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LED light conversion

The world of retrofitting LED headlights remains a jungle. There are many (international) suppliers offering solutions. But take great care, not all provide the necessary certification. They either have only one certification or even none at all. So seeing an E- and or R marking in the headlamp frontlens does not provide a certification for the complete assembly ! Things might become nasty when driving your car to your yearly APK/TuV/MOT, not to mention the official check by the authority to get the truck road legal when not done already so.

After validating several suppliers I ended up at local company MobiLED dealing with all sorts of LED lighting, with a strong focus on automotive. The owner even has a strong passion for overland travel as well. They provide a 7" high-performance LED replacement * for the old indessicant / halogen headlamp. Including ECE R112, R10 en R7 (high beam, low beam, dim en position / DRL light).

  • The installation of the LED's is a straightforward process.
  • Disconnect the H4 connector and take the old reflector retainer ring out.
  • Remove the 3 clips form the retainer ring, and remove the reflector.
  • Insert the new LED lens by positioning the indicating slots at the right position.
  • Refit the retaining clips back in place and secure them.
  • Refit the retainer ring in the housing, screw in place and you are done !

The new look fits and completes very well with the refurbishing of the front bumper assembly.

* when the link is not working the stock usually is out. Just connect to them via the information on their website.

Technical details
– UV-resistant chroomreflector with beschermende coating
– 96+% transmmisive UV-resistant acryllic lens (Mitsubishi)
– High performance aluminum cast enclosure
– CREE led's 32W/900LM - 39W/2300LM - 1W/53LM
– Polycarbonaat Bayer2407 front lens
– E-13 / ECE R112, R10, R7 approved
– Color temperature 6000-6500 Kelvin
– Position: 8W
– Dim: 30W
– High 42W
– Lifetime > 20.000 h
– Water & dust tight, shockproof
– Package includes H4 <-> H13 converter

HELLA provides a good information source on headlamps and their function.

International ECE markings
ECE/EEC marking: Country of Approval
Firstly, what are those numbers that come after the "E" in the circle or the "e" in the box? What makes a lamp marked (E6) [e6] different from a lamp marked (E1) [e1]?

The uppercase "E" in a circle means the device is type approved to an ECE Regulation, while the lowercase "e" in a box indicates the device is type approved to an EEC Directive. It's rare to find one marking without the other, since the requirements are essentially identical. The number after the "E" or "e" signifies the country in which approval was granted. This doesn't necessarily indicate anything about the quality or performance of the device, though some countries' test-and-approval labs have reputations for being much stricter and others have reputations for being quite lax. The number also doesn't indicate where the device was designed or manufactured. Under ECE and EEC regulations, an item of motor vehicle equipment type approved in any ECE or EEC member country is acceptable for use in any other country that permits or requires vehicles and vehicle components conforming to ECE or EEC safety regulations.

Germany based scheinwerfer-luxx did a nice YT video on the many questions around LED light conversion. Especially on the TuV requirements for Germany.
In general, as the rules are EU regulations many of the items adressed will apply to other European countries as well. Always make sure you check also your local motor vehicle department for the rules that apply to your speciffic setup.

Country Codes for “E” Numbers

1 Germany
2 France
3 Italy
4 Netherlands
5 Sweden
6 Belgium
7 Hungary
8 Czecheslovakia
9 Spain
10 Yugoslavia
11 United Kingdom
12 Austria
13 Luxembourg
14 Switzerland
15 (currently vacant)
16 Norway
17 Finland
18 Denmark
19 Romania
20 Poland
21 Portugal
22 Russia
23 Greece
24 Ireland
25 Croatia
26 Slovenia
27 Slovakia
28 Belarus
29 Estonia
30 (currently vacant)
31 Bosnia-Herzegovina
32 Latvia
33 (currently vacant)
34 Bulgaria
35 (currently vacant)
36 (currently vacant)
37 Turkey
38 (currently vacant)
39 (currently vacant)
40 Yugoslavia-Macedonia
41 (currently vacant)
42 Special EC
43 Japan
44 (currently vacant)
45 Australia
46 Ukraine
47 South Africa