Is it Worth Buying H4 Led Bulbs for My Car?

LED headlamp retrofits (swapping whole headlight housing) would be a safety benefit in road traffic. However: Currently, Led headlight bulbs retrofits are not allowed due to the legal situation in Europe.

The current ADAC light test has shown that 51 percent of motorists are traveling with defective or faulty lighting. Especially in the dark, the probability of an accident is much higher than during the day. Replaceable bulbs with LEDs in headlamps or brake lights increase safety significantly.

As a recent study of so-called LED retrofits (bulbs that used in versions of conventional incandescent lamps) shows, LEDs in headlamps are not only more durable. They also continue to shine, and their white, daylight-like light ensures that contrasts are better perceived. The brake light also has an advantage over conventional lamps: The brake light reacts faster in the event of a braking operation, so the driver of the following vehicle can respond earlier.

Led Headlight Bulbs are not Allowed

The problem: Currently, LED retrofits are inadmissible in road traffic because of the legal situation in Europe. The bulbs have already found their way into most households, but they are not allowed in the car unless they have been type-tested as full LED headlamps or luminaires. If a lamp is defective, it must also replace by a bulb with the filament. In other countries, such as Australia, LED retrofits have already approved in road traffic.

How to Test Headlight By ECE Standard?

The test, according to ECE standard R112, was carried out by the DEKRA light experts. Here’s how it works: A complete headlight is fixed on the goniometer and set up with two precise test lamps. Then, all the light bulbs assembled and tested one after the other and carefully adjusted according to the instructions. This is extremely important for the measurement results, even a vertical deviation of 0.5 degrees can bring 20 lux more on the road, but increases the glare for oncoming traffic massively. Therefore, the attitude of the two employees meticulously controlled. During the eight-minute test run per lamp, the goniometer pivots the headlamp on 63 contour lines, every 45 degrees to the left and right. The light falls on a photocell 25 meters away. 5670 measured values ​​per lamp are determined by the computer as an image of the actual light distribution of both headlights and displayed as a light curve of the low beam on the road. The outer boundary of the blue light distribution is the three-lux line until there are objects recognizable. A high beam is not measured. The test voltage for all test runs is exactly 13.2 volts.

If you are looking for ECE Approved H4 led bulb, you can find the M4 led headlight on this website, they have passed the ECE test and are street legal for a headlight bulb on road.