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Legal H4 drop-in LED

5K views 54 replies 18 participants last post by  hockeyman474 
#1 ·
If you've been wanting LEDs and already did an H4 swap, you might be in luck.

From Candlepowerforum:

I wouldn't rule it out. Philips has an LED drop-in that works very well in some fog lamps originally equipped with H8, H11, and H16 halogen bulbs. And they are about to release the first drop-in LED replacement which is said to produce compliant beam patterns in headlamps designed to take an H4 bulb. They've been working on it for a few years (these things take a lot of work to get right) and it will be interesting to see what it does next month when it comes out (if it comes out on schedule). It is to be officially offered only in markets with little or no vehicle lighting regulation, but due to the internet it will show up everywhere in the world within a few days of its release. Will it work in all H4 headlamps? Don't know. Will it work better than a regular H4 bulb, or equally as well, or only well enough to meet the minimum beam requirements? Don't know.
 
#2 ·
Thanks for the post .i have the h4 hellas .i tried the trucklites and returned them the next day didn't like the pattern.even after I adjusted both horizontal and vertical adjustments (i bought the screws) im looking for a more white light than the yellowish color im getting from the osrams
 
#3 ·
I'll try to keep tabs on the progress of them, how they work, what lamps they get certified to work in.
 
#4 ·
Bill thanks for the info. I will definitely be interested here. I do have some understanding of WHY this is important however I think overall many people just snap a bulb in and call it good. Its amazing how many blinding "do it yourselfers" are using scatterbulbs and I am not just saying Jeeps, EVERYTHING. I think they are getting as available as cellphones. Most people should not have on in their car.
 
#5 ·
I received some intel recently that enforcement of illegal headlight mods will increase in the foreseeable future.
The Director of the Department of Public Safety in SC is going to make PSAs about it and insist that LE become educated. It's a national concern that's beginning to be recognized.

SECTION 56-5-4840. Selling or using devices or equipment to change design or performance of lamps or reflectors.

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale or use any device or equipment which tends to change the original design or performance of any head lamps or any other lamps or reflectors required by law to be attached to motor vehicles, trailers or semitrailers unless the equipment or device has been approved by the director of the Department of Public Safety.
I have a friend who is scheduled to sit down with the DPS and advise on this.

So, all the people in on the group buys of illegal LED lights, give it a think.
 
#6 ·
I received some intel recently that enforcement of illegal headlight mods will increase in the foreseeable future.
The Director of the Department of Public Safety in SC is going to make PSAs about it and insist that LE become educated. It's a national concern that's beginning to be recognized.



I have a friend who is scheduled to sit down with the DPS and advise on this.

So, all the people in on the group buys of illegal LED lights, give it a think.
Based on that, it seems that there should be as much attention on the "sellers" as there could be on the "users"... It should simply be illegal to sell the non compliant products. Firm up the law, and put a $5000 fine on each of the "sellers" and we have a new source of revenue for fixing up some of our crappy roads. :happyyes:
 
#12 ·
Well, yeah, there is that.
Some states have laws where fogs can't be on during good weather, some that they can't be overly bright. Most states ignore them though.


...
There must be something that doesn't quite close the loop on applying the statute in the real world. Otherwise there wouldn't be 100,000 vendors selling the illegal products.
Hard to prosecute sometimes. And not enough manpower.
 
#15 ·
Nah ---- They'll get to it though. It'll be a money maker for them even if it doesn't work very well.
That's the pity. People buy cool crap just for the cool factor. I'm hoping that this product will actually work...
 
#19 ·
I haven't had to replace a single Philips X-Treme Power yet... Maybe I'm lucky. As recently as 2 years ago, I worked for 1 of Philips' largest national distributors. I'll see if I can dig up anything on the H4 LED as well. I've seen the "china" lamps getting pretty close to mimicking the filament/emitter locations of traditional H4 lamps which will bring the performance and output closer to what is expected. Still not legal, and maybe not good, but people are going to buy the junk no matter what we do, so better performing junk would be a big help.
 
#30 ·
My Hella cutoff is very sharp and clean for a halogen housing and lamp. I am using the X-Treme Power +80's.

I can't give any detail on the IPF other than they haven't performed particularly well in the instrumented tests that I have seen.
 
#31 ·
I'm kind of thinking at this point that the +130 may be over-lighting the Hella housing, and possibly the IPF needed that extra light output to fill the housing properly./?

Not sure really, but I may try different lamps in the Hella to give them a fair shake. Right now, the IPF Housing and the Phillips +130 lamp look the best, visually. I may try the lamps that came with the Hella housing tonight, just to try a different lamp and see how the cutoff performs.
 
#32 ·
I'm interested to see if anyone chimes in that has the Delta H4s. I read a review on Amazon that said he had to get used to the high beam pattern. He was right as as the lows are so much better than the stock, the highs on mine threw a weird patten. Almost like there are dark spots. I later adjusted then down after the leveling kit went in and the lows lit up the road nicely, highs were still odd. Input the +130s in and it improved the lows even more, but also made the highs worse. Not sure if playing with the adjustment would help or the Deltas just don't throw a good high beam.
 
#36 ·
Thanks for the post! Hopefully they work well and are cheaper than alternative LED lighting.

I ran out of time this weekend but I will be doing my Cibie H4 swap sometime this week and switching over to Phillips Xtreme Power 80s. I will post up results when I complete the install and take it out when it's dark.
 
#37 ·
Jason,
FWIW, when I tested the IPFs, Cibies, and Hellas back-2-back-2-back, they all performed differently with different bulbs. There should really be no difference in beams, only the amount of light between brands. An H4 is supposed to match any other H4 for filament placement.

Philips usually has the best focus and best light quality. They did the best for me in Hellas. This Osram bulb did the best for me in Cibie buckets ---- but with a full bypass harness. They really suck the juice and shouldn't be used on stock wiring.

Hella doesn't make their own bulbs and you usually can do better...
 
#42 ·
So it made its way to our shores already.
Wonder if it's any good though?
I pinged Virgil to see if he has intel on the photometry. I hope it's a winner...
 
#44 · (Edited)
It currently appears to only be available offshore, like Australia....
 
#53 ·
Ok, it looks like these are showing up on some retailer websites...

But at this price point, they are probably hard to justify. The engineering seems to be there and with the right reflector, the output could very well be great. There is some question about the lumen output, it seems to be lower than expected. If it is, then what have we gained?

H4 Philips X-treme Ultinon LED Bulb | 12953BWX2
 
#54 ·
Meh....
 
#55 ·
Reviving this thread but any update? Has anyone tried these? How much are they? Is one better off Savin up for JWS?
 
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