Hi all,
I’ve recently bought a Mk3.5 MX-5 and I love absolutely everything about it…
…except the headlights. I think I’d see more if I waved a lighter around!
I’ve been looking at options and it seems that replacing the bulbs in the current units with LEDs leads to an immediate MoT fail.
Apparently whole sealed unit LED kits are available but hideously overpriced.
These look pretty good:
Headlamp Dipped Beam Upgrade, Osram Night Breaker, Mk3/3.5/3.75 – MX5 Parts .._gaMjAxOTc4MjI4Ny4xNzgwNTc2NTM5*_ga_9YTNRXK1MQ*czE3ODA1NzY1MzgkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODA1NzY1MzgkajYwJGwwJGgxNTgzMjkzNzQ0
Headlamp Main Beam Upgrade, Osram Night Breaker, Mk3.5/3.75 – MX5 Parts.._gaMTMyNDk2ODAwOC4xNzgwNTc2NjE0*_ga_9YTNRXK1MQ*czE3ODA1NzY2MTIkbzEkZzAkdDE3ODA1NzY2MTIkajYwJGwwJGg0MjM0ODYxMjY.
But will they really make a noticeable difference? And will I be able to leave them in come MoT time?
Does anyone have a decent solution that leads to actually improved visibility on the road that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg?
Any advice welcome!
Before spending money on bulbs etc - have you had the lights checked on an MOT beam tester to see if they are currently pointing too low ?
The best solution I’ve tried were HID bulbs. Better than LED which I also tried. Unfortunately, they too won’t pass the MoT and I found it too much of a hassle to swop them over to normal bulbs for said test so just went for uprated bulbs.
Yep as said above check the alignment, voltage etc how old are your current bulbs they will fade with age (like everyting else). Also could be your eyes, or just the fact modern car headlights are ridiculously bright making older cars seem less so.
I have not but it has very recently passed an MoT, would that not have been checked then?
Yeah I’m definitely not up for switching out the bulbs every year for an MoT.
Did the uprated bulbs make a difference? Which did you get?
Can you get proper HID headlight units (for less than a mortgage payment) do you know?
In reality - as long as they are not too high - most MOT places will pass them.
I always ask if the lights can be brought up to the legal limit at the mot.
What are the headlight plastic covers like? They yellow and get scratched over time so if yours are like that one of the headlight refurb kits will help. The Autoglym one is pretty effective.