Trouble seeing at night, headlight suggestions?

[TiGeo]

Technically, the LED H7 bulb is illegal. LED halogen replacement is only legal for fog lights, when a manufacturer actually attempts to make it legal with paperwork.

I think we are missing each other. So again....Atlas with OE LEDs = legal but as you pointed out, look like they are not OE as you wrongly assumed.

GSW with retrofit LEDs = illegal but you figured they were factory.

I'll continue to drive my GSW with illegal bulbs and get flashed occasionally in my Atlas with 100% legal OE LEDs.

 

[TiGeo]

Of course there disclaimers but in the end, they are retrofit LED bulbs for reflector halogen housings that in the applications as-listed are legal.

NIGHT BREAKER H7-LED | OSRAM Automotive

www.osram.com

 

[nthach]

New headlights(OE, TYC if you can’t afford/budget/justify OE), and quality bulbs(no Silverstars or Chinese-made Philips) - such as Vosla HIR2s.

 

[Tinman]

If I recall correctly, halogens are still better than LEDs in fog. And there is also the freezing issue with LEDs. You might need to look for an assembly with some kind of warming device.
We went skiing with friends once and got into an icy rain. They had Honda Accord compatible with LEDs, so they converted it. And normally the headlights were great, but they just froze with some road slush on top. And that was one hell of a ride
Honestly, I would recommend you find out the reason why your lenses are getting foggy and after that got a new assembly. Maybe the plastic expired, but what if the reason is whatever you apply to them (or don't apply when they need it). Restoration is great, but without maintenance, it's just pointless.
And new assembly will have the same issue sometime later.

 

[Lubener]

Even the best lamps or LED's will under perform emitting through a hazy lens. Replace the lenses.

 

[brianl703]

Of course there disclaimers but in the end, they are retrofit LED bulbs for reflector halogen housings that in the applications as-listed are legal.

NIGHT BREAKER H7-LED | OSRAM Automotive

www.osram.com

Not in the USA, however.

The countries listed when you go to www.osram.com/nb-led are:

Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hrvatska, Austria, Poland, and Slovenia.

Is it safe to assume that the headlights on these EU-market vehicles are in fact the same as the US-market versions?

 

[Vercingetorix]

Not in the USA, however.

The countries listed when you go to www.osram.com/nb-led are:

Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hrvatska, Austria, Poland, and Slovenia.

Is it safe to assume that the headlights on these EU-market vehicles are in fact the same as the US-market versions?

There is no point to these except long life. 1500 lumens and 6000k color. Can do much better with a halogen and get a better beam pattern with a filament. Just because they meet the legal requirements does mean they are any good.

 

[brianl703]

There is no point to these except long life. 1500 lumens and 6000k color. Can do much better with a halogen and get a better beam pattern with a filament. Just because they meet the legal requirements does mean they are any good.

I wonder how long the cooling fan will hold up on those. Ever seen the dirt that accumulates inside a cooling fan like that...indoors?

 

[Vercingetorix]

I wonder how long the cooling fan will hold up on those. Ever seen the dirt that accumulates inside a cooling fan like that...indoors?

I have acquired several PS3s at pawnshops/thrift stores sold as broken because they were overheating. Little compressed air and they were good to go. The amount of dirt was disgusting.

 

[brianl703]

I have acquired several PS3s at pawnshops/thrift stores sold as broken because they were overheating. Little compressed air and they were good to go. The amount of dirt was disgusting.

Even in a datacenter with supposedly well-filtered air, they accumulate a lot of debris.

 

[TiGeo]

Not in the USA, however.

The countries listed when you go to www.osram.com/nb-led are:

Czech Republic, Germany, France, Hrvatska, Austria, Poland, and Slovenia.

Is it safe to assume that the headlights on these EU-market vehicles are in fact the same as the US-market versions?

I thought I was clear to point out "in the applications listed" - of course not but the point simply was....they are legal in some countries and you can produce a LED bulb that doesn't cause excessive glare/blind everyone if you chose to run them in reflector/halogen housings (which may have a slightly different design than here in the U.S. as you point out). Just all about the design. I love mine vs. stock and can't imagine going back to even the over-driven Osram Nighbreakers which we run in my son's Focus.

 

[Wheel366]

If you want to choose an LED, I suggest the higher end"Beamtech" products on Amazon. They make quality LED's, many of which can be "clocked" in position (rotated for position) for an accurate beam cutoff and a nice beam pattern. Do a little searching on Amazon, because they often offer a set of 9005 and 9006 purchased together for a steep discount.

https://www.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-9005-Headlight-Extremely-Conversion/dp/B08BC6Y7NP/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=3HNI3Q9MBESV&keywords=beamtech%2B9005&qid=1668548160&sprefix=beamtech%2B9005%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-3-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

Or the better versions that can be rotated in place:

https://www.amazon.com/BEAMTECH-9005-LED-Bulbs-White-Conversion/dp/B08GWZ4HJP/ref=sr_1_4_sspa?crid=3HNI3Q9MBESV&keywords=beamtech+9005&qid=1668548285&sprefix=beamtech+9005%2Caps%2C98&sr=8-4-spons&ufe=app_do%3Aamzn1.fos.006c50ae-5d4c-4777-9bc0-4513d670b6bc&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Have you used these?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHDYTGL/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I just installed them in my 18 Legacy Sport. They went in super easy but when I look at the line with the OEM bulb, these are slightly lower. I believe they are lined up fine and are locked in properly with the plug facing down but the line is slightly lower that with OEM. I don't see a way to raise them. I see I can loosed the screw and possibly rotate but I don't think rotating them will solve the issue.

Any advice?

 

[KrisZ]

I installed LEDs in the halogen housings of my minivan and motorcycle. It’s a pretty nice upgrade.

When the xenon retrofits were the rage, I refrained because of didn’t want to blind other drivers.
However, now that all the terrible OEM LEDs from all sorts of manufacturers are blinding me on daily basis, I don’t care any more.

 

[Dave Hess]

This is kind of off topic but *might* help.

I tinted the windshield of my car with 3M window tint (lightest film) and it really helped reduce glare at night making everything easier to see.

 

[John105]

OT: 3/3 of our cars are factory HID. imho, 0/3 blind other drivers. Never been flashed that I can recall across 17 years. This will remain to be an expensive solution, and bean counters have determined this does not sell cars. It did when dim yellow and power consuming heat generating halogens were in the competitors vehicles.

What I think is the difference between OE and aftermarket, is there is a lens, and they adjust based on the position of the vehicle.

Like anything else, things are done to "sell," i.e. marketing will always prevail, and so I have noticed Subarus as being in my mind a top offender where from the factory, their LEDs are scattering light all over, as opposed to being focused. my .02 ymmv

 

[MaximaGuy]

One of the ironies of modern automakers is they don't have an answer to the headlight dogma (Tesla is very good and I end up holding my sanity on it at night driving). No car that I have owned gives me confidence at night because these car makers have a problem on their hands i.e poor engineering. Having said that recently used the Rustoleum product and my headlights are like new

https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-HDLCAL-Headlight-Restore-Fluid_Ounces/dp/B01FLKA7BA/ref=asc_df_B01FLKA7BA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=319981170457&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8949048827729804481&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028284&hvtargid=pla-570858776042&psc=1

Also consider a higher lumen based on that video - nice effort to change the bulbs out and being inspection friendly

 

[TiGeo]

However, now that all the terrible OEM LEDs from all sorts of manufacturers are blinding me on daily basis, I don’t care any more.

Yep. I'm blinded every night from factory lights.

 

[TiGeo]

I installed LEDs in the halogen housings of my minivan and motorcycle. It’s a pretty nice upgrade.

When the xenon retrofits were the rage, I refrained because of didn’t want to blind other drivers.
However, now that all the terrible OEM LEDs from all sorts of manufacturers are blinding me on daily basis, I don’t care any more.

The HID retrofits, even the ones that have shields to min. the area emitting light, are still on the bad side of this and do scatter quite a bit of light. LED retrofits have come a long way and as much as the internet keyboard warriors want to cry about it (with zero experience using them BTW), an LED bulb with the diode in the correct location to mimic the location of filament of the incandescent bulb will not scatter light enough for anyone to care or notice...like you say, compared to factory LEDs at this point who cares. I will say that my 20 year old '03 Passat with factory HIDs that I just replaced with all new housings/bulbs/etc. are far superior to the LED bubls in my Golf. I wish HID wasn't such a pain with the ballasts etc. or I'd get replica Golf R projector housings for the Golf and run an HID kit in them...the light quality is just so much better than LEDs IMHO.