 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Updated headlamps in reality ? |
 
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| LR90XS2011 Member Since: 05 Apr 2011 Location: bickenhill Posts: 3641   
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I have the looms and upgraded bulbs and my headlamps are now more than adequate, and much better than standard DEFENDER 90 TDCI XS,
I hope everyone is well and your land rovers make you happy |
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17th Dec 2018 6:09am |
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| Grouse Member Since: 16 Apr 2012 Location: on the hill Posts: 520 |
Just changing to Wipac Crystal headlamps and Osram Nughtbreaker bulbs made a massive difference to mine. My wiring and earths are clean without corrosion - the upgraded loom is unlikely to make much difference on mine. In 45 years of LR ownership I have also never had a headlamp switch fail yet either, so in my case a new loom wouldn’t make much difference.
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17th Dec 2018 6:32am |
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| WindyJ Member Since: 18 Oct 2018 Location: France Posts: 190 |
Exact same here, with uprated loom. Big difference without need to go to more expensive LED options.
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17th Dec 2018 6:48am |
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| Intercept Member Since: 27 Feb 2017 Location: Suffolk Posts: 587 
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Ditto - Wipac Crystals + switch bypass/relay loom should be all you need if your eyesight is normal and your windscreen is clean. Upgrade the bulbs if you like, but you'll be replacing them more often. |
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17th Dec 2018 10:18am |
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| shropshiredefender Member Since: 05 Jun 2017 Location: Shropshire Posts: 834  
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As above - Wipac crystals uprated bulbs, uprated loom - no problems after 4 years. Much better light output.
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17th Dec 2018 12:51pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20356
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Nolden black LED for me and Land Reiziger loom, not heard great things about that boomslangs build quality.
There is little benefit at all though having the loom with LED, it'll only reduce the switch load even further down to around 300mA or so, even lower than LED load which is also significantly lower than incandescent I.E. Crystals. You can have the same effect of this using Crystals and the loom also regaridng the switch but there is still and increased load. All be it not via the switch. If you went LED, personally I'd only consider Nolden. (I know bias.) or Speaker and both perform to highest spec and both are fully legal and 'E' marked. $W33T $0U7H3RN $UG4R 🇬🇧🏴🏴🏴🇮🇪🇺🇸⛽️🛢️⚙️🧰💪 |
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17th Dec 2018 1:22pm |
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| Zed Member Since: 07 Oct 2017 Location: In the woods Posts: 3287 
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I changed from Nolden to crystals, bulbs and boomslang loom.
No noticeable difference in output, I just preferred the look of Crystals. |
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17th Dec 2018 1:36pm |
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| EastFreo Member Since: 24 May 2014 Location: Perth Posts: 103 
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I also just upgraded bulbs - philips xtreme vision. Also headlight relay upgrade. Made a huge difference.
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17th Dec 2018 1:56pm |
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| ericvv Member Since: 02 Jun 2011 Location: Near the Jet d'Eau Posts: 5816  
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I also reverted back from Speaker Evo to my standard SVX Cristal halogens plus better bulbs plus the Landreiziger loom. The Speaker Evo and Nolden have comparable light output. But I don’t consider the light output of the Cristals as good as my Speakers. Those LED lamps definitely still have a higher output. My Cristals have a quite acceptable light output, which in my case is further helped by the second pair of high beam halogens as is standard on an SVX front.
Living in the mountains with a lot of roads without lights, I might go back to LED provided that Nolden or Speaker produce a heated LED lamp with full European approval. Nolden have a heated version, but I doubt that it has been fully approved for European on the road use. Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation. http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I https://vimeo.com/201482507 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw |
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17th Dec 2018 2:08pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8581
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To the best of my knowledge neither Nolden or Vision X does not have a heated 7" LED headlight
Truck-Lite do a 7" heated LED headlight but it is not approved for road use in Europe (not UNECE approved) It is approved for road use in America as it is DOT compliant J W Speaker do have a heated 7" LED headlight which is both DOT approved for use in America and has UNECE approval for use in Europe. Available in RHD UK specification for about a £1,000 and LHD European specification. Not sure on price in Europe. Have a look here Brendan |
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17th Dec 2018 3:14pm |
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| leeds Member Since: 28 Dec 2009 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 8581
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Being fully road legal what are the options?
New headlight bowls and glass lens will be a simple improved as cleaner reflective surface gives improved light output over a tarnished reflector. New clean glass lens will give less light scatter so improved light output. Filament bulbs are tested at 13.2 volts so any voltage below that will give lower light output. An improved voltage at H4 connector by using an uprated wiring loom is beneficial. Using a uprated bulb will give greater light output but at the cost of lower lifespan. Compare the B3 and Tc figures of an uprated bulb over a standard bulb. Those figures are approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of life span off a standard bulb. (How many cyclop cars do you see at night time) LED headlights from reputable manufacturers are type approved. Please note the expression type approved, the expression E marked refers to a country code and is often used to dupe unsuspecting customers. Learn what an approval mark looks like. Reputable headlight manufacturers with correct approval markings put their names on their lights such as Wipac, Hella, Nolden, Vision X, Truck-Lite, JW Speaker. It is not a legal requirement for manufacturer to include their name on the type approval of headlights but most if not all reputable makers do. Unbranded headlights are very likely to not be approved for road use. If LED headlight includes an indicator (light function code 1/1a/1b) then the existing indicator must be disabled as only allowed one indicator per side at the front of a vehicle. Latest headlight from Truck-Lite is the only one I am aware of that has an indicator in a 7" LED headlight which has full type approved. What is illegal? Converting a standard halogen filament bulb headlight to be HID Replacing a standard filament bulb with a LED bulb Having a headlight not showing white light (old fashioned French yellow headlights are legal) Having any obligatory vehicle light which is not type approved. Most if not all cheap LED headlights are not type approved and so are illegal. Beware of expressions these lights pass MOT, just because they past the MOT it does not make them road legal. Comments such as DOT approved, no such thing exists. Headlights only markings DOT, SAE and E + digit in a circle are illegal no matter what any seller tries to tell you. Brendan |
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17th Dec 2018 4:36pm |
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| rallysteve Member Since: 10 Feb 2014 Location: Cumbria Posts: 2227 
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Brendan,
Where is it stated that only one front indicator is allowed? The road vehicle lighting regs state that the requirement is for one but not that it is limited to. It goes on to describe how the flashing of multiple front or rear indicators should be in phase. Cheers Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread |
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17th Dec 2018 5:19pm |
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| redline Member Since: 28 Jun 2015 Location: Mountains and Lakes Posts: 221
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Also running Crystal headlamps, Nightbreaker bulbs, and loom modification. Installed all at once so can't comment on individual contribution, but overall result is a big improvement on standard, and perfectly adequate for my everyday use*. However as pointed out above, the current tier 1 LEDs (JWS, Nolden, Trucklight, Vision X etc...) are better yet.
The heated JWS linked by Brendan do look awfully tasty though.... * I do switch on the driving lights in bumper when on dark roads through the forest - keen to avoid a deer / wild-boar shaped dent to the front end  Last edited by redline on 17th Dec 2018 6:15pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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17th Dec 2018 5:24pm |
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| CarMan Member Since: 29 Nov 2010 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 1861
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Got the crystals and love the look but are these the Nightbreakers?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/64210NBL-HCB-BREA...aker+bulbs Rob 1993 200tdi 90 hard-top 1998 300tdi 90 soft-top 2016 2.2 XS 90 hard-top (sold) |
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17th Dec 2018 5:50pm |
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