Alan_uk
A2OC Donor
From time to time people ask about LED and HID upgrades and invariably the issue of Type Approval comes up.
I've now stumbled on this posting on another forum dated just last April 2014
http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17485&start=15#p123970
In brief it seems that the Individual Vehicle Approval Manual is at last being updated to reflect EU law which states that LED/HIDs are OK provided that the "Headlight casement itself is covered by Type Approval ECU98 and be E marked". Article suggests that as UK has agreed that EU law takes precedence then it *should* be OK.
Of course, for old cars like our A2s, it is unlikely that anyone would wish to invest in manufacturing new units and getting the approval if there was low demand. Plus if it was not the the original manufacturer of the headlights then there might be design copyright infringement or licensing issues.
However, one can live in hope: I stumbled on this interesting illustrated article about upgrading a Landrover by replacing the whole headlight unit with a type approved unit. Article has photos of the J W Speaker factory making the units and photos of 4 generations of LEDs. http://www.mobilecentre.co.uk/images/Data_Sheets/JWS/LRM_LED_Headlights.pdf
I've now stumbled on this posting on another forum dated just last April 2014
http://forums.tipec.net/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=17485&start=15#p123970
In brief it seems that the Individual Vehicle Approval Manual is at last being updated to reflect EU law which states that LED/HIDs are OK provided that the "Headlight casement itself is covered by Type Approval ECU98 and be E marked". Article suggests that as UK has agreed that EU law takes precedence then it *should* be OK.
Of course, for old cars like our A2s, it is unlikely that anyone would wish to invest in manufacturing new units and getting the approval if there was low demand. Plus if it was not the the original manufacturer of the headlights then there might be design copyright infringement or licensing issues.
However, one can live in hope: I stumbled on this interesting illustrated article about upgrading a Landrover by replacing the whole headlight unit with a type approved unit. Article has photos of the J W Speaker factory making the units and photos of 4 generations of LEDs. http://www.mobilecentre.co.uk/images/Data_Sheets/JWS/LRM_LED_Headlights.pdf