Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Just upgraded my side lights to CREE LED's
Amazing upgrade - give the car that DRL look and much more visible on the road. Direct replacement for the Ba9s bulbs.
Glad to get rid of the standard incandescent - orange glow - look of the old sidelight bulbs

- got them here : http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=ba9 ... ight-white

Hi All,

I really want to move to CREE lights but the law says that they will not pass an MOT. So I would need to swap back before my MOT.

The law says only filament bulbs are allowed unless you replace the whole assembly, not sure what this means

Any ideas pleas as my candle light it dim dim dim, plus my battery would fair better too

cheers

Neil

Ni Neil

Not sure where you looked but what you may have read is not entirely correct - but I think it may relate to aftermarket HID's?
These are illegal!
This is due to the light scatter pattern that they create as they are not "EU-Type Approved" under EU Law.

LED lights WILL pass the MOT according to the MOT standard Manual - which is the holy Bible for MOT stations outlined by the DVLA. However there is lots of debate surrounding the use of aftermarket LED lights.

There is a lot of miss-information on this and lots of people have their opinions. However the only document available under law is at the Department of Transports website relating to "The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989" which regulate the situation in the UK.
When this was written in 1989 HID lamps were just coming on the market and LED car headlamp bulbs were not even thought of for general use!

This lighting regulation covers all manner of points on the subject but they are all only relevant to HID bulbs and HID aftermarket conversion kits.
It clearly states that "The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK. Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law." circa 2010!

This documents the rationale that was used at the time in 2010 and relates these to HID bulbs specifically due to the fact that HID bulbs give out a pencil beam of light and when used in existing beam lenses this will scatter the light as HID lights were not designed for these older types of bulb lenses.

I can copy & paste as much of this document as you would like - but it has now been archived as it is no longer relevant and I assume needs to be updated.

CREE LED bulbs follow the same design structure of Halogen lights. The bulb direction & angle of spread is the same as a Halogen bulb so displaces light in the same way - unlike HID's. Therefore the comments made on the 2010 road traffic act notes are not relevant to CREE LED bulbs

In summary - the very same document finishes........
"However DfT does not think it reasonable simply to ban HID in the aftermarket. Instead the Department makes analogies with new vehicles. It seems reasonable to require HID in the aftermarket to meet the same safety standards as those for new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply."

CREE LED bulbs supplied by Woodypeck Ltd have CE & ROHS approval and are the same fundamental design as Halogen bulbs in the way they displace light to use the existing light lenses and spread the same light pattern of light on the road safely - but with more brightness! They are NOT HID's - and should not be confused as such

I would be happy to update you on ANY point of law attributed to LED lights. Especially since being misinformed is dangerous!

Regards
Steve

WOODYPECK Ltd - CREE LED LIGHTS Specialists

Hi,

Great summary and gives me great strength

The concern came from my copy of Car Mechanics (December 2014) The paragraph reads

It's not illegal to replace the whole lamp assembly, but the department considers it would be illegal to replace a filament bulb with an LED unit.

There are many pages on the subject in total, all about the options and even feedback from an MOT tester.

Seems to apply to any LED bulb replacement

cheers

Neil

Hi

I have Steves CREE lights...BOTH headlights and sidelights...and they PASSED an MOT a couple of months ago....AND i asked the MOT examiner BEFORE the MOT if they would pass, he said no problem , they are NOT HIDs ...they are just a bulb...so no problems....

Brightness wise they are fantastic by the way..... miles brighter than my old 160/100 rally bulbs...

All the best Brett

Had a look at your site, be nice if you produced complete car kits for all Porsche models, 928, 944, 968, 911 and so on.

be easier for the buyer than trying to work out what you need and how much its going to cost.


just an idea

Neil

I knew where you were getting your info - have had a couple of people laughing at the poor quality of journalism and sensationalism that is used in that article. I suppose poor journalism & poor research sells magazines!

You can only refer to the official Dept of Transport view - which is not shared by "Car Mechanic" magazine obviously

Just read the D of T guide from 2010 - which only refers to HID's as and is the reason why people get "Confused" regarding what legal & what isn't, then make up your own mind!

The real thing is to ignore rubbish Journalism! And poor research!

On the more positive side - I have had my LED headlights in for 18 months! Passed 2 MOT's and like Brett - thoroughly researched several MOT specialists and rang the DTI to get the true information on the use of LED bulbs.

Don't trust anything you read from shoddy Journalism! That's the message here. But do your own research.

Just the same as Brett;-
I have asked several MOT stations if they could fail the CREE LED lights in an MOT and all of them have said they could not find any way they could fail the LED bulbs as they "safely use the standard H4 Headlight lenses"

They give the correct safe spread of light from the lens and are fit to use on the road.

This would not be the same said for a HID bulb.

Hi thanks for your comments and visiting our site.
We do now sell complete front sets of lights for the 928 and soon rear lights for the 928.

We are looking to build up our database of lights and are working with customers to supply bulbs for the 944, 968 and 928 as well as 911 SC.

We are happy to work with anyone to develop new product lines & cars to supply - especially across the Porsche range of marques

Steve

Woodypeck Ltd - Suppliers of LED CREE Lights for the Porsche 928 - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/

Well I've just had the 968 mot'ed this week, ( passed no problems) and I had a hid 'upgrade' fitted a few months back, and I asked the tester should I swap back to Osram night breakers for the test, and was advised no need to......

Hi Steve

Did I see rear lights for 928s .... ?

When and how do I pay you lol... ?

I will take them all....when ready ?

All the best Brett

PS... PIC of mine when I was fitting Steves Cree bulbs to my 928 at Paul Andersons place... LEFT CREE BULB ---- RIGHT 160 WATT RALLY BULB....

Hi Brett
Great to hear from you.

Yes we are now selling rear bulbs I sold out at the Merry Miller so am waiting for the Brake lights to arrive - hopefully tomorrow!
I have the 1156 & 1157 rear bulbs and the 1156 bulbs with 150° pins. they are all on our website shop @ http://woodypeck.ipage.com/

Tail Lights - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=cree-led-single-side-light-stop-light-bulbs
Side/Fog lights - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=cree-led-1157-type-twin-side-light-stop-light-bulbs-fog-light-bulbs-150-pins
Brake Lights - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=cree-led-1156-type-side-light-stop-light-bulbs-150-pins

We also have:-
- Rear Number plate LED bulbs - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=led-number-plate-bulbs-porsche-928-s4
- Full interior set of LED Bulbs to replace those festoon bulbs - http://woodypeck.ipage.com/?product=led-interior-bulb-set-replaces-standard-festoon-bulbs-porsche-928

Lower your 928's Carbon Footprint!
- Stop those battery drain problems when you have a door left open
- Draw less power
- Cause less burden on the environment
- Have a lower drain on your car battery
- Even increase your cars efficiency...? Ooops gone too far there :):) we are driving 928's after all!

Its amazing that our 928's have 5, yes FIVE internal festoon courtesy bulbs which are a massive 10watts each bulb 50 watts in total with all that heat generation and power loss and rubbish poor lighting effect.

Our new replacement festoon LED's only draw 250 mAmp each so a significant energy saving and reduce the chances of non-start due to leaving your car door or tailgate open. [well for a short while at least]

visit http://woodypeck.ipage.com/

Visit our website and

Hi Steve

Will ring you tomorrow to order a full set of rears.....

All the best Brett

Your more than welcome to use my 968 to build up a kit

Not that I can afford a kit but your more than welcome to use it as a base for tests