LED headlight question

I have a 2013 Passat TDI SEL.
I would like to put LED headlights in it, but I have several questions:

1) How do they compare in brightness to HID?
2) What do people mean when they talk about having "projectors"? Is that in reference to the housing only, like do I have to get the LED bulbs AND the projector housing, or if I get the projector housing, does it include LED bulbs? I have seen a projector housing for both sides (L&R included in kit) for $199. See below

https://www.theautopartpros.com/201...AfJKIM1S_0BQ03XtinJNFgX6pLdEKOHxoCwN8QAvD_BwE

3) if the projector housing is an option that may or may not be used with the bulbs, what is the difference with it and without it?

4) Any good recommendations on brand and array of equipment needed would be helpful. (Do I need 4, 6, or 8 bulbs for a full conversion? (high beam, low beam, DRL and Fog??))

projectors vs reflectors housings.

stock housings are designed to be used with halogens, you slide an HID bulb in there and it's not going to be pretty.

You can run halogens in either projector or reflectors, as long as the housing is designed for the bulb. But swapping a different bulb style, be it HID, LED or something else, if it's not designed, the light pattern and blindingness will be unbearable to on coming drivers.

I have heard of LED bulb replacements that are direct plug and play for H7 halogen bulbs and reflector housings, but haven't had any first hand experience with them. I'd take what the person selling you the bulb claims.

740GLE said:

projectors vs reflectors housings.

stock housings are designed to be used with halogens, you slide an HID bulb in there and it's not going to be pretty.

You can run halogens in either projector or reflectors, as long as the housing is designed for the bulb. But swapping a different bulb style, be it HID, LED or something else, if it's not designed, the light pattern and blindingness will be unbearable to on coming drivers.

I have heard of LED bulb replacements that are direct plug and play for H7 halogen bulbs and reflector housings, but haven't had any first hand experience with them. I'd take what the person selling you the bulb claims.

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...with a grain (or several grains!) of salt...

740GLE said:

I'd take what the person selling you the bulb claims.

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tdiatlast said:

...with a grain (or several grains!) of salt...

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VERY true. A salesman will tell you whatever you want to hear in order to make a sale.

There are several HID vendors that claim their kits are a direct plug and play, produce no blinding glare, and have FANTASTIC light output. Even after I called them out with their pics and videos.

FtSurgDoc said:

I have a 2013 Passat TDI SEL.
I would like to put LED headlights in it, but I have several questions

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Don’t do it. Don’t be one of those people who but blindingly bright lights on a vehicle that wasn’t designed for it. I made that mistake once and will never do it again. Aside from the cost (bulbs, wiring harness, relays) and time spent installing (removing headlamps, rewriting, aiming beam pattern), they get annoying to other drivers. The glare is hideous for only marginally brighter light output.

My recommendation is to be to save your money and invest in a GOOD pair of halogen bulbs. A good set would set you back about $50 and the light output will only be a little lower than LED/HIDs, but the housings will last longer, no modification required and incoming drivers won’t cuss you as you pass

joshuafail said:

My recommendation is to be to save your money and invest in a GOOD pair of halogen bulbs. A good set would set you back about $50 and the light output will only be a little lower than LED/HIDs, but the housings will last longer, no modification required and incoming drivers won’t cuss you as you pass

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Or you could invest in proper headlight assemblies (like Ed's if you can find a set) then install HID's.

Then you would have a FANTASTIC set of headlights that rivals anything on the road.

Without changing the actual headlights there are two things you can do.
Sylvania sells some H7 bulbs, I believe. "XT or XE " in the model which are better than stock. Not cheap!
Next someone with a VCDS can up the voltage to the headlights to full or unregulated. That can also be done for the tail lights.

Jetta_Pilot said:

Sylvania sells some H7 bulbs, I believe. "XT or XE " in the model which are better than stock. Not cheap!

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I had Silverstar zXe in my last car. Without a doubt the brightest halogens I’ve ever used, and a crisp, white light. Not too pricey at ~$50. Sadly I couldn’t find them for my Passat, and ended up going with Philips’ line instead.

YES for better halogen bulbs, and also raising (a little) the bulb focus. Most (all?) of the NMS Passats come from the factory focused WAY too low.

tdiatlast said:

...with a grain (or several grains!) of salt...

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took the words right out of my keyboard

Really great advice! Thanks everyone! I will probably just do the Sylvania Xe bulbs then, and maybe boost voltage.

How is the life span on those premium bulbs? I tried something in my Dodge pickup about 8 years ago, and memory says they didn't last as long. For the $$ it was a pricey experiment that didn't work out.

Thoughts on those bulbs?

You’re right that they may not last as long but I usually change them every 2ish years anyway- halogen bulbs deteriorate over time and in the grand scheme, $40 every 2 years is hardly noticeable. I think 2-3 years is a good estimate of average life of them though.

i got acceptable results by switching to these and re-aiming the beams:

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/LMABPH7LGL

my napa store offers me a small discount over the price shown so i feel these are reasonably priced.

i drive w my headlights on all the time (habit from military days) and still get about 2 years (50K miles) out of these.

even without a voltage adjustment, w this setup i no longer feel uncomfortable about sight distance at night on unlit country roads.

bob.

I have the halogen reflector specific deautokey HID 5K kit in my low beams, the light is great and the only artifacts I can see against the white wall in my garage are from a reflection off the trim on the bottom of the headlight housing. I have driven against them in my other car, they are no more or less annoying than any other oncoming vehicle. The only thing I’d do different is get the 6K bulbs as the 5K are not as bright white as I was used to from the factory HID set on my Touareg. The HID set is easily 2-3 times brighter than my OE lights and the kit is fully plug and play. My factory high beams are dim by comparison, but I can see them clearly over the low beam HID pattern. I swapped all my other exterior bulbs to the deautokey LED replacements with great results.

I was looking at using an LED bulb for my high beams only. They would only be used for flashing someone or on an open road, so the beam pattern artifacts are less critical than they would be on low beams.

BroncoAZ said:

I have the halogen reflector specific deautokey HID 5K kit in my low beams....

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+1 I will also praise this kit.

I have the same kit (mine's 5000K as well) from deautokey. They are fantastic. They seem to be well built and they are modified to be used in a halogen housing. (no blinding glare to oncoming traffic) The adapter that goes into the light housing is a bit flimsy and installing them in an NMS is a bit of a hassle but it's well worth it.

As you mention, the light output is easily double the OEM's lo-beams, perhaps 2.5x brighter.

I think much of the rest of deautokey's LEDs are overpriced but they do work. (I also bought their reverse kit) The rest of my LEDS (rear, interior) were much more reasonably priced. Only the plate needed resistors.

I'd love to get one of those Chinese Headlamp kits (with LEDs and HIDs) but I'm not that daring yet (very little feedback, if any in English). For now, my Passat's light output is as good or better than my cars with OEM HIDs.

TDI_Ultralux_3000_Royale said:

+1 I will also praise this kit.

I have the same kit (mine's 5000K as well) from deautokey. They are fantastic. They seem to be well built and they are modified to be used in a halogen housing. (no blinding glare to oncoming traffic) The adapter that goes into the light housing is a bit flimsy and installing them in an NMS is a bit of a hassle but it's well worth it.

As you mention, the light output is easily double the OEM's lo-beams, perhaps 2.5x brighter.

I think much of the rest of deautokey's LEDs are overpriced but they do work. (I also bought their reverse kit) The rest of my LEDS (rear, interior) were much more reasonably priced. Only the plate needed resistors.

I'd love to get one of those Chinese Headlamp kits (with LEDs and HIDs) but I'm not that daring yet (very little feedback, if any in English). For now, my Passat's light output is as good or better than my cars with OEM HIDs.

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We have a set of the OE Chinese bi-xenon AFS headlights that we picked up several years ago if you're interested. PM me for more details.

There has been some advancement of LED lights to be used as low beam bulbs in reflector (better choice) and projector headlight assemblies. Here is one option that you need to research further to see how it might work in your situation. Having a 30 day trial period (minus the shipping back cost) does lower your risks with this newer technology.

I am in the process of researching these too.

tikal said:

There has been some advancement of LED lights to be used as low beam bulbs in reflector (better choice) and projector headlight assemblies. Here is one option that you need to research further to see how it might work in your situation. Having a 30 day trial period (minus the shipping back cost) does lower your risks with this newer technology.
I am in the process of researching these too.

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My roommate recently installed a similar set of LED retrofit lamps in his projector headlight housings. They work okay, but the focus isn't quite correct due to the different focal point of the LED modules inside of the housing (slightly wider source of light than a tungsten filament). There beam has a dark spot and the field is brighter than it would normally be, making the pattern look similar to a doughnut.

If you want to delve more into different brands this site has a fairly well documented hands on reviews of 15 LED bulbs used in low beam application:

http://betterautomotivelighting.com/2017/05/03/15-brands-led-headlight-bulb-shoot-ones-best/