Halogen to LED on Mk4 Icon

[jbspurs66]

Has anyone in a M4 icon changed from halogen to led?
It's the only thing I dislike on my Yaris, Halogen bulbs are so gloomy and poor compared to the bright white led's, I'm aware that it might fail MOT in 3 years but I would just put original bulbs back.

[anchorman]

I hate those illegal led conversions, they just dazzle everyone.   You can get very good headlight upgrades that are legal and in my opinion are better than LEDs because they focus the beam properly.  Have a look at Osram Nightbreaker Plus.  I’d swap those for my leds which are not great.  

[TonyHSD]

Agreed, 

I am a night driver and I also hate these led conversions. They does not provide more or better light ahead, all they do is to blind to oncoming cars and cause fatigue to the driver if you use the car longer at night. Upgraded halogen bulbs can do perfectly fine. Here one thing to note, the stronger and more powerful lights always comes with shorter lifespan. If you drive a lot during the darker hours something that last long and provide good light is the best , I found Philips Eco Vision are the best from all halogen bulbs. I use only those and they last me up to 6 months, for average driver can be 5+ years. Some Toyota models come from factory with the same halogen bulbs. 👍

[Mojo1010]

Would need to inform insurance as a mod.  Like the instant on for led, much prefer the light of HID, at 5k temp the light is so much better than the one size fit all led at 6k temp. 

[bathtub tom]

As has been pointed out, this conversion would be illegal. I investigated  this and found an LED replacement that appears to be legal in Germany and Austria, but specified the original bulbs would have to be fitted when driving on the left.

I assume this to be because if you examine an H4 bulb, the dip filament sits in a reflector cup that is not horizontal. This could be to provide the 'cut off' of the dip beam, combined with reflector and lens design. Fitting an LED bulb designed for use in a country that drives on the right could cause all sorts of beam problems.

[FROSTYBALLS]

A better bet would be the halogen upgrades for the car - presumably HIR2? - such as the Elta VisionPro150, their other brand, Lucas Lightbooster, or Philips X-treme VisionPro 150.

[RobertR]

I don't have good experience with Elta (no with halogen but D1S HID, they won't last and change the color).

And about the Halogen headlights, just put inside some long-lasting Osram or Philips halogen brand and forget it. Don't try anything else, waste of money and time. If you want a better headlight, go to a local headlights shop and they can convert your light source(halogen bulb) into BiXenon or BiLed source with proper projector optics, they usually know very well what is working and what is not. (read reviews on their work). Maybe it's illegal to convert but for me, better and proper set lights, even illegal, are much safer than old halogen headlights with aliexpress cheap led "bulb" inside headlights with foggy front plexiglass. But it's don't get for cheap, you can count about 200E for billed projectors + 100-200E for new front plexiglass(if needed) and work for about 100e, but for me, it's worth every penny. For example NHK BiLed( they have 5th generation now but even the first generation(cheapest) is a great light source).

If you have a Yaris mk4 with weak halogens it's a good candidate for this, if you really want a better headlight, some LED "halogen" won't save it. Possibly make others' life more miserable on the road when you pass them.

 

 

[Cyker]

If you have gobs of money or know a good salvage place, you could replace whole lamp units with ones from the LED-equipped models, then they would be legal too! It's only illegal to put LEDs in Halogen housings, but if you replace the entire unit then it's fine.

This is assuming the fittings and wiring are the same...

 

[jbspurs66]

Thanks for all your comments, I think on reflection I'll try and get the best Halogens I can, maybe Osram or Philips,  I don't do a great deal of night driving to be fair but driving in the rain yesterday evening really underlined how pathetic they are 🙄

[anchorman]

7 hours ago, jbspurs66 said:

Thanks for all your comments, I think on reflection I'll try and get the best Halogens I can, maybe Osram or Philips,  I don't do a great deal of night driving to be fair but driving in the rain yesterday evening really underlined how pathetic they are 🙄

They are, they are yellow - awful but you will see a marked improvement with good upgrades. 

[Yugguy1970]

I've had really good results with osram/phillips halogen upgrades.

If you compare them directly to leds you think they're not as bright but when driving you do notice the longer throw and brightness they have.

[RobertR]

Best Osram night breakers have about 30% more light compared to stock halogen, not a very noticeable difference, you will not notice. Only in side-to-side comparison.

But the main disadvantage is the price(10-15e/piece) and the lifespan, they will last only a few months, possibly less if your car runs lights (onboard voltage when ICE is running) with high voltage.  And of course safety and risk of burn-off during the trip.

(Another big possible downside is difficulty bulb change)

 

Every person with an interest in squeezing more lights from halogen headlights came true this path of getting expensive halogen bulbs but after some money spent and obstruction, they will stick with stock bulbs eventually.

The only way is to swap to another light source. (rebuild the original one, or swap headlights from a higger tip from the same car and do some MCU programming)

[Guest]

Sorry, Robert, but I have to disagree with you.

I had a pair of H4 Nightbreakers (the originals) installed from 2016 until one failed earlier this year. I do a fair amount of night time rural driving too. The latest versions can be had for aound £15/pair.

I replaced both with similar. Not difficult to change, that depends on the vehicle.

Don't get me started on my opinion of l.e.d. lights!

[jbspurs66]

I don't think they do night breakers in Hir2, looks like Phillips are the best option, also looks fiddly getting hand behind lamp cluster 🙄

[FROSTYBALLS]

36 minutes ago, RobertR said:

Every person with an interest in squeezing more lights from halogen headlights came true this path of getting expensive halogen bulbs but after some money spent and obstruction, they will stick with stock bulbs eventually.

We used halogen upgrade bulbs since 1999 - 13 new cars - and never gone back to the stock bulbs.

[RobertR]

If you try bi-xenon (biLed), the halogens will look like ancient technology to you.
Yes, night breaker's halogens shine more, but it's a small difference, not worth the prices and hassle.

If you swap halogen with NHK BiLed, it's totally different universe.

But I'm totally ok with halogens, there are simple, cheap, and reliable, no doubt about that.

[FROSTYBALLS]

4 minutes ago, RobertR said:

If you try bi-xenon (biLed), the halogens will look like ancient technology to you.
Yes, night breaker's halogens shine more, but it's a small difference, not worth the prices and hassle.

Possibly. However, using HID or LED bulbs in headlights designed for halogen, is now an MOT fail in the UK.

Having said that, the current Nightbreakers are available in 150% and 200% versions - although Osram don't currently make halogen upgrade bulbs in HIR2 fitting.

We've had the 200% version in one of our cars since March 2020 without issue.

Philips also do 150% (including HIR2) and 200% upgrade bulbs currently with a longer life than Osram.

[RobertR]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Possibly. However, using HID or LED bulbs in headlights designed for halogen, is now an MOT fail in the UK.

Not saying you should use HID in halogen headlights but swapped the whole light system inside the headlights. If legal in your country, if you want the best possible light output.

But if you are satisfied with those night breakers and they last in your specific car, that's good. I'm happy for you.

[Yugguy1970]

I've used phillips/osram in loads of cars down the years and the bulbs last ages.

Anyone who's driven a Vw Golf mk 4 or Bora from that time will know first hand just what a difference they can make.

Just put some osrams in my f i l s 2008 Mondeo and even in daylight he could see the difference.

 

[wildtapholer]

On 12/19/2022 at 4:07 PM, jbspurs66 said:

Thanks for all your comments, I think on reflection I'll try and get the best Halogens I can, maybe Osram or Philips,  I don't do a great deal of night driving to be fair but driving in the rain yesterday evening really underlined how pathetic they are 🙄

You drive to the conditions and you should be driving slower in the rain anyway.

[jbspurs66]

6 minutes ago, wildtapholer said:

You drive to the conditions and you should be driving slower in the rain anyway.

Why would you assume that I'm not driving slower in the rain? 

The point is that it would be nice to see better than what I can with the poor light that comes from the standard halogen bulbs. 

[Mojo1010]

Original Hir2 that came with the car are quite poor, I know so. Not about driving slower in the rain at all. Can't see much when raining. 

[JARC1]

Yesterday fitted new HID Osram Night Breaker Head Lights to my 2012 Avensis (yes legally as being a T-Spirit it was supplied new with HID headlights). Not yet used them at night but my comment at this stage is that they do seem to throw a better (brighter and further) light than the old bulbs.

Regards, John