Elbeau

Hi. Can someone recommend high quality H7 LED bulbs for the headlights in my 2011 GL450 that actually fit?

DennisG01

I don't know, but... will the light wavelength that LED's give off work as well as the bulbs that are in there? Meaning, how "bright" the headlights appear to be when you're looking at them (or advertisements) does not always transfer to how far the quality of usable light will project down the road.

Maybe I'm mistaken on the following, but...

I'm also not convinced they last any longer or draw less power. I've seen many newer cars with burnt out LED's. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the LED's need (or have built-in) some type of power converter to essentially draw the same amount of power so as to not set off a lightbulb out warning? Although, truthfully, I could care less about the power draw - it's not like I use the headlights when the engine ISN'T running.

Elbeau

Hi.

I have used LED replacement BULBS in many vehicles, including this one. Not only are they much brighter, but they actually do improve visibility. They use LESS, not more power than halogen bulbs. Yes, they often need a resister, which is usually built in, or attached to the LED bulb wiring. This isn't because the bulb draws more power, it's to fool the CANBUS (computer) into thinking the light is drawing the stock bulbs power so you don't get error messages or flashing lights. Yes, they do last longer, if you get good ones.

If you are talking about burned out LEDs on cars factory equipped with them, the reason you are likely to see more burned out ones is that (1) dealers rip people off to replace them (2) owners' manuals tell people to take the car to the dealer/repair shop and/or (3) they often aren't a simple to swap out as stock halogens.

On a 2008 GL, they would definitely be an improvement of the halogens. But, as is the case with just about everything, if something is priced cheaply, it's because it's made cheaply.

eric_in_sd

Typical LED headlight bulbs are 6000K, meaning it is a much more blue light than halogen (at 4000K), and similar to HID. In low light levels, your eyes are more sensitive to blue light.

I've posted pictures of my LED headlights. They're fantastic. HID are no better, at least from my experience.

Yes, such LEDs typically need a resistor to dissipate about half the total power so as to fool the CAN bus.

I ran my LED headlights in DRL mode for a while and saw failures at about 500-750 hours (50k miles). This is terrible for LEDs but is well better than halogens, which failed at 1/10 the time under similar conditions.

DennisG01

I never said LED's use more power. I did say they use the SAME power because of the resistor. The only way to trick the computer (which I also said) is to imitate the standard bulbs with the same current draw. Or, at least, that's how it was explained to me.

Your comments about why newer car LED's are burned out are not accurate. None of those reasons explain WHY they burned out to begin with. Those comments are "after the fact" things that are unrelated to the root cause.

I can't comment on a comparison between LED's and standard bulbs on a 2008 GL (which I have). All I can say is that I have always been VERY impressed with the light output from the stock bulbs. Even people that ride with me at night have made comments.

Edit: Whether I'm right or wrong on the true power draw... I'll still stand by my comment of "I don't care since I only use my headlights when the engine is running"

eric_in_sd

On quality: I do not know if LED technology has improved to the point that cooling is no longer necessary, so assuming not, I recommend sticking with fan cooling. For now I do not trust the fanless variety. Look for lights that have an LED array that is about the same fore-aft length and position as the H7 filament; otherwise, the beam pattern will be out of focus. There are ones that have a cylindrical array of LEDs; my high beam lights are like that and work great. My low beam headlights have the more common 2x2x2 array; they work great also, except they had a funny circular plug at the front that I ground off. Avoid the ones that have goofy-looking arrays like a triangular cross section.

It is a matter of personal taste, but I prefer the less bluish 6000K versus the 6500K.

Fit: This is where you will lose years of your life, but on the plus side you will gain gray hairs. You need to get adapter clips, like what the halogen bulbs use but with a big hole in the middle for the led bulb shaft. I recommend pulling the headlight assemblies out and working at a bench. I went insane doing it in situ on the vehicle.

Elbeau

I wasn't arguing with you. And I'm not going to now. But, my point about the number of cars with burned out LEDs wasn't trying to explain why; it was to explain why they aren't being fixed. That is, it's not that more of them are burning out, it's that people aren't getting them fixed when they do.
And the resistor does not change the power. Most cars with bulb monitors, monitor by measuring resistance in the line. The resistor creates the resistance the CANBUS is looking for.

I'm glad you are happy with your halogens. Not everyone is.

eric_in_sd

ACKSHUALLY the CAN bus does not measure resistance. It measures current flow. Putting a resistor in parallel with the bulb increases the total current flow.

Be nice to Dennis. He's a good-natured guy, and you already managed to irritate him. It's worth it to get on the good side of the good guys here.

Elbeau

Don't know how I annoyed him. Other than, apparently , having a different opinion. And an MB tech told me it measures resistance for the lights.

eric_in_sd

Just be nice. It is not a matter of opinion; it is conflicting information. If you are new, even when you have been around for a while, you probably should be very diplomatic about contradicting people. They tend not to put up with it for long. You'll be frozen out rather quickly.

And I hate to break it to you, but your information is not all that solid.

Diamond Dave

A larger issue is the aging/hazing elipsoid on the low beam. Very old tech and has not aged well. For $120 and some time, I retrofitted Morimoto EVO X projectors. Extremely happy with light outpout. It's so good that I realized (after 5yrs ownership) that I actually have the dynamic headlights.

I have not had any luck with LED anything on a Mercedes.

Elbeau

Well, I am replacing the entire headlights assembly, so it will have new projectors. For me, my other vehicle has HIDs and the halogens just don't cut it by comparison.

I've replaced a number of stock bulbs with LEDs on my GL with great success. I did have a few bulbs not working properly, but luckily I was able to return them for ones that work. One problem I have found - and this applies to both hi-end and cheaper LED vendors - is their attempts to convince buyers that a different bulb number is exactly the same as the one being replaced. No they aren't. Close, maybe, but not the same. Oddly, the ones that did give me trouble were the more expensive bulbs.

eric_in_sd

My headlights - LED bulbs in stock assemblies - have splendid beam patterns, both high and low. Perhaps the reason is the vehicle has been garaged throughout, so the hazing on covers, while visible, does not seem to impair the quality.

Tsumi

He is referring to the reflector surface on the projector bowl burning off, which is common on our cars and not the result of being left outside.

The common layman will take more foreground light as a better beam pattern/more light, and bluer as brighter when it actually really isn't. More foreground light only compromises long distance vision.

Lightwerkz now has E55 to G5 adapters available with the proper spacing, enabling people to retrofit any of the G5 projectors or the NHK LED projectors without much fuss. Any of those projectors will have far better light distribution and output than simply sticking LED bulbs into halogen projectors. Simply no way LED bulbs can measure up to 55 watt HIDs in proper bi-xenon projectors, and the LED projectors sit somewhere between 35 and 55 watt HIDs in terms of output. The NHK LED IV Plus projector has a particularly bright high beam.

For LED bulbs, I can really only recommend the ones available on Lightwerkz, or the knockoff/OEM versions of them you might be able to find on Aliexpress. Can't find much proper testing on bulbs not on Lightwerkz. You definitely want fan cooled bulbs with separate drivers. Heat diminishes LED output over time, which is particularly prevalent on the cheap stuff as their light output 30 minutes into being on can be significantly dimmer than when initially turned on. Since the dimming is gradual, its often not noticed.