[naturaldisaster]

Hi folks,

Any idea if we can upgrade the Baleno Alpha's 25W osram D8S HIDs? While the beam pattern is excellent, there is a marked shortage of lumens. Heard one can buy a D3S and modify the bulb to fit.

Cheers.

[pillainp]

Was finally able to get the Ultinon LED's installed.

Went down to the Mahindra dealership at Maradu in Cochin to get it done.

They were initially a little unsure, but were professional enough to attempt placement in a discarded XUV headlight unit to determine whether the LED would fit. They were also a little worried about current draw.

However, once the installation work started, everything was a piece of cake. The only issue was the absolute lack of space in the XUV engine bay. Initially the tech thought he would have to dismount the entire headlight unit in order to fit the retaining clip around the LED, but I showed him how to separate the bulb (?) into two parts - the emitter itself with its spring loaded contacts; and the heatsink - which are attached by screwing the emitter into the heatsink.


Once the Heatsink is detached, the emitter can be installed just like a regular H7 Halogen bulb, after which the heatsink is screwed on again.

The new low profile heatsink design means that no modification whatsoever is required to be done to the projector dust cap, which fits right back in place just as with a regular bulb.

I had the LED's installed on the day prior to my night drive from Kottayam to Trivandrum so that in case there were any issues, I would have time to revert to the OE Halogens before having to drive at night with flaky lights.

Turns out my concerns were unwarranted. The lights work perfectly and put out a bright white beam that is well spread and comfortable to the eyes. My driver says he can actually see better with the LED's than with the OE Halogens. The reduction in wattage (The OE's are 55W, the Ultinon LED's are just 14W each) does not seem to equate to a reduction in beam quality. I am attaching a pic of the beam at night. The wall pic shows a very clean cut-off, and the road pic seems to show a very evenly spread beam. The experts may weigh in on this.

The High beams are the regular 55W OE Halogens at ~4300K, while the LED's are 6000K. The colour difference is clear in the combined beam wall pic. I may change the high beams to LED's too, later down the road, depending on my satisfaction with the low beams. I think I would also need to change the static bending lights to LED's, in order to have all the lights the same color. The only deterrent I see to this complete conversion to LEd's is the high cost, since I would like to use the known quantity that are Philips bulbs rather than go with no-name Chinese units.

I would also like expert opinion on the advisability of changing the front fog lights to 6000K LED's, vis a vis the penetration capability in foggy environments.

[Surya-TJet]

Originally Posted by vivekgk

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.

Hi Vivekgk - At the outset, thanks for sharing the pics of installation and beam throw in a clearly detailed & structured manner. I was able to understand the setup easily.

I too own a 2017 March ecosport (pre-facelift) and was mulling over such LED replacements for quite sometime now, but was apprehensive about the same. Am now confident of trying these out on my car as well.

If you don't mind, can you share the purchase links for both the H4 & H11 bulbs?

I prefer to buy such tried and tested setups instead of burning my fingers with unknown setups.

Thanks once again for your post as it has given me the confidence to proceed further with this LED swap.

P.S - How long have you been running this setup? Do they seem reliable / stable enough over your period of usage? Also, what is the maximum duration that you run these lamps continuously? Have you faced any light dimming issues during sustained usage at night? I ask this query as my night drive is usually for 3-4 hours when am travelling outstation. The longest was around 7 hours.

P.P.S - I am currently running H4 Philips Racing Vision bulbs and they are holding up very well; this is just my itch to upgrade to something possibly better.

Cheers & Safe Driving..

[deepaktpatil]

My Experiment with LED headlights.

More than a year ago, I had changed my Pajero Sports headlights from Osram night breakers to 36 watts LEDs that I procured from Aliexpress for US$22.5 or about Rs 1300 (a year back).

This was a DIY and I could myself replace these lights in a matter of 10 minutes. Only problem I faced was with polarity of power supply. The default way of connecting the connectors was not turning on these bulbs and after some thinking and hunch, I rotated the bulb connector socket by 180 degrees and made the connection, basically reversed the polarity of supply. LEDs are unidirectional, just in case someone is unaware of this.

After this DIY, change in lighting has been enormous, beam throw, coverage and intensity has tremendously increased. Night drives have become a lot easier and fun. I have driven for more than 20000 km in last year some of which was through heavy rain, heavy oncoming traffic etc. I am mightily pleased with this replacement and so are more than 5-6 Pajero Sports owners on Pajero India group. Further to this, the Bosch service garage owner here in Whitefield Bangalore has made this change since more than year and he too is impressed with this DIY.

I would suggest this over HID kits any day as it just costed me US $22.5 about a year ago and prices have come down further now. It takes about 10-15 days for the shipment to arrive from Aliexpress.




In below pic you can see the LEDs as I received them.







Pic below is of the LED placed along side with Osram Light Breaker. Although the lighting element appears to be bigger in size as compared to standard bulbs, their sockets are same. These LEDs can replace lights in all other vehicles as they comply to the standard sockets and connector as mentioned in 9006/ HB4, H9, H8, H1, H11 etc.



Individual wattage of these lights is 36 watts where as the stock HB3 / 9005 high beam light in Pajero Sports is 60 watts, almost 50% power saving but more light. This lower power will extend the life of reflectors as well as headlight glass as heat generated will be almost half.



In this below pic, you can see the performance difference of headlights. On the LHS is Osram Night breaker and RHS is the new LED.




Below picture shows the throw of light on high beam. You can see how far it goes.




Here is another pic with Pajero Sports on low beam which has Osram night breakers. This will give you some idea for the amount of light generated by these LED bulbs by comparing it with prior pic. Check the building towards far end in this pic and compare it with same building in prior pic where the vehicle is on full beams.




Happy to recommend this mod to this group.

[sgiitk]

@pillainp; 6000K on a fog-lamp is a no go. In fact I put 3000K into my Civic and regret not doing to the 2700K. The warmer the better.

[scorpian]

@DeepakPatil,
Could you post a link of the led bulbs you picked from aliexpress?
It would be nice to pick a set that has already stood the test for more then a year rather then experimenting with some unknown set of led.

[deepaktpatil]

Originally Posted by scorpian

@DeepakPatil,
Could you post a link of the led bulbs you picked from aliexpress?
It would be nice to pick a set that has already stood the test for more then a year rather then experimenting with some unknown set of led.

Yes, its tried and tested by not only me but by a bunch of other people in varying conditions. No one has reported any negative feedback. Its been a real value for money. Also it over comes some of the drawbacks of HID setup which are slow startp times, high cost etc.



Here is what I had purchased.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2x-H...608.0.0.SRG1R8


But there are better and cheaper options available now. Make sure you compare and evaluate the features and price (including shipping costs).

[suku_patel_22]

Originally Posted by Surya-TJet

I too own a 2017 March ecosport (pre-facelift) and was mulling over such LED replacements for quite sometime now, but was apprehensive about the same. Am now confident of trying these out on my car as well.

For Ecosport, do checkout the below thread.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do...s-upgrade.html

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Happened to see the Philips LED HB3 replacements by chance and what joy! I did not think further!

These are also from their Xtreme ultinon series and really top quality construction like the rest of their line-up.

Attachment 1776894

Hi, do you mind sharing the link from where you managed to procure these Philips Xtreme Ultinon HB3 led bulbs from ???? Can't find them anywhere. Thanks!

[deepaktpatil]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

Hi, do you mind sharing the link from where you managed to procure these Philips Xtreme Ultinon HB3 led bulbs from ???? Can't find them anywhere. Thanks!

Try the ones which I have suggested above. I have done enough research and analysis. Moreover, I am using my lights for more than 1.5 yrs. Better performance at less price compared to what you get locally here in India.

[pixantz]

Anyone has a good fix for the lousy projector headlamp on the Thunderbird? I think I read somewhere but can't recollect that there is a good fix to get the low beam projector to acceptable levels?

[k.sumit]

Originally Posted by pillainp

Was finally able to get the Ultinon LED's installed

My friend, I hope you cleaned the LED's thoroughly before putting them in since the way it was held, as shown in PIC#1, they will go kaput in no time. If not, please take them out and clean it using an alcohol prep pad that is usually used to clean screen of mobile phones.

[drhoneycake]

Originally Posted by deepaktpatil

Try the ones which I have suggested above. I have done enough research and analysis. Moreover, I am using my lights for more than 1.5 yrs. Better performance at less price compared to what you get locally here in India.

Thanks for the link, but I want to know how these bulbs perform inside a projector housing. Do you have any output pictures for the same ???

[deepaktpatil]

Originally Posted by drhoneycake

Thanks for the link, but I want to know how these bulbs perform inside a projector housing. Do you have any output pictures for the same ???

Please refer to 3rd picture in my earlier post http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post4423918

On the left is Osram Nightbreaker and on the right is the LED which I am referring to. Pajero Sports has a projector setup and above pic should help you understand the performance.

[vsrivatsa]

Question on LED Headlight Upgrade for my Uncle's Jeep Compass Limited 4x2 which comes with HB3-9005 Halogens. Do we need to buy an additional Canbus Adapter if the LED Bulb that we are buying is not Canbus Ready?

I am looking at the following LED Bulb:
Oedro HB3-9005 LED:
https://www.amazon.com/oEdRo-Headlig...dp/B079ZLJP6M/

Sealight Canbus Adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/SEALIGHT-Canc...dp/B07BMYF9X9/

Please advise if we will need the Canbus Adapter as well...and if the one chosen seems OK?