Headlight upgrade

[E-bmw]

I am trying to find out if I can legally upgrade my lights to LED & if so in what manner, any advice would be helpful as I was lead to believe upgrades basically aren't legal, but I am hearing conflicting views on this.

Cara - 2015 v40, it has levelling & light cleaning.

Currently uses halogen & as above, I would like to fit LED, what are/aren't my options?

[kambites]

All headlight bulbs must carry either a European E-mark or British Standards mark to be legally used on the road. As far as I know, no aftermarket LED bulb kit has ever been so marked. Also in 2021 the following was added to the MoT testers handbook:

MoT Testers Manual said:

Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.

Edited by kambites on Monday 6th February 22:13

[b2hbm]

I can understand the confusion, not helped by the government changing their minds over the last couple of years.

Currently if your car is pre-86 then you can put an LED bulb in and the tester can't fail it on the "not compatible" rule. Heaven knows why pre '86 it's ok and post '86 it's not, but there you go. I've done that on my classics, the bulbs are CE marked and the pattern looks to be identical to H4 bulbs.

As yours is 2015 then at first sight you can't do it. But if you read the actual rules

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

then I'd interpret that as saying that a complete headlamp replacement with an LED unit is legal, you just have to meet the normal LED requirements. But you can't just shove an LED bulb into the existing reflector housing.

[Hammersia]

b2hbm said:

I can understand the confusion, not helped by the government changing their minds over the last couple of years.

Currently if your car is pre-86 then you can put an LED bulb in and the tester can't fail it on the "not compatible" rule. Heaven knows why pre '86 it's ok and post '86 it's not, but there you go. I've done that on my classics, the bulbs are CE marked and the pattern looks to be identical to H4 bulbs.

As yours is 2015 then at first sight you can't do it. But if you read the actual rules

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

then I'd interpret that as saying that a complete headlamp replacement with an LED unit is legal, you just have to meet the normal LED requirements. But you can't just shove an LED bulb into the existing reflector housing.

Many previous threads on the subject, but broadly this ^^^^^

Yes you can rip the whole cluster, lens out etc. and fit E approved LED complete headlight units - which will be 90mm or 120mm sized pods (what the MOT tester might look for in terms of sharp edges, exposed wiring etc. I don't know) .

What you can't do, is what many PHers keep trying to do, is then fit a headlamp cover, original outer lens etc. over the LED units. That is NOT how the LED units were tested and type approved.

Source - I'm an automotive lighting engineer

[GreenV8S]

Hammersia said:

type approved.

I wouldn't have thought type approval was necessary for a DIY modification.

[E-bmw]

b2hbm said:

I can understand the confusion, not helped by the government changing their minds over the last couple of years.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-...

then I'd interpret that as saying that a complete headlamp replacement with an LED unit is legal, you just have to meet the normal LED requirements. But you can't just shove an LED bulb into the existing reflector housing.

TBH, that is kind of what I was elluding towards.

The particular car COULD be ordered with LED units & I was thinking that, that would likely be the only way.

Mrs E's car has them & the difference is (literally) night & day.

Thanks for the confirmation guys.

[kambites]

GreenV8S said:

Hammersia said:

type approved.

I wouldn't have thought type approval was necessary for a DIY modification.

Exterior vehicle lights which are going to be used on the road have to be explicitly approved for road use. Even after-market spot lights, DRLs, etc. aren't legal unless they are E- or BS-marked.