OK... so it was time for me to actually light the road ahead of me when I drive at night. I ended up buying the following: Semi-Sealed Beam Chrome Crystal Headlights: H6014 H6015 H6024 7" Round Semi SEALED Beam Chrome Crystal Headlights Conversion | eBay And some pretty awesome LED H4 bulbs: OPT7 Dual Motorcycle LED Headlight Replacement H4 9003 Bulb CREE 80W White 6000K | eBay The results are beyond amazing! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
So it looks like the bulbs are a single brightness, unless I'm misreading the ad. Do you have a high-beam capability in each light now?
Are those the low beam lights shown in your photos? If so, it doesn't look like there is any horzontal cutoff to prevent glare from blinding oncoming drivers, as provided in good halogen H4 lights like Cibie, Bosch, Hella, or in the single unit LED 7" round lights from Truck-lite.
There is a horizontal cutoff see the image below. The other picture was with the lights to close to the door. Love the look as it's more stock looking then the other options. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You're showing the old lens/lamp vs the new lens/lamp. Is there a difference with the original bulb using the new crystal lens? Or the original lens using the new bulbs?
no compatible because the 308 has sealed beam lights. If you buy the semi sealed lights you can install them, it's just plug and play!
US-spec 308s came with sealed beam headlights - Euro-spec 308s probably had replaceable bulb halogen lights (they did for sure by the QV era)
My review of the LED lights: I needed LED lights for the electric MG project so I bought the products from the links above. Thanks Peter for finding them and sharing. So for the MG they are a great fit. The 7 inch glass headlights were pretty good quality considering they were just $26 each. I liked them because they were shiney and reflective which was important for the MG look. I was not crazy about the Truck Light ones because they seemed darker, not important for the 308 because they are usually down when not on. Anyway, they look good on the MG. The H4 LED bulb was interesting and seems pretty good for the MG. As noted above, there is no High beam. Both low and high pull the same 1.4 amps at 12 volts. This is OK for the MG because I am not driving much at night. The lights do have this weird fan that you can hear in the MG because it is so quiet. Probably not much of an issue for the 308. Overall good lighting at night for the price. I am probably going to buy as set with smaller diameter for the Dino. I will leave the high beams as is, and just update the lows. Anyway good find in my opinion.
No high beams? Are they just not needed because the LEDs light the road up further? I also have an MG and would consider this upgrade, but I travel out where the deer roam (no buffalo) and use my high beams regularly. thanks, Aaron
Around here, both high and low are required to pass inspection. The OP indicated there was a high beam; the MG guy says there is not. I'm a bit confused at the moment.
Maybe I need to be a little clearer on my testing. The lamp has three wires, low, high and ground. It pulls the same current no matter how you power it, i.e low hot, high hot and both low and high hot. I can not see any difference in brightness either. So technically, it has a high beam, but it is not any different from low beam. I hope that helps.
H4 beams have a bulb with 2 wires. One for the high and one for the low beam. Power output of both is the same and they not run together. If you switch from low to high the current will indeed be the same. The reflector of the lamp however will spread the light different. With the low beam you will have a clear horizontal cutoff with the high beam you dont have this.
I guess I just thought that high would pull more current like the old sealed beams. After looking closer the high beams might be a little brighter but I don't see a huge difference in the pattern.
Almost, but not exactly the same current. Standard H4 bulbs are 60W high beam, 55W low beam. And then there are the 100/90W bulbs for motor racing purposes, which I once tried and cost me a cracked lens. Best Regards Martin
Paul - Those look good on the MG... thanks for sending pics. Can't wait to swap cars for a drive around San Marcos... Awaiting word from Rocky on the return of the 308.... soon. Just stumbled across these LED's. Anyone try em? Gonna get a pair for the 1980 Fiat 124 (1980) EV project. Same issue as you had with full time exposure on exterior image.... a little more $ but love the sealed beam LEDS.... last time I'll every monkey with them after install! Pair of 7" Round High Low Beam SEALED 5 LED Headlight Replacement Lamps | eBay Hutch Image Unavailable, Please Login
I changed out the sealed beams in my 328 for a set of Hella 7" and H4 bulbs. Just that was a big improvement because the Hella's are much better reflectors than the sealed ones. I got the Hella replacements on Amazon for about $75 for the pair including a pair of H4's. Not sure how bright the LED H4's are but i will look into it if one of my existing H4's dies. Since I already changed out the housings.. changing to LEDs is just an LED bulb swap. I heartliy recommend changing out the reflector housings. Simple and a 25% or better improvement in the light beam.
