Halogen to LED D4 Headlight Bulb Conversion

[Celtoid]

Hi All,

I've decided to hang onto my MY13.5 D4 for a while longer but am jack of the poor headlight emissions from the Halogen globes. I know the topic of improving the light quality of the standard Halogen lights has been round the traps for quite some time but I was hoping for a story from folks that have been running LEDs for a while and haven't had any performance or damage issues. It would also be good if the conversion didn't involve hacking into the Headlight assembly or compromising the seal.

I know some folks have done HID conversions but the slow warm-up time used to mean that they were only good for low beam but lacked agility when used in high beam. Thus my inquiries about LED.

Look forward to feedback.

Cheers,

Kev.

[Eric SDV6SE]

2 years plus and no issues, I have bixenon main headlights and the rest is all LED. This includes the infill lights, drl in thr bullbar, indicators and also rear reverse and fog lights.

Bought them from Stedi.com.au.

The canbus system does raise codes from time to time, this is because of the low amperage from these LEDs, but nothing to worry about. No lens issues either, nothing has melted and no shorts from water / rain / mud ingress etc.

[Tombie]

Same as Eric. Works well

[Celtoid]

2 years plus and no issues, I have bixenon main headlights and the rest is all LED. This includes the infill lights, drl in thr bullbar, indicators and also rear reverse and fog lights.

Bought them from Stedi.com.au.

The canbus system does raise codes from time to time, this is because of the low amperage from these LEDs, but nothing to worry about. No lens issues either, nothing has melted and no shorts from water / rain / mud ingress etc.

Hi Eric,

Thanks very much.

You probably know this ... but the Halogen set-up is a bit different from the Bi-Zenon. The standard LR Bi-Xenon (had them in the first D4) are awesome. However, the Halogen set up is just like any 'old school' car.....poopy halogen bulb in the fish-eye for low beam and then an equally poopy halogen turns on for high beam. Where as the Bi-Xenon have excellent low beam and get decent light when the shutter lifts for high beam. In you and Tombie's case, the addition of LED infill lights probably improves a situation that wasn't too bad to start with.

I'm obviously a little concerned about running the LEDs in the low beam (fish-eye) for hours at a time. Which is why I was hoping somebody had already tried this. The standard halogen low beam .... geez ... I've seen brighter candles [bigwhistle]

Do the Stedi bulbs you use have the metal ribbon heat-sinks? Do you just tuck those into the headlight fitting and close the dust cover?

Thanks for your help mate.

Cheers,

Kev.

[DiscoJeffster]

Why are you concerned about running the LED for hours? They will produce less heat than the halogen equivalent you have in there.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Hi Eric,

Thanks very much.

You probably know this ... but the Halogen set-up is a bit different from the Bi-Zenon. The standard LR Bi-Xenon (had them in the first D4) are awesome. However, the Halogen set up is just like any 'old school' car.....poopy halogen bulb in the fish-eye for low beam and then an equally poopy halogen turns on for high beam. Where as the Bi-Xenon have excellent low beam and get decent light when the shutter lifts for high beam. In you and Tombie's case, the addition of LED infill lights probably improves a situation that wasn't too bad to start with.

I'm obviously a little concerned about running the LEDs in the low beam (fish-eye) for hours at a time. Which is why I was hoping somebody had already tried this. The standard halogen low beam .... geez ... I've seen brighter candles [bigwhistle]

Do the Stedi bulbs you use have the metal ribbon heat-sinks? Do you just tuck those into the headlight fitting and close the dust cover?

Thanks for your help mate.

Cheers,

Kev.

Yes the Copperheads as sold by Stedi have the metal ribbon heatsinks that tuck neatly behind the dust cover.

Note I have no affiliation with Stedi, I just like their gear.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Why are you concerned about running the LED for hours? They will produce less heat than the halogen equivalent you have in there.

Exactly, just got to make sure the globes you get are suited to the reflector in terms of beam spread etc. All the heat is dissipated by the metal ribbon heatsinks not into the lens.

[cjc_td5]

Hi All,

I've decided to hang onto my MY13.5 D4 for a while longer but am jack of the poor headlight emissions from the Halogen globes. I know the topic of improving the light quality of the standard Halogen lights has been round the traps for quite some time but I was hoping for a story from folks that have been running LEDs for a while and haven't had any performance or damage issues. It would also be good if the conversion didn't involve hacking into the Headlight assembly or compromising the seal.

I know some folks have done HID conversions but the slow warm-up time used to mean that they were only good for low beam but lacked agility when used in high beam. Thus my inquiries about LED.

Look forward to feedback.

Cheers,

Kev.Is your D4 the update model with "Discovery" on the bonnet and pocket headlights? If so, the same bulb runs both beams, with a shutter to direct the light to the low & high beam patterns. So running a HID is not such an issue as it stays on all of the time.

[Celtoid]

Yes the Copperheads as sold by Stedi have the metal ribbon heatsinks that tuck neatly behind the dust cover.

Note I have no affiliation with Stedi, I just like their gear.

Thanks Eric.

[Celtoid]

Why are you concerned about running the LED for hours? They will produce less heat than the halogen equivalent you have in there.

I know the LEDs produce less heat at the globe but as Eric has stated, they have heat-sink ribbons that will have to live in a place not designed to have anything there ... i.e. the back of the light assembly. I was just inquiring whether that feature was going to be problematic but it sounds like it should be OK.

Cheers,

Kev.

[Celtoid]

Is your D4 the update model with "Discovery" on the bonnet and pocket headlights? If so, the same bulb runs both beams, with a shutter to direct the light to the low & high beam patterns. So running a HID is not such an issue as it stays on all of the time.

No, it's MY13.5. That was the last of the Land Rover badged Ds, so it has a different headlight assembly with separate lenses for low and high-beam. The Bi-Xenon in the same model and earlier, function as you described with a separate 'infill' halogen coming on at high beam and a shutter lifting for the Xenon high-beam. The lights look identical externally but the Bi-xenon has different internals and has a different configuration file pathway, to allow for shutter function and start-up pulse.

[Eric SDV6SE]

Plenty of room in there for heat dissipation.175062[/ATTACH[ATTACH=CONFIG]175064]

[scarry]

FWIW,we had Bi-Xenon on our old D4,they were pretty good,up until then,the best headlights i had ever had on a vehicle.
We did many trips after work,through the night,650K to the property,no spotlights,in our opinion, needed.

The new vehicle we now have,not LR,has LEDs,and they are way better than the Bi-Xenon.

[Celtoid]

Plenty of room in there for heat dissipation.175062[/ATTACH[ATTACH=CONFIG]175064]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Eric.

Looks like a solid option.

Cheers.

Kev.

[Celtoid]

FWIW,we had Bi-Xenon on our old D4,they were pretty good,up until then,the best headlights i had ever had on a vehicle.
We did many trips after work,through the night,650K to the property,no spotlights,in our opinion, needed.

The new vehicle we now have,not LR,has LEDs,and they are way better than the Bi-Xenon.

I'm not sure how true it is but I heard LR specced up the first D4s in Australia. My first D4 was AUG 2009 build, bought in Jan 2010. It was an SE but came with GPS, HK Logic 7 or 9 sound system and had Bi-Xenon lights. I found the lights were great. In fact not many cars had them in those days and I often got flashed, as people thought I was on high beam.

I incorrectly assumed that all D4s had Bi-xenon because they look identical. First time I drove the 2013 SE in the dark, I literally pulled over to check that the headlights were actually on [bigrolf]. Wasn't a happy camper :-(

I've owned a sedan with adaptive LED .... they were the ducks nuts :-)

[scarry]

I've owned a sedan with adaptive LED .... they were the ducks nuts :-)

Sure are,and i thought Bi-Xenon were the ducks nuts....[bighmmm][biggrin]

They will put the spotlight guys out of business,but then again,i am sure many spotlights are just for show.[wink11],excluding,of course,long distant truckdrivers,and those that actually need them.

[jwb]

I’ve got the bi-xenon and have upgraded the infill high beams to the Stedi units. Pretty happy with everything but feel like I need a bit more down the middle an thinking of maybe one of these STEDI™ | ST1K 21.5 Inch E-Mark LED Light Bar (https://www.stedi.com.au/st1k-21-5-inch-e-mark-led-light-bar.html) on a number plate mount.

[Eric SDV6SE]

I’ve got the bi-xenon and have upgraded the infill high beams to the Stedi units. Pretty happy with everything but feel like I need a bit more down the middle an thinking of maybe one of these STEDI™ | ST1K 21.5 Inch E-Mark LED Light Bar (https://www.stedi.com.au/st1k-21-5-inch-e-mark-led-light-bar.html) on a number plate mount.

That's what I did although not with a Stedi bar, but still a single row LED. Makes a big difference.175093

[Celtoid]

Plenty of room in there for heat dissipation.175062[/ATTACH[ATTACH=CONFIG]175064]

I took the plunge Eric and purchased two sets of the Stedi H7 Copperheads. I'm going to run the low beam only for a week or so, to ensure everything behaves itself. Then I'll change the hi-beam too.

Cheers,

Kev.