Halogen headlamp bulbs - options for better vision?

[Basil Hume]

I'm got a late (2012) R56 Mini Cooper, which does around 3-4k miles per year as a family runabout.

The dipped and main beam headlights are halogen H4 bulbs - night-time vision isn't very good. Is it worth spending £14 or so for some allegedly brighter ones, e.g. Osram Night Breaker?

There seem to be some LED options on eBay starting at around, too - but I'm inclined to give these a miss unless anyone has a good experience of them.

[Evanivitch]

Any conversion away from Halogen would put you in breach of the law as you would not have type approval. You won't fail an MOT but you would potentially get a fine if the police officer was that fussy.

That said, Night Breakers aren't necessarily the best, with GE Megalight leading the Autoexpress test. Be prepared, brighter bulbs often have shorter lives in my experience.

[Basil Hume]

Thank you. I absolutely don't want to do anything illegal or to Chav-up the car!

My wife and I have both had to use the car this winter to visit relatives in the countryside, where the paucity of the OEM lamps was apparent.

I'm tempted to upgrade the car to be honest, as it's been smoked in at some stage and we could do with a tad more room. However, while I'm undecided, a better pair of light bulbs would be a good place to start!

[rlg43p]

I've just put some Osram Night Breaker Laser in my son's Mini and it is quite a striking improvement. I bought them off Amazon for about £15 per pair. Well worth it IMO.

[mon the fish]

For £15 it's a no-brainer. We had some in our old Clubman, nice improvement.

What about fitting the spotlights? Won't improve dipped beam though

[Basil Hume]

I looked up the recent Auto Express H4 bulb test recommended above and, on balance of cost and test results, have ordered a pair of Philips Racing Vision.

Here's hoping that they do the trick.

[daemon]

mon the fish said:

For £15 it's a no-brainer.

Got to be worth doing - neither a big financial or time intensive investment.

[R53rider]

Evanivitch said:

Any conversion away from Halogen would put you in breach of the law as you would not have type approval. You won't fail an MOT but you would potentially get a fine if the police officer was that fussy.

That's what I thought. Because the reflectors aren't right for the the way the bulbs cast light. But there is now an option, made by Philips, that you CAN replace the H4 bulbs with and they work perfectly - not in breach of the law and fully Plod compatible - because Philips have engineered them to be so.
They are "Philips X-treme Ultinon LED car headlight bulb 12953BWX2 LED-HL [~H4] 6000K +200% brighter light Advanced automotive system". Not cheap though.
Link:
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpindex.pl?ctn=...

I've got Xenon main/Halogen dip and put the Osram night Breakers in both (older git, can't see naff all at night). The Philips are very good as well.

[Evanivitch]

R53rider said:

That's what I thought. Because the reflectors aren't right for the the way the bulbs cast light. But there is now an option, made by Philips, that you CAN replace the H4 bulbs with and they work perfectly - not in breach of the law and fully Plod compatible - because Philips have engineered them to be so.
They are "Philips X-treme Ultinon LED car headlight bulb 12953BWX2 LED-HL [~H4] 6000K +200% brighter light Advanced automotive system". Not cheap though.
Link:
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpindex.pl?ctn=...

I've got Xenon main/Halogen dip and put the Osram night Breakers in both (older git, can't see naff all at night). The Philips are very good as well.

Are you sure? PowerBulbs list them as not road legal.

It's not really about engineering, it's about certification, so I less they are type approved they will not be permitted.

[R53rider]

Evanivitch said:

R53rider said:

That's what I thought. Because the reflectors aren't right for the the way the bulbs cast light. But there is now an option, made by Philips, that you CAN replace the H4 bulbs with and they work perfectly - not in breach of the law and fully Plod compatible - because Philips have engineered them to be so.
They are "Philips X-treme Ultinon LED car headlight bulb 12953BWX2 LED-HL [~H4] 6000K +200% brighter light Advanced automotive system". Not cheap though.
Link:
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpindex.pl?ctn=...

I've got Xenon main/Halogen dip and put the Osram night Breakers in both (older git, can't see naff all at night). The Philips are very good as well.

Are you sure? PowerBulbs list them as not road legal.

It's not really about engineering, it's about certification, so I less they are type approved they will not be permitted.

Pretty certain. I keep meaning to ring the Philips techs as I need H7s for my main beams. I'll check. I think they are about £165 a pair. So given the price and they are Philips I'd expect them to be tickety boo. You don't just 'stick em in'. There is a little bit of wiring with jobby/thingy (technical term!) that goes behind the bulb holder.

And Power Bulbs list the wrong bulbs for my car, so nor sure how on it they are? Do they say that simply putting LED bulbs in is illegal or that these Philips ones specifically are illegal?

Must admit that 'illegal' doesn't make me drop to my knees, jibbering, venting my bowels and howling with fear. As long as they throw a correct beam, don't blind other drivers, pass the MOT, not sure I care TBH. If I can see. And yes I'd declare them to my insurance if I fit them.

[Evanivitch]

R53rider said:

Must admit that 'illegal' doesn't make me drop to my knees, jibbering, venting my bowels and howling with fear. As long as they throw a correct beam, don't blind other drivers, pass the MOT, not sure I care TBH. If I can see. And yes I'd declare them to my insurance if I fit them.

Except they will now be checking for non-standard light bulb installations as part of the MOT. So that bit of wiring is going to need to be reversed every year.

And they're not Road Legal

Philips said:

Homologation ECE
NO

https://www.philips.com.sg/c-p/12953BWX2/x-treme-ultinon-led-car-headlight-bulb/specifications

[R53rider]

Evanivitch said:

Except they will now be checking for non-standard light bulb installations as part of the MOT. So that bit of wiring is going to need to be reversed every year.

And they're not Road Legal

Philips said:

Homologation ECE
NO

https://www.philips.com.sg/c-p/12953BWX2/x-treme-ultinon-led-car-headlight-bulb/specifications

Interesting. Does Homologation ECE NO = illegal?
Doubt most MOT techs will be checking the bulbs. And in an R53 they are hardly right there in front of you - up in the air above your head. And the light throw will be fine on their beam tester.

[Hidey]

A thread revival!
The recent wet weather has shown how completely useless the headlights are on our Cooper on the lanes round here, so much so my wife won't drive it and I don't really blame her.
Are there any updated recommendations for standard bulb replacements which will improve things?
Many thanks