Are xenon headlights illegal in South Africa

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Shubz26

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I recently changed my car headlights to xenon types as I was tired of constantly having to replace the original halogen bulbs. I was pulled over by a police officer who said that the lights were not allowed as they were too blue. He even threatened to mark my vehicle as unroadworthy because if this. So what is the story here? Everyone is selling and promoting these headlights but are they even legal?
 
Shubz26 said:
I recently changed my car headlights to xenon types as I was tired of constantly having to replace the original halogen bulbs. I was pulled over by a police officer who said that the lights were not allowed as they were too blue. He even threatened to mark my vehicle as unroadworthy because if this. So what is the story here? Everyone is selling and promoting these headlights but are they even legal?
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Yes they are.
His reason is a bit daft though. HID lights with Halogen reflectors will never give you "better" light. At best it's the same just you are dazzling oncomming traffic.
You are beter off with something light Osram night breakers.

Edit: here is a link on arrive alives website that gives the specifications for vehicle lighting.

https://www.arrivealive.co.za/Lighting-Head-Lamps-and-Spot-Lights-on-Vehicles-and-Rules-of-the-Road
 
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Are you special? Did you need a cop next the road to tell you that your modification is blinding the on coming vehicles? What research did you do before attempting your modification, a brief introduction on BMWspasastics?
 
Grubscrew said:
Are you special? Did you need a cop next the road to tell you that your modification is blinding the on coming vehicles? What research did you do before attempting your modification, a brief introduction on BMWspasastics?
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Haai nee man. Kalmeer. Dis bietjie rowwe kommentaar aan iemand wat jy nie ken nie. Daai goed word ORAL verkoop. En omdat dit so vrylik beskikbaar is dink baie mense dis wettig.
Hoekom sal ketting part winkels dit dan onwettig verkoop.
 
:wtf:Yeah (HID) xenon's are banned. Car manufacturers moving to LED :wtf:
 
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boanergesza1 said:
Haai nee man. Kalmeer. Dis bietjie rowwe kommentaar aan iemand wat jy nie ken nie. Daai goed word ORAL verkoop. En omdat dit so vrylik beskikbaar is dink baie mense dis wettig.
Hoekom sal ketting part winkels dit dan onwettig verkoop.
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Ek glo nie die verkoop is onwettig nie, net die gebruik daarvan.
 
Shubz26 said:
I recently changed my car headlights to xenon types as I was tired of constantly having to replace the original halogen bulbs. I was pulled over by a police officer who said that the lights were not allowed as they were too blue. He even threatened to mark my vehicle as unroadworthy because if this. So what is the story here? Everyone is selling and promoting these headlights but are they even legal?
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I know why the cop pulled you over, you probably have those nasty fong kong xenon wannabe lights fitted, they are too blue and they suck. Doing xenon correctly typically requires the entire headlight fitting replaced as it needs a different lens/reflector etc and considering the reasons given for you starting this thread I'm 99.9% sure you didn't do that.

Do as an earlier poster recommended with the bosch halogen globes, that's the correct method to get brighter headlights.
 
No they are not banned(almost every car manufacturer offers on their cars) but there is a limit how far the lights should emit and how bright it can be, the lights also need to white and not leaning onto the blue side

When you fit aftermarket xenon lights it's best to fit a new headlamp unit and not just the globe as xenons need to be the projector type so the light is condensed in one location and not all over the shore blinding people
 
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Shubz26 said:
I recently changed my car headlights to xenon types as I was tired of constantly having to replace the original halogen bulbs. I was pulled over by a police officer who said that the lights were not allowed as they were too blue. He even threatened to mark my vehicle as unroadworthy because if this. So what is the story here? Everyone is selling and promoting these headlights but are they even legal?
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Your nasty modification is probably illegal.
 
airborne said:
I know why the cop pulled you over, you probably have those nasty fong kong xenon wannabe lights fitted, they are too blue and they suck. Doing xenon correctly typically requires the entire headlight fitting replaced as it needs a different lens/reflector etc and considering the reasons given for you starting this thread I'm 99.9% sure you didn't do that.

Do as an earlier poster recommended with the bosch halogen globes, that's the correct method to get brighter headlights.
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It think xenons need to be off the projector type headlamps
 
You can't put Xenon lights into Halogen reflector. That's not only illegal, because you blind oncoming traffic, it also doesn't improve your lights, at all.

Xenon needs a lens to focus the lights. Normal reflectors just bounties lights all over the place.

Get yourself Siemens globes. I'm running the OSRAM nightbreaker unlimited for the past 18 months, no problems.
 
Also xenon headlights have to be self adjusting/leveling. Doubt a cheap xenon kit will have this, maybe a R20k kit but not a cheap one.
 
Shubz26 said:
I recently changed my car headlights to xenon types as I was tired of constantly having to replace the original halogen bulbs. I was pulled over by a police officer who said that the lights were not allowed as they were too blue. He even threatened to mark my vehicle as unroadworthy because if this. So what is the story here? Everyone is selling and promoting these headlights but are they even legal?
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Oh, it's not illegal so sell or promote them, just their use is. Like setting knives is legal but stabbing people isn't.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll get them changed back to the original bulbs then.

Why do they sell it if its illegal? I did my research but none of these things came up when I did. The kit I bought was a Philips kit and I bought it considering Philips is a reputable brand. But nowhere on their website or instruction manual do they say anything about changing your reflectors. I think if something is illegal, it shouldn't be sold by major retailers. The argument that something can be legal to sell but illegal to use is senseless.
 
Shubz26 said:
Thanks for the advice. I'll get them changed back to the original bulbs then.

Why do they sell it if its illegal? I did my research but none of these things came up when I did. The kit I bought was a Philips kit and I bought it considering Philips is a reputable brand. But nowhere on their website or instruction manual do they say anything about changing your reflectors. I think if something is illegal, it shouldn't be sold by major retailers. The argument that something can be legal to sell but illegal to use is senseless.
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It's how you install them that's illegal - not the system themselves.

And please do change them back. There is nothing more inconsiderate than people with headlights that blind others because of their poor installations.
 
genetic said:
It's how you install them that's illegal - not the system themselves.

And please do change them back. There is nothing more inconsiderate than people with headlights that blind others because of their poor installations.
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What are you saying ? A bulb can't be fitted more than one way :confused:
 
I think My Broadband should do an article on this, just to create some awareness. Because very few people are actually aware of the dangers associated with HID conversion kits.
 
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