halogens and xenons as before? "

Edited by wolf89
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49 minutes ago, wolf89 said:

Heh,his lasted around a year as well,so it sounds like a normal attrition rate and shouldn't worry about them,lol (I was checking, because I'm apparently a tad spoiled by the "good enough" stock lights in my ride that are going strong into their third year). 

@Gerrycan 

Tried to explain that politely (even suggested the street-legal PIAA uprades),mate!No dice.. Hell, I even tried with the "MOT's going to be a problem" tack Btw, isn't it amusing that no one stops to ask him or herself "wait, if LED's are so much better, why new higher end cars still ship with the same halogens and xenons as before? "

I think you missed the point. I didn’t ask about the legality of the bulbs, I didn’t ask for alternatives. And yet you keep commenting?!  

I don’t find your comments particularly polite, rather annoying actually.

I tried to ask you, politely, not to comment, but... no dice.

 

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1 hour ago, inspectorman said:

At some point someone driving the other way will drive into you after being dazzled. Or someone in front of you will brake test you. Clear enough?

So I take it you haven’t seen them live

:-D

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To calm things down a bit, here’s some info from the manufacturer:

 

“Similar or better beam pattern than standard halogen lamp, to see and be seen better.  There is no ECE regulation existing for LED bulbs. ECE beam pattern compliance is tested on several commonly used luminaires where the LED bulb beam pattern matches the ECE approved halogen beam pattern”..

 

 

Leveling systems are not required below 2000 lumens, the H7 Ultinon is 1760.

 

Edited by Fed1
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from what I gather they do not last as long as other bulbs , I fitted some similar types to my VW  and one popped after about 6 months- the headlights that are fitted to modern cars have to be compliant with road safety..these are not compliant ,, WOW -they are bright  ! looks like they should offer  free welding goggles with them .

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On 06/01/2018 at 18:46, Fed1 said:

To calm things down a bit, here’s some info from the manufacturer:

 

“Similar or better beam pattern than standard halogen lamp, to see and be seen better.  There is no ECE regulation existing for LED bulbs. ECE beam pattern compliance is tested on several commonly used luminaires where the LED bulb beam pattern matches the ECE approved halogen beam pattern”..

 

 

Leveling systems are not required below 2000 lumens, the H7 Ultinon is 1760.

 

ECE regulation 48 states:

- Auto-levelling is required on all LED based headlights

- Auto-levelling and headlight cleaning is required on all 2000lm+ headlights (normally xenons)

 

Therefore, the Ultinon would need auto-leveling but not a headlight cleaning system.

 

Unless Philips have tested their LED bulbs with the same headlight/reflector that's used in your Rapid, you can't be sure the beam pattern will be correct or that it won't cause glare either.

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Reading through the thread, people on here are tying to be helpful to the OP and trying to explain that the LED bulbs would be illegal to use on the road. This is why noone has experience of them: because we are all law-abiding.

 

For my own 2-pence worth. I live in a rural backwater (Norfolk and the fens) where road illumination is appalling and miss a pitch black turn and 'sploosh' - you're in a fen drain. But I digress. I installed Osram Nightbreakers and the improvement over OEM is startling. They give me much more confidence. Yes 30,000 miles and I'm on my second set and I reckon they're due to fail sometime soon, but I can forgive that for the improvement. Long story short: I don't need to break the law to see a massive improvement.

 

And the fact that so many are driving around with these illegal bulbs is the reason I hate driving at night - I'm constantly dazzled by vehicles coming the other way. It might even be legal xenons that do it too - probably on older cars that are poorly maintained, people just don't seem to care until the day of the MOT test. It seems to have got much worse in the past 3 or 4 years. 

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3 hours ago, PerArdua said:

Reading through the thread, people on here are tying to be helpful to the OP and trying to explain that the LED bulbs would be illegal to use on the road. This is why noone has experience of them: because we are all law-abiding.

 

For my own 2-pence worth. I live in a rural backwater (Norfolk and the fens) where road illumination is appalling and miss a pitch black turn and 'sploosh' - you're in a fen drain. But I digress. I installed Osram Nightbreakers and the improvement over OEM is startling. They give me much more confidence. Yes 30,000 miles and I'm on my second set and I reckon they're due to fail sometime soon, but I can forgive that for the improvement. Long story short: I don't need to break the law to see a massive improvement.

 

And the fact that so many are driving around with these illegal bulbs is the reason I hate driving at night - I'm constantly dazzled by vehicles coming the other way. It might even be legal xenons that do it too - probably on older cars that are poorly maintained, people just don't seem to care until the day of the MOT test. It seems to have got much worse in the past 3 or 4 years. 

I know what you mean - theres far too many cars about with their headlamps  seemingly set up far Anti Aircraft gunnery rather than the road.

I was in front of one on the M6 the other night, had to knock my interior mirror up it was so bright I could feel the back of my head getting warm !

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1 hour ago, johnny cabbage head said:

I know what you mean - theres far too many cars about with their headlamps  seemingly set up far Anti Aircraft gunnery rather than the road.

I was in front of one on the M6 the other night, had to knock my interior mirror up it was so bright I could feel the back of my head getting warm !

Same here and for me it's glaringly(I promise that this is not a bad pun) obvious that majority of those are DIY Xenon/LED swaps and mostly for the dipped beam lights only as the light pattern is too broad for high-beams. As brake checks (as suggested by someone above) can end badly, I'd suggest you just start crawling ever slower until the one behind you gets the hint ;)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've never found the original bulbs to be inadequate, stick with them it's cheaper.

 

These bulbs are a bit like the super spotlights of bygone years (and a few other mods like souped-up headlamp bulbs) They come with a warning on the web page quote " PLEASE NOTE: These bulbs do not have ECE approval, and as such their usage is currently not approved for use on public roads: their usage is limited to ‘off-road’ applications. "

 

This is because they are guaranteed to dazzle oncoming road users, this will not improve either their safety or yours.

 

And at night this road user uses cars and cycles - and having the world turn black by overpowered oncoming headlamps is simply not funny (in fact it is a tad scary), you can't even see the edge of the road.

Edited by RMurphy195
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over the course of many years I guess with annual changes of the brighter (better) H7 bulbs that don't last as long would in fact end up dearer than one set of these bulbs. As for type approval, it's not clear whether Phillips have tested these LED bulbs with a failure result, or if they just have not spent the time/money in the approval application process, which if they did would result in an approved status. (Or perhaps this is ongoing now). Certainly in this time of the year having candle light illumination is not great, of course keeping the headlights clean helps but only to a point.  

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