Halogen Headlight Bulb Replacement
#26
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I am almost finished completing an entire OEM LED/Bi-xenon headlight swap on GLAowners forum. I started the thread here: http://www.glaowners.com/forum/merce...w-project.html
I will be updating with pictures and necessary info soon. Just have one more issue to sort out, but so far, it has not been as bad as many might anticipate.
I will be updating with pictures and necessary info soon. Just have one more issue to sort out, but so far, it has not been as bad as many might anticipate.
Please keep us updated
#27
Thanks yuzone for the info. I was following the link you posted for the LED bulb and the description said it should be "functional for high beam". So from what you said, the LED will not be bright enough for high beam mode, correct? That's a bummer...
#29
Verdict
So if we are stuck with the halogens and want a cheap, easy improvement what is the best solution?
Sounds like Diamond Vision bulb for the H7 low beam, but what about the running light/high beam? Yuzone, can you be more specific on the pros/cons of the LED H15 bulb? Do you completely lose high beams? Because the product says it does do high beams. It was tough to figure out what was going on in the pictures you sent. Has anyone else come up with their own solutions?
Sounds like Diamond Vision bulb for the H7 low beam, but what about the running light/high beam? Yuzone, can you be more specific on the pros/cons of the LED H15 bulb? Do you completely lose high beams? Because the product says it does do high beams. It was tough to figure out what was going on in the pictures you sent. Has anyone else come up with their own solutions?
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Hi Ansron
Correct.. the $40 plug & play H15 LED could not produce light with enough lumen to serve as high-beam.
#31
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So if we are stuck with the halogens and want a cheap, easy improvement what is the best solution?
Sounds like Diamond Vision bulb for the H7 low beam, but what about the running light/high beam? Yuzone, can you be more specific on the pros/cons of the LED H15 bulb? Do you completely lose high beams? Because the product says it does do high beams. It was tough to figure out what was going on in the pictures you sent. Has anyone else come up with their own solutions?
Sounds like Diamond Vision bulb for the H7 low beam, but what about the running light/high beam? Yuzone, can you be more specific on the pros/cons of the LED H15 bulb? Do you completely lose high beams? Because the product says it does do high beams. It was tough to figure out what was going on in the pictures you sent. Has anyone else come up with their own solutions?
The H15 LEDs does not work for highbeam. If you turn on high-bream with them, you get a very scattered light output ... and the bulbs can 'temporary burn out' for several minutes if you lig them with higheam mode for more than 10 seconds.
As for the H7, Diamond Vision does gives our Low Beams a nice HID-like looking, but its light output is actually not on par with the OEM halogen bulbs....
You'll notice the difference when driving at night -- especially when it's raining...
As it being said, I switched out the Diamond Vision and put in a H7 LED Conversion Kit from Amazon. ($80), vision got much improved...
Somehow low beam reflector housing of GLA has a very nice cutoff line , hence the LED bulb doesn't blind oncoming traffic if aimed correctly, I never got flashed or highbeamed by other car on road with LED installed.
Last edited by yuzone; 06-22-2015 at 01:06 PM.
#32
Hey Mag,
The H15 LEDs does not work for highbeam. If you turn on high-bream with them, you get a very scattered light output ... and the bulbs can 'temporary burn out' for several minutes if you lig them with higheam mode for more than 10 seconds.
As for the H7, Diamond Vision does gives our Low Beams a nice HID-like looking, but its light output is actually not on par with the OEM halogen bulbs....
You'll notice the difference when driving at night -- especially when it's raining...
As it being said, I switched out the Diamond Vision and put in a H7 LED Conversion Kit from Amazon. ($80), vision got much improved...
Somehow low beam reflector housing of GLA has a very nice cutoff line , hence the LED bulb doesn't blind oncoming traffic if aimed correctly, I never got flashed or highbeamed by other car on road with LED installed.
The H15 LEDs does not work for highbeam. If you turn on high-bream with them, you get a very scattered light output ... and the bulbs can 'temporary burn out' for several minutes if you lig them with higheam mode for more than 10 seconds.
As for the H7, Diamond Vision does gives our Low Beams a nice HID-like looking, but its light output is actually not on par with the OEM halogen bulbs....
You'll notice the difference when driving at night -- especially when it's raining...
As it being said, I switched out the Diamond Vision and put in a H7 LED Conversion Kit from Amazon. ($80), vision got much improved...
Somehow low beam reflector housing of GLA has a very nice cutoff line , hence the LED bulb doesn't blind oncoming traffic if aimed correctly, I never got flashed or highbeamed by other car on road with LED installed.
I've been checking other forums, and Golf owners have been complaining about the H15/DRL problem for years - so we're probably stuck with it. I had to have 19's and Keyless Go, but didn't really want to pay for Nav (or wait). My car has everything I wanted except the bi-Xenons and nothing I didn't want to pay for. Maybe I can learn to love her for who she is...
#33
I decided to give the Diamond Vision a try for lowbeams anyway - they look great. I think the color gives it an illusion of brightness, so I'm satisfied for now.
I also tried the LED H15 bulbs and got a different result. They worked well as running lights, and shined bright and steady for high beams. Maybe they don't penetrate correctly like a true high beam, but the LED high beam I had was plenty bright, and brighter than the stock. I held it on for over a minute with no flicker. I was totally happy with both bulbs - thought mission accomplished and closed the hood.
Turned the car on to check again, and the LED DRLs start blinking at me and the dash goes haywire with lighting error messages. I've done quite a bit of looking, and can't figure out or find a resistor that works with the H15 bulb, which kind of spin-snaps into its plug with a 1/4 turn. It is not something that looks like you can daisy chain a resistor to. Anyone run into this for needing a resistor and have an install solution? Or a better solution to have white DRL and functional high beams?
I also tried the LED H15 bulbs and got a different result. They worked well as running lights, and shined bright and steady for high beams. Maybe they don't penetrate correctly like a true high beam, but the LED high beam I had was plenty bright, and brighter than the stock. I held it on for over a minute with no flicker. I was totally happy with both bulbs - thought mission accomplished and closed the hood.
Turned the car on to check again, and the LED DRLs start blinking at me and the dash goes haywire with lighting error messages. I've done quite a bit of looking, and can't figure out or find a resistor that works with the H15 bulb, which kind of spin-snaps into its plug with a 1/4 turn. It is not something that looks like you can daisy chain a resistor to. Anyone run into this for needing a resistor and have an install solution? Or a better solution to have white DRL and functional high beams?
#34
Halogen headlight bulb
Yuzone-are the replacement lights bright enough to take the place of high beams?
#35
Junior Member
So this is your call, and no errors as long as you install the bulbs correctly, a simple plug-and-play.
#36
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Any LEDs in forward projection will have reduced throw distance and light scatter in housings not designed to capture that specific LED pattern. This is why we don't recommend LEDs for low beams and high beams. That said, if there's enough interest in these H15s for DRL function, understanding the limitation, we can create something that will have at least better light distribution than the model Yuzone used.
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Thanks for the info, Yuzone. Which H7 kit did you end up picking, there are so many out there? And what are you using for your DRL now? That's probably the one that bothers me more.
I've been checking other forums, and Golf owners have been complaining about the H15/DRL problem for years - so we're probably stuck with it. I had to have 19's and Keyless Go, but didn't really want to pay for Nav (or wait). My car has everything I wanted except the bi-Xenons and nothing I didn't want to pay for. Maybe I can learn to love her for who she is...
I've been checking other forums, and Golf owners have been complaining about the H15/DRL problem for years - so we're probably stuck with it. I had to have 19's and Keyless Go, but didn't really want to pay for Nav (or wait). My car has everything I wanted except the bi-Xenons and nothing I didn't want to pay for. Maybe I can learn to love her for who she is...
Glad to see the thread is still alive, and sry for the late reply
The H7 LED Convention Kit I installed was purchased from Amazon, the seller was Sirius LED. It has been working good w/o any issue since installed 6 months ago. Somehow the kit I purchased isn't available anymore, but it looks similar to this one:
Amazon.com: OPT7 LED Headlight Bulbs w/ Clear Arc-Beam Kit - H7 - 60w 7,000Lm 6K Cool White CREE - 2 Yr Warranty: Automotive
As for the H15, the plug&play ones that can only be used as DRL burned out after 2 months, so I switched back to GP Thunder Xenon White Halogen bulbs.
I even spent $80 to purchased these new toys:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-...474123756.html
They would be a perfect solution for the H15 DRL+Highbeam, if their base isn't that large.... I couldn't find a way to install them without taking out the entire headlamp cluster.
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#39
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Any LEDs in forward projection will have reduced throw distance and light scatter in housings not designed to capture that specific LED pattern. This is why we don't recommend LEDs for low beams and high beams. That said, if there's enough interest in these H15s for DRL function, understanding the limitation, we can create something that will have at least better light distribution than the model Yuzone used.
I love your products!
I purchased your error-free 3457 LEDs for the GLA's front blinkers and 7507 LEDs for rear blinkers, they both work perfectly
Before finding your store, I wasted money on 3457 and 7507 LEDs from JDMASTAR and iJDMTOY, none of the bulbs I purchased from them worked
#40
Hey All, I found these special H15 LED kit on Amazon, seems to have dedicated LED for low beam and high beam mode + heat sink:
http://smile.amazon.com/AutoEC-Speci...autoec+h15+led
Haven't bought them yet since it's kinda expensive... No reviews and no idea if it works well. FYI if there are any adventurers out there!
http://smile.amazon.com/AutoEC-Speci...autoec+h15+led
Haven't bought them yet since it's kinda expensive... No reviews and no idea if it works well. FYI if there are any adventurers out there!
#42
Hi All,
I joined GLA250 family recently and it is fantastic so far. Im planning to change my Halogen bulbs and require some help.
1) Low beam - I replaced them with this.
2) Hi Beam and DRL : I'm looking for H15 bulbs to plug and play without doing any other changes. As jillnet said, if Im having white DRL, i can compromise on Hi beam power as i dont use it at all.
Thanks in advance!
I joined GLA250 family recently and it is fantastic so far. Im planning to change my Halogen bulbs and require some help.
1) Low beam - I replaced them with this.
2) Hi Beam and DRL : I'm looking for H15 bulbs to plug and play without doing any other changes. As jillnet said, if Im having white DRL, i can compromise on Hi beam power as i dont use it at all.
Thanks in advance!
Last edited by Vinny250; 02-19-2017 at 12:11 PM.
#43
#44
SPONSOR/MBworld Guru
Which HID did you use and please send me pics of how it looks, please email me on moomi1069@gmail.com
This kit will work perfectly for your GLA: http://www.aznoptics.com/index.php?m...roducts_id=118