LEDs - My findings and personal recommendations

Hi,

I think I have bought more LED bulbs and kits than anyone else I know, mainly for the project and for cosmetic appearance.

After a LOT of trial and error I have come to the following conclusions

Interior bulbs - In general LED is a great way to go. You get MUCH brighter interior lighting at low consumption. If you accidentally leave on an interior light and it is LED then you are likely to still have life in your battery the next morning.
The light is very bright and a nice bluey white (generally)
The life of the bulbs is excellent and you may never need to replace them for as long as you own the car.

The kits are reasonably priced considering the many benefits (I think that EMTuning provide one of the best interior kits after trying MANY others)

Exterior bulbs - In general these are a NO !!!!!
Headlamp bulbs are important, they must be efficient, they must have a super accurate beam (and, of course, they must be legal and MOT compliant)
I have tried several different types of LED headlights and have not yet found one that is totally suitable.
The kind that are just a bulb and have no separate "electronics" are to be avoided, they are not bright enough and they are frequently the wrong shape of beam.
The kits that include a fan and a ballast resistor are the best of the bunch and I will continue to use these on the "project" car, but more for show than anything else. They give a really nice white light and are bright enough, but the beam shape is not perfect.

As for Indicator bulbs and rear lights then these are a NO!!! The indicators will not flash correctly and there is no easy solution to this mainly because the flasher relay combines with the hazard flashing and so cannot be easily converted to a relay that flashes consistently regardless of current (LED non-LED).
The rear lights (Stop and tail for example) give "Bulb out" warnings on any DIS equipped cars but remember that the ECU uses the current draw to check if the stop lights are working correctly (many of us have seen the Engine Management warnings caused by a faulty stop lamp switch.)
Yes, you can fit resistors to these bulbs but I don't like splicing in resistors (another source for faults) and what is the point? LEDs have the benefit of a low current drain, so why put that current drain back with a resistor?
The LED fog lights (rear) can work (they are not part of the bulb check) but make sure that you have the type of LED bulb that has illumination on all sides of the bulb as well as a "projector" SMD at the end, or the fog light lens does not fully illuminate.
Reversing lights are great with LEDs in them, again no bulb out warnings and you get a brighter light for less consumption.
Front fogs are best left at NON-LED, mainly because the LED bulbs have blind spots (and SMD on each side of the bulb means that the side illumination is dark.) FOG lights are VITAL safety equipment and so please stick to the best bulb you can get and this is normally the original bulbs (H7 for the front fogs).
As for the number plate lights, the LEDs seem to give a very focussed light and can be too bright, so I would only recommend those for show purposes.


On the project car I run FULL interior LEDs and they look great (IMHO)
I run LED Dip and Main-beam headlights (the proper kit ones) but I cannot class them as 100% legal so I cannot recommend them on that basis, so just for appearance really and they are a tad brighter than standard (and DON'T blind or distract oncoming drivers).
I run LED reverse lights, LED sidelights, LED rear fogs.
I have retained the standard H7s for the front fogs because the beam pattern did not give me 100% coverage.

On my wife's car (and hence MUCH more conscious of safety and legality)
I run FULL interior LED lights (she often scrabbles around the boot or footwells looking for something that has dropped out of her bag).
I run the uprated front headlamp bulbs (non-LED) Currently 100w and so potentially illegal, but the A2 needs better headlamps and the beam pattern is perfect and so I am ok about these (but again can't recommend them due to their legality)
LED reverse bulbs (they really are brighter and so safer)
Standard sidelight bulbs, number plate bulbs and all rear bulbs (apart from the reverse bulbs)


Just my personal views and LED experience so far.

Steve B

Wow! .... well that's a surprise, Steve! I was on the point of fitting LED's to both main and dipped beams! I have read that "Taz" has been fitting Xenon's from the Audi TT headlights. I've been on Ebay (of course!) and there seems to be plenty of complete headlights, with balasts, for as low as £45! I could even have bid on one unit that had attracted no bids with just a few seconds to go! The only thing that is causing me concern is that I recall that to use Xenon lighting LEGALLY requires both headlight washing and automatic self-levelling? Does this mean that if any car didn't have those features and had xenon's, then it would be an automatic failure?

As you may be aware, I've got splittable headlights and have recently fitted flexible DRL's .... this means that access is good and before I seal those units with additional silicone mastic, then this is the ideal time to upgrade the main and dipped-beam lighting. What is your view regarding Audi TT headlights for parts? [both main and dipped beams] What about the legality issue? Thanks, Steve ...

David

As for xenon and HID bulbs requiring headlamp washers and self levelling , I though that too but an MOT tester I spoke to said no, if they are fitted by the manufacturer both of these need to be working. But he said that if you have fitted these as an after market item this does not apply. That appeared strange but it does mean that you should always check these things properly and not just assume or ask others (including MOT testers even because their views often vary).
All I am saying is that when it comes to legality the only way to check is the letter of the law and not someone else's opinion.

To me the headlight bulbs are best left untouched unless you are 100% sure that any mod is legal and safe.
DRLs are less of an issue but headlamps are best left (in my opinion)

Steve B

Well thanks for that, Steve .... But what exactly do you thing about the use of Audi TT headlights for parts? ( main/dipped and ballasts) I was impressed by the appearance of Taz's modified headlights .... the xenon units seemed to fit perfectly. I think that for a cost of around £100, the headlights could be full xenon's?

David

They look amazing and so well worth considering.

But I have an acid test I use

Would I fit them to the project car (definitely yes)
Would I fit them to my wife's A2 (definitely no)

Steve B

LED's all-round for the interior but leave most of the standard stuff alone on the exterior..Good advice there!
I may change my Reverse lights though on your recommendation as I already have the LED's inside.

Crazylegs said:

LED's all-round for the interior but leave most of the standard stuff alone on the exterior..Good advice there!
I may change my Reverse lights though on your recommendation as I already have the LED's inside.

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Yes, the reversing LEDs are very good, I bought the ones that have a blue anodised "collar", very effective and around £10 a pair

Steve B

Having always found the A2's dipped beams to be worse than useless, but also having failed with 2 sets of retrofitted HIDs in the past due to RFI and aiming issues, I've just pushed the button on a set of retrofit LEDs. They claim to be 2x 36W Cree COBS with 6400lms output which should be significantly brighter than the standard halogens, so we'll see how they go! If they're up to scratch I'll try some H3s for main beam too.

I also plan an interior LED bulb replacement - will check out these bulbs from EMTuning that you recommend Steve, thanks.

Do you have any problems with the led interior lights? When I had the the wouldn't come on in certain sequences when the ignition was off and the rear light played up sometimes being dull and sometimes not coming on at all! Also the bulbs that go in the reading spot lights didn't work, the +&- was the wrong way round, I find it strange that the bulb holder is the + and the contact point is the earth!

scott said:

... Also the bulbs that go in the reading spot lights didn't work, the +&- was the wrong way round, ...

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You need to get a set of lights which is compatible with the A2 - LEDs are sensitive to polarity whereas filament bulbs obviously aren't. It's normally an option when you're ordering them.

scott said:

Do you have any problems with the led interior lights? When I had the the wouldn't come on in certain sequences when the ignition was off and the rear light played up sometimes being dull and sometimes not coming on at all! Also the bulbs that go in the reading spot lights didn't work, the +&- was the wrong way round, I find it strange that the bulb holder is the + and the contact point is the earth!

Click to expand...

HI,

All of the sets I bought were specific to the A2 and so I had none of those problems, I had to swap ends on some of the festoon bulbs, but that is to be expected.
On the A6 I have a problem with the map lights in the front and back, they illuminate correctly when the door is open but if you depress the map light switch they don't work, but on the A2 they have all been fine.
Steve B

Hi,

I took the headlamps off and sorted out the main beam LEDs. The retaining wire "tab" just had to be bent slightly to enable me to get the bulb fully home.
Now everything is in place and as it should be.

The light output from the LED headlamps is better than standard and a nice white. The beam pattern is not perfect but more than ok.

So I will stick with these for the "project", mainly because of the really nice white light they produce.

Steve B

That's a problem I have in my a2, with the Vanity mirror lights if the ignition is off they won't work. Must be something to do with the current being sent to them??

Recently bought the single Cree high powered reversing light bulb off Ebay in a blue anodized alloy case. Case and Bayonet mount were loose and all attempts to contact seller failed. Phoned Ebay who transferred my call to Paypal in the US who refunded my payment in full direct to my Card and advised the seller of their refund who were an HK seller based in the UK!

When I viewed the sellers Feedback it had a very high satisfaction rating despite the several thousand complaints due to the massive volume sold. I hadn't checked this out first as it was a recommended item from an A2OC member. I assume Ebay/Paypal intervened to sort the matter out rather than see more bad feedback with return costs borne by the disgruntled buyer?

There seems to be newer Cree LED reversing lights with a large central directional Cree/lens and with many smaller Crees on the sides to radiate a better more 'even surround light'.
Anyone any recommendations? Not too worried about power being possibly high as we live remotely in Wales and I wouldn't use them with approaching traffic!

PS I have had the older 13 Leds set into a more normal looking Bayonet fitting that have been very reliable in my Passat Estate

Wish I'd seen this earlier Steve, before asking you on other posts. Very comprehensive review! I'm still umming and ahhing about the dipped LEDs. Definitely going for interior and reverse LEDs though. Thanks.

Hmm. Following Steves lead, I bought a set of LED H7s. They described themselves as 3200Lm per LED, the mounts were all aluminium, had a screw-on fan-driven heatsink on the back, and a nice slimline ballast which is small enough to fit inside the cluster.
They certainly are bright! However, they're a complete PITA to fit given the small size of the A2's headlamp cluster. But that's not the worst of it. Within an hour of installation, one of them has already blown
I shall be attempting a refund. In the meantime, back to boring old halogens.

dan_b said:

In the meantime, back to boring old halogens.

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On a recent visit to Stealth Racing, they fitted an H7 HID kit. It was for the dipped-beam and cost £69 + VAT. The ballasts are external, but that's not a problem. the improvement is very significant!

David

I've tried HIDs twice before and suffered from excessive RFI which was only fixable by returning to Halogens.

Ok, got the LED working again - plug had come loose!

They're VERY bright. However, I'm not entirely convinced by the beam pattern. Look at this picture.
The LED festoon is only on one side and, as you can see, it's basically only illuminating the top half of the light reflector lens.
It doesn't actually wash the road with that much light downwards as a result.
Do we think this will even pass the MOT?

Bit miffed to be honest.

Hi Dan
it is only supposed to illuminate the top half of the reflector because that then reflects down onto the road. If it shone on the bottom of the reflector you would have light shining upwards and dazzling people.
This is all assuming that you are doing this to your dipped bean.

As as for the MOT it is impossible to say with any confidence because it depends in if the tester knows his stuff or not.
Mi took my car to an MOT station that does not know me (to get an unbiased view) he checked the lLED dipped headlamps on his machine and he said that he would pass them without hesitation )

on on this thread though I do say that LED headlamp bulbs are not quite there yet. My dipped are just about ok fir the road but I fid say that it is best to stick with filament headlamps or HID bulbs.

Definitely not using LED for the main beam.

But it the main point is that if you are not dazzling other drivers and if these are giving you the light you need and if your MOT station say they would pass your car (you can ask) then that is ok.

But it I can't recomend LED headlamp bulbs yet.

Steve B