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MG MGA - LED Brake Lights

Has anyone tried these new LED rear lights by MOSS -Europe. http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=23041&SortOrder=1
On the face of it they seem a good idea but you have to destroy the existing bulb fitting to install them - there is no going back without buying a new lamp unit.
I believe on modern cars the brake lights are dimmed at night to reduce glare. These do not appear to do this.

David


David Marklew

David,
Just saw these in a newly rebuilt MGA last week. They sure are bright. But I did not know that the bulb holder was destroyed to get them in.
Pricey also.
I have tried led bulbs that replace the 1057 bulb, but they are not any brighter.
Am now trying the PIAA "blue" bulbs that give a white light. These are 27 watts for the indicator/brake filament, so a bit brighter than the standard 21 watts bulbs.
Peter.
P. Tilbury

My brake lights have been getting worse lately and were becoming dangerously dim and slow to come on causing a number of comments from following MG drivers on the 'Drive it Day' run yesterday.
Today I have fitted a relay across the switch (one of Barney's tips) and they are now so very much brighter and more responsive that I think for the time being I'll save spending £80 on an LED conversion!
David
David Marklew

I have these, bought from BMC Brian in the USA a few years ago. They are significantly brighter and the direction indicator function (I have a 1500) is visible even on bright sunshine, which is not the case with the bulbs.

If you want to use LED bulbs, you should use a red LED - using a white one will give you less lumens out of the lens than using a red one of the same power. This is because the white ones are not producing white directly, but use a yellow filter to modify the light to warm or daylight white. Red ones don't need a filter so you don't have the filter losses.

To fit the LED lights pictured you have to drill out the rivets to remove the bulb holder, but if you do this carefully, there's no reason you couldn't re-rivet at a later date. That said I wouldn't ever switch back to the old bulbs.

And I would recommend Brian immediately as a supplier. His warehouse guy sent the first ones to Swaziland (one step up the drop-down menu in the country list) ; when we found out why the package hadn't arrived he just shipped me a new set.

When (surprisingly) the originals appeared in my mailbox a few months later, I called him and offered to send them back. "No worries" he says, "just keep hold of them as compensation for the inconvenience". So I gave them to a friend for a good bottle of wine.
Dominic Clancy

How about contact info for BMC Brian.......
Bob Wrenn

http://www.bmcautos.com/britmarket/led-taillights/mg/mga-1500-1600-more-led-taillamp-set-l549-neg-earth-detail
Dominic Clancy

This thread was discussed between 28/04/2014 and 29/04/2014

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