alcazar

iTrader: (2)

LOL, not been around for a while then?

There's been a long-running thread on this very subject.

BUT: I would be careful of that site.
Right at the top, it says that:

The presence and operation of headlight cleaning and levelling has been added to the test for vehicles fitted with HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulbs.


Which makes it sound like those things MUST be fitted.

I've seen the original document and kit says, "When fitted......."

budd

iTrader: (5)

most cars using HID kits were ilegal before this largely due to the self leveling requirement which as always existed , i'd guess any test centre that passed them before will still do so, the trick is not to go 'too blue' stick to 4300k and they aren't so noticable but go higher than 6000k and your asking for trouble

jono300

iTrader: (8)

The trick is surely to simply disconect them 10 minutes prior to taking the car for its mot, as said this subject has been done to death have passed mots for five years now with them in place, dad who has them fitted to his own car has past the mot the last two years with them fitted.

" If in doubt take them out " !!!

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

But if you disconnect them...you`ll have no lights and fail

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Not on a daytime MOT you wouldnt !!

no when I say disconnect them I obviously mean to re connect the old ones which are still in place- litteraly a five minute job !!

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

I doubt many people still have the originals hanging in situ, I haven`t

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Strange I have, my car before had, my dads car does and the one before also, my two mates scoobies who have them fitted still do !! not talking about the actual bulbs talking about all the original wiring ie. all you have to do is plug the old ones back in, hence why hid kits are sold as " plug and play "

chopperman

You would have to completely remove the head lights for a day time mot, not just the bulbs. Then your car would be recorded as such which these days is a very easy task for the police to check now with the national data base.

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Okay no probs mate was said as a joke more than anything but thanks for the info, to be honest did not even know if daytime mots were still available and why would you bother - was going to say for quad bikes but they have lighting anyway ??!!

chopperman

I think its more common with bikes than cars. Mate of mine had a Trial bike (bultaco) on a day time mot. All it needed was a brake light and a horn with continious sound iirc.
I did gather you were just joking but thought i'd add my 2 pence anyway. Unless things have change with mot's you may not actually need to remove the lights. Tape them up may render them unable to be tested so fall under the day time mot rule.

martin850

iTrader: (51)

In the new mot rules on hids, if you have headlight washers and/or manual adjusters as standard then they need to work but if you don't have either fitted you should be ok with having hids fitted

Tomwrx

iTrader: (54)

if HIDs are fitted you must have self leveling and headlamp washer and the correct lenses fitted.as the HIDs have a different light pattern.

even if mot stations pass them the traffic cops will get easy money as they will stop more and more folk and simply look for the headlamp washers etc and then its either a horty or fine,

im just glad i dont need to worry about it .come on the hawkeyes

kilvo

Im a tester and the above is correct, passable for MOT.

Luan Pra bang

They should ban the ****ing things I am sick to death of being blinded by chav charriots with super bright blue lights.

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Tell you what I must be lucky as can honestly say can remember only once ever being " blinded " by a car fitted with an aftermarket set off HID lights,and funny enough it was a corsa !! anyway again cant say its a major problem up here but guess a lot mention it so as I say maybe just been lucky ??!!

have been blinded by a few off the bigger audis running hid lighting thou and these were deffinattly not aftermarket lights !!

djandyg

iTrader: (2)

+1

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, but this is JUST NOT TRUE.
Please see further posts below yours
Post 14 is the one.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

As I pointed out to a trader on here about three years ago, the fitting of an HID kit into a headlight designed for halogen was asking for trouble, could NOT possibly produce the correct beam pattern, and was illegal even then, since the "bulb" type and light unit type would not be compatible.

At that time, the trader shouted me down, saying that I didn't know what I was talking about, and was just against HIDs, and him.

I wonder if he will now reimburse any of his clients who bought kits AFTER he shouted me down?

Jimbob

iTrader: (13)

IF fitted they should work, levellers and washers.

But what WILL kill Non oem HID`s is the new beam pattern, as be fair the HIDs spread light everywhere and glare you to high hell. The new beam pattern is much more strict and all non oem HIDs in reflector lamps will fail as they aren`t designed to focus the light correctly.

jono300

iTrader: (8)

So how come as I have pointed out already I have yet to have a car fail an mot with HID lights fitted to no projector type headlights within the last five years ?? again dads last two cars have passed there mot tests again with HID lights fitted to non projector type lenses , should add that at least 4 different mot stations were used within the above cars over the years, surely they should be failing the new beam pattern ??

personally having not long ago fitted them to my 2005 wrx I can honestly say that in my personal opininion there is no way the light they are producing is dangerous to other drivers but do appreciatte all cars are different and they may well be cars that dont cope so well with aftermarket hid lights fitted to them.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

jono, are you actually READING posts or just skimming?

The reason I ask is that you insist on talking about what you and your dad's cars have done in the last five years, whereas what the REST of us are talking about is the NEW regs for MoT which only came in on 1st January 2012.

Personally, I would expect that one or two MIGHT get overlooked while the testers get used to the new regs, but after that.....look out!

Oh, and as to your own HID's, have you actually LOOKED at them as they approach you? From many different angles? If not, then please do....on a DARK country road.

There are VERY good reasons why the EU and our government have brought in that reg, that the "bulb" in any light unit MUST be compatible with the unit. They haven't just done it for fun, you know.
It's because the design of the "bulb" in an HID is entirely different to the design of a halogen bulb. It's therefore IMPOSSIBLE to get the light produced by the "bulb" into EXACTLY the correct place, so some scatter is caused. The same way that scatter is caused by poorly designed halogen bulbs, those whose seats, columns, filaments etc are half a millimetre out....that's all,.... HALF a millimetre!

And since the INTENSITY of HID light is more than THREE times that of halogen, (unless you got for 8000k or above), then obviously THREE times the scatter.

I can always tell a car coming towards me with an aftermarket HID kit.....

BUT I would agree with the dazzling effect of higher mounted OE HIDs on 4x4's, etc.

martin850

iTrader: (51)

I have fitted JDM Hid headlights on my bugeye and as a result I need to adapt my original wiring to make the adjusters work. Luckily I have til October but I have bought some jdm plugs and switch so it won't be too hard with the wiring diagram JonMc gave me

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Okay no problem appreciate your input,to be honest call it arogant or not but I am personally happy to continue using them and disconnect them come mot time which again is what I did say in my very first reply,appreciate the subject is regarding the new regs thou and things may well become much tighter come mot time.

sorry forgot to say that yes I have looked at the light angles off my hid lights on a dark unlit country road and in my own personal opinion the lights were excellent when adjusted from within the car,and at the risk of repeating myself ?! obviously the mot tester thought the same during the last mot :-) have also yet to get my first flash off lights from a fellow motorist advising me that my lights were blinding them !!

but again subject has been done to death and you obviously feel very strongly against them so will personally leave the rest off this thread to the others to discuss with you !!

topshot

iTrader: (4)

Should have banned them being retro fitted ages ago.

Galifrey

iTrader: (3)

Decent HID kits now have a shield which makes the beam compatible with normal non projector headlights, but they arent as bright and not as dazzling.

I expect this type to become more common in future.

Jimbob

iTrader: (13)

This is how they will epically fail.


Much tighter than previous tests, hence your Dads lights passing.

And if you next year are seen driving with them the Police will know 100% your car is defective and will love to pull you and read you the riot act, as they will know you cannot pass an MOT with those type of bulbs, defective vehicle.

Temporarily removing them will only postpone the problem, and make you a target for the Police.

The ONLY way around is projector lamps designed for HIDs, or plain old simple uprated bulbs.

jono300

iTrader: (8)

Okay no probs thanks for the info, did say it was my last post on the subject and I also feel I am the only one here defending them when so many off us use them but feel as your post was in reply to my own its only right I should reply !! okay one thing thou you say the police will be pulling cars over with HID lighting, okay as far as I am aware virtually every car manufacturer offers HID lighting and yes that even includes vauxhall with there little corsa !!! which makes HID lights very,very commonly seen on todays roads. properly set up and using a sensible set off k -rating bulbs ie. 6k or under which again in my view is very acceptable are you honestly saying the police will be stopping cars fitted with such just to check if they are factory fitted /using projector type lenses or not ??!!

slightly different I know but its like saying the police / gov depts will be targeting subarus / evos /vxr /st etc in the chance they are running full decats !! they know it happens but as far as I am aware its not something thats heavily policed.

daz1968

iTrader: (13)

I am sure jdm headlights would pass this, and on mine being a blob they are reflector lights. I can honestly say the cut off is superb. Only issue I think is no e marking but don't think they are specifically looking for that

ScoobySteve69

iTrader: (13)

I bought a pair of de-tangoed / black headlights with a set of HIDs from here and when I sold my old ones I left the wiring with them.

As for people on about being blinded by HIDs, newer cars with HID / xenons are the problem, especially w@nkers who drive farm vehicles (4 x 4s) as they`re higher up and always blind me . I`ve asked many people in work who I`ve followed on the road, to and from work about my HIDs and they`ve said that they`re fine, they don`t dazzle at all. Anything that increases my visibility on the road has to be a good thing! I`ll continue to use mine until I`m told not to