The State of CREE LED Lighting 2014

[Maurauth]

So I'm having the conversion to the Carlsson DRL + Fog light kit on my W204 Sport, and thought I might as well swap the fog bulbs whilst they're in my hands, and not tucked away under several layers of plastic, metal, bolts and pins

What is the current state of CREE LED car lighting these days, there seem to be so many adverts on eBay, and other websites that these bulbs are sufficient for road use in main beams (flashing) and fog lights.

E.G.: These Osram / XBD jobbies.

The fact that such a reputable company as Osram is offering them seems to suggest that they have gotten to the stage where they are actually workable!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Cree has always been one of the market leaders in Auto LEDs

That LED light unit in your link isnt a real OSRAM product.

 

[Ted]

They don't put out nearly as much light as an incandescent bulb.
Also the light scatter is such that you would dazzle other drivers (and possibly yourself) it you used them in fog.

You will definitely be disappointed.

 

[Ted]

Just to expand.
I fitted Cree H4 lights into the foglights on my 209.
The intention was to turn the foglights into DRLs, not to try LED bulbs as foglights.
I have a dimmer that dims them at night so they don't dazzle, but I tried them without the dimmer to see what the light output was like (off road in the local supermarket carpark) and the road illumination was almost non-existent.

They DO work great as DRLs though.

Ones I used were from Hids4U around £50 the pair IIRC - good quality with a knurled ally jacket.

 

[Doodle]

They work well in sufficient groups in their own housings - I've got a couple of little 72w spot/flood units for the roof of the Landcruiser that are simply insane.

But retrofitted into a normal incandescent unit there's simply not the space and the geometry is all wrong.

 

[Maurauth]

Thanks for all your input guys, do you think the CREE fog bulbs would produce the correct signal that a halogen would so that it doesn't give off warning errors on the dash?

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Thanks for all your input guys, do you think the CREE fog bulbs would produce the correct signal that a halogen would so that it doesn't give off warning errors on the dash?

No, no LED will as they only use around 18% (IIRC) of the power that a halogen bulb does. this is why a cars CANBUS system thinks that the bulb is gone and reports an error.

You need LEDs which include a resistor to get around the errors.

I can supply W5Ws, H6W sidelights and also festoons for the rear plates which include resistors if your interested.

I dont however supply LED foglights as they are completely pointless in the fog, mainly due to the colour temp perfectly matching fog/mist and becoming invisible.

My LEDs:
http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/clas...hite-led-sidelights-numberplate-festoons.html

 

[Ted]

As KHz says, despite claims that they are Canbus compatible, many (if not all) of these lamps will trigger a bulb failure alert.
You can get over this by using a suitable resistor (it WILL get hot) or, as I did, just keep the original bulbs in circuit and mount them in a safe place where the heat from them will not damage anything.

 

[Maurauth]

I think, I shall just stick to some good old halogen bulbs then

 

[kit17]

You should get a new set of Halogen Fog light bulbs in the Carlsson Drl kit, they are slightly whiter (still yellow) than the merc ones.

 

[Maurauth]

Do the fogs still come on when you unlock/lock the car at night with the carlsson kit?

 

[kit17]

yes, side lights and fogs come on as normal. The Drl's do as well but very dimly.