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Originally Posted by pillainp My car is an XUV500. Any error cancelled required? |
I don't think so. Only the European brands seem to bother with the CANBUS thing. Even if you have CANBUS, you can bypass it by using a relay setup. My Ecosport has a CANBUS setup, but as long as the wattage doesn't exceed the original rating, it doesn't seem to cause any errors. I checked with my bluetooth OBD, and even a 130W halogen setup with relay didn't show any errors through . I have since switched to LEDs for the headlamps, the reversing lamps and the interior lamps, but no errors so far.
Some cars require the headlamp unit to be removed for bulb installation. Please check under the bonnet to see if the rear of the headlamps are accessible. If the rear cap is accessible, it might be a simple DIY. My Ecosport's bulb can be changed easily, but my upgrading to LEDs on our Nano required taking off the entire assembly and the removal of a proprietary connector. If you're unsure, take it to a known accessory shop, see what they're doing. Next time, you can try yourself. That's what I did.
Here's the output from my H4 LED lamps. These are 50W per set, i.e. 25W per bulb. I also have foglamps which are 72W per set, i.e 36W per bulb.
The pics were taken on my Mi Max phone, which has a mediocre low light camera, so kindly excuse the less than spectacular, uh.. shutterbuggery?
I had the gate closed to show the beam pattern and cutoff.
This is the Low beam, Headlights only. As you see, there's a clear line of cutoff. The glare is minimal.
This is the High beam, headlights only. The throw is quite similar to the stock lamp, but brighter. I only rarely use the high beam.
This is the Low beam + Fog lamps. I usually drive with this setup during rain and at lower speeds, as the fogs have a wide spread which illuminates the whole road as well as the surroundings wonderfully.
This is the High beam + Fog lamps. I don't use this combination unless there is no visible oncoming traffic, as I feel the glare is a bit too much.
This is the fog lamps alone. I usually use this for city driving, as it illuminates the immediate area very well. Since the fog lamps lack any cutoff, you can see how it bleeds to the area cut off by the headlights as well.
I am planning to use and amber-yellow 3M film to cover the top half of the fogs, to match the cutoff of the low beam. This will reduce glare to the oncoming traffic, and be of more use during rainy and foggy conditions.
This is the kind of effect I have in mind, if it works correctly. Or, I could use dark tint to just reduce the glare.
Here are some pictures of the H4 replacement bulb itself. Philip's Ultinon has a similar design, and I am quite sure that this is a clone of it. It has a standard H4 connector, and does not have a separate driver, or a cooling fan. It uses passive cooling, and so it has a smaller 25W output per bulb, probably to reduce the heat output and reduce the driver size.
I have taken out the bulb only. The bulb base is still fitted onto the reflector assembly. Note that the two locking pins are diametrically opposite, making it possible to fit the lamp upside down (which I did the first time)
The build quality and finishing is very good, especially considering the price of 2.6K per set. You can get better built, more powerful units for about 4K, that come with CANBUS corrected drivers and cooling fans (on some models).
You can see the three individual CSPs that make up each beam. There's a similar set on the opposite side, so there are six CSPs lit up at any time, either on high beam or low. You can see the shroud under the low beam set, which creates the sharp cutoff.
You can see the mounting clamp and the base of the LED bulb here. It's made of matte black plastic. You can see the mounting guide on the base here.
It's possible to order the base individually, in case you somehow break it. Since the bulb is bigger than the regular bulbs, the metal clamping mechanism will not go over the whole LED unit and heatsink. Some bulbs have a removable screwed in heatsink, but this model uses a simpler arrangement.
This is how the bulb looks inside the headlamp unit. Pardon the dirt on the front, it wasn't visible on the phone screen.
A close-up of the inside of the headlamp unit. In the Ecosport, the lamps are mounted with a slight twist, so the low beam shines down and to the left.
I'm happy with the setup for now, but I plan to upgrade to a projector setup eventually, preferably with LEDs. There are replacement units available from many vendors, including Aliexpress sellers, but they are too expensive for me, and the designs are a bit too showy. I think a cleaner idea would be to open up the units and install projectors with angel eyes inside.