Discovery 4 HID to LED Light Conversion

**Konradical** · 14th February 2024, 04:35 PM

I have a HID globe that began to change colour - From pure white to rusty orange - and after a few minutes would turn off.

This usually signals one of two things; 1) The HID globe is fried, or 2) the HID balast is on its way out.

A simple test of which was/is failing is to swap the HID globe left to right. Simply this test identifies the cause of the problem - if the fault follows the globe, its the globe; if it remains in place, its the ballast.

In my case it was the globe.

Now, the D3S globes (35W in this case) are not cheap and on hunting around on the internet for a good price, I stumbled upon these EVISION-X LED (D3S) – Spectr LED Accessories Envision-X HID to LED conversion globes. These utilise the existing ballast as a power source (I dont get the witchcraft behind it) and simply plug straight in.

I thought I would give them a go, as a pair was about the same price as a good brand HID. Should they not work out, I will bite the bullet and buy a proper globe.

Today I received and fitted them.

them and fitted them.

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Came well packaged (and a free air freshener)

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Looks well made, constructed of aluminium and had an enclosed cooling fan within the heatsink.

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You can see the discolouration of the left (right in the picture) headlight. This was the same for high beam and both did not light up once the ballast turned off.

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With both changed, you can see a whiter, more crisp colour and a bit more definition.

Yes.. my lenses are dusted.. yes I will be replacing them when time allows. But for now this seems to be a good option.

I will give the lights a test when it gets dark and report back with how I feel about them.

Cheers,

Kon

**Graeme** · 14th February 2024, 05:56 PM

I replaced the same HID globes with $60 ebay LED in my L322 6 months ago due to the high cost of a replacement Osram HID globe that failed after only 2 years. I have no reason to remove the LEDs, having found the light output excellent and the whiter light does a better job on the verges.

**Konradical** · 14th February 2024, 08:35 PM

A few pictures from tonight.

**Sorry about the poor background, I didnt go for a drive, but will endeavour to take better pictures another night**

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Reference picture

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Low beam

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High beam

Impressed with the colour and it doesnt seem to be an unbearable light. Per the HIDs, there wasnt much noticable difference with the high beam, but that may be different in an open area.

So far I am happy with them, the long term test will be the decider.

Cheers,

**Tombie** · 15th February 2024, 11:32 AM

Long term test will be a Kangaroo on the side of a greened area of road.

The LED CRI is poor and whilst glare makes it appear sharper, the ability to define colour variances is washed out compared to Xenon.

You’ll also on prolonged night drives find that human eyes don’t like blue and strain harder leading to fatigue at a quicker rate.

**PerthDisco** · 15th February 2024, 12:52 PM

Is HID sane as Xenon?

**DiscoJeffster** · 15th February 2024, 12:53 PM

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

Is HID sane as Xenon?

Yes

**DiscoJeffster** · 15th February 2024, 10:34 PM

Well tonight one of my Stedi HID/Xenon’s lamps failed at 2 1/2 years old. Well I assume it’s the globe but I’ll check the ballast tomorrow.

**Konradical** · 21st February 2024, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by Tombie

Long term test will be a Kangaroo on the side of a greened area of road.

The LED CRI is poor and whilst glare makes it appear sharper, the ability to define colour variances is washed out compared to Xenon.

You’ll also on prolonged night drives find that human eyes don’t like blue and strain harder leading to fatigue at a quicker rate.

You are right. The colour of the standard globes were fantastic when I was in the Top End - critters hiding in the long grass - was able to see them with enough time to react, and I never really got sore eyes from them.

Ideally I would have loved to get these globes in a 4500K (or 5200K) which would be more aligned with the standard colours, but alas, 6000K it is.

I did have a short journey at night the other day, which really didnt give me too much of a better idea of how they will be long term, but first thoughts were that they werent as bright as other LEDs I have seen out there (definitly sharp and direct angles, not scattered light), but still had the distinct reflection off of signs and what not. I do my best to avoid driving long distances at night normally. I have a drive back to Adelaide at the end of next week, we will see how that night time, long distance test goes.

Cheers!

**Tins** · 21st February 2024, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by Tombie

You’ll also on prolonged night drives find that human eyes don’t like blue and strain harder leading to fatigue at a quicker rate.

Not to mention being blinded by the newer hyper reflective road signs.

**veebs** · 22nd February 2024, 06:25 PM

How has the CRI problem in LEDs been resolved in new cars, like the Defender for example?

Are they simply accepting that the future (LED) is inferior, or doing something clever to bring the light back to that of an HID?

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