LED replacement bulbs

[E31Shrew]

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but search still kaput.

I have an 840 BMW that has dull yellow sidelight bulbs that look pretty dire. Noticed that you can now buy replacement LED type 501 'bulbs' but they are marked on the pack 'Not for road use'

Is this so, or bearing in mind DRL these days, are they OK to use?

Thanks for any advice

[mattmoxon]

As long as they are white and not very blue I can't see there being a problem on the road unless you get a real jobsworth. BUT if an MOT tester takes decides to have an issue they will fail the MOT as they won't be E-Marked.

[E31Shrew]

They are white Matt. Made sure! The only info I can find seems to refer to rear lights and E markings.

Thanks

[FasterFreddy]

I've looked around for LED replacements for BMW sidelight bulbs, but haven't yet found any which match the brightness of the original filament type.

Not legal means it's not type approved, but as long as the brightness is the same you would be very unlucky to be pulled on that basis.

[E31Shrew]

Noticed also that they are likely to operate the 'bulb failure' warning unless a resistor is mounted in series. I'll get soem tomorrow and whack them in!

[roverspeed]

check out Ultra Leds website.

They have built in load resistors, so no bulb warnings.

They are many times brighter than filament 5w bulbs.

They are perfectly white with no colour hue.

And they will last longer than ebay specials.

Worth the extra few quid.

ETA

These ones would be a good bet for you

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-anti-bulb-war...

Edited by roverspeed on Sunday 26th September 21:22

[cambiker71]

mattmoxon said:

As long as they are white and not very blue I can't see there being a problem on the road unless you get a real jobsworth. BUT if an MOT tester takes decides to have an issue they will fail the MOT as they won't be E-Marked.

So long as they're predominantly white it will pass an MOT, E markings are not a part of the test!

[Beefmeister]

roverspeed said:

check out Ultra Leds website.

They have built in load resistors, so no bulb warnings.

They are many times brighter than filament 5w bulbs.

They are perfectly white with no colour hue.

And they will last longer than ebay specials.

Worth the extra few quid.

ETA

These ones would be a good bet for you

http://www.ultraleds.co.uk/501194t10-anti-bulb-war...

Edited by roverspeed on Sunday 26th September 21:22

I had every bulb bar headlights replaced by LEDs from the above on my RX-7. The whole rear cluster looked a million times better.

Highly recommended.

[mattmoxon]

cambiker71 said:

mattmoxon said:

As long as they are white and not very blue I can't see there being a problem on the road unless you get a real jobsworth. BUT if an MOT tester takes decides to have an issue they will fail the MOT as they won't be E-Marked.

So long as they're predominantly white it will pass an MOT, E markings are not a part of the test!

Hmm, I was sure they were supposed to be E-marked to be legal if they were aftermarket - I stand corrected . I just ordered a set of those LED 501's myself to go in the 'Stang as the white head lights and yellowy side lights look a bit meh to be honest.

[E31Shrew]

Thats it then! Thanks for all your help