LED Headlight Conversion
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Avoid CarID like the plague. They don't know what they're selling, if it fits the application, or even if it exists at all.
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Just replaced my headlights and fog lights with the LED lamps in the link below. Super easy to do. Am looking to replace the hi beams as well, but read somewhere that the hi beams are also the daytime running lights and that putting in LEDs will create a problem. Is this true?
Amazon.com: Mega Racer 4 Sided H11/H8/H9/H16 LED Headlight Bulbs - 60W 10000 Lumens 6000K Super Bright White COB IP68 Waterproof, Pack of 2: Automotive
Buy Mega Racer 4 Sided H11/H8/H9/H16 LED Headlight Bulbs - 60W 10000 Lumens 6000K Super Bright White COB IP68 Waterproof, Pack of 2: Headlight Bulbs - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases
www.amazon.com
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Interesting. My son and I have had no issues in the items ordered for my spider and MINI and his MINI. Not to say issues might arise, but we have had none.
Dan
Our Spiders convert the high beam into a day time running light by 'flickering' the electrical feed to the bulb, resulting in a what appears to be a dimmer headlight.
LED bulbs do not like voltage fluctuations.
If you want to run LEDs in you r high beam, do what I did. Go into the infotainment settings and turn off DRL and just run with your light on all the time.
I've been doing this for going on two years with no problems what so ever.
The only issue might be in countries like Canada that require dedicated DRLs.
I realize now what I thought I posted wasn't what I was thinking I posted. Let me try and clarify.
The voltage flicker I referred to is technically called PWM (pulse width modulation). PWM is a cheap workaround for auto manufacturers that allows the high beam halogen headlamps to run at reduced power to provide the DRL function. It's done this way because the maximum safe, effective and legal brightness for a DRL is much lower than the minimum for a high beam headlamp. It is a half-assed solution, but it meets legal requirements, it's cheap to install, and that's pretty much all the automakers care about. LEDs bulbs are different than halogen bulbs in that they are instant-on and instant-off, so PWM feed doesn't dim them--it just makes them flicker.
LED lights can flicker when used as a DRL for a variety of reasons. LEDs draw very little power compared to halogens, and because car computer systems are designed to recognize stock halogen bulbs, an LED bulb may trigger an error. Some vehicles operate their headlights at a lower voltage to act as a daytime running light (DRL) and if you’re using aftermarket HID or LED headlight bulbs this can cause an issue. To fix LEDs flickering, one option it to install special CANBUS adapters, voltage boosters or resistors. If the car uses PWM to operate the DRL then the adapter is designed to smooth out the wave and provide a constant voltage to the LED. The other approach is to use LED bulbs that are designed to work with CANBUS equipped vehicles or T2 LED bulbs that operate correctly even at voltages as low as 6 volts.
The approach I took was to replace the halogen bulbs with CANBUS friendly LED lights as well as disabling the DRL setting and just running the headlights all the time.
But the final answer is, yes you can run LEDs as DRL if you get the right LED bulb. The bit I put in about not working in Canada is they have legal limits as to how bright DRLs can be and the above solutions run the high beams at full brightness.
The voltage flicker I referred to is technically called PWM (pulse width modulation). PWM is a cheap workaround for auto manufacturers that allows the high beam halogen headlamps to run at reduced power to provide the DRL function. It's done this way because the maximum safe, effective and legal brightness for a DRL is much lower than the minimum for a high beam headlamp. It is a half-assed solution, but it meets legal requirements, it's cheap to install, and that's pretty much all the automakers care about. LEDs bulbs are different than halogen bulbs in that they are instant-on and instant-off, so PWM feed doesn't dim them--it just makes them flicker.
LED lights can flicker when used as a DRL for a variety of reasons. LEDs draw very little power compared to halogens, and because car computer systems are designed to recognize stock halogen bulbs, an LED bulb may trigger an error. Some vehicles operate their headlights at a lower voltage to act as a daytime running light (DRL) and if you’re using aftermarket HID or LED headlight bulbs this can cause an issue. To fix LEDs flickering, one option it to install special CANBUS adapters, voltage boosters or resistors. If the car uses PWM to operate the DRL then the adapter is designed to smooth out the wave and provide a constant voltage to the LED. The other approach is to use LED bulbs that are designed to work with CANBUS equipped vehicles or T2 LED bulbs that operate correctly even at voltages as low as 6 volts.
The approach I took was to replace the halogen bulbs with CANBUS friendly LED lights as well as disabling the DRL setting and just running the headlights all the time.
But the final answer is, yes you can run LEDs as DRL if you get the right LED bulb. The bit I put in about not working in Canada is they have legal limits as to how bright DRLs can be and the above solutions run the high beams at full brightness.
There are two headlight styles for the Spider
The single headlight bulb like what you mentioned
and the dual bulb high bean/low beam headlight
In the dual bulb the high beam is used as a DRL using PWM
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For anyone on the UK thinking of upgrading the halogen "candles" to LED bulbs, there is a new paragraph (11 Jan 2021) in the MOT Inspection Manual: 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.
However, the dipped beam bulb sits behind a thick lens and the rear of the headlight assembly is inaccessible, so I would imagine that you'd be safe if converting only dipped beam since it would be hard to detect the conversion.
However, the dipped beam bulb sits behind a thick lens and the rear of the headlight assembly is inaccessible, so I would imagine that you'd be safe if converting only dipped beam since it would be hard to detect the conversion.
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Thanks, I did not know that, and......I can't now remember what I did swap the "Candles" for....I changed both, both sides of course by just turning full lock, removing the front to centre lining plugs and getting my hand in the gap, only problem I had was locating the furthest bulb (Main I think, as from front of Spider it did not appear to be in same place), CDPond posted a diagram for me and I was in like flynn...........must read through "Brexit Mods" to see what bulbs I used, hopefully....Cheers
ron
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