i30 Owners Club
MODIFYING OR DETAILING YOUR I30 => ELECTRICAL | ELECTRONIC | AUDIO => Topic started by: drum_love on May 10, 2011, 18:10:04
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I was wondering if anyone know how to change the bulbs in the front fog lights. My normal position lights are LED bulbs, and the low beams are Xenon. I want to put LED bulbs in the place of the fog lights, however I have no idea how to gain access to them. Anyone have any instructions or tips?
Thanks in Advance :)
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Hi Mate! Welcome to the club :D
It's been covered before - you might find the following link useful :)
https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=4705.0 (https://www.i30ownersclub.com/forum/index.php?topic=4705.0)
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Hi, welcome to the club.
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Welcome to the club.. :goodjob: Don't forget to post some pix in the appropriate gallery and maybe introduce yourself in the welcome thread :D
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Thanks a lot for the ward welcome :) I've been lurking since I bought the car about a month ago. 1.4l i30 with all the bells and whistles, colour is Black Mica. I'll be sure to post some pics, next step is painting the brake calipers, and tinting the back windows :)
Thanks for the fog light info, I really didn't feel like going to the service shop just to change 2 bulbs xD
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Just replaced the stock fog light bulbs with a set of 35W HIDs. They certainly make a big difference and make my normal headlights look very dim. I noticed the lights cover a wider angle. Might be some glare but not too bad I think. Is there any way to limit the light 'spill'? I remember reading someone installing some scatter shields for their HIDs to reduce the spill-over to oncoming cars.
I have a feeling my HIDs are borderline illegal, but planning to only use them when it's foggy/heavy rain anyway so hopefully it won't cause too much trouble. Also noticed they get relatively hot too as compared to the stock bulbs. Hopefully they don't melt my fog light housing!
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Is there any way to limit the light 'spill'? I remember reading someone installing some scatter shields for their HIDs to reduce the spill-over to oncoming cars.
Yes, an early club member called Thumper did this but never really explained how he made the shields or worked out where to place them (there is probably a "how to" somewhere on the net - worth a google, anyway) :cool:
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Thanks for the Linky, Daz... I think I'm gonna buy the 100W versions for off-road :goodjob2:
Cheap as chips! And they'll set off my main bulb upgrade just fine!
Done... under £7.00 for both & delivery is free! :goodjob2:
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Just replaced the stock fog light bulbs with a set of 35W HIDs. They certainly make a big difference and make my normal headlights look very dim. I noticed the lights cover a wider angle. Might be some glare but not too bad I think. Is there any way to limit the light 'spill'? I remember reading someone installing some scatter shields for their HIDs to reduce the spill-over to oncoming cars.
I have a feeling my HIDs are borderline illegal, but planning to only use them when it's foggy/heavy rain anyway so hopefully it won't cause too much trouble. Also noticed they get relatively hot too as compared to the stock bulbs. Hopefully they don't melt my fog light housing!
excusemay,your fog lights are not just borderline illegal,they are extremely illegal,IN ANY STATE,get caught with that set up and it will be a defect notice, this just proves my point which I have brought up in so many light threads when it is spoken about,PPL playing with things they no nothing about and think it is a good idea to change their fog lights,to far higher wattage than is needed to be a good preforming fog lamp,I just hope you have many many dark foggy mornings to travel in,with no on coming traffic the only person you will be blinding is yourself,Now rant over, I do apologise, but my best advice is to change the globes back to the originals,there IS a reason fog lights are made with limited wattage globes,in affect you have turned your fog lights into 130 w spot lights
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Just replaced the stock fog light bulbs with a set of 35W HIDs. They certainly make a big difference and make my normal headlights look very dim. I noticed the lights cover a wider angle. Might be some glare but not too bad I think. Is there any way to limit the light 'spill'? I remember reading someone installing some scatter shields for their HIDs to reduce the spill-over to oncoming cars.
I have a feeling my HIDs are borderline illegal, but planning to only use them when it's foggy/heavy rain anyway so hopefully it won't cause too much trouble. Also noticed they get relatively hot too as compared to the stock bulbs. Hopefully they don't melt my fog light housing!
excusemay,your fog lights are not just borderline illegal,they are extremely illegal,IN ANY STATE,get caught with that set up and it will be a defect notice, this just proves my point which I have brought up in so many light threads when it is spoken about,PPL playing with things they no nothing about and think it is a good idea to change their fog lights,to far higher wattage than is needed to be a good preforming fog lamp,I just hope you have many many dark foggy mornings to travel in,with no on coming traffic the only person you will be blinding is yourself,Now rant over, I do apologise, but my best advice is to change the globes back to the originals,there IS a reason fog lights are made with limited wattage globes,in affect you have turned your fog lights into 130 w spot lights
You are, actually quite right... :-[
So when mine pack up I'll re-fit the original bulbs! ;)
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Keith yes I take my lighting situations very seriously,I would have to say 90% of all accessory high pwered light here are illegal for roads use,hence all lighting companies advertising their products for OFF ROAD use only,but many accessory lights are toerated by the law given they are correctly fitted,wired and used.
I use high preformance holagen globes for my headlights(which are road legal)but use HID spotlights,which technically are not road legal but will be passed by licensing given they are set up and wired correctly.
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Totally agree. I've had no problems at all getting 2 cars through new MoT's with non-type approved l.e.d DRL's I fitted. Maybe because I took the trouble to make sure thay are fitted in accordance with E.U. law, not too bright, not too high, not too close together, not too far apart.... and they go off automatically via a bespoke relay when my sidelights are switched on.
But I am guilty of wanting & liking good lighting, which is, I feel, one weakness of the FD i30.
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Notice, all OEM fog lights are low wattage, there is a reason for this. Fog lights are purposely mounted low on the vehicle and with low wattage to provide illumination of the road directly ahead, BUT NOT FOR 200 METRES. Increasing the wattage of the bulbs only serves to illuminate the fog to such a degree that the fog glows like daytime. The fog lights are always only going to stop you bumping into an animal or object at close range. High wattage bulbs are unnecessary.
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Thanks for the advice, Grumpy.
I installed them to give them a try and see what they're like. They make the road about 5m ahead really stand out, but certainly don't give a 200m light throw. I will rarely be using these fog lights anyway (since they're illegal to leave on without bad weather conditions, although it seems most people don't really follow this rule). I occasionally drive through the country so in the case where it's raining heavily or there's fog, I would think a nice bright light would illuminate the road better than the stock halogens.
If I remember, another user (Thumper) had 6 HIDs installed (low/high beam and fogs). I think he had scatter shields installed and adjusted the levels of the light. If it was extremely illegal as Grumpy has mentioned, why would he change all his lights? Even if he levelled them properly, and installed scatter shields, they're still non-factory fitted so they're illegal right? For my case, my fog lights rarely get used (maybe once every couple of months in bad weather.
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Thanks for the advice, Grumpy.
I installed them to give them a try and see what they're like. They make the road about 5m ahead really stand out, but certainly don't give a 200m light throw. I will rarely be using these fog lights anyway (since they're illegal to leave on without bad weather conditions, although it seems most people don't really follow this rule). I occasionally drive through the country so in the case where it's raining heavily or there's fog, I would think a nice bright light would illuminate the road better than the stock halogens.
If I remember, another user (Thumper) had 6 HIDs installed (low/high beam and fogs). I think he had scatter shields installed and adjusted the levels of the light. If it was extremely illegal as Grumpy has mentioned, why would he change all his lights? Even if he levelled them properly, and installed scatter shields, they're still non-factory fitted so they're illegal right? For my case, my fog lights rarely get used (maybe once every couple of months in bad weather.
As Grumpy says, they ARE extremely illegal. It is also illegal to run your fog lights unless driving in fog. Despite the fact that higher wattage bulbs produce more light, they also produce more glare, which reduces your vision where it matters - UNDER the fog which naturally floats a few inches to a foot above the ground.
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Thanks for the advice, Grumpy.
If I remember, another user (Thumper) had 6 HIDs installed (low/high beam and fogs). I think he had scatter shields installed and adjusted the levels of the light. If it was extremely illegal as Grumpy has mentioned, why would he change all his lights? Even if he levelled them properly, and installed scatter shields, they're still non-factory fitted so they're illegal right? For my case, my fog lights rarely get used (maybe once every couple of months in bad weather.
Thumper was a "different" individual. I wouldn't use what he did as a guide to what can and can't be done.
From what I can deduce, provided you use appropriate Kelvin HID bulbs in fogs, and use them only in fog, you won't have too many issues. As for low beam HID they need to be fitted by the manufacturer with auto levelling device. High beam is a different matter. Been doing a bit of research on this. Some Australian suppliers imply there are no issues with high beam HID as they must be turned off (dipped) when other vehicles are approaching. They come under the same regs as HID driving lights.
Have yet to find official or legal advice.
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as they must be turned off (dipped) when other vehicles are approaching.
This may be true, but can you guarantee that you or any other individual that may drive the car in the future, will always be on low beam before any on coming car is dazzled. The output from HID is 4X that of halogen and in less than 1 second you can blind oncoming drivers for 30 seconds, remember they are approaching YOU. As good as they are, I'd give them a miss.
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Phil,
Your point is a valid one. Another angle on this is a ban on all forms of driving lights that have as much potential to blind someone for up to 30 seconds and well within the allowable legal parameters.
No, let's not ban them, that would be crazy. It is after all the drivers responsibility to dip their lights so that oncoming traffic are not blinded by the intense blinding light of the driving lights. As drivers, we all have responsibilities to be courteous to other drivers.