Thread: JW Speaker H4 headlight bulb up grade.

Originally Posted by Svengali0

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Do i really need the CANBUS wiring kit or can I plug and play the globes straight up...is something like the traxside wiring upgrade kit needed or beneficial for the intended h4 upgrade?
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Going off the age of the car, I'd say with 99% certainty you don't need the canbus kit.

Also, because you're fitting globes that will pull less than half the normal(55W) current, the crappy old wiring is almost certainly fine .. as long as it's not overly crappy(ie. nics and frayed and whatever)

I did my 99 D1 which had really dim headlights, and contemplated a wiring upgrade too .. self made, with relays and suchlike.
But I thought I'd give the LEDs a shot first and see how they come up.

Do you have a relay between switch and globes?
From what I've read, the std Defer wiring is that the full current runs via the switch ... which means that the switch is susceptible to burning out too.So the obvious mod is to run a relay between the switch and the globes.
But, if the switch was originally intended to handle the 100+W of the halogens, then the 25 or so watts that LEDs run shouldn't trouble the switch.

I don't have a defer to help with, but as I remember they have very little room behind the headlight for stuff like heatsinks.
So be sure you have enough info about the globes you're after that they fit, otherwise you may be cutting up panels to make them fit.
I'd say measure the clearance, and or be prepared to holesaw the panel behind the light.

Thanks Arthur.

I've already had to replace the headlight switch due to over heating, melting the material around the contacts.

I trialled some chinese special H4 LED globes fitted with heatsink no worries. the trial proved that there is no such thing as cheap LED and this goes for dash lights too...with LED bulbs giving a pretty blue hue but no real improvement in shedding the light needed to read the bloody dials...the cheapo LED H4s gave off a Woeful beam both high and low. I want to keep the OE headlight pattern, and I have decent Lightforce spotlights already fitted...I just want some more crisp and defined and clear light at low beam and high and these LEDs are well reputed.

The wiring looks fine and I prefer the low current draw.

The beams in my Benz 1995 W202 C280 are pretty bad so i was thinking of upgrading those to JW Speaker LEDs as well but I'm guessing that these really will need the CANBUS kit(s)...thing is there are two bulb sets each side (H1 & H7) so it's going to add up cost wise.

Cheers Steu.