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Is HID lighting street-legal in EU? 850 1997

posted by  someone claiming to be richard Parr on  Sun Dec 16 05:59 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Would really like to buy HID lights for my 850 here in Norway, but I don't know if they're street-legal in this country. I guess I could phone the Norwegian highway department tomorrow and find out, but I would rather hear from somebody who's been driving around Europe with HID lights to know whether they are legal/illegal in some/all European countries. If you're flooding the road with 300% more light than everybody else, does the local constabulary take a dim view (not to make a bad pun)? Advice, please. Dick in Grimstad, Norway







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    Re: Is HID lighting street-legal in EU? 850 1997

    posted by  someone claiming to be Arno Griffioen on  Mon Dec 17 04:10 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    Fitting a HID bulb in a halogen reflector/lens system is by definition illegal for road use. This applies on both sides of the atlantic...

    The headlights are approved as a 'unit' with a certain type of bulb specified in the approval. Any deviation (eg. also high-wattage bulbs) from this approval makes them illegal for use on the public road.

    The question will be how much risk you'll run of getting 'caught'. A good conversion using E-code headlights probably won't draw much attention from 'the law', but doing the same with a DOT/US headlight.. Hmm.. asking for trouble there..

    In Europe there's the additional requirement for any HID headlight system to have: 1) headlight cleaning system (wipers or sprays) 2) self-levelling system. A retrofit may have the first (eg. many volvos), but the second will be difficult.

    Bye, Arno.







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    Re: Is HID lighting street-legal in EU? 850 1997

    posted by  someone claiming to be David M on  Mon Dec 17 02:41 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    More important is the lens/reflector. If the HID system is installed in current E-code fixtures (ECE Euro lighting specifications common to all EU countries) you should be OK.







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    Re: Is HID lighting street-legal in EU? 850 1997

    posted by  someone claiming to be Sin on  Sun Dec 16 08:25 CST 2001 [RELATED]

    Logically, I don't see why it would be illegal for you to run on your 850, should you take appropriate steps towards preventing glare, and proper beam projection, when there are MANY cars out there on the road, that they already allow to come with them.

    However, every area has there own laws regarding this, so it would be a good idea to find out for sure.

    Also, I wouldn't worry too much about it even if it weren't. I doubt you'd EVER get pulled over for this as I doubt police would notice it much if your beam projection were appropriate. Plus, one of the benefits of driving a Volvo, is getting the benefit of the doubt from police. If they thought those lights weren't oe, they'd probably say something like "that's a Volvo, I'm sure it hasn't beem mucked around with" to themselves.






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