Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing HID Xenon Headlight Conversions for Trads.

Anyone fitted or thought about fitting an HID Conversion for the H4 bulbs in the traditional headlights?

Here is an example HID Conversion kit

Check the regulations carefully as it may not be entirely legal.

Neil



Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps
Fact sheet: Aftermarket HID headlamps
December 2006

In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.

The following is the legal rationale:

The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.

However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).

For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.

Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:

1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.

2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).

3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.

In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above.

Enough said...

Thanks Neil for a possible expensive mistake.

Top info Neil. Thanks.

Glad to have helped

Neil

PS - i have used the Ring XENON Ultima +120% which give a very good light, much better than the standard bulbs.

How about a pair of 7" full LED headlamps - available for LandRover Defender, should fit Morgans. £800+ though...

Nigel

As far as I know, LED headlights have the same requirement for washers and levellers as HIDs.

The optical quality of the glass makes a huge difference. Wipac Quadoptics are usually regarded as the standard 7" lights and are fitted as original equipment to many Landrover Defenders. However, there are definitely better, and although the Lucas units that Woodstock has are no longer made, they are clearly very superior, even with ancient bulbs.

Research on this matter might be worthwhile if you are dissatisfied with the existing 7" units light output.

PIAA make some excellent bulbs which are E marked. They are often used in competition when road legal bulbs are required. Their extreme white plus bulbs are excellent. Be warned though, they are not cheap