[Andy-Zoé-User]

not overly impressed with the headlamps on my Zoe ZE20 (22kw) they are only ok'ish but could do with being brighter especially on full beam.
In my workshop somewhere I am sure I have a set of H7 Headlamp bulbs .... but they would be 100w each as opposed the normal 55w - so (pushing the 'off road' not legal for use on public road to one side for the while) how would the electrics cope in the zoe (ie headlamp wiring - headlamp relay - headlamp stalk switch - headlamp fuses) cope with 100w as opposed to 55w? would i run into problems trying them out?
Anyone else tried fitting 100w a piece H7 bulbs before? (you can be my guinea pig LOL 🙂 )

 

[X4dow]

you can, but wont be road legal (mot fail) and can potentially damage either the headlight unit (burning/melting) or the bulb's wiring itself.

 

[dk6780]

It will probably not blow the fuses or burn out the wiring, but the chances are that the plugs for the bulb wiring will harden and crack. You could of course relace those with ceramic ones relatively easily.
You'll be very unlikely to fail an MoT test or have problems with the Police or VOSA, but as you are aware it is strictly illegal.

 

[black_amp]

it's not a ggod idea it will as has been pointed out be illegal and could cause a wiring fire, look for a lamp that has a better light output for the same power you can get up to 20% more light. there are sites that compare lamps and you could used LED's instead of halogens again illegal but no risk of wiring fires.

 

[X4dow]

if you want more light, still illegally, but without damaging the wiring, consider led, which is what i did. far brighter than anything 55watts, but with less wattage.

 

[MrDave]

You need to eat carrots when diving Zoe at night.....

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

You need to eat carrots when diving Zoe at night.....

🐰 wassup doc!

 

[dparr59]

New MOT update Jan 2021 ( UK )
4.1.4. Compliance with requirements

Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.

The Zoe uses projector headlights but has halogen bulbs in it

4. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment - MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles - Guidance - GOV.UK

Inspection processes and rules for car, private bus and light commercial vehicle (class 3, 4, 5 and 7 vehicle) MOT tests.

www.gov.uk

 

[Drewby80]

A much better idea would be to have a look at which LED alternatives are available.

I upgraded the halogen bulbs in my Yaris years ago because the damn thing kept blowing it’s bulbs every 6 months.

I was mighty impressed with the aftermarket LED’s they were brighter and like it had HID’s

The yaris had bullseye lenses in front of its lamps and the optics shifted to switch between dip and full beam so it was a perfect upgrade, didn’t dazzle or offend any other drivers, just improved brightness and night vision.

 

[Drewby80]

New MOT update UK

Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.

4. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment - MOT inspection manual: cars and passenger vehicles - Guidance - GOV.UK

Inspection processes and rules for car, private bus and light commercial vehicle (class 3, 4, 5 and 7 vehicle) MOT tests.

www.gov.uk

Mine sailed through its MOT twice after the upgrade!

Save the halogens and if it fails swap them back, the world is full of daft one size fits nothing laws that don’t work in the real world.
I think if you fit them and then apply common sense I.e point the front end at a wall and check the light pattern won’t cause any problems I don’t really see the issue!

 

[dparr59]

Mine sailed through its MOT twice after the upgrade!

Save the halogens and if it fails swap them back, the world is full of daft on size fits nothing laws that don’t works in the real world.
I think if you fit them and then apply common sense I.e point the front end at a wall and check the light pattern won’t cause any problems I don’t really see the issue!

Mine passed last year june 2020 with LED bulbs

mentions existing halogen headlamp units ?
but the Zoe uses projector headlights but has halogen bulbs in it as standard
The light pattern is the same just a bit brighter

 

[Andy-Zoé-User]

a few months back I put these in my Zoe as they performed good in the wife's Clio mk4 headlights - but they were dimmer in my zoe headlights than the halogens I took out! especially on unlit roads I found. And they are supposedly 80watts a piece.

NIGHTEYE Pair H7 80W LED Fog Light Bulbs High Power 6000K Daytime Xenon White UK | eBay

 

[dk6780]

The clue is in the name - fog lamp bulbs. Projector headlights are designed to focus the light from a point filament onto the road, LEDs with multiple diffuse chips will produce light in the wrong place to be focused. These will work well in a lamp designed for that purpose but not a projector lamp.

 

[Tooks]

Everybody’s always asking what the best lights are, but can anybody recommend any darks?

I mean, I like night driving, but prefer to do it in the day, that way if the darks fail I can always see to get home again... 🤪

I’ve got a mate who is an MoT tester, not just somebody I know from taking cars to his garage, but a proper lifelong friend.

He sees a lot of dodgy headlight conversions week to week, and he’s welcoming the extra focus on them in the MOT test. It’s getting stricter all the time, and his room for ‘discretion’ or not looking so he can’t find anything is getting narrower.

Throw anything behind a good projector lens and it should do a reasonable job, halogen bulbs do have wide manufacturing tolerances, so there’s a bit of leeway.

The issue, as always, is the insurance side as well as the legality, you’re just holding the door open for your insurer to cut you loose should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in a serious accident, so I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

There are plenty of decent road legal Halogen upgraded bulbs, that will make a difference. A friends A1 had terrible stick lights, and they were asking about HID upgrades etc, but I asked them to try some Osram night breakers first, which they found on a 2 for 1 deal online. Whilst not as ‘bright’ as LEDs etc, they reported that they made a huge difference and the dipped headlights were like the old main beam (it’s a 2 x H7 setup). That was a couple of years ago now, and they haven’t blown yet either which was a criticism of the first generation 30/40% brighter halogen bulbs.

 

[Drewby80]

The issue, as always, is the insurance side as well as the legality, you’re just holding the door open for your insurer to cut you loose should you be unfortunate enough to be involved in a serious accident, so I don’t think it’s worth the risk.

I was once involved in a really bad accident and my headlights evaporated!

If you have a proper smash I think trying to work out what type of headlamp bulbs were fitted to the car would be akin to trying to reconstruct the contents of the bin of a crosscut office shredder whilst wearing mittens! 😂

 

[Tooks]

I was once involved in a really bad accident and my headlights evaporated!

If you have a proper smash I think trying to work out what type of headlamp bulbs were fitted to the car would be akin to trying to reconstruct the contents of the bin of a crosscut office shredder whilst wearing mittens! 😂

Possibly, but I know from a past career how closely these things are looked into if they’re considered material to a road collision investigation.

Personally, I just don’t think it’s worth the risk, but accept that others attitudes towards it will be different.

 

[Drewby80]

If someone is seriously injured in an accident things get examined a lot closer than just property damage.

No one seems to care if it’s just a couple of wrecked vehicles and a demolished phone box!

Now if someone was standing in the phone box (pretty unlikely nowadays I know) that’s a different story!

 

[X4dow]

Possibly, but I know from a past career how closely these things are looked into if they’re considered material to a road collision investigation.

Personally, I just don’t think it’s worth the risk, but accept that others attitudes towards it will be different.

I think i would be faster to crash in the first place if i had the original zoe bulbs. they were absolute junk.

 

[dk6780]

How exactly are illegal bulbs going to cause a fatal accident? If, say, you had an accident in the daytime when the lights were off and someone died how could they involve the illegal bulbs? Surely they would need to prove some form of causal link such as dazzling?

 

[X4dow]

How exactly are illegal bulbs going to cause a fatal accident? If, say, you had an accident in the daytime when the lights were off and someone died how could they involve the illegal bulbs? Surely they would need to prove some form of a causal link such as dazzling?

nighttime they can claim it dazzled them and caused them to crash head on into you. if they survive the crash that is. but then a head fatal collision will probably shatter all the bulbs beyond identification