LED headlight bulbs for Volvo S70, V70, etc. - Video Topic is solved

[Blockpartie]

If the headlights are in perfect condition a 'three times as bright as OEM bulb' will blind oncoming traffic. Doesn't matter if the headlights are aimed correctly and the cutoff(s) are right, the light is just much to bright.

If the headlights are in bad condition it will be worse. A pitted lens will spread light all over the place. Again blinding oncoming traffic, with the added bonus of increased blinding range.

This is, sorry for the swearing, an absolute asshole thing to do. HID or LED lights should not be installed in housing never designed for them.

[erikv11]

I don't argue your point they are too bright, its is good to hear from someone with knowledge on the subject. But I have a question:

... If the headlights are in bad condition it will be worse. A pitted lens will spread light all over the place. Again blinding oncoming traffic, with the added bonus of increased blinding range....

This statement doesn't really make sense to me. With old, crappy headlights the light will be (1) less well reflected so less intense (i.e., the bad condition of the reflector doesn't make things worse, it mitigates them) and (2) scattered all over the place i.e. not directly at the oncoming traffic, which is a tiny slice of the full arc through which light could be scattered (so the condition of the lens doesn't make things worse, it mitigates them).

Yes, I know the well substantiated point that bad lenses can change the light pattern so the lights aren't illuminating where they should, so old lenses are a bad idea, but that's not what I'm posting about. Again, let's ignore (or accept even - fine!) that the brighter bulbs are a bad idea - do you really think aging headlights makes them an even worse idea? Seems like over-bright bulbs are MUCH worse in new headlights.

[rspi]

People you can't do this you can cause an accident. And it can be determined as your fault regardless of who hit who or what first.

Come on man, are you serious? I've had my HID's installed for about 2 years now, over 70,000 miles and have only had a couple of complaints, when I had the rear of the car overloaded. NEVER have I seen any accidents due to my headlight brightness. On the flip side, they have probably saved me from having a few accidents and damage to my car by NOT being able to see the road.

Also, at the end of the video, I show the light pattern against a wall and other spots. Please don't over react, it's not helpful. Besides, over half of these P80 x70 cars are dangerously driving at night with no light on the road.

[Blockpartie]

Headlights are incredibly complex so this is more of a rough explanation than a comprehensive, scientific paper.

Volvo S70 and V70 from 1996 (MY1997) to 2000 (MY2000) have a very simple, basic headlight design:
A molded, shaped reflector is used as the basis to form the light pattern. Certain parts of the reflector are reflective, while others are designed to not be. This design was chosen so that the position of the bulb allows for even spreading of the emitted light within the housing, e.g. the maximum amount of light that is safe is actually available.

The lens has to safely 'focus' and disperse the light. That is the reason for all the strange lines build into the glas.

Compare this design to the C70 convertible facelift headlights (also called 'jewel headlights'). Those lights are completely different, the reflector is shaped to reflect the light in specific ways. Spec's say something about ~4000 individual ray reflection points, achieved by non uniform reflector surfaces.
The lens is more or less only there to keep the weather out and let light through.

-----------------------------------

The problem with a pitted lens is that the light is disperse at random. The angle of individual light rays is of, the light pattern no longer works.
Similar with a bad reflector where a damaged reflective surface causes changes to the light pattern.

Increasing the brightness e.g. having more light emitted from a light source placed in a damaged headlight is problematic for several reasons.
The light coming from the headlight is now uneven and has high and low spots, something that is causing discomfort for anyone looking at it. Not to mention that there is now glare, possibly excessive glare.

LED lights are worse than incandescent bulbs due to their design. A normal bulb tends to evenly spread light in the housing from 360°. Cause, you know, it's a glowing piece of metal in a glas tube.
LED's like the one installed in the video have individual chips that emit light that can not achieve a 360° coverage. Right from the get go there are now high and low spots.

Bright bulbs in perfect headlights will be brighter. However the perception of bright bulbs in junk headlights is 'worse' because of how the glare and brightness happens.

Some reading:
(Possibly with captacha)
https://www.osapublishing.org/DirectPDF ... &mobile=no

[rspi]

Headlights are incredibly complex so this is more of a rough explanation than a comprehensive, scientific paper.

Volvo S70 and V70 from 1996 (MY1997) to 2000 (MY2000) have a very simple, basic headlight design:
A molded, shaped reflector is used as the basis to form the light pattern. Certain parts of the reflector are reflective, while others are designed to not be. This design was chosen so that the position of the bulb allows for even spreading of the emitted light within the housing, e.g. the maximum amount of light that is safe is actually available.

The lens has to safely 'focus' and disperse the light. That is the reason for all the strange lines build into the glas.

Compare this design to the C70 convertible facelift headlights (also called 'jewel headlights'). Those lights are completely different, the reflector is shaped to reflect the light in specific ways. Spec's say something about ~4000 individual ray reflection points, achieved by non uniform reflector surfaces.
The lens is more or less only there to keep the weather out and let light through.

-----------------------------------

The problem with a pitted lens is that the light is disperse at random. The angle of individual light rays is of, the light pattern no longer works.
Similar with a bad reflector where a damaged reflective surface causes changes to the light pattern.

Increasing the brightness e.g. having more light emitted from a light source placed in a damaged headlight is problematic for several reasons.
The light coming from the headlight is now uneven and has high and low spots, something that is causing discomfort for anyone looking at it. Not to mention that there is now glare, possibly excessive glare.

LED lights are worse than incandescent bulbs due to their design. A normal bulb tends to evenly spread light in the housing from 360°. Cause, you know, it's a glowing piece of metal in a glas tube.
LED's like the one installed in the video have individual chips that emit light that can not achieve a 360° coverage. Right from the get go there are now high and low spots.

Bright bulbs in perfect headlights will be brighter. However the perception of bright bulbs in junk headlights is 'worse' because of how the glare and brightness happens.

Some reading:
(Possibly with captacha)
https://www.osapublishing.org/DirectPDF ... &mobile=no

Man, you have my permission NOT to get these lights. If you see me driving, please feel free to flash me in protest.

[polskamafia mjl]

Nice. I'm going to be trying my first LEDs in my new fog lights I just got for the old girl.

Any updates on that? I've had my fogs out ever since I repainted my bumper and I would love to do this upgrade before I get around to installing them again.

[FlyingVolvo]

Nice. I'm going to be trying my first LEDs in my new fog lights I just got for the old girl.

Any updates on that? I've had my fogs out ever since I repainted my bumper and I would love to do this upgrade before I get around to installing them again.

The LED bulbs I got were too long and hit the shield inside the housing. I ended up just putting in the Silverstar Ultras and I actually like the results quite a bit. New fog light assemblies were obviously the main reason for the improvement, but the light output it very white for a halogen. I don't normally drive with the fogs on all the time, so I'm not too concerned with bulb longevity.

[Tremelune]

Great writeup, but there is a significant increase in glare for other drivers, which is what always happens when you replace halogen bulbs with drop-in HID and LED bulbs. E-code halogen housings are still the only way to do it right without retrofitting a projector.

I would not recommend doing this.

[erikv11]

Nice. I'm going to be trying my first LEDs in my new fog lights I just got for the old girl.

Any updates on that? I've had my fogs out ever since I repainted my bumper and I would love to do this upgrade before I get around to installing them again.

The LED bulbs I got were too long and hit the shield inside the housing. I ended up just putting in the Silverstar Ultras and I actually like the results quite a bit. New fog light assemblies were obviously the main reason for the improvement, but the light output it very white for a halogen. I don't normally drive with the fogs on all the time, so I'm not too concerned with bulb longevity.

But keep in mind V70 fogs are pretty different from 850 fogs, both as far as what fits in the housings and for output. But yes, I'd love to know of an option for the 850 fog that's better than the anemic factory output. So polska please update if you figure something out, too.

[1998v70xcbill]

just bought new tyc from ipd $80 each. Should have done 2 years ago. Have not used them yet, but they look great compared to the hellla I replaced.
Buy new head light assemblies, worth the cost.