Can anyone advise which LED headlamps I can purchase for my 1993 240?

Thank you
--
1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL

Also check out carID.com. I have an '81 245 with quad rectangles and will be using DOT lagal 4x6 sealed beam replacement housings set up for LED bulbs manufactured by LUMEN. For the sake of other drivers make sure you can retrofit a projected beam housing into your current housing or find a projected beam replacement housing. Otherwise you will blind oncoming traffic and your investment will be wasted as standard housings lack the upper hood and focus of a projector housing that gives high end cars with HID OR LED lighting the daylight bright output, sharp cut off, and non blinding forward light control.

If you've ever seen an older Civic or jacked up truck coming toward you with rediculously bright seems to sear your eyes, they've likely put an HID conversion kit in their rig without a projector beam housing and are blinding everyone and not getting the full impact of what HID/LED's are capable of.

Hi NewMex999,

From SuperBright LEDs, a company in the St. Louis, MO area:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/high-beam-and-low-beam-headlight-bulb/led-headlight-kit-9004-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-built-in-fan/2116/4805/

Shows a 9007 bulb set. Not 9004. Comes with a ballast and a heat sink at the rear of the assembly. I guess works with the US DOT plastic 1986+ 240 setup.

Another 9004 offering from the same vendor:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kits/led-headlight-kit-9004-led-headlight-bulbs-conversion-kit-with-flexible-tinned-copper-braid/2212/

With a ballast and a flexible heat sink at the rear of the bulb assembly.

The LED bulb output varies by lumens (brightness) and even color temperature. I'm unsure what is best.

ORACLE Automotive Lighting Products

http://www.oraclelights.com/automotive-lighting-products/ORACLE-LED-Headlight-Fog--DRL-Bulbs/LED-Headlight-Bulbs/ORACLE-9004-LED-Headlight-Replacement-Bulbs

Autozone, eBay, and other 9004 bulb opportunities abound with an internet search for 9004 LED bulbs.

Amazon videos abound. Though perhaps not specific to your various 240 applications beyond 1986-1993.

I've yet to futz with LED lighting on 240, yet it is good to know you can plug and play replacement bulbs for the somewhat bothersome 240 tail lights.

Hopefully someone who has installed a 9004 LED head light bulb kit for North America factory plastic big square Volvo 240 headlights can offer up some more specific information for you.

Hope that helps.

Walnut Boy.

Is the use of LED lights in units designed for tungsten lamps road legal?

Why would that even be an issue?
--
1993 240, 1992 240GL, 1985 240DL Wagon, 1983 240DL

In other countries, this type of thing is actually inspected.

In the US, technically illegal but never going to get you pulled over unless you are dazzling a cop and you annoy him.

It is lot like using a racing seat in your road car with a properly installed 5-point harness. Safer, sure. Legal, no (assuming you are removing/disabling/using in place of a DOT/NTSB/NHTSA approved system).

If you live in one the few states with detailed and well executed safety inspections, you might have to swap back before going in.

Because Grey240Polar lives in the Netherlands where it probably is illegal.

I believe Europe, in general, has stricter car lighting laws than in the U.S. In fact, it might be illegal here too but it often isn't enforced.

Matt makes a good point. Consider checking the legality of those LED's in your state. Then you can decide for yourself.

Personally, when I am the approaching another driver on the road, I can't stand how bright the headlights are on some of the new cars. BMW and Lexus immediately come to mind. The aftermarket ones can be blinding and pretty obnoxious too!

Because Grey240Polar lives in the Netherlands where it probably is illegal.

I believe Europe, in general, has stricter car lighting laws than in the U.S. In fact, it might be illegal here too but it often isn't enforced.

Right.
The E-codes are not just applicable to the lights, also to the light sources.

Being illegal and being enforced are different things, though.
If you stand out, for some reason, the police may want a closer look at your car, otherwise, they don't care.
During the annual roadworthiness inspection, they don't take out the bulbs, but they do look at the light and, in case of the headlights, they check the spread pattern.
My 245 once failed on the rear reflectors in the unit because the red had faded too much.

You may know that E-code headlights shine the light a little lower to the left to prevent blinding, and a little higher to the right to get more light on (e.g.) pedestrians on the side of the road (reversed for RHD countries).
If you decided to risk it and replaced the tungsten lights with LEDs and the pattern is no longer correct, your car will fail that test.

A legal way to go from tungsten to LED would be to buy an aftermarket unit designed for LED (with approval, of course). They may be around for some cars, but I don't think so for my 245, so I'm stuck with running the tungsten bulbs.

The key to not blinding other drivers is having the damned things (with whatever bulbs/op system you have) AIMED properly. The cheapest/weakest $8 sealed low beam can blind an oncoming driver when it's aimed right into their eyes.

I've got 4 Hella 4x6's with 80W low beams, 100W high beams powered up by 4 relays. HD wiring (getting 14.6V at the bulb at idle - see Daniel Stern's site) and aimed properly. It's been tested by the test device during inspection annually for the last 10 years here in NC -- has passed every time. I've never had anyone "flash" their lights at me trying to get me to turn off the 'high beams' they think I have on because the lights are aimed down the road in front of me, not at them. And - there's plenty of light.

Am intrigued by LED's though for efficiency - lots more 'out' for not near as much 'in'.

The key to not blinding other drivers is having the damned things (with whatever bulbs/op system you have) AIMED properly.

And that is only possible if light source and reflector are designed to work together. This is quite critical, even a slight misalignment of the tungsten filament will cause glare.

That's the reason why to this day (AFAIK) there are no LED retrofits with E-code approval (not even for rear lights). The shapes of an LED and a tungsten filament are way too different to make an LED work in a reflector designed for tungsten bulbs.
A filament spreads the light around, a LED in one direction. Even so called LED-filaments don't spread light like a tungsten filament.

Therefore it's unlikely there will be E-code LED retrofits anytime soon. Sure, overe here you can buy lots of these LED retrofits too, but they are only legal to be used on private roads.

Also the use of higher power output halogen bulbs is not allowed over here, In case of the H4, only 60/55 W are allowed, so no 100/90 W. Having said that, the types giving 30%, 50% or even more light output than standard are allowed, as long as they're the correct wattage (and of course with approval).

Couldn't agree more on the need for a match in design between light source and reflector....and the lens as well. Lots of folks don't realize that lenses designed for right hand drive and left hand drive are entirely different.... But you're sort of making my point for me --- while there may not be a match between the the LED bulb and a tungsten filament in terms of the way they produce/spread the light with a given reflector/lens --- what 99.9% of buyers do is put the LED bulb in. And then drive the car. They don't bother to check the NEW pattern and RE-AIM the headlights AFTER the LED install. In my experience that usually can solve the problem of light patterns that are offensive/dangerous to other drivers. I think the bigger challenge comes from folks who cut up things to try and install an HID/projector setup into a housing it wasn't designed for AND for those mega-lumen-monster LED light bars that the lifted pickup trucks like to have on their front bumper where they shine right into your rear view mirror.

But there's the difference between DOT and E-code headlights.
On E-codes it's equally important to get the aim right, however, the spread pattern is dictated by the lense in older vehicles or the precisely shaped reflector in the modern vehicles. The cutoff on E-codes relies on the filament being in the right spot. Aiming can only move about the whole pattern, it won't affect the cutoff.

I borrowed this image from another forum. It seems to me DOT sealed beams could be far less fussy about the light source than the E-codes.



If that pattern on the right is only slightly off, and can't be corrected, the car fails the test.

Why is it that you can put E-codes on your cars but Volvo had to origianlly equip them with DOT sealed beams for the US market?

I seem to recall that the DOT's logic behind requiring sealed beams was that they (well, look at the name) would not allow any moisture, dust, etc. into the housing which could reduce the illumination, weak as it already was. Later models of sealed beams could be had with a halogen bulb inside which gave better light output, but they still employed inferior lens and reflector precision compared to the separate bulb-and-housing of E-codes.

Looks to me that modern vehicles all use separate bulb and reflector units.

On my 1983 240, I have the 4-rectangular lamp setup, with Hella E-code H4 on the outer lamps (with Osram 55/60-watt Xenon bulbs) and 50-watt sealed beam halogens in the inners, all running through relays to provide near full battery voltage.

The lighting on high beam is superior to that of my 2010 XC60 with projector beam lamps. On low beam...about as good.
--
Bob: Son's XC70, my 83 244DL, 89 745 (Chev LT-1 V8), 98 S90 (recently sold) and 2010 XC60. Also '77 MGB and four old motorcycles

one clarification. The traditional Euro lights from 80's etc. were typically GLASS, not plastic as in US, and used the well designed H4 55w/60w bulb, dual filament bulb, whereas US models were plastic and used the similar but inferior 9004 unit with 45w/60w bulbs. The US came out with 45w/60w sealed halogen bulbs, BUT rapidly came out with higher output 55w/60w sealed units - a big improvement. Logically they should have upgraded the 9004 by 10 more watts. They never did, I suspect for lack of commercial demand, and there hasn't been a new 9004 light unit in 20?? years. Sentra, Golf, Jetta, some Toyota, many US makes back then all had 9004, but nothing for many years.

I seem to remember reading that for a long time cars on US roads were required to have either round or square headlight units of certain sizes. It stands to reason that once they dropped that requirement, other shapes and sizes entered the market.

Edit: ah yes, from 1940 to 1983: source, it was a petition by Ford that had these limitations lifted.

Hate to see you drop that kind of coin on something that causes you to be pulled over and written up for having something on the vehicle that is not legal.

Might want to check what is and is not legal in your state of residence.

just sayin.


Matt

The few reviews I have seen suggest LED s are substantially brighter, and take less electricity, but don't provide good output or aim. There was a Chinese euro H-4 copy, supposedly taken over by Hella, that used an H4, but hard to find, and the original non-US H4 version is equally hard to find here. Someone sells a replacement glue on lens glass (actually plastic) on e-bay and Amazon (slightly more $$ on Amazon) and you can get a Phillips semi high output 9004 for a slight improvement. Add a relay harness - or make it, they are hard to find and low demand. There is a 45w/80 or 100w low and high combo, but a harness (see Daniel Stern) is absolutely necessary to avoid melt down. Last chance option is add a rarely found Hella XL aux. low beam (comes in fog light housing, looks like low beam) or supposedly KC Highlights have a similar clone, quality unknown. If you absolutely must be 100% legal just drive in daylight or scrap the car. I do wonder if an older grille, hood, and sealed beam assembly might work, after rebuild replace sealed beam with standard euro replacement units. AND, say a nasty prayer to Joan Claybrook, Ralph Nader's buddy at NHTSA at the time.

Hi BMW John and Folks,

Whether using LED bulbs or not, maybe this helps. (Though maybe you saw the one or two prior times I posted the links and images.)

https://sites.google.com/site/keplerniko/

See:
𖑨] Quad Headlight Conversion (html file downloads. Open in current browser session)
𖑨] Quad Conversion Pictures









Dual Single Beam 7" Round Headlights on 1986+ 240 ...

Another 86+ 240 with 7 200
https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=890458


I have no experience with LEDs in the 240 86+ USDOT plati-square headlamp assemblies. It's enough to have to clean them do the lenses are clear, so long as you have good reflectors, glue them back together, and get them back in service with the 9004 bulbs.

Why would the LED 9004-fit LED bulbs need the heat sinks? I'd hope to use a brighter low / high beam lumens. So, do they make so much heat the 240 86+ USDOT plati-square headlamp lenses or reflectors melt? I'd seen the 9004 bulb mount socket melted on them even though the 9004 bulbs are stock, yet the lens had lost seal with the reflector and there was moisture intrusion into the bulb reflector chamber.

Grey240Polar, newmex999, TheBrickTank ... You'd have to be so seriously bright to be in some manner of state or US DOT violation on public roads. Like motoring on a divided I-5 in Oregon and some southbound headlight blind you as you travel north. More beam pattern than lumens, maybe? But yeah, check state motoring regs ...

For a decade, I have had have a passing fancy of the damnable 240 taillights with a retro mod to all LEDs using red (brake, position), amber (turn), and white (reverse) water clear LEDs to make them bright, brighter and brightest so stupid motorists behind don't plow the aft end of 240. Now you can get all plug in LEDs.

Also want two tail light brake lights using the lower, outer brake light red reflector chamber and the upper, inner red reflector chamber used for the rear red fog lamp. Eventually, maybe. The rear fog lamp may be modded to disable the left hand drive upper inner red reflector chamber to act as a rear fog lamp when needed. DPST switch and / or maybe some diodes ....

Sorry to go on so. So-well-caffeinated, now.

Exterior lighting sort of sucks on 240. No Nordic Tolkien Elven whimsy like lighting on a 1972 164 or 142 or 1967 130 or 1960 PV 544. At least on these you have head light lighting options more easily. (Maybe get some blue dots!)

Bright, Brighter, and Brightest! Taillights to gobsmack the tail-gating bastards.

Woukd brighter tail lights send the same message as:

well, I can't get the pictures to open. Is that a pre 1986 hood and grille? It sort of looks like quad 5.25 round rather than 4 x 7". Remember several BMW'S have (Euro) a 7" and 5.25 each side. Whatever, your? 240 looks nice, junkyard parts are probably cheap and somewhat fit later models, but definitely labor involved AND convincing the body shop it is easier than it looks.I'll bet GREAT and safe lights.

n.b. IIRC 9004 and 9007 if I recall are almost the same socket after adjusting the keying notch via nail clippers but the filament lines up differently.9007 is a slightly brighter bulb.

Alibaba Express is the Chinese version of e-bay, somewhat cheaper, and has many projector units, and may be partially understandable in English. Many CHINESE parts on e-bay are direct from China so no big reason to NOT get them from China direct.

I strongly suspect the several easiest things to do are add a relay wiring harness, add fog lights (and or driving lights if distance is the problem) clean the plastic lens, add the modest improvement of Phillips or Osram (NOT US Sylvania) bulbs, and have clean windshield inside and out with good wiper blades and good (not scratched) human glasses. AND don't expect too much

BTW I read that the old East German (DDR) fog light / bulb manufacturer RING was taken over by a combo of Flosser, Phillips, Osram, and ?? to make the low production bulbs such as Osram Night Breaker. Don't know how true it is.