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HID bulb kits. Problem-Illegal


noodels

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Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:

1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.

2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).

3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.

In practice this means:

1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.

2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.

3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.

Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.

In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above

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Going by the only information freely avaliable which is the department of transport. Retro fit HID's (so not oem or fitted by the manufacturer/dealer at a later date) are not legal.

Information avaliable here:

http://www2.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/d ... lamps.html

The lamps must be projector style with self leveling (suspension and/or the light its self) and headlight washers. This was written in 2006.

Also a majority of bulbs sold in these ebay kits are not emarked so technically even if you do fit them into the correct housing they are still not legal.

At the end of the day, there is no way to legaly fit HID's to our civics. I believe the first civic to have HID's from the factory was the 8th gen (7th gen had projectors but used halogen bulbs I believe) which means the 8th gen is the only civic you can legaly fit HID's to.

A lot of people will argue this saying "i've passed mot's" and "i dont get flashed" or "ive never been pulled by the cops" etc but none of it means a thing. All those are objective. An MOT tester could turn a blind eye to badly alligned lights and give out dodgy MOT's and a lot of them do.

My opinion is that the only way to stop this influx of HID's fitted to older cars with reflector headlights is to ban ebay from selling the kits. I know this wont stop all but the places other than ebay cost twice as much so fewer people will buy them.

It would be nice however to have a 100% solid law/ruling on HID's from VOSA and the DOT so people know for certain. One thing that is certain is if you fit a set to you M civic you will get lots of glare, blind other road users and, if roumors are correct, automatically fail your MOT in time to come

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