[kspv]

My priority is lower power consumption, and not brighter light. The H4s I have ordered from AliExpress are rated at 30W each, and I made a credit-card payment of $54 (shipping cost included) for them. Indian Customs Duty would be extra, and I am expecting it to be about Rs.1,500/-. The lights are technically rated below the legal maximum. If some cop decides to issue a challan to me for having them, then so be it.

It needs to be mentioned that BIS certification has been made mandatory for the import of LED lighting with self-ballast (IS 15111) under "Household Electrical Goods" category from May, 2015 onwards by the Indian Government. Imports without the BIS certification are being detained by the Indian Customs. many Chinese manufacturers are yet to comply with the new Indian law, even though many of them have several other international certifications such as ROHS certification. Fortunately, the BIS certification for automobile LEDs is not yet made mandatory under the "Automobile Accessories" category by the Indian Government. The list is here:

http://www.bis.org.in/cert/man.pdf

Therefore I am hoping that the Indian Customs will pose no problem to my consignment. But who knows? One greedy Indian Customs staff (who decides to have these lights for his car) may decide to classify my H4 LED headlights as "Household Electrical Goods," and that's the end of it!

After lots of reserch on different types of LED brake-lights, and after having a bad experience with the 22 SMD brake-lights (too dim), I ordered the 120 SMD red LED brake-lights from Order2India. These are 1157/15D bayonet types, and I paid Rs.1,500/- for a pair of them. Delivery is expected to be within two weeks.

The 10 LED T10 wedge-type reverse lights (with lense) from Ebay India cost me Rs.350/- and they are performing well (already installed).

The 39 mm. festoon-light from Snapdeal cost me Rs.800/- and is doing well (already installed).

5 SMD LED T10 wedge-type licence plate lights without lenses (scatter-type lighting) from Ebay India are again Rs.350/- per pair. i received them, but am yet to install them, as the installation involves the removal of inside panel of the trunk-door.

Fog-lights, however, have been a different story. Hyundai seems to be using different types of fog-light sockets for the same model in different countries. For Hyundai Getz, H7, H27, H8 & H11 sockets have all been used. I was initially told that my car sockets were H27, and I accordingly ordered for the LED fog-light bulbs. But when they arrived, they did not fit the stock-sockets. The electrician told me to order H11s, and I again had to order. The H11s are 7.5W with lenses, and cost me Rs.1,200/- on Ebay India.

For the front parking lights, I have again acquired the same scatter-type T10s as the licence-plates, and am yet to install them.

[kspv]

In general, there is absolutely no transparency with respect to the brightness / wattage / price / quality of the Chinese automobile lighting products available with retailers in India.

1. Each SMD LED series is touted as, "three times brighter" than the earlier series, whereas in reality the difference in brightness is often minimal. For example, 5050 SMDs are advertised as 3X brighter than 1xxx / 2xxx / 3xxx series SMDs, and 5630 / 7xxx series are advertised as 3X brighter than 5050 SMDs. The series numbers, as I understand, are to do with the dimensions of the LED chips rather than brightness.

2. Brightness in terms of lumens is always bombastically quoted. As a rule of thumb, the lumen value is usually 50% of what is advertised. Also do not trust the photographs of the LED lighting posted on the retailer's website if you are buying online.

3.Wattage figures are either fudged, or not mentioned at all. Instead, number of SMDs is prominently advertised. Several people reported that the higher number SMDs did not significantly contribute to the brightness of their car LEDs in any way. Several of these LED bulbs advertising high SMD number / high lumen value, pale in comparison to the stock incandescent bulbs.

4. The most atrocious part is the price. A given car LED lighting product can be bought for Rs.150/- also, and for Rs.1,500/- also, even from online sellers like Ebay India, Snapdeal and Shopclues. If you consider the prices of the same on AliExpress and the fancy prices quoted by the shop-keepers in India, the variation can be upto 20X. There is no quality assurance that comes with them irrespective of the cost one pays (as is generally the case with the unbranded Chinese products).

5. Buying on AliExpress directly from an established Chinese seller who offers limited warranty, is always better than buying from Indian retailers, not withstanding the delay in arrival of the product, and the issues with Indian Customs. In case the product turns out to be defective within the warranty period, in many cases the seller will send a replacement if you just send them a video taken with your cellphone through email (happened with me twice in case of products related to audio). If necessary, they will even call you up from China. Added to these, there is now a dedicated TV channel, CB TV, for voicing the specific grievances related to the purchase of products directly from the sellers in China, and the response is often quick. While buying from AliExpress, the value of the goods is required to be declared honestly, or else there is a good chance that the Indian Customs detains it. One has to tell the seller specifically, not to declare the goods as a "gift".

[kspv]

Change of parking-lights and licence-plate lights to 6000K white LEDs is now complete, and they look nice. But I have not been successful in installing the LED fog-lights. The H11 LEDs I received turned out to be exactly the same as H27 LEDs I already had, and I learnt they are one and the same . Two problems came up while trying to install the H11 / H27 fog lights:

1. In case of Hyundai Getz, the hole in the reflector mount was too small to allow the LED bulbs to go in.

2. After modifying the diameter of the hole to allow the LED bulb to go in, the length of the LED bulb turned out to be longer than the depth of the reflector, leading to the LED lense actually touching the fog-light glass, and the bulb not fully going in. The installer was mentioning that the problem is not with the LED bulbs (as they install perfectly in a Maruti Swift), but with the Hyundai Getz foglight assembly itself. To demonstrate the problem, he put a Philips Halogen H27 bulb into the Getz foglight assembly, and the tip of the bulb in this case too touched the front glass of the fog light.

The installer warned that this may even happen with the H4 LED lights I have ordered.. If and when that happens, that will be the end of my experimentation with LED lights on my car.

[fuzail]

Originally Posted by kspv

Change of parking-lights and licence-plate lights to 6000K white LEDs is now complete, and they look nice. But I have not been successful in installing the LED fog-lights. The H11 LEDs I received turned out to be exactly the same as H27 LEDs I already had, and I learnt they are one and the same . Two problems came up while trying to install the H11 / H27 fog lights:

1. In case of Hyundai Getz, the hole in the reflector mount was too small to allow the LED bulbs to go in.

2. After modifying the diameter of the hole to allow the LED bulb to go in, the length of the LED bulb turned out to be longer than the depth of the reflector, leading to the LED lense actually touching the fog-light glass, and the bulb not fully going in. The installer was mentioning that the problem is not with the LED bulbs (as they install perfectly in a Maruti Swift), but with the Hyundai Getz foglight assembly itself. To demonstrate the problem, he put a Philips Halogen H27 bulb into the Getz foglight assembly, and the tip of the bulb in this case too touched the front glass of the fog light.

The installer warned that this may even happen with the H4 LED lights I have ordered.. If and when that happens, that will be the end of my experimentation with LED lights on my car.

KSPV can u please post your experience regarding the H4 led light. I am thinking of installing in my new Ertiga

[kspv]

I don't know if it is appropriate for me to post a reply after such a long interval. But the question posed by 'fuzail' remained unanswered, and so I thought I will post the answer. By now, all lights, but for turn-indicators, have been replaced by LEDs. The experience, particularly with the H4 headlights, has been very good. No problem whatsoever, even though it took some trial & error to put the LED lights. For the H4 headlights to go in, one has to remove the rubber cap of the headlight. The aluminium fins of the H4 LED headlight will protrude out, and need to be ventilated. I even changed the dashboard lights.

[Sail]

Hello guys,

Did anyone has used this bulb from Philips: http://www.philips.co.in/c-p/12953BW...n-led-car-lamp. (Check the reviews too).
It is supposed to be just plug & Play. I am planning for my Honda City.

Today saw this product at a car accessory shop, INR 12,500/-(all inclusive) with THREE (3) years replacement warranty.

Request your feedback.


Brdgs.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Sail

Hello guys,

Did anyone has used this bulb from Philips: http://www.philips.co.in/c-p/12953BW...n-led-car-lamp. (Check the reviews too).
It is supposed to be just plug & Play. I am planning for my Honda City.

Today saw this product at a car accessory shop, INR 12,500/-(all inclusive) with THREE (3) years replacement warranty.

Request your feedback.


Brdgs.

It is available on amazon for 10k. Do check in case you are considering buying it.

In case you do buy, please do post an ownership review. I am also contemplating it but afraid it could turn out be a 10k costly mistake

[Drmani]

I have a Renault Fluence which has separate housing for High and low beams, what is the difference in setup for such an architecture if I decide to go LED. I go on road trips once a month and so end up doing a lot of night driving. I need these to be reliable on such stints. I forgot I need to change the fog lamps too. Any advise is welcome.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by Drmani

I have a Renault Fluence which has separate housing for High and low beams, what is the difference in setup for such an architecture if I decide to go LED. I go on road trips once a month and so end up doing a lot of night driving. I need these to be reliable on such stints. I forgot I need to change the fog lamps too. Any advise is welcome.

The trouble with LED bulbs is heat. You need to buy a good kit from a reputed manufacturer (if it fits). Secondly, the projector for the low beam in the fluence would not be engineered for LED lamps. If you really want the best lighting you will have to splurge on LED projectors as well which could cost you quite a bit.

[Drmani]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

The trouble with LED bulbs is heat. You need to buy a good kit from a reputed manufacturer (if it fits). Secondly, the projector for the low beam in the fluence would not be engineered for LED lamps. If you really want the best lighting you will have to splurge on LED projectors as well which could cost you quite a bit.

Is there any alternatives to increase the light output without cutting the wires, and my low beam is conventional and not the projector type.

[RohanDheman]

Originally Posted by Sail

Hello guys,

Did anyone has used this bulb from Philips: http://www.philips.co.in/c-p/12953BW...n-led-car-lamp. (Check the reviews too).
It is supposed to be just plug & Play. I am planning for my Honda City.

Today saw this product at a car accessory shop, INR 12,500/-(all inclusive) with THREE (3) years replacement warranty.

Request your feedback.


Brdgs.

Originally Posted by joslicx

It is available on amazon for 10k. Do check in case you are considering buying it.

In case you do buy, please do post an ownership review. I am also contemplating it but afraid it could turn out be a 10k costly mistake

Been using this on the wife's Honda City (2011 V-AT) for 4 months now. Absolutely no issues at all and I am very very happy with them.

You can read a bit more about them here:

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-here-682.html

If you have any queries, happy to help!

Rohan

[Flare]

Yesterday had to do a night trip from Delhi to Bhimtal. Was really bothered about the stock 55/60w halogen bulbs on my old innova, so upgraded myself with the best lights available for reflector : Philips Ultinon H4 LED Lights

I was sceptical as buying lights worth ₹10000 is no joke but had rejected the idea of HID seeing the number of failures and the beam not being focussed unless used in projector type lights. Also it's not entirely plug and play H4 replacement and needs installation of associated components.

Philips H4 Ultinon extreme vision is a lovely piece of equipment. No opening of headlight assembly, no splitting of wires just fits in to your existing socket. A Led relay gets attached separately with each light which fits in to the OEM cable. Fitment time 10 min

Now for the light part, since it's H4 it has both low and high beam. I am thoroughly satisfied with the low beam focussing and amount of light. I feel I need to set the high beam perhaps which is set way too high. It lights not only the road but the surrounding part also which is excellent as it gives you wider lighting which is prerequisite on our highways

Finally live picture for all of you out there to comment. I could comfortably drive at 100 KMPH with these lights on. Still not very happy with the setting, will get that done at TASS but the lighting is far above my expectations. You get three years warranty on the lamps but as the readership says LED should outlive your cars life and lasts you for about 12 years.

Verdict : Perfect fitment for existing H4 reflector type light. No splitting of wires, no unnecessary equipment. Wide area lighting. Three years warranty. And Philips extreme vision Ultinon H4 LEDs are focussed light with reflector setup so no blinding to the front guy.

[sgiitk]

This is but to be expected. At the moment we can look at HiDs are a half way house, to LED and and maybe ELD (electroluminescent) type lamps. As EVs become more popular then every watt save in illumination should help.

[satya180]

I am using Philips Ultinon for over a year now, in my VW Vento.
The difference in lighting is quite staggering, the OE bulbs anyway are too weak.
I travel a lot in the night, so with Philips X Treme Vision fog light bulbs and these give out a good amount of throw, spread and reach.
The spread is patchy at places, maybe due to reflector design/ led placements?
I got my headlights aligned at a proper garage recently, and that too has made quite a difference in beam pattern.
The LED's are 6000k, I would have liked them to be around the 4600k temperature range.
Like all white lights, they're not that great in the rains. They're way better than HID's, but in the rains a pair of 100/90 halogens will be way better.
The reach is really really good.
consumes only ~23W as compared to 60/55W consumed by typical halogens. I also have Osram LED tail light indicators and reverse light.
I shall post pictures and videos soon of the bulbs in action, as of now just putting up these pictures from my Instagram.

[satya180]

Here are a few pics I clicked sometime back.
Photos are self explanatory.
Happy to answer all queries.