UUC * First ever DOT-compliant LED headlight system - installed.

[NC325iC]

I have one in my e30 now. I designed a bracket to mount it in place of an ellipsoid low beam. Bracket needs more work, but I'm getting there slowly.

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[NC325iC]

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[Kershaw]

Nice job, I'm sure it'll create quite a crowd at Vintage. How's the light output?

[Kershaw]

I went ahead and made my own LED headlights. They're very bright. Great cut off. I used the sealed beam brackets and modified them. Basically cut the low beam bracket to just a ring. For the highs I ground down the housing on the lights themselves. The lows, Harley daymaker replicas, were $50/each and the highs were $50/pair. Took me about 5 hours to assemble them.

[NC325iC]

I wasnt able to get the low bracket cut close to enough to fit the light in there. good job!

[Brian697]

Nice job on the LED's. Pictures available of the mods you had to make? Thanks.

[Kershaw]

I'll try to get some.

[Brian697]

Following up for mounting pictures, and how is the light output? Still happy?

[Kershaw]

Light output can only be described as excessive. Especially the high beams. I'll try to do better about remembering.

[Kershaw]

full size

http://i.imgur.com/HaYS5BE.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QQyBbA4.jpg

[Max S]

Sorry for digging this up

I actually quite like the idea of LED-lights on an E30, fits the "resto-mod"-concept I'm planning.
A brief search let me find Harley-headlights that are legal for German roads, but probably illegal to stick in a car :(

Despite that, I wondered how things are regarding functionality.
Are the lights mainly for looks, or do they actually deliver good light?

Max

EDIT: Did I understand it correctly that 5,7" fit, but not the 7 inch lights?

[cscracker]

The ones I put on my e28 have DOT and SAE stamps on them, so they're ostensibly US legal - not sure what ratings you need for Germany. Same size beams as the e30 (5.75") so they should fit the same. I posted pics in another thread.

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=422118#5

They are thicker than the original sealed beams. I used longer screws to hold the retention rings on as I didn't want to chop up my housings, but the mounts on my e30 are different. Still should be able to get them in, though, and I've got spares for my e30 so I'm less worried about chopping those.

The light output is ridiculous. As bright or brighter than the bi-xenons in my e46, no exaggeration.

[Max S]

The ones I put on my e28 have DOT and SAE stamps on them, so they're ostensibly US legal - not sure what ratings you need for Germany.

Ideally, they got an "E"-Stamp.
The headlights on this photo got them if you look closely, a small "E" in a circle stamped into the glass.

That means I can either just install them and go, or they come with the paperwork needed to get them approved.
If a headlight/rear does not have that stamp I could have paperwork created to get a chance at having them approved, for a set of rear lights (didn't research headlights yet) that'd be 6.000 Euros, with no guarantee to get them approved.

There are LED headlights for Harleys that have the certification (they start at about 450€ per piece), but it's a "gray area" since no-one says that "E"-certification for motorbikes also allows them for cars, but no-one says it doesn't either.
And blowing 1000 Euros on two headlights for a "maybe" is a LITTLE bit expensive.
Of course I could put in stock lights, have the car, TÜV-approved, put in LEDs and hope not to run into any police-checkpoint or hope that no policeman ever sees my headlights at a meet and decides to "check that real quick"
Because if you get caught with illegal headlights you pay a fine, get points on your license (meaning you may loose it for a few months), your registration is deleted and your car is towed (at your expense) until you have it trailered/towed to a TÜV-location and present the new, now legal headlights.
Of course, that "presentation" is another few hundred euros
(And at that "presentation" they go over every single modification, each of which can be disapproved literally because the TÜV-engineer feels like it shouldn't be on the car.)

Max

[cscracker]

Ah, yeah, these don't have that stamp. But they are only $42 USD each, plus shipping from China, so it might be worth trying to get one approved. They have other styles, too, if you don't like that one. Just search AliExpress for daymaker clones.

[Max S]

Ah, yeah, these don't have that stamp. But they are only $42 USD each, plus shipping from China, so it might be worth trying to get one approved. They have other styles, too, if you don't like that one. Just search AliExpress for daymaker clones.

I could use ones like that to try and fit them, but not for approval.
Without stamps, a chance at approval is a few thousand Euros since it'd need me to have them tested and have paperwork created that serves as a proof that they could be approved, basically almost like the E, but only for that specific set.
My best chance might be to go with German-market road-legal Harley lights, and argue that A they fit all safety-concerns since they are fine to fit on motorbikes, and B argue with the improved safety from using LED rather than the old bulbs.
I'll have to ask a TÜV-engineer (not in my federal state though, ours are insanely strict and against modification), and might consult a distant friend who's a mechanic and also allowed to advise the TÜV on unclear modification what he says.

TECHNICALLY, if it were just for looks, I could drive around with bulbs, drive to a meet and swap them there.
Might still give me a fine, but a smaller one that actually being caught driving with them.
The problem is, obviously, that LED headlights are much harder to hide than LEDs in the rear (if you don't do the brake-lights).
I definitely will hold on to that idea, since I like the image of an E30 with LED lights as a "modern touch".

Max