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Discussion in '348/355' started by albert328gts, Apr 26, 2020.

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  1. albert328gts

    albert328gts Formula 3
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    #1 albert328gts, Apr 26, 2020
    My 348 was due for a major, maybe overdue :rolleyes: I was at the 7.5 year mark. I have to say when they took it apart it all looked perfect, the belt, the Hill Tensioners were spinning perfectly, water pump, says allot about the quality of products Hill makes. I finally picked up my car last week and yesterday afternoon decided to go for a drive. WOW is all I can say. drove through some of Southern Californias great roads, took Topanga Canyon to Pacific Coast Highway for a brisk drive. Wholly crap, what a joy to go up and down the gears through the Canyon and go through Pacific Coast Highway with the Sunset going down. The one thing I did notice heading home is how poor the headlights are in these cars. I had upgraded halogens several years ago but am now wondering if there is an easy plug and play LED, for the headlights and fog/driving light?
     
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  2. Ferrarium

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    #2 Ferrarium, Apr 26, 2020
    Yes there is led kits you can find them on ebay , do search for LED headlights out here. Enjoy!
     
  3. FLORIDAsnakeEyes

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    #3 FLORIDAsnakeEyes, Apr 26, 2020
    I did LED from Japan on my F355. Very easy, very very bright. Hi b ly recommended

    Sent from my SM-F900U using Tapatalk
     
  4. Ferrarium

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    #4 Ferrarium, Apr 26, 2020
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  5. fboutlaw

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    #5 fboutlaw, Apr 26, 2020
    I went with "HIKARI LED Headlight Bulbs Conversion KIT - HB4" on Amazon. Unfortunately not available now, but were super easy to install and significant brightness increase.
     
  6. jferrante

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    #6 jferrante, Apr 26, 2020
  7. albert328gts

    albert328gts Formula 3
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    #7 albert328gts, Apr 26, 2020
    Thank you guys, I had seen it on a post but the info was not that up to date, I appreciate your assistance. Stay Safe And Stay Sane!!!
     
  8. 308 GTB

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    #8 308 GTB, Apr 26, 2020
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  9. bjwhite

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    #9 bjwhite, Apr 27, 2020
    No on the LED. The problem is the US DOT headlamps themselves. LEDs in housings not designed for them do nothing but shoot glare everywhere--which is hard to get in pics, but you can even see it on the picture up there. For the life of me I can't see how this is cool and people actually want that.

    For a proper fix install European market headlamps. The beam pattern is key and they actually are quite good--even with a standard halogen bulb.

    With headlights, it's all about the beam pattern and throw. Example, the Xenon headlights on my 06 LR3 are amazing. The Xenons on my wife's old 16 Discovery Sport were marginal at best. Both are "bright".

    Putting overly bright bulbs in a poor housing just blinds everyone and doesn't truly help from a driver perspective--dare I say it makes a poor pattern "brighter".

    Good luck with what you choose. But please seriously consider European lights. I'm actually surprised more people here don't do that.
     
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  10. albert328gts

    albert328gts Formula 3
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    #10 albert328gts, Apr 27, 2020
    Hmm, you raise an interesting point with the beam pattern. I would of thought it was a matter of "fine tuning" so that I do not blind oncoming vehicles. Anyone who did the conversion find that to be true? Please let me know, thank you!
     
  11. Ferrarium

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    #11 Ferrarium, Apr 27, 2020
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2020

    I am not sure is accurate? I have seen many posts and pictures and videos where people swapped bulbs and it sure made a difference to the driver including these two "from above" which shows obvious improvement. The lights seem to be where one would want them. no? The bottom one shows one of each light next to each other btw. Does not look like light everywhere really, looks rather focused on Barry's car?

    If it was a matter of lens focus, why both making high intensity bulbs then, manufacturers would just make really good lens or make led bulbs with less intensity and rely on the lens? Heck maybe Barry has Euro headlights.... Barry do you have Euro headlights?

    [​IMG]
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    Albert you asked for comments, here is 6 pages worth, lots of other posts too, just search.
    https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/upgraded-my-headlights-to-leds.509046/
     
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  12. albert328gts

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    #12 albert328gts, Apr 27, 2020
    Thanks, taking a look at that post now!
     
  13. taz355

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    #13 taz355, Apr 27, 2020
    I am not sure your 348 has the same grind on the light glass for focus.
    They look different in pictures when lights are off.
    On my 355 brighter bulbs from standard to halogen made a big difference with little glare but I can see why if you overpower the focus this could happen because too much light would escape. If that makes sense.
    Kinda makes sense to me but who knows
     
  14. kenneyd

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    #14 kenneyd, Apr 27, 2020
    Most of the headlights on Amazon and eBay are junk. Talk to Matt at "the retrofit source" for the best set ups and bulbs. He has a 355 as well
     
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  15. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ
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    #15 308 GTB, Apr 27, 2020

    Eric,

    Mine are North American headlights. The lens cut-offs with the LED low beams do not dazzle oncoming drivers. I was very careful to aim the low beams as per the owner's manual which, however, illustrates a European cut-off pattern.

    Barry
     
  16. emac

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    #16 emac, Apr 28, 2020
    Daniel Stern lighting has put together some high quality systems for me over the years. The quality of US spec headlights, especially back when our cars were made, were nowhere close to the european code lights. High quality bulbs/lens along with a proper wiring (relays) makes a world of difference.

    https://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html
     
  17. bjwhite

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    #17 bjwhite, Apr 28, 2020
    Exactly. Agree completely.
     
  18. emac

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    #18 emac, Apr 28, 2020
    Back in the late 80's I was involved with importing grey market cars into the US. Mostly BMW's. I quickly realized how far ahead of the game they were compared to the US models in lighting and brakes. An 1981 BMW 745 had ABS brakes, unheard of at that time in the US. They had a rear fog light, manually adjustable headlights with replaceable bulbs and headlight wiper/wash, and city lights. Meanwhile, here in the US we got fat bumpers, a speedometer with 55 in a bold color, and sealed beam headlights.
     
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  19. Ferrarium

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    #19 Ferrarium, Apr 28, 2020
    Ok thanks for the insight fellas, something to look into for sure.
     
  20. albert328gts

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    #20 albert328gts, Apr 28, 2020
    I agree with you emac, I had a 1985 BMW 635csi that was grey market and the lighting on it compared to US cars was unbelievable. That plus so many other options. I have an email to https://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html This is becoming more interesting by the minute. LED technology as come a long way quickly, to fan or not fan, flickering issues with some LED's, so making sure am doing my homework!
     
  21. Ferrarium

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    #21 Ferrarium, Apr 29, 2020
    I spoke to Daniel. It all about the euro bulbs not the lens, waiting for an invoice.
     
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  22. albert328gts

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    #22 albert328gts, Apr 29, 2020
    I too exchanged emails yesterday with Daniel, he recommends the euro bulbs, stock: 9005, 12.8V, 65W, 1700 lumens new: 9011, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens and for 9006 stock: 9005 new: 9011, 12.8V, 65W, 2530 lumens. I would also like to know what a good replacement would be for the H1 foglight's. I have another email out to him on that. That being said his email also stated that there may be some modification that needs to be made to the back of the bulb, an easy, minor adjustment they will fit. These new bulbs have a double-wide top ear on the plastic bulb base, to comply with the law requiring different bulbs to have different bases. The extra-wide plastic top ear is easily trimmed or filed to make the bulb fit your headlamp's bulb receptacle. Once that's done, they go directly into the headlamp, and the existing sockets snap on. Now for a decision, LED's or Euro Halogen bulbs???
     
  23. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ
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    #23 308 GTB, Apr 29, 2020
    Daniel Stern will provide good H4 halogen bulbs for your low and high beams. You'll notice a big improvement in lighting at night. US spec F355 headlight lenses provide more conservative low beam cut-offs as pictured by Mike in the older thread...


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    Euro headlights for LHD cars provide a bit more light to the right side of the road and shoulder area. I don't think it's necessary to invest in Euro headlight assemblies to achieve good lighting; the Euro bulbs will achieve want you want in a cost-effective manner.

    LED technology has advanced in the four years since I installed the OPT7s for my low and high beams. Those have fans but were still "plug and play" needing no modification to the headlight assemblies. They still work fine today. OPT7, and others, have newer LED bulbs without fans and prices have come down.

    In the other thread, I showed the 3000K yellow H1 LED bulbs I installed in the fog lights which I use as running lights while I'm on the track. They also had fans but the LED chips began to separate. I think the rough surface at Sebring had something to do with that. I replaced them two years ago with these SNGL 3000K H1 LED (fanless) bulbs. They're doing well...


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  24. 308 GTB

    308 GTB F1 World Champ
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    #24 308 GTB, Apr 30, 2020
    As I mentioned, LED technology has advanced over the past four years. My four-year old OPT 7 FluxBeams have their LED chips mounted horizontally-opposed (these are Mike's photos from the original thread)...


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    Using an appropriate camera setting, you can see how the opposing chips produce a beam that does not fill the entire projector housing thus yielding what appears to be two separate left and right light sources (this is Chris' photo from that thread)...


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    In actual use, this doesn't affect the lighting on the road. The current OPT7 FluxBeams have circumferentially-mounted LED chips which eliminates this effect...


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    My H1 LED running lights show this two light source effect...


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    ...but they're effective in what they do; making me more visible on the track.
     
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  25. albert328gts

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    #25 albert328gts, May 4, 2020
    Sorry for the delay, been working like a madman, about to pull the trigger on a couple of sets of led's but had a quick question as I prepare, is there anything other than having my ignition switch on to lift the headlight buckets? Popping the fog lights is easy enough, I remember switching out stock bulbs for PIAA's several years ago, but do not recall how I did the headlights...
     
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