Pagoda SL Group

W113 Pagoda SL Group => Electrical and Instruments => Topic started by: awolff280sl on June 23, 2017, 16:44:15

Title: LED Headlights for US assembly
Post by: awolff280sl on June 23, 2017, 16:44:15

I was researching LEDs for my headlights again, and there is a new style LED available in the past year.
The US assembly is originally sealed beam H4's. A while back I replaced them with halogens. This meant H4 bulb housings ( eg https://www.summitracing.com/int/parts/hla-002850001/overview/?cm_mmc=pla-google-_-shopping-_-srese1-_-hella), and separate H4 halogen bulbs (eg https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H4-100-80W-Halogen/dp/B000COBLKW/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1498234541&sr=1-9&keywords=h4+headlight+bulb). No longer sealed beams, but there is an effective gasket in the kit.

Researching LEDs for headlights, there are those with fans and without fans. I did not want fans because of noise and the fact that the fan usually fails long before the LEDs. The fanless type uses a heat sink. Until more recently, the only heat sink available was a bundle of braided metal that you spread out behind the housing. Now there's a neater, compact heat sink available: https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/led-headlight-kit-h4-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-compact-heat-sink/3929/8565/#tab/Overview

The price seemed reasonable for the pair. Install is straight forward, you just substitute the LED for the halogen. The gasket needs to be trimmed to allow insertion. There is plenty of room around and behind the heat sink for air circulation when installed.

I like the results. The visibility is better and nicer, even considering that I was using high powered halogens before. The cool white light matches the LEDs in my dash, and the appearance of the car at night with lights on appears updated, which I like. Also, the headlight glass no longer gets hot as they did with the halogens, so this may prevent discoloring of the lenses. The LEDs should last.

Title: Re: LED Headlights for US assembly
Post by: alpina on June 23, 2017, 17:46:15

I did the same thing recently with euro lights. https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=26144.0
I too am more than happy with the results.