My MAIN BEAM LED Conversion

FIAT COUPE MAIN BEAM LED CONVERSION

Decided after a couple of near misses due to the poor lights of the coupe to upgrade the main beam bulbs to LEDs & upgrade the dipped bulbs to better halogen versions.

Tools
Small Screwdriver (I used one out of a glasses repair kit)


Parts
AuxBeam Bulb Kit – Contains 2 bulbs! (Amazon Associate Link HERE)
OSRAM NightBreaker Laser Kit – Contains 2 bulbs! (Amazon Associate Link HERE)
Insulation Tape



HID based lights are great but they generally not direct replacements for the OEM as they have a transformer to be used and mounted, which in the coupe is going to be tricky as you’ll need to it be small enough not to affect the bonnet profile, plus a transformer adds weight to your bonnet (not a massive amount, I grant you but extra weight) and we know the bonnet struts on the coupe don’t exactly work at the best of times!

I don’t recommend using LED in your dipped bulbs, the AuxBeam will cause dazzle – I fitted uprated (OSRAM NightBreaker Laser) direct OEM replacements as dipped bulbs at the same time as doing the LED conversion.

Here is a comparison, left (main) bulb is LED, right (main) bulb is standard
**...Picture to follow, for now see attachment 1**


(and yes, I’ve yet to fix my dented bonnet)


PDF Document Link


LED bulb, open box (I’ve already fitted one bulb by this point!



1. AuxBeam Fitting Removal
You need to remove the plastic fitting from the LED bulb , now I’m not sure if its design to be removed so be very careful. I used a small screw drive to prise the bottom of the plastic clips off and remove it from there.

Before removal:


Post removal:



2. Bulb Removal
Open Bonnet
Remove the rubber cover
Remove wires from the bulb


Unclip and remove the bulb
Should look like this



3. Fitting The Mount
Fit the plastic mount removed in the 1st step (and only the plastic mount NOT the bulb!). Like a bulb it has a grove and nipples, these need to be fitted in the correct orientation!!! Clip the retaining wire, just like you would a bulb.
Should look like this….



4. Fitting The Bulb
Push the bulb into the plastic connector it can go in two way, I suggest fitting it with the electrical wires pointing INTO the bonnet (up from you). It should lightly click when it is correcrtly in place.
YOU CAN’T REMOVE THE BULB ONCE FITTED (the bulb obscures the clips holding the mount in place)

So double check before committing!






5. Wiring Up The Bulb
LED (unlike halogen) bulbs have to be connected to the right polarity.
The wire connecting to the bulb (green on my couple) is the +ve, the wire connecting to the bulb holder is the negative but I strongly recommend checking this is correct with a voltmeter!!!
The LED bulbs have spade connectors are a direct fit, and are colour coded red (+ve) and (-ve) black.

NOW STOP AND TEST!!!!!

Before wiring up


Temporary connection for testing



6. Finish the wiring
If the testing was successful add some electrical tape to keep the connections in place…. You don’t want the terminals shorting out on the body work!



7. Make it look pretty (optional).
Tuck the taped insulated wires up into the body of the light, away from the LED bulb. You want to keep as much room for air flow and the LED Bulb fans as possible….




8. Refit the rubber cover
..and its job done!
Check the gap between the cover and the bottom of the LED bulb, on mine you could gently push the rubber cover and still not touch the back of the bulb, so there was room for the air to flow



9. Fitting the OSRAM NightBreaker Laser Bulbs
As these are direct OEM replacement, just follow the instructions in your manual for standard bulb replacement



Finished Product



I've PDF'ed my document on this LINK

Good luck and it goes without saying you use this information at your own risk!

DS

hi, I converted them two years ago with the same led bulbs, both low and high beam, they are great, I also left the original rubber cover by cutting the shape of the LED fan to size.

Good guide and great that it is in a PDF too, although just a minor correction would be:

1. AuxBelt Fitting Removal

I don't think any belt removal is happening

Doh! Typo updated, cheers!

DS

Thanks but the AuxBeam on dipped didnt work for me (but I do have quite a low stance due to my lowered suspesion)

The AuxBeam bulbs DONT need you to cut the rubber covers.... they have enough clearance for a good air flow!

DS

I was scared, I thought they might overheat

Glad you don't have to remove the belt, that would mean an engine out to change a light bulb at Fiat dealers!

Thanks very much for this DS, we'll get it incorporated into the How-To section

Done

Thanks Mr E

Pictures now added, its free hosting so we will see how it goes (otherwise I can add them to my AWS S3 bucket if reliability becomes an issue)

DS.

Well done.....now take them off

https://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum...2/led-and-hid-mandatory-fail#Post1647912

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/aftermarket-hid-headlamps/aftermarket-hid-headlamps

I don't see any reference to LED in that article, only after markets HID....

Headlamps - Compliance with requirements - Changed sentence from 'Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with HID bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.' to 'Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp.'

Nope, still not seeing that text in the .gov.uk link - and I've even used the search function

DS

Hmmm, it's not that funny, all we are trying do with HID or LED conversions is improve the lighting to match modern standards

The new text is in section 4.1.4 about half way down

I know, it was just to get out of the box a bit, the truth in my opinion is always the same, in one way or another you cannot adapt something yourself economically, but you always have to go to some specialized workshop, I have to buy new headlights, which do not exist or rather buy a new car. this is the law and must be respected but safety is also compromised if we go out at night with coupes with a standard headlight.

I think most do get it that it’s going to be law about changing the lighting system on our Coops, that said, we are not doing this for looks, being able to see properly in the dark is obviously a must. We all have stories in the past about the candles that initially was in the Coop were just down right dangerous. I have several occasions while visibility was bad. Heading to Aberdeen from Inverness years ago, very early in the morning I set off. Halfway into my journey it was teeming down, I could hardly see a thing, then the front passenger wheel came off, what a fecking nightmare. Bad memories

Like Jimboy, a few years ago I was returning home at night from a meet near Cambridge.

I was on the M11 southbound in heavy rain and visibility was so poor that I stopped at a service area simply to see if the headlights were working: They were.
I fitted HID to the dipped beam a few days later. Never had anyone flashing me because I was dazzling them.

Looks like I will have to fit a spare set of lights for the MOT in future.

Hi DS thanks for the great howto. The amazon link doesn't work anymore so just wondering whether you could let me know the exact LED's I need from Auxbeam?

Cheers.
Joe

Hi Joe

Pleasure, they were the 35W version - can’t see them listed online (inc Amazon) currently…

There are 50w kits, but not tested them yet…although I do have a spare headlight assembly..so watch this space for a v2 update to the guide.

Oh and for all of you who said LED’s would be an MOT fail - pah, the local independent pasted mine with LED’s and yes they checked (as they failed the car initially not on the LED’s but as the plastic had deteriorated on the headlights and was causing too much scatter - quick polish and the scatter was gone! Another 12months on the cars and I didn’t have to remove my LEDs!)

DS