rblakeney

I replaced the stock sealed beams to Hella E code lenses when I bought my 89 two years ago. The performance is much better using the standard light capsule, but I'd like to switch out the stock halogen capsules with a well made LED unit.

Can anyone share personal experience with LED replacement bulbs/capsules in a Hella lens? I am not interested in replacing the entire lens unit, just the bulbs.

rblakeney

OK then has anyone replaced the stock H4 halogen bulbs with LEDs regardless of whether you have the Hella E spec lens? Maybe Cibies? Something else?

I understand that simply replacing the halogens with LEDs can introduce all kinds of display patterns both good and bad. I saw a schematic of the Hellas for both low and high beam projections and it shows the need for proper placement of the light source within the reflector. If this is accomplished with proper depth and placement of the diodes, then it looks good.

I have an email into an LED headlight vendor and they are researching the issue. I'll post back what I learn and whether I buy anything.

Craig Cooney

following

rblakeney

Two vendors recommended:

Supernova v.4 = $179 pair
2Stroke 2.0 = $140 pair

I found these on Amazon with good reviews and ordered them for $90:


I already have 80 invested in the Hella lenses, so this will be it for me. I will circle back with my results.

rocco16

I'll be very curious to know if the LED's in your Hella lenses would be an improvement over my Hella's with 80/100W H4's.

rblakeney

Me too. I considered the higher wattage H4s but have been reluctant due to the added draw on the system. It makes me nervous on a 30 year old wiring harness.

Have you ever posted pics of your lights? Let's show a comparison. The LEDs are showing up today. If I can I will install them tonight with photos, but rain is in the forecast.

metal tech

I got LED headlights from Headlight Revolution. Watching their youtube comparisons showed me that you can get a bulb with a good cut off on the beam.

rblakeney

Finally got around to installing my LED H4 replacements. Ordered the Hikari's from the Amazon link above.

Kit was very well made and packaging excellent. LED bulb units feel and look well made. There is an active fan on the back.

Units use Philips Lumileads rated at 1000 each for a total of 6,000 lumens per unit.

The physical dimensions appear to be spot on to Sylvania Silverstar Ultra H4 halogens. The Hikari's also shroud the LEDs in the same locations as in the H4 halogen. They are installed using an adapter plate so that the orientation is the same as the halogen bulb. Wires and connectors appear to be good quality and the units plugged right up.

I had to trim the rubber boots a bit on the Hella E spec lamps so that the LED units would insert fully. Beyond this I made no other changes.

Both low and high beams work as intended. However, as anticipated, the car's fogs will need to be grounded directly to the chassis so that they will work. Turning on the lows and then toggling the fogs turns on the high beams.

Light output is impressive and the beam pattern appears to be better than the Silverstars. My before and after pic does not do the LEDs justice. The pattern is whiter, broader, and fuller. I have not been able to get the car out on a dark road for pics, but hope to do that soon so that I can adjust aiming.


Silverstar vs LED dimensions


Halogen Lows



LED Lows


LED Highs

C6_Racer_X

LED "headlight bulbs" (using the term loosely) in optics designed for halogen bulbs are always illegal everywhere, and generally unsafe.

They are mildly to very annoying to surrounding traffic, especially oncoming traffic, and they are dangerous to you and your passenger.

I've personally witnessed 2 single car accidents where the LED headlights probably contributed significantly to the accident. One was a vehicle that struck a fallen tree that was across the road after the storm. I rode the passenger seat into that one and it wasn't fun at all. Neither the driver nor I saw the tree in time, and his "LED retrofit" lights were a definite contributor to our distance blindness which caused the wreck. The vehicle was totaled. The other was a vehicle I let pass me because his lights annoyed me, and about a mile further down the road, he struck a parked trailer (home made landscaping trailer with no reflectors). I definitely saw the obstacle before he did, and he was a hundred yards or more in front of me.

The problem with those lights is that they throw out too much light, and too much of the light that they generate is too close to your car. Your pupils constrict and you have very little distance vision with them, so you hit stuff you would see with lights that are less bright and less glaring.

It ought to be illegal to sell the crap they have on Amazon. The only bulbs that are safe and legal in your Euro lights are light bulbs that have a manufacturer's name or trademark, the correct bulb designation (probably "H4") that matches the markings on the lens of the optics assembly, and a "E" with a number after it in a box. If it lacks any of those three marks, it's not a safe or legal bulb.

cdm747

Biggest problem is there is little to no enforcement of this. I see people riding around with bright HIDs or LEDs in cars with lenses that were not made for them all the time. Very dangerous for oncoming traffic on two lane roads.

rblakeney

Appreciate the rants, but my purpose is to improve a Hella H4 lens which already has the appropriate cut off. Wouldn't attempt it otherwise. Was successful in the past with HID bulbs and igniters in a 1990 535i I once owned. These LEDs appear to do that and given that I can aim them properly, I do not anticipate problems.

C6_Racer_X

OK, to be perfectly clear. You asked for personal experience with LED replacement bulbs in a Hella lens. My personal experience with LED replacement bulbs in a Hella lens is that the vehicle (a second generation Mazda RX-7) struck a fallen tree. I was sitting in the passenger seat when this happened. I was able to yell, "Stop, tree" and scoot down below the cowl level in the passenger seat before we hit the tree, and a 4" thick branch pierced the passenger seat about where my neck or upper chest would have been. I sincerely believe that the driver's vision was impaired by the glare from the "LED replacement bulbs" in the Hella lenses. I won't be riding in your car, and I hope you aren't injured when you strike a fixed object that you didn't see because your LED bulbs washed out your distance vision.

That answers the question you asked. If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question.

Evo_Winters

Thanks for posting this! I purchased the same Hikari lights but my results are pitiful in comparison. I wasn't totally convinced it was the LEDs because the reviews were all positive. Now including your experience I'm convinced my aim is off or my lenses are the weak link. I'm currently running 1 LED and 1 Halogen to see which I prefer. Both have poor range and brightness when compared to the lights of other cars passing me on the highway at night.

C6_Racer_X

What optics do you have? How old are they?

Poor aim is a good way to get poor performance. Most headlights are aimed poorly, usually too low, and often off center.

For aiming, I recommend the procedure shown here: https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

Aim the optics using a high quality bulb that is certified and/or tested to meet specifications, and marked with the manufacturer's name and/or trademark, the "H4" bulb designation and an "E" with a number in a box/circle, all marked on the base of the bulb. There may be other markings, but those three items are absolutely required. For H4 bulbs, I strongly prefer Philips "Xtreme Vision" H4 bulbs. https://amzn.com/B00QJWUPC6 for example. If the aim changes when you change bulbs, check to make sure your buckets and aiming hardware are strong and operating correctly. Try going back to the H4 (any H4 bulb, using a different one is even better). If the aim is correct (and returns to correct with no adjustment) with a good quality halogen H4 bulb (one marked with the manufacturer's name and/or trademark, the "H4" bulb designation and an "E" with a number in a box), and changes when you install some other bulb, the other bulb is defective. Period. End of discussion. You should not have to re-aim your headlights when you change the bulbs.

Another thing to check is that the light is brightest right at the cutoff line, and that the light gets gradually dimmer as you go down the wall/screen from the cutoff. Light "brightness" is a square of distance function. To have even lighting on the road at half the distance to where the cutoff hits the road, you need 1/4 of the light hitting the road at that point. One problem with most LED bulbs I've seen is that they have a big solid blob of bright light below the cutoff. If you put the same amount of light on the point halfway to the cutoff point on the ground, it will be twice as bright there as it is out at the cutoff. Your eyes focus and your pupils dilate/constrict on the brightest spot out there, and if the near end of the bright spot is 1/3rd the distance to where the cutoff hits the ground, that's where your eye will focus, and that's how far you'll see with good vision. Everything beyond that is lost in the dark, even though you perceive that there's bright light out there. That's how you drive into a fallen tree with LED headlight bulbs.

One final thing. After aiming the low beams, check the high beams. They should be centered and level with the mounting height of the headlight assemblies. Hella, being "E1" certified and tested in Germany, actually offers 3 different part numbers in each size for the H4 high/low combination optics. One is designed for mounting below 80cm from the road surface, one is for between 80cm and 1m from the road surface, and the third is for mounting 1m or higher off the road surface. The difference in the optics is the angle between the low beam and high beam aim points. If you get the wrong optics, the high beam can be significantly above or below where it belongs when you adjust the low beam correctly. I always get my Hella lights from Daniel Stern, and I always tell him how high off the ground the lights will be mounted, so he always sends me the correct Hella light for the vehicle. If you order on Amazon, and you don't know the part numbers and the mounting height they are designed for, you've got a 2 in 3 chance of ordering the wrong one. Most of the sellers on there are clueless about the differences. Most of the other manufacturers (tested and certified in France, E4, or any other country, different number after the E) offer only lights designed to be mounted between 80cm and 1m from the road surface, and the high beams will be off some for lower mounting or higher mounting, unless you just go with the aiming measurements for the mid range mounting height on the aiming instructions.

rblakeney

I did struggle a bit getting the Hellas aimed properly and it took several tries against a garage door and then on a dark road. You need to consider both the top cutoff and the upward-right "kink" that is part of the lens projection. (I am assuming that you purchased the correct E spec lens for driving on the right. Lenses for driving on the left throw the kink up to the left.)

Evo_Winters

Thanks for the aiming procedure. After reviewing my purchase history, one of the bulbs I'm using is an aforementioned Hikari LED and (lucky for me) the other is a Phillips Xtreme Vision recommended by @C6_Racer_X . So when I get some time I'll check my aim and compare apples to apples again!