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What LED headlights do people use in their Volvo

Help, Advice, Owners' Discussion and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's stylish, distinctive P2 platform cars sold as model years 2001-2007 (North American market year designations).

2001 - 2007 V70
2001 - 2004 V70 XC (Cross Country)
2004 - 2007 XC70 (Cross Country)
2001 - 2009 S60
2003 - 2007 S60 R
2004 - 2007 V70 R

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abscate  
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Re: What LED headlights do people use in their Volvo

Post by abscate »

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Post by MoVolvos »

Rattnalle wrote: 29 Jul 2019, 01:41
MoVolvos wrote: 28 Jul 2019, 22:36 What is a "can-extender" and how is that wired into the fog lights. It would be brighter for sure to run those as the DRL.
A little data box that hijacks the can network signals and adds to them in different ways.
Can ( :roll: ) you send a link to can-extender? Thank you.
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Post by Rattnalle »

MoVolvos wrote: 29 Jul 2019, 19:51
Rattnalle wrote: 29 Jul 2019, 01:41
MoVolvos wrote: 28 Jul 2019, 22:36 What is a "can-extender" and how is that wired into the fog lights. It would be brighter for sure to run those as the DRL.
A little data box that hijacks the can network signals and adds to them in different ways.
Can ( :roll: ) you send a link to can-extender? Thank you.
Here you go: http://www.auxadapter.se/?page_id=36

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Post by MoVolvos »

-
Thanks Rattnalle for the info. I don't think we have that here in the U.S.
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Post by reverend »

The only options were halogens, reflector HIDs and the projector HIDs on these cars. There are no LED options.

That wouldn't have stopped some idiot from sticking the LED "conversion bulbs" in there, but your pattern will always be poor and unless you drill the shunt, you'll have the bulb out warning in the dash.

I'd go back to proper OEMs, even if they're not the most exciting option. Or get some ABLs, but the cost of them is appalling.

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Post by MoVolvos »

reverend wrote: 31 Jul 2019, 10:55 The only options were halogens, reflector HIDs and the projector HIDs on these cars. There are no LED options.

That wouldn't have stopped some idiot from sticking the LED "conversion bulbs" in there, but your pattern will always be poor and unless you drill the shunt, you'll have the bulb out warning in the dash.
If the OE is halogen the LED's should be a direct fit. Some have better pattern than others but they do light up the road much better except against asphalt.
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Post by Rattnalle »

MoVolvos wrote: 31 Jul 2019, 20:45
reverend wrote: 31 Jul 2019, 10:55 The only options were halogens, reflector HIDs and the projector HIDs on these cars. There are no LED options.

That wouldn't have stopped some idiot from sticking the LED "conversion bulbs" in there, but your pattern will always be poor and unless you drill the shunt, you'll have the bulb out warning in the dash.
If the OE is halogen the LED's should be a direct fit. Some have better pattern than others but they do light up the road much better except against asphalt.
Exept the beam pattern never seems to actually match perfectly, leaving a glaring headlight.

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Post by reverend »

MoVolvos wrote: 31 Jul 2019, 20:45
If the OE is halogen the LED's should be a direct fit. Some have better pattern than others but they do light up the road much better except against asphalt.
Yeah, they'll FIT by virtue of being illegal. Basically, there are tight specs for an H11 or H9 (or any other) bulb. None of them allow for various filaments and light emitters. The reason they're illegal is because of their sub-par/dangerous/poor pattern.

A headlamp is a precision engineered piece of safety equipment where bulbs need to be made to an exacting spec and for housings and reflectors/projectors that are also made to tight tolerances to put the light where it needs to be and not blind others.

By sticking LEDs inside of a reflector made for halogen filaments, or any other combination, you've effectively degraded the output and put others (and yourself) at risk.
None of them have better pattern than the bulbs engineered for the housing. None of them light up the road better ("better" meaning that you see more without blinding others).


For the P2 cars there are very few solutions, but one of them is to get European OEM housings. That allows you to use the H7 bulbs instead, which opens up a wider variety of bulb options. None of which should be entirely coated in blue, btw.

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Post by Rattnalle »

This is all for low beams though. The high beams can be improved by using after market xenon out LED bulbs. Still not legal in most places though, here we get away with it.

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Post by MoVolvos »

Rattnalle wrote: 02 Aug 2019, 00:39 This is all for low beams though. The high beams can be improved by using after market xenon out LED bulbs. Still not legal in most places though, here we get away with it.
What is a xenon out LED bulbs?
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