Led Headlights: My Experience

If this isnt in the right section feel free to move it and be easy on me lol.

So a few weeks ago I bought these led headlights off ebay. Yea its an ebay special, cheap, crap blah blah blah. I figured Id only be out 14 bucks and change so why not.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/152569653550

When I unboxed I noticed the lights looked to be of good quality but lacked any paperwork on specs or any special instructions. They didnt quite lock into the headlight housings but are in enough to stay. Attached are pictures of the stock halogen in one headlight and an led in the other, leds in both and what it looks like from the drivers seat.

As soon as I turned the headlights on it hit me how bright they are. I first had the car aimed towards a neighbors property then I turned it towards my garage to view light output and cutoff. Well they are much brighter than factory and do project the light further than the stockers (contrary to evidence documented elsewhere) they act much like hids in the stock housings. They scatter a little and project a little above the cutoff but nothing like that asshole we all see in our rear view mirror from time to time. Im pretty impressed with these cheapy lights truth be told but they would probably be best in a projector. I also took it out for a spin and wasnt flashed once. Oh and I even drove past a cop who didnt even flinch lol. Im still going to carry my stockers with me just in case I get stopped or piss someone off enough.

Take the pics with a grain of salt as I took them on the fly with my iphone 7 so the quality isnt the best.

The color quality is definitely nicer than those old halogens

For anyone considering LED headlight upgrades, take some time out of your day and watch these two videos. Great review of the different styles with results and analysis of the various designs out there.

https://youtu.be/Sonh4lHu4XE

https://youtu.be/SQF5ESBHLrw

I love the color myself, its so clean and bright.

I noticed that the lights have 3 sides and have one led on each side. I didnt pay attention to which sides lit up when. I figured as long as I had them both clocked the same way all will be fine. Nope. I noticed the passenger side projects light differently than the drivers side. I want to rotate the lights to have the low beam leds to point upwards to keep light from reflecting off the bottom of the bowl. Im hoping this is enough to cut down on most of the glare and make them more friendly.

Thank you for posting those links theyre very informative.

I bought the $160.00 5000K led version from one of the popular vendors. Heat sink on back end + tiny fan. Each assy has 2 leds, one pointed up ( low beam)..and one pointed down (high beam). When on high beam, both low + high leds on. But the high beam wasn't a real high beam, it bought me nothing, I could drive around town on high beam and never got flashed. For around town use, the leds were superb, a lot brighter than oem halogens. But after less than 1 year, both leds went dead on drivers side. So in went the halogens.

The previous expensive 8000K hids worked superb on low beam, and again, not a real high beam. The hids used magnets for the retractable hids for the high beam function. I went through several bad hid bulbs, dead magnets on one side, bad hid drivers, you name it. When the hids worked, they worked good (ditto with the leds).

At least with leds, it's a fast swap back to oem halogens. Other problems with the leds were dead fans, and bad led drivers. The concept is good, but what is out there, imo is not ready for prime time. So keep oem halogens in the trunk. Nothing worse than being out of town, with a dead led assy on the driver's side.

The daytime running lights still worked with the leds, except that what you got was normal low beam leds during the day. (vs reduced intensity oem halogens during the day). So the DRL function is retained. Moot point since during the day, I normally crank the light switch over one position to the left, so low beams are on, plus yellow + red lights. I want it all on during the day, esp on a black car, for max visibility.

Thanks for the input. The ones I got seem to be quality actually, it even looks to be on par with more expensive kits but that is by visual inspection through pictures. Mine also dont have an external driver and a built in fan with good airflow. Im content with them except for the beam. Im contemplating returning them for another type of led. Theres a set I found that have two leds that are in the same place as the filaments in the h13 bulb. Im curious how they compare with the halogen bulbs because of this. In theory they should cast light in the same way as the halogens but Im curious to see how all the extra light will affect things.

For me the LED upgrade was massive. First set died and we're replaced under warranty. This set has lasted a few years now. Now the LED bulb in my roush bumper is amazing. The light it throws is not fog light strength..it's more like a driving light.

I agree the amount of light they put out is amazing. I just readjusted both leds. I think it made a difference for the better. The only thing is the amount of light they put out is too much for the stock housings to handle. They put light in the right spot and have a good cutoff but there is still residual light being cast to the sides as well. From straight on they are bright but not bad enough to be blinding but when someone approaches me like oncoming traffic theres a stray beam right in their eyes as they pass. Heres another bad pic of the cutoff.

Nice!

I love my LED headlights and fogs. As you noted, the headlights could go in 3 different ways. I found that facing the LED bulbs at 3 & 9 o'clock gave me the best light output. (and I had to raise my headlight aiming a little)

LED addicted here, I now have ALL my lights replaced with LEDs.

07gts197 said:

. I just readjusted both leds........have a good cutoff but there is still residual light being cast to the sides as well. From straight on they are bright but not bad enough to be blinding but when someone approaches me like oncoming traffic theres a stray beam right in their eyes as they pass. Heres another bad pic of the cutoff.

Click to expand...

These look great!

and good on you for thinking of our fellow drivers out there. I can tell when someones headlights are not adjusted right, man that is annoying and dangerous. You give them a couple of bumps with your brights thinking they have left their brights on and they give you one back that is absolutely blinding, trying to say "hey, I am on my low beams!" but what they don't realize is their headlights are misaligned.

I have wanted to try LED headlights but there has been a lot of word that I should wait until the aftermarket catches up with the OEMs. Mabey we are closer today.

Not having a high beam might bother me though, this may be way so many OEM HID and LED setups have a halogen for the high beams.

I would want to be especially careful around my neck of the woods though, we have a highbeam epidemic here. People drive in the fucking daytime with their highbeams on. You'll get a headache driving around here at night time. I really want definitive high and low beams.

as a matter of fact, if I could get something in the million lumen for my high beams that would be great.

slackinoff said:

These look great!

and good on you for thinking of our fellow drivers out there. I can tell when someones headlights are not adjusted right, man that is annoying and dangerous. You give them a couple of bumps with your brights thinking they have left their brights on and they give you one back that is absolutely blinding, trying to say "hey, I am on my low beams!" but what they don't realize is their headlights are misaligned.

Click to expand...

Misaligned... not always, some new vehicles are annoyingly bright in the race to have 'the coolest brightest look evah!'. Toyotas and some GM trucks come to mind.

Thats how I have mine oriented and they do a great job at casting light almost uniformly and have a great cutoff with a little bit of a hot spot. Not nearly as bad as most of those leds in the second link posted above. I try not to be an ass when I can lol plus driving a mustang already puts you on every cops radar so adding a loud ass exhaust and pretty much illegal headlights and you have a recipe for disaster lol. Thats why Im going to carry the stockers like suggested just in case.

Ive noticed that too how a lot of newer cars do have some bright ass headlights that look like theyre aimed too high. Dodge rams and kias are the biggest offenders imo. And having bright ass lights pointed in my eyes pisses me off like no other. Im glad my stang has a dimming mirror lol.

Nutcase, a lot, if not all now, of the led headlights on ebay have both high and low beams. They utilize more than one led and usually have the one for the high beams pointed downwards to project more light up and make a flood light. There are other kits I saw that position leds in the corresponding locations as the h13 halogen filaments, which would act like a halogen but produce much more light. That might be something worth trying since it would use a design more like stock so the light is focused in the same fashion as the stock bulbs but is much brighter. Mine were under 15 bucks, I dont see other designs being much more espensive unless you buy a set from a large seller like op7 for instance.

I hated LED bulbs when they first came out, since they seemed to put out just glare and no actual light. But they've really come a long way.

I see the spillover isn't too bad from these, but is it still optimal to put these in a projector housing?

I wonder how a projector would cast light that comes from more than one led. I think thats the problem with using this type of led in a projector. I think the only way an led would work well in a projector is if it was a single led and it was mounted on the back of the reflector bowl so it would cast light evenly in all directions before being diffused via the projector. More than one led and having the led mounted on the side like these ones would probably cast a shadow and project properly. Kind of hard to explain lol.

I fitted an led kit to mine as the headlights I feel are crap. They look good, as the light is white instead of orange glow but they don't seem to project any more light than the standard halogen.
so look better, but don't work better.

What kit did you buy? Mine look better and are better and they were cheap.

Im experimenting with another set that Im waiting on. These ones have an led behind a little projector and have a few leds on the sides as well, which I didnt want but we'll see how it comes out. With the little projector Im expecting a more uniform beam but it doesnt have a cutoff shield like a projector and has the extra leds.

TECHMAX LED Headlight Bulbs All-in-One Conversion Kit - 9007(Hi/Low) -7,200Lm 80W 6000K Cool White CREE - 3 Year Warranty: Amazon.co.uk: Car & Motorbike

I got these from amazon. I want sure what to buy. For £36 it was no great loss, and like I said the light colour looks better.

They dont look bad but it does only have the one led. There are so many designs and all have their ups and downs. Like I said mine seem to be ok and hopefully the second set are even better.

If you still can get a refund do that.

The problem is that leds are still too new and all these companies have their own designs and none are really proven so their is a lot of crap out there. Anything with either a casper shield or with leds in the corresponding position as the filament in a h13 bulb is going to perform like stock, albeit way more light output. Our housings were designed to have a filament in one particular spot, moving the filament, or led, just one milimeter will throw off how the light is cast and cause glare. Thats why nothing but the stock halogens are recommended.

On a side note has anyone seen the new raxiom s550 style headlights for our cars? I dont like the look of any aftermarket heaflights for these cars but these new ones look pretty cool!