LED/HID Light Conversion now an MOT Fail

[SCB86]

I'm pretty sure they don't sell LED headlight bulbs.

These are the ones I've fitted and quite a few people have fitted them after my recommendation:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081DTCTFQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HpbcGR4j2ifPW

 

[RossN]

Thanks. I will have to find out if they fit my new MG 5. Doesnt include it in the list but the MG 5 i so new a lot of places dont list it yet

 

[SCB86]

Someone has fitted the same bulbs to their MG5 so they do fit

 

[greentangerine]

Thanks. I will have to find out if they fit my new MG 5. Doesnt include it in the list but the MG 5 i so new a lot of places dont list it yet

They do and they are great. Very easy to ensure the LED position is 9-3 as well.

I've also fitted the 20/20 flashers at the front, have the others linked above on order for the rear, replaced the reversing lights with those linked on the Forum and also the red LED stop lights (but note that the MG5 has single filament stop light and a separate tail light - that is already LED and not replaceable i.e. it's not the same as the LED for the ZS EV).

Access is easy other than having to remove the large engine compartment cover.

 

[raycook]

dont give an insurance company an excuse, not to pay out.

 

[pshotton]

Your insurance would not be void if you have an accident.... Your insurance is only invalid if you modify your car to look different or add performance.... Changing your headlight bulbs does neither.... Next you'll be saying that putting a different make of tyres from std will invalidate it too.
Truth is I've put these led bulbs in and they are fantastic... The cut off is the same because it has a hard cover in the lamp unit... I can now see at night and I'm not dazzling oncoming cars so I don't see the issue and if I'm honest the std lights are borderline dangerous and if people are happy to drive at night with them then I'd say they where dangerous.

You underestimate the ability of insurers to wriggle out of paying, and you're factually wrong too. Any modification should be reported to the insurer. Lights are a risk area. And yes, if you put the wrong tyres on you will void your insurance.

 

[BarryH]

When the change in reg came out I believe it specified that cars with LED headlights had to be self-levelling and have an operational headlight washer system. It is not a matter of notifying your insurance company it is a matter of being road legal. You can fit higher output hb3 "Halogen" such as Nightbreakers etc as others have rightly said and this is therefore not a modification of the type specified as homogenised by the manufacture. This is a similar situation with wheels and tyres where the handbook specifies size and rating but this is a minimum specification for the tyre so there is nothing to fit a higher speed-rated or higher load-rated tyre. When the care launched there were many people asking why MG didn't fit LED bulbs because it wouldn't cost that much more if fitted at the factory but this missed the point it isn't just the cost of a bulb it is the cost of a completely new headlight unit and self-levelling system and washer-system and I guess they were building to a price. Kia eNero which entered the UK market about a year earlier launched without LED headlights probably for the same reason and yet I believe its Hybrid stablemate had Self-leveling LEDs on certain trim levels and in Europe the top spec eNero had LEDs. Kia made a marketing decision to not over price the eNero against the Hybrid Nero.But who knows maybe facelift MG ZS EV will get them?

 

[SCB86]

When the change in reg came out I believe it specified that cars with LED headlights had to be self-levelling and have an operational headlight washer system. It is not a matter of notifying your insurance company it is a matter of being road legal. You can fit higher output hb3 "Halogen" such as Nightbreakers etc as others have rightly said and this is therefore not a modification of the type specified as homogenised by the manufacture. This is a similar situation with wheels and tyres where the handbook specifies size and rating but this is a minimum specification for the tyre so there is nothing to fit a higher speed-rated or higher load-rated tyre. When the care launched there were many people asking why MG didn't fit LED bulbs because it wouldn't cost that much more if fitted at the factory but this missed the point it isn't just the cost of a bulb it is the cost of a completely new headlight unit and self-levelling system and washer-system and I guess they were building to a price. Kia eNero which entered the UK market about a year earlier launched without LED headlights probably for the same reason and yet I believe its Hybrid stablemate had Self-leveling LEDs on certain trim levels and in Europe the top spec eNero had LEDs. Kia made a marketing decision to not over price the eNero against the Hybrid Nero.But who knows maybe facelift MG ZS EV will get them?

LED headlights do not need to have auto levelling nor headlight washers, nor do HID if they're below a certain power/wattage/output.
It is now a specific MOT failure if a car has aftermarket LED headlight bulbs.

 

[Burrom]

I'm pretty sure they don't sell LED headlight bulbs.

These are the ones I've fitted and quite a few people have fitted them after my recommendation:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081DTCTFQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_HpbcGR4j2ifPW

Hi do these fit into the MG ZS EV using the existing light bulb fitting - it's difficult to see from the Amazon pictures, thanks. Any modifications necessary?

 

[SCB86]

Hi do these fit into the MG ZS EV using the existing light bulb fitting - it's difficult to see from the Amazon pictures, thanks. Any modifications necessary?

They're simple plug and play. No modification necessary

 

[Burrom]

They're simple plug and play. No modification necessary

Thanks so I assume you just leave the rubber covers off?

 

[SCB86]

The caps on the back of the headlights can still fit on after these have been installed as they're quite a small bulb. You can even fit the slim driver into the headlight housing and still close the caps. Beware the caps can be a bitch to remove, also when you take the plugs off the original bulbs be careful - they are cheap and fragile and quite a few of us have snapped them.

 

[BillyWhizz]

why use lights that just blind oncoming drivers ?

 

[macd2401]

why use lights that just blind oncoming drivers ?

Biggest cause of lights blinding oncoming drivers isn't necessarily the selection of a brighter/whiter bulb, it's more likely because the headlamps aren't properly aimed.

If you install a security light properly, you can have 500W lamps not blinding anyone. If you make a pigs ear of it, you can have 100W annoying your neighbours all night.

 

[Paul Mason]

I suspect that much of the difficulty over LED bulbs, and the main focus of MOT attention, are those fitting them to reflector headlights. I believe that projector headlights have been designed for different bulb types and this is why beam patterns are unaffected. As has been stated above, HID headlights required washers and self leveling; LEDs do not.

 

[SCB86]

I suspect that much of the difficulty over LED bulbs, and the main focus of MOT attention, are those fitting them to reflector headlights. I believe that projector headlights have been designed for different bulb types and this is why beam patterns are unaffected. As has been stated above, HID headlights required washers and self leveling; LEDs do not.

HID's don't need headlight washers or self leveling if they're below a certain lumens - I've had several new cars with HID's without washers and levelling (Suzuki Baleno, Hyundai Ioniq etc)

As you've said though, LED's in projection lenses are not an issue as they give the correct beam pattern and don't produce glare.
I have had some expensive LED's in reflector housings and they've passed the MOT without issues. It's down to the design of the bulbs themselves, but it is possible to use them in reflectors without causing glare or incorrect beam patterns.

 

[BarryH]

I would speculate that because there are so many badly designed bulbs, which when fitted particularly in reflector headlamps cannot correctly focus a beam and cannot effectively be dipped, that the powers that be for the sake of road safety have made it illegal to fit LED bulbs to headlights not specifically designed for them as OME. It is often the case, particularly with cheap LED bulbs, that the size and position of the light-emitting part of the LED bulb is a diffused area of "COB" LEDs and reflector headlights are designed to focus their light from a much smaller precisely positioned hot wire. Because the COB (effectively a cluster of small LEDs) is emitting light from lots of different places the beam becomes more of a floodlight and less of a spotlight. To achieve a dipped beam a separate element hot wire is switched on causing the beam to focus to a different place. (at this point someone will be writing to tell me that more often both high and low been parts of the bulb are powered for Full Beam and the High beam is switched off to dip the headlight, but the principle of the beam is the same)
The MG which has a projector headlight system is different in that the headlight has only one element in the standard HB3 bulb and all the light is collected and projected forward using a projector lens for full-beam and a solenoid is used to block some of the light for dipped-beam. In such an arrangement the Dipped-beam cutoff is cleaner than a reflector system and a level horizontal dipped-beam is achieved. The positioning of the light-emitting element is less critical but it is not to say that all projector headlight will achieve the clean cut-off when dipped with all LED bulbs fitted. It is this randomness of result which I imaging drove the decision to ban LEDs being retrofitted for MOT. It is unfortunate for us MG owners because the light output of standard Halogen bulbs is poor although High output Halogen bulbs are available and I have fitted them. They do I understand have a shorter life span but once you know the nack they are easily swapped out.

 

[macd2401]

Curious that motorbikes are exempt from the new rules, as are pre April '86 vehicles.

 

[Burrom]

The caps on the back of the headlights can still fit on after these have been installed as they're quite a small bulb. You can even fit the slim driver into the headlight housing and still close the caps. Beware the caps can be a bitch to remove, also when you take the plugs off the original bulbs be careful - they are cheap and fragile and quite a few of us have snapped them.

Hi sorry to bother you again but I d
on't see how the adapter fits, picture shows original bulb

 

[SCB86]

The collar comes off the new bulbs and gets inserted first, the bulb then attaches to that. It allows you to then rotate the bulb if needs be