[sreejinair]

Guys I'm looking for a low kelvin H11 LED bulb for Crysta fog lamp as well as low beam, something between 3400 and 5000 kelvin. Any pointers on where I can get good quality LEDs?

[sarav100]

I’m attaching below the comparison pictures of LED vs halogen in projectors.

Car: Hyundai Creta S 2020
Stock Headlight specs: HB3 Halogens in halogen projectors 60/55w
LED Specs: GVAA HB3 6000K LED 45w(claimed, not tested)
Setup: Aftermarket LED in passenger side headlight, stock halogen in driver side headlight
Additional notes: Same HB3 projectors used in Verna, i20, Venue, Seltos, hence results applied to all these vehicles as well.

Please find below detailed shots of performance during a cold winter evening.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by teefosi

Guys please avoid buying from Autobahn. They don't honour warranty on the products. I bought one set of led bulbs from them in may 2018 with 2 year warranty and both the bulbs have conked off. First they asked me to send the video of the bulbs switched on, which I did in January 2020 and now they are refusing to replace the bulbs.
They are telling me as per our policy if there is a defect within 15 mnths we replace it and after that we only give 50% of the purchase price. At the time of buying the bulb they didn't have any such policy and 2 yrs warranty is clearly mentioned without any riders.

Originally Posted by straight6

In fact before buying from them I read the warranty policy and it said exactly that. I don't know if it was different when you bought.

I find autobahn have some really nice bulbs in some specialty sizes for brake/ indicator, park lights etc. I had bought a set of T10 LED's for park lights and they are pretty bright. One of my LED's died within warranty, and they sent me a replacement within an hour of sending the video. So positive experience from my side on warranty.

[rajkir80]

Hi Folks,

I have heard the term "Royally Confused", hmm, yeah I'm experiencing that now!

I'm unfamiliar with all these upgrades, and I always get confused which one to choose and finally end up postponing the upgrade itself due to lack of clarity on way forward.

I own a skoda rapid 1.5L Diesel 2015 model. While I love the car for all that it has to offer, but I'm really fed with the candle light headlamps that is equipped with the car.

I did change OSRAM NB unlimited vision halogen many years back, but nothing much has really changed.

Every time, I desperately inquire about this upgrade with all these automobile accessories guys. They either push HID or LED to me. Some say you need to do a retro fit with projector set up to get the best results.

While one guy says, HID will never work for this model and the other guy says, only HID can do justice. I don't know which is true. I'm confused, but this time, I can't postpone the upgrade any further and I have to move forward. I need your advice pls.

I think the car has a single H4 bulb which has high and low beam in one. I have attached the photos for the right advice. Please suggest.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by rajkir80

Hi Folks,

I have heard the term "Royally Confused", hmm, yeah I'm experiencing that now!


I think the car has a single H4 bulb which has high and low beam in one. I have attached the photos for the right advice. Please suggest.

In this single reflector H4 setup, neither HID or LED will work and will cause a lot of scatter and glare to others. The best solution for you is to get projectors fitted into your Reflector headlamp housings and then fit them with HIDs . Only this will give you the lighting improvement that you desire. Other option which you can take is to upgrade your foglights to projector LED ones from IPH - the M617 is really good and also come with tri colour output. These can then be wired also with High beam function as they are shuttered and have Low/High functionality. I am using the IPH M617 in my Jeep Compass and they work quite well. Only drawback is that the fog lights are placed low in the bumper so their reach will not be as far as required. In my case I have aligned them so that the throw goes as far as the low beam (which is also HID 35W in projectors).My Jeep Compass also came with extremely pathetic headlighting as original and now with all these retrofits (Headlights with 35w HID and IPH M617 in fog lights), it outshines even the headlights of BMWs ! The beam alignment, cutoff and focus are also perfect. I had also taken care to go with 4200K CCT in headlights and also variable colour (3K / 4K / 6K for fog lights) to get the best visibility.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by rajkir80

I think the car has a single H4 bulb which has high and low beam in one. I have attached the photos for the right advice. Please suggest.

Your options with reflectors and H4 are very limited as mentioned by Behemoth. I would suggest just get 100W halogens with a relay to keep it simple and cheap. Else go for major mod and after market projectors. But I am very paranoid about reliability of after market headlights. I had once a LED fail on high beam during a trip and it made driving very tough. Since then I moved to halogens for high beam purely due to reliability factor.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

In this single reflector H4 setup, neither HID or LED will work and will cause a lot of scatter and glare to others. The best solution for you is to get projectors fitted into your Reflector headlamp housings and then fit them with HIDs . Only this will give you the lighting improvement that you desire. Other option which you can take is to upgrade your foglights to projector LED ones from IPH - the M617 is really good and also come with tri colour output. These can then be wired also with High beam function as they are shuttered and have Low/High functionality. I am using the IPH M617 in my Jeep Compass and they work quite well. Only drawback is that the fog lights are placed low in the bumper so their reach will not be as far as required. In my case I have aligned them so that the throw goes as far as the low beam (which is also HID 35W in projectors).My Jeep Compass also came with extremely pathetic headlighting as original and now with all these retrofits (Headlights with 35w HID and IPH M617 in fog lights), it outshines even the headlights of BMWs ! The beam alignment, cutoff and focus are also perfect. I had also taken care to go with 4200K CCT in headlights and also variable colour (3K / 4K / 6K for fog lights) to get the best visibility.

Do share some pics of the setup and throw if you have.

[soulfuel]

Originally Posted by supertinu

Build quality is very good, minimalist design and beam pattern is absolutely perfect and atleast 30% more brightness compared to other LEDs.

Are you using it in projector set up or reflector set up? Can you please post some low beam and high beam pictures?

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by soulfuel

Are you using it in projector set up or reflector set up?
Can you please post some low bean and high beam pictures?

Using them on XUV500 low beam projectors. I have posted the picture of the low beam already in my post.

High beams are separate halogen reflectors.

[Whiteburner]

Originally Posted by rajkir80

Hi Folks,

I have heard the term "Royally Confused", hmm, yeah I'm experiencing that now!

I'm unfamiliar with all these upgrades, and I always get confused which one to choose and finally end up postponing the upgrade itself due to lack of clarity on way forward.

I own a skoda rapid 1.5L Diesel 2015 model. While I love the car for all that it has to offer, but I'm really fed with the candle light headlamps that is equipped with the car.

Same here with MY 14-15 Vento. Even the so called dual barrel made by HELLA are pathetic to say the least and high beam is like non existent.

Any budget friendly solution to this would be very helpful. I'm leaning towards projector fog lamps but not sure since they maybe connected with the BCM.

[JKBKS]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

In this single reflector H4 setup, neither HID or LED will work and will cause a lot of scatter and glare to others. The best solution for you is to get projectors fitted into your Reflector headlamp housings and then fit them with HIDs . Only this will give you the lighting improvement that you desire. Other option which you can take is to upgrade your foglights to projector LED ones from IPH - the M617 is really good and also come with tri colour output. These can then be wired also with High beam function as they are shuttered and have Low/High functionality...and now with all these retrofits (Headlights with 35w HID and IPH M617 in fog lights), it outshines even the headlights of BMWs ! The beam alignment, cutoff and focus are also perfect. I had also taken care to go with 4200K CCT in headlights and also variable colour (3K / 4K / 6K for fog lights) to get the best visibility.

I have been searching the auto lighting thread here and YouTube for some time to get something that will help in upgrading my Scorpio 2009 lights. I believe Scorpio also has a single bulb H4 reflector set up and I tend to agree with upgrading Fog lights approach by using IPH M617 lights. But I saw a video the other day where guy used a combo of an IPH projector casing and an IPH HIDs to upgrade the fog lights. And according to him that was a better solution (costing ard 7500) than using IPH 617 as the HID in the former approach could be changed if needed which is not possible one M617s are installed. Cost of both these approaches is comparable I think

So I wanted to ask if you considered that approach too?

Originally Posted by supertinu

Your options with reflectors and H4 are very limited as mentioned by Behemoth. I would suggest just get 100W halogens with a relay to keep it simple and cheap. Else go for major mod and after market projectors. But I am very paranoid about reliability of after market headlights. I had once a LED fail on high beam during a trip and it made driving very tough. Since then I moved to halogens for high beam purely due to reliability factor.

I am interested in this approach too but not sure how much extra load the 100W halogens and relay will have on a system designed for 55W load.

It will be great if you guys could throw some light on the pros and cons of these approaches. My night usage is not much but am not happy with the current situation and am looking to upgrade the lights. So any advice will be welcome!!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by JKBKS

It will be great if you guys could throw some light on the pros and cons of these approaches. My night usage is not much but am not happy with the current situation and am looking to upgrade the lights. So any advice will be welcome!!

If the headlight assembly has become dull or if the inside of the assembly does not look crystal clear, I suggest replacing it with a new set , it is very inexpensive. Once this is done, purchase an H4 relay kit from a good brand. Use 90\100 Philips rally bulb. Now go to the dealer, use the headlight aiming chart and get it correctly aligned. That's it, job done.

I do have to tell you that if the headlamp is crystal clear and alignment is proper, Scorpio`s big round reflector lights up the highways with just 55/60W Philips bulb itself, no upgrade needed at all. This is our set up and we do a lot of night drives, the bulbs get replaced after a year or so.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by JKBKS

where guy used a combo of an IPH projector casing and an IPH HIDs to upgrade the fog lights. And according to him that was a better solution (costing ard 7500) than using IPH 617!!

Yes you can go for that route too if changing the lamp source is vital for your requirements.
If you consider the life of various sources, HID bulbs will last around 10k hours of use. LEDs should last around 25k hours (company actually claims 50k hours life.)
In my case, I wanted perfectly sealed units as I am using them as my fog lamps (which are low in the bumper) and may get submerged sometimes. The IPH M617 are IP 67 rated fully sealed units.
If you go the Projector + HID bulb route, they will barely meet IP 44 and in case of submergence they will definitely fail. The projector housings which are retrofit are not sealed units.
Also in my case I wanted CCT flexibility so I went with the Tri Colour one which can generate 3000k , 5500k and 4000k.
My recommendation would be for the IPH M617 tri colour ones instead of the HID ones.
In my main beam headlights, I have 42W HID and I can tell you that the IPHM617 outshine them significantly.

[JKBKS]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

If the headlight assembly has become dull or if the inside of the assembly does not look crystal clear, I suggest replacing it with a new set , it is very inexpensive. Once this is done, purchase an H4 relay kit from a good brand. Use 90\100 Philips rally bulb. Now go to the dealer, use the headlight aiming chart and get it correctly aligned. That's it, job done.

The assembly is mostly clear although a 10-15% slightly hazy patch is there on both sides but I don't think it has reached the replacement stage yet. I would have gone for this 90/100W set up 5 years back but I think better and easier options requiring lesser wattage are available and that should be the way to go now. Since my Scorpio is 13+ years old replacing assembly and then installing Phillips Rally will cost upwards of 12k. Also it will put more load on an old wiring system whereas the Fog lights upgrade option is cheaper and modern I think.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Yes you can go for that route too if changing the lamp source is vital for your requirements.
If you consider the life of various sources, HID bulbs will last around 10k hours of use. LEDs should last around 25k hours (company actually claims 50k hours life.)
In my case, I wanted perfectly sealed units as I am using them as my fog lamps (which are low in the bumper) and may get submerged sometimes. The IPH M617 are IP 67 rated fully sealed units.
If you go the Projector + HID bulb route, they will barely meet IP 44 and in case of submergence they will definitely fail. The projector housings which are retrofit are not sealed units.
Also in my case I wanted CCT flexibility so I went with the Tri Colour one which can generate 3000k , 5500k and 4000k.
My recommendation would be for the IPH M617 tri colour ones instead of the HID ones.
In my main beam headlights, I have 42W HID and I can tell you that the IPHM617 outshine them significantly.

As I said my night usage is minimal, like 2-3 hours in a month and that too in a city, so bulb life expectancy is not an issue here. The highway usage will be mainly for vacations and that too for 10-15 days in a year. So this change/upgrade is for better visibility/illumination whenever needed.

If water submergence has not happened in last 13 years I don't think it will happen in next 3-4 years either (or till the time I keep the car)!! One use case that I like, in case of M617s, is using the same fog light in different driving conditions, the 3-in-1 feature. It can be used at 3000K during rains/fog and at 5500K low beam for normal driving without blinding the oncoming traffic. And since its plug and play there should not be much tinkering with the existing system.

But if I go down the M617 route do you think it makes sense to upgrade the existing halogen headlamps to Racing/Xtreme Vision? Will that complement the M617s in fog lights or you think I should leave the existing headlights as it is as M617 will be too strong for any halogen in the headlights?

Thanks in advance for simplifying my problem

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by JKBKS

But if I go down the M617 route do you think it makes sense to upgrade the existing halogen headlamps to Racing/Xtreme Vision? Will that complement the M617s in fog lights or you think I should leave the existing headlights as it is as M617 will be too strong for any halogen in the headlights?

Thanks in advance for simplifying my problem

With M617 if they are aimed correctly, you will not need to upgrade your main beams as they are around 2.5x in light compared to the Halogen main beam.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by JKBKS

I am interested in this approach too but not sure how much extra load the 100W halogens and relay will have on a system designed for 55W load.

It will be great if you guys could throw some light on the pros and cons of these approaches. My night usage is not much but am not happy with the current situation and am looking to upgrade the lights. So any advice will be welcome!!

Addressing the point about the electrical load, when you put a 100 watt light the electrician will ideally pull new set of wires from the battery to handle the wattage and the 55W line is used with relay to control the turning on and off operation. You may also need a ceramic holder for 100 watt bulb as they get hot and plastic holders can melt.

Ages ago in my Ford Ikon I had done this upgrade but Ford wiring was thick enough to handle 100w bulbs, but same thing on maruti or hyundai will need new wires.