I'd like to pass on some of my experiences of the last couple of weeks and LED headlights on my Defender 90 300Tdi.
A fortnight ago, I purchased some LED Headlights from Ebay for about £160.00. Their appearance was very similar to the Truck-Lite brand, but these were manufactured in China, and were unbranded. The lights claimed to be ECE approved, and carried the 'E' Mark on the lens.
I had the lights professionally fitted & aligned (I know fitting is easy, but I wanted the alignment to be perfectly set) using the headlight aim equipment at a local MOT testing station. As soon as these Chinese lights were switched on I could clearly see that there was no way that the lights would ever pass an MOT test, and the authorised MOT tester told me as much. The lights merely gave a single 'splodge' of light immediately ahead of the center of the lens, with no cut-off visible on the beam pattern at all. This would dangerously dazzle the driver of any and every oncoming vehicle. No amount of adjustment would pull the beam low enough to prevent an MOT fail due to beam alignment. Having a 'splodge' of light immediately in front of the centre of the lens also meant that no light was directed to the near-side to illuminate cyclists, pedestrians or road signs. It astonished me how such a product this poor in design and manufacture could find its way on to the UK market, and claim to be approved. Needless to say, the units were immediately removed from my Defender, and the original halogens re-fitted. The Chinese manufactured units have been returned (and now the vendor is being reluctant to refund, but that's another story)
I had some genuine J W Speaker 8700 Evolution 2 LED headlights fitted yesterday, and what a difference! You really do get what you pay for. The beam was very accurate and defined on the headlamp test equipment. The lamps are also amazingly bright, with a fantastic colour that I find gives very little fatigue. They project very, very well on dipped beam and road signs are very easy to read. The cut-off is very clear, and last night none of the several dozen oncoming vehicles that passed me thought they were being dazzled. Full beam is almost as good as daylight. Driving last night in both the dry and the rain, these lights excelled. I almost can't wait for fog!
My advice is this, be very careful with claims of 'E' marking on LED lamps. Get headlights set up correctly, using professional test equipment, if you can. Steer clear of anything unbranded. If it isn't right, it's wrong and send it back!
How have you frightened it?
