Halogen headlight bulbs upgrade to LED or HID units in 2021. Will it pass an MOT? New rules out!

Hello guys!
#AlexTheGrumpyOne here with another video for you.
I have made this video to let you know about new rules on MOT part of the Halogen bulb headlight conversion to LED or HID units.
Unfortunately on 21/01/2021 GOV.UK released update on MOT rules, which state that if you vehicle has been upgraded to LED or HID kit then it will fail an MOT in UK.
You can find this information following this link and going in to section 4.1.4:

According to that your MOT will fail if the vehicle presented at the time has got a conversion kit on it. Many people have asked if they can just swap it for mot purpose.... That is your decision. I can´t stop you doing anything.

I accept no liability/responsibility for any indirect or consequential loss, damage or fine.

I am only here to provide you with the new information.

If you need anymore help, just let me know and I can even do it in few different languages : English, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian.

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Good Luck and Stay Safe!

[micheals]

Instead of fighting this I don't know why the government don't just embrace LEDs and have actual approved bulbs that you can buy directly from auto trader's. You could regulate them to get better beam patterns and lower the lumens of official bulbs stores can legally sell. You wouldn't need any rewiring, the circuit board could be built directly in the bulb if it's only pulling 6-12w per bulb. You'd spend slightly less on fuel considering out of that fuel you pay about 55p/kWh in your car and the bulbs would last allot longer since they wouldn't be overdriven.

I'd say the holy grail would be finding a way to use compact filament LEDs but I can't imagine you could push 6+ watts through such a small thermal mass.

[CHLER.]

There's a small revision which has been made to the rules which states: If a complete headlamp unit has been replaced with a unit that was manufactured with HID or LED light sources, it must not be failed for ‘Light source and lamp not compatible’ but it must meet all other requirements detailed in section 4 of this manual specific to the type fitted at the time of test.
I have modified my lights to the extent that they will only accept LED projectors and any attempt of using the lamps with halogens will actually blind on coming vehicles since the reflectors have been altered. I won't be failing my mot any time soon

[ewalk]

"Existing halogen headlamp units on vehicles first used on or after 1 April 1986 must not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp for light source and lamp not compatible."

Reading the wording:
It's saying that the headlamp units themselves must not be converted/changed to allow the use of LED/HID bulbs.
If no conversion/change has been made to the headlamp unit itself, then there is no reason to fail the vehicle.
Obviously things such as beam pattern etc must be correct for the vehicle to pass the test.

[CocolinoFan]

Yes I am really annoyed as well. Prefect example of the government changing lows just for the sake if it.

[a.wilson]

Halogen is an extremely old bulb technology now as is incandescent and has pretty much died out in most applications apart from cars, even bicycle lights and torches have become led as standard. We generally light our homes via led, florescent lighting is another dead technology. Led technology is so cheap now and has advanced enough to overtake conventional lamps. A common 12v H7 55w headlight bulb draws about 4-5 amps of current so also isn't energy efficient. An H7 led alternative around 2 amps with far better nighttime illumination.

[TS-ggdk]

Today my country’s MOT equivalent in northern Europe gave me a notice of too low headlights on my Xenon Scirocco (MY2013).

I have noticed that the dipped beam light is way close to the car on the ground when it’s dark, but thought that it was mainly that the xenons were getting dim/losing their brightness.
It is (trying) to regulate the level when starting, but (obviously) failing.

What can I do myself about this?
Is it possible to fix this without having to take it to a mechanic?

[davidriley]

The regulations are just insane! If the beam pattern is correct and the colour is a legal colour then it should pass but the testers are not allowed to disassemble or remove covers to remove the bulb to check if the bulbs are E marked or whatever it uses during the test. It’s really annoying because LEDs or HIDs if used correctly are brighter and safer on the road than halogen yellow bulbs. My car originally had normal reflector units and I used to have LEDs in there for a long time, but now upgraded to projectors so I can legally run LEDs in there so they won’t be any glare or nobody can’t see the bulbs behind the lenses.

[adonic]

No they will never pass MOT because I just did my MOT test of my car and it FAILED. I had to change my headlights did a retest on da same day and then they passed my car MOT. So bottom line remember always change your headlights 2 days or 1 week before MOT TEST. After the test passes then u can always put da LED or HID headlights back on.

[micheals]

I just ordered two h4 auxitos for motorcycles. It's the dimmer LED (1, 600lm) I found that look like they may have a decent beam pattern

[marianbadea]

I've passed the last 3 MOTs with HIDs fitted, the most recent being about a week ago with no issues. This year I even had 6000K bulbs instead of 4300K the previous years. My headlamps do have projectors though and the car did come from the factory with both HID and halogen versions but mine originally had halogens and now has aftermarket HIDs, so... 🤷🏻‍♂️

[micuk]

hello my friend. in 2016 I bought a bmw 525d with projector headlights fitted with Halogens. I immediately fitted HIDS, it has jus passed its mot in OCT 2021, no mention of the headlights, and it has never failed the MOT due to the headlights.

[Fromatic]

Do you know if this applies to replacing the whole reflector headlamp with aftermarket projector headlamps? My car only came with reflector units from factory, but I found aftermarket projectors that are complete headlamp replacements and could safely use an led bulb. Would this still fail? Wondering if the conversion to use hid/led only applies to the existing reflector units, and not if you replace the entire unit to a projector?

[bradharrington]

I can't find out anywhere but I'm wondering if I can change the whole headlight units to the factory bi-xenon units on my scirocco and maybe even swap the xenon part for led to make life simple

[Xighor]

Nanny state, stupid law isn't
LED/HID brighter so safer than Halogen?
Shouldn't better visibility mean it's the better and safer option 🙄

[GreatScottByJoe]

So let me get this straight its due to the casing not being made for leds. But the rest of the vehicles lighting can be used with leds even though the casing on them are not made for leds?

I call bulls**t

[PAULPYROKING]

mines had mot with led in I forgot to change them back for mot and it passed the guy said all ok didn't mention so not going to change. maybe il change for next one