HID Retrofit Legality

[Over Carl]

Was thinking of fitting HID's to all the cars in the household, obviously would get ones with E Markings, but is it even a proper legal to do?

Do insurance need to be informed?

[reverend]

Think it all depends on the MoT tester mate - if they don't have working headlight washers and self levelling systems they're supposed to be illegal.

They're horrible in reflector headlights too - you may be safer just throwing in some Osram Night Breaker Plus bulbs?

[Teajunkie]

I bought two sets for my focus one for the headlights and another for the fog lights. but after reading up decided it might be a little dodgy area that has everyone disagreeing.
i still have the two sets in the boxes and would love to have a definite answer on this too from someone who knows.

[Over Carl]

I could get them MOT'ed without any bulbs in at all, but I'm thinking best to be legal in case insurance use it as an excuse to avoid paying out if anything happens.

[neo2810]

The DVLA guideline is simple on these. In the UK, Wales and Scotland you can fit HiDs all day long and don't need a self-levelling system or washers to pass your MOT. However, if your lights have a self levelling system and/or washer fitted, they must be in working order otherwise it's a fail. This is NOT the case in Northern Ireland, however, where both systems MUST be fitted for the car to pass.

[Zoots]

Am I right in thinking HID bulbs must be fitted in proper projector headlights though? As far as I knew, fitting the bulbs with the ballast kit into normal reflector headlights is what causes this horrible bright glare you see on shitty 'modded' cars as there's no beam pattern, and this is the legal/illegal grey area HID's always seem to bring up.

From what I remember there was always a bit of confusion in what people were referring to. HID's as in the full headlight unit with projector lenses and HID's as in just the bulbs and ballasts. Last I heard was just throwing the bulbs in wouldn't pass a pattern test and will get you a pull. That said, I see hundreds of them and they're a pain in the arse.

[aloogobee]

I've fitted them to projector headlights to my last couple of cars. No problems with MOT's. Wouldn't fit then to reflector headlights as you will end up blinding everyone and the light output won't be much better

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[reverend]

Neo that's not quite correct mate - here's the documentation from VOSA:

http://www.partinfo.co.uk/files/MOT%...20Lighting.pdf

Vehicles with HID headlamps are thereforerequired to have a headlamp washing system (a wiper is not required) and be self levelling, whichmay be achieved either by the use of either headlamp or suspension levelling systems. The presence and operation of these headlamp cleaning and levelling devices has beenadded to the test. Therefore, if a mandatory headlamp levelling or cleaning device is missing,inoperative or otherwise obviously defective, the vehicle will fail.
This raises the question of whether these checks apply to vehicles fitted with after-market HIDlighting kits. These kits convert conventional halogen headlamps to HID Xenon and they arewidely sold and fitted to vehicles used on the road. The Department for Transport considersthat after-market systems should be required to meet the same safety standards as that appliedin respect of these lamps at vehicle Type Approval. Therefore, in order to pass the MOT
test, vehicles fitted with after-market HID systems would also need to be fitted with headlampcleaning and self-levelling systems. Some high specification estate cars are fitted with a self-levelling suspension system and this would be considered as adequate for the purpose.

Again it's all down to your MoT tester and how exactly they follow the rules - there are always some out there who are more lenient than they should be. The safest way is put in standard halogens for the test, but again you run the risk of being pulled if these are in reflector headlights as they stand out a mile!

I had a set fitted to a Passat with projector headlights and you really couldn't tell the difference between those and factory HIDs as the beam pattern was perfect, although in the current car that has standard HIDs and I've upgraded them to Osram Silverstars and they are stronger than most HIDs on the road now.

The other thing I'd say is if you're going aftermarket then stick to a colour temp of 4.3k as that is the standard - some cars are going to 5k and have something like the Osram Cool Blue Intense fitted as standard (think high end Mercs) and these look great but don't perform as well as the 4.3k Silverstar.

If you fit a set of 6k or higher into a reflector assembly you're just asking for trouble and all it will take is a police man having a bad day and they'll pull you over.

The insurance thing is a good point and they will look for any reason to get out of paying up in the event of an accident - that's what they do for a living and there's no point making their lives easier.

Guess it all depends on the police in that area. I used to get pulled over constantly as my plate started RO02 and they said the font was wrong, but it was a factory plate and they'd let me off, but always after being breathalysed and having the car checked out for anything else wrong. Where I live now the number plates are in a shit state but they don't care.

There were examples of cars going out with factory HIDs that didn't have the washers on but they were recalled - the Lexus IS300 was one example where they forgot to fit the washers for a while.

[neo2810]

Rev, those changes were published in march 2011. Since then I'm pretty sure they had an odd attack of sense and changed the wording to the following:

MOT Check - LED and HiD headlamps: automatic levelling or cleaning device inoperative or obviously defective

So they removed the word missing as some cars have HiDs factory fitted without washer or levellers.

I cant say any of this with total certainty as I'm not in the trade but this info was off an MOT tester when I had my Supra with HiDs fitted a couple of years ago.

[reverend]

It's a confusing game mate, I used to be lucky in that I knew someone who was very lenient when it came to MoTs, but then on the flip side of that I had a spring snap clean in two that he'd never noticed had been welded together so I took a conscious decision to behave after that! It was a good excuse to get coil overs fitted at the time though but never been back to him after that.

I do about 30k miles a year now and have got to admit I hate cars with 6k HIDs fitted in reflectors as they just give constant glare! Saying that so do most Land Rovers as the headlights are that high and they're proper blinding when they catch you wrong!

[neo2810]

I do agree, reflectors shouldn't house HiDs. My car had projectors which were fine without levelling but it winds me up when I get hit at night with the glare which almost looks like the person has brights on in town.

[russell]

go for the Osram Night Breaker bulbs.there great
Russell

[BigBrand]

If you're going to install them do so in projector housing so you don't blind the fuck out of everyone. They're not designed for reflector housings as the Hid bean scatters

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[neo2810]

HiDs have beans??

[tiggerbiker]

here is a link to the current MOT testers manual - http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/cr...sandguides.htm

i know for a fact that VOSA is desperatly seeking ways of banning retrofitted HiD's in reflector housings

[BigBrand]

here is a link to the current MOT testers manual - http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/cr...sandguides.htm

i know for a fact that VOSA is desperatly seeking ways of banning retrofitted HiD's in reflector housings

Simple

Any OEM or Aftermarket HID lighting kit must be fitted in projector dome headlamps with the current FUNCTIONING auto leveling and headlamp washing assembly.