Led/ hid relay

[gRoberts]

I think the best way to solve this.

 

Find a company that lists their product as being Mk3 Octavia compatible.

 

Simple.

[PetrolDave]

4 hours ago, gRoberts said:

Find a company that lists their product as being Mk3 Octavia compatible.

And hope by compatible they mean more than "will physically fit" - because that's all most aftermarket HID sellers mean by "compatible" 

[J.R.]

To answer the OP, I fitted a cheap Ali-Express canbus compatible HID conversion to my Octavia Mk2, it had the halogen projector headlights and the light output was appalling compared to my previous MK1.

 

I fitted the first generation HID spots to the 2004 Nurburgring works Mini Coopers and this €30 kit was of far better qulity than something which cost thousands back then.

 

The light output is superb and the ballasts dont even feel warm to the touch, I mounted them to the rear of the plastic bulb access covers, the bulbs dont seem to run hot either, no cooling fans and fins like the LED ones and I have seen some seriously fried ones of those.

 

I did initially have some problems with dazzling oncoming traffic, the beam alignment was initially unchanged from the halogen set up, I have now dropped them perhaps lower than I would have chosen and never get flashed, when they were too high they would light up the road as far as the eye could see.

 

Mine is a LHD set up for driving here in France (car is RHD) I was in England last week and expected problems, was prepared to refit the halogen bulbs (a very quick job) but all I needed to do was drop the height one setting on the dashboard control despite the beam pattern having the kick up to the right.

 

Before on halogens I needed the fog lights on all the time to fill in at close range, no longer needed, I am far safer driving at night now but thats really a reflection of how crap the MK2 headlights are, I would not have needed to convert my MK1.

 

Been driving with them for 6 months now with nothing bad to report, the choice is yours.

 

No bulb failure warnings or fault codes thrown up.

[haris]

Well, I wish I could say that this topic helped me..

Unfortunately I didn't t understand if installing hid or led will be safe for the car.

I ve read comments that say is ok with bcm etc and comments that say not to do anything for a lot of reasons.

 

I suppose the only thing I can do is better halogen bulbs. I found out that piaa extreme are bright enough compared to stock.

I wish things were different and easier. For example retrofit the original hid headlights

[fat4l]

I guess it all depends on the quality of the lamp and the bulb itself.

I remember my brother on his MK2 2007, he had halogens with lenses. He swapped these for HID kits. These were from VVME(I dont think they exist now) and they were rather good quality. Definitelly better than cheap ebay stuff. These were 55W ballasts(slim ones) and I remember now we experimented with 35W and 55W bulbs. He bought many from ebay from different sellers to try. I can tell you that the bulbs had different brightness. 55W we tried were worse than 35W. From like 3-4 different 35W ones we picked the ones(the seller) that were the brightest.  When we used 35W bulbs with 55W ballasts, that meant that the bulb will "die" faster. What else can I say.....hmmm. There was no issues with burning the lense or housing of the lamp, he had his headlights leveled by MOT technicians and was not dazzling anyone afaik. No flashing back either. So I guess it all comes down to quality of the components and checking of the stuff if you are not burning anything.

 

I would not use it in FOG housings as they are much smaller but if you have halogen housings with lenses and you buy good quality hit kit it should be fine. Also maybe go with 35W but 55W should do as well imho. Also make sure your headlights are leveled properly by technicians. Also if you dont have lenses then dont get HID kits.

[PetrolDave]

10 hours ago, haris said:

I suppose the only thing I can do is better halogen bulbs. I found out that piaa extreme are bright enough compared to stock.

I wish things were different and easier. For example retrofit the original hid headlights

I'd vote for the PIAA Extreme bulbs having used them in the past.

 

But don't rule out the Osram Night Breakers either.

[haris]

1 hour ago, PetrolDave said:

I'd vote for the PIAA Extreme bulbs having used them in the past.

 

But don't rule out the Osram Night Breakers either.

 

i think  Osram Night Breakers is similar to philips extreme vision +130% . both of them have  a shorter life compared to stock halogen bulbs and aren't so good as they say. nothing special

 

piaa have a bigger life time  and also more bright ( according to comments ) but more expensive and more dificult to find.

for example   i can't find them in my country. osram and philips are everywhere

[haris]

4 hours ago, haris said:

 

i think  Osram Night Breakers is similar to philips extreme vision +130% . both of them have  a shorter life compared to stock halogen bulbs and aren't so good as they say. nothing special

 

piaa have a bigger life time  and also more bright ( according to comments ) but more expensive and more dificult to find.

for example   i can't find them in my country. osram and philips are everywhere

i see 20% discount 

 

https://www.powerbulbs.com/eu/product/piaa-xtreme-white-plus-h7

 

does anyone has any photo  comparing stock halogen to these bulbs ?? i m worry if worth the big price

[langers2k]

@haris - Anything that's a road legal H7 will have approximately the same wattage and lumens (1500 +/- 10%) so they are unlikely to be significantly brighter.

 

Performance bulbs tend to have a more tightly wound coil to produce a 'hotter' hot spot, it'll depend on the headlight design to whether this makes a significant difference.

[haris]

well this post created 2 questions  in my  mind

 

1. almost everyone says that hid and leds are dangerous fo bcm. how this bar which is more watt etc etc also led technology , is safe for my car ????

 

2. this led bar doesn't  dazzle ???  the other drivers in the opposite direction, won't have any problem ????

[langers2k]

Just now, haris said:

1. almost everyone says that hid and leds are dangerous fo bcm. how this bar which is more watt etc etc also led technology , is safe for my car ????

 

The BCM in the MK2 FL Octavia, MK6 Golf and others was very sensitive, this caused damage when fitting cheaply/badly designed ballasts/drivers used in some HID/LED kits. I'm not sure if the BCM in the MK3 is as sensitive but I'd still only suggest using quality, ideally OEM ballasts/drivers to protect it.

 

1 minute ago, haris said:

2. this led bar doesn't  dazzle ???  the other drivers in the opposite direction, won't have any problem ????

 

LED bars tend to be for main/high beam use so yes it will dazzle. The difference is you can turn it off by returning to dipped/low beam when you see oncoming traffic...

[ScoutCJB]

The BCM maybe cheap but it would need recoding to suit your vehicle.  I don't believe it's a straight swap.

 

After reading a few tests the best H7 bulb is a GE 150% extra brighter.  I'm running those as dipped beam now having tried a few other bulbs and these are the best so far.  I run the Osram Nightbreakers as fogs and they look bright and white but don't think they are as bright as the original factory bulb.

 

Id avoid LED H7 bulbs like the plague.  Most test show the bulbs have hotspots and don't light the road properly - there are also loads of cheap bulbs on the market that look like have been made at home!

 

Just one question, earlier you said you drive a road with no oncoming traffic, but above want to know whether an LED strip would dazzle oncoming traffic?  Are you after brighter dipped or full beam ... or both?

 

[haris]

I asked if led bar dazzle just because they proposed this to me. Almost everyone says not to install led or hid but I've read to install led bar and this made me curious if led bar does not dazzle

 

I am interested in improving all bulbs.

 

I am ready 99% to order piaa white extreme plus 

 

 

[ScoutCJB]

An LED bar is more of a spotlight and will dazzle oncoming traffic.   I've seen them a lot on the off readers.  I'm also running Night Breakers as the full beam /DRL.  They look whiter as a DRL and are brighter as a full beam bulb.

[langers2k]

1 hour ago, haris said:

I am ready 99% to order piaa white extreme plus 

 

I think you'll be very disappointed given the cost...

 

Especially as they can only produce as much light as any other road legal bulb and cost 3x more than the Osram Night Breaker Silver from the same webpage.