BULBS

[Anonymous]

Query - Are BLUE daytime running lamp/sidelamp bulbs illegal? When I took delivery
of the RCZ it had blue bulbs fitted in the 2 noted locations. Those bulbs are marked
1157 12V27/8W. However, Lookers of Newport said (test people) that should the Police
pull me over for any reason I would be apprehended/liable over those blue bulbs.
And so the MOT was failed.
I do appreciate that there has to be a curb/unification on lighting colour emmisions
but in this day and age blue-tinged headlamps are seemingly OK and after all I believe
amber/yellow fog-lights are still legal in the UK (?).
The MOT failure noted the bulbs as 'Front Position Lamps'.
I would appreciate legal certification of this issue.

 

[Anonymous]

Are these tungsten halogen bulbs= blue coloured with a element inside?= Side lights/drls in this colour are not illegal,only dipped beam/full beam ARE.Change them to led side/drl bulbs,these are of a cool white colour with no tinge of blue,and are available from RCZ performance a member on this site,question does your car have xenon lights fitted :eusa-think:

 

[Anonymous]

I've been told only emergency services can have blue bulbs in/on vehicles when moving.

 

[Anonymous]

Here's how the law stands in this issue;

"Blue lights - Under the Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989, it states "except for emergency vehicles it is an offence to fit a blue warning beacon or special warning lamp or device resembling such whether working or not"

Other lights - It is an offence to show a red light to the front of a vehicle (including a reflector) and a white light to the rear unless reversing. Once again these offences are dealt with by means of a £30 Fixed Penalty Notice. It does not matter if the lights are mounted inside or outside the vehicle, just that the light can be seen from the outside. This would also include neon lights fitted under or on the side of a vehicle and red LED windscreen washer jets. Green lights can only be fitted on Medical Practitioners vehicles.


However, in the instance of your DRLs, you might find these threads interesting as there's some debate on the issue:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=970043

http://www.police999.com/forum/index.php?topic=9513.0

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/c/news/ ... s/0017255/

On looking at this quite closely, my honest belief is that they're not strictly speaking illegal if they are blue(ish) in appearance as long as they are correctly marked. You must have had a truly anal MOT tester. I'd take it to a local MOT service centre (most councils/local authorities will have one that you can access for free) where you can get it checked for free and see what they say. They can't issue an MOT certificate but they might be able to provide a second opinion.

 

[the big blue]

Hi all' :greetings-wavingblue:

Hi' mrizzle I agree this could be a grey area and one worthy of a second opinion both from an MOT station and the Police.
From my knowledge on this matter the Law relates to "Obligatory Lights" which are the legally required lights that all vehicles must have in order to be Road Legal, in the UK these include side lights which are known as positional lights, and dipped and main beam headlights to the front and stop and tail lights to the rear with indicators to the front and rear. Such obligatory lights must be fitted and comply with Road Traffic Act legislation and the FILAMENT bulbs used for the illumination of those lights must be of the stated wattage and be suitably marked as legal, led illuminations have their own specific requirements to be road legal !!

DRL's which are not necessarily as yet incorporated into UK Road Traffic Act legislation due to them not being categorised as "obligatory lights" meaning all vehicles must be fitted with them as a minimum lighting requirement. DRL's may well fall outside current vehicle lighting regulations and hence the confusion regarding the MOT tester failing the vehicle concerned.

It could be that the MOT tester regarded the DRL's as 'positional lamps' i.e. commonly referred to as vehicle side lights and as such they would have to comply with regulations i.e. bulb wattage and compliance markings. This I would say is why on the Mk1 Z's the DRL's that are not governed by wattage happily illuminate with both filaments at 21 watts yet when the sidelights are switched on which themselves use the same bulb the lamp then dims to the 5 watt single filament illumination which is the maximum wattage requirement for a positional/ side light bulbs. Why else would Peugeot build in that feature thus dimming the DRL when it is switched to act as an obligatory positional sidelight other than for legal compliance ,,which is a shame as it means my bright whitish filament bulb DRL's legally have to dim and thus turn yellowish when my positional lamps are switched on.

I will make some enquiries with a Police Traffic Officer friend out of interest as it sounds like it could be a grey area in that UK law hasn't quite caught up with more modern vehicle trends as its only in recent years that LED rear obligatory lights became lawful in lieu of traditional wattage rated filament bulbs.

.the big blue (...a touch of seriousness from this back bencher ,,fear not as normal behaviour will be resumed soon !) :lol:

 

[the big blue]

Hi kentprotheroe :greetings-wavingblue:

..i hope the above made sense and as a result of which you can see that your DRL and obligatory Positional Bulbs were in fact illegal and that the "vigilant" MOT tester was right in noting an MOT failure. As I said in my previous post its a quirk of the Mk1 Z's using the same bulb to act as its DRL and Positional Lamp as the latter has a legal requirement to emit a statutory 5 watt illumination only and for the bulb itself to be appropriately E marked for compliance.


.the big blue (...and my name is not a give away if thats what any of you are thinking !) :beer:

 

[RCZash]

If they are illegal the selling dealer should replace them free of charge ?

 

[the big blue]

...you are right on that RCZash :wave: as that would be my point of call too ,,especially if the selling dealer knew that the bulbs were illegal i.e Not For Road Use, and kenprothero didn't insist that they leave them in.

.the big blue (...possibly my shortest post reply to date !! :clap: )

 

[Anonymous]

If they are illegal the selling dealer should replace them free of charge ?

This is my thinking too. I'd also be pushing them on the fact that they sold a vehicle that was unroadworthy and be getting them to pay for the retesting of the vehicle.

 

[Anonymous]

I thank you all for the feed-back to what I requested. I refrain from commenting to you as individuals but
I have to say that bigblue was most generous in his analogy.
W.r.t. jassyo06 it does have xenon lights fitted.

 

[the big blue]

...a topic and debate worthy of one actually taking place in the House Of Commons itself ,,the only difference being those who took part in the Forum debate actually cared ,,UNLIKE so many of those MP's debating topics in the commons !! :clap:

.the big blue (...theres this Forum back bencher getting political and we don't want that after a good debate) :beer:


Whilst talking bulbs (THAT ARE REQUIRED TO BE SWAPPED PRIOR TO AN MOT), has anyone posted any pics of rear stop/tail LED bulbs illuminated in order to show the cosmetic difference between the standard filament bulbs in their Z's to see if they provide for a better looking overall illumination ?? ...i know, i know hence the text in brackets above!

 

[Anonymous]

I have popped some photos up somewhere. I'll see if I can track down the thread. The photos weren't great but the difference (in reality) is astonishing but I cannot imagine for a second that even the most eagle eyed (/anal) MOT tester goes looking at them to check their legal status!!

 

[Anonymous]

Couldn't find my own images but did find some of Renegade's:
viewtopic.php?t=5844

 

[the big blue]

Hi' mrizzle :greetings-wavingblue:

I think I will give LEDS a try and agree that the difference is likely to be one that can't best be captured in photo AND that MOT testers and police are more concerned as to headlights not rear lights providing theres a reflector on the rear ! :thumbup:

I noted that you suffered difficulty initially when getting the light unit out ,,I so hate it when what should and could quite easily be a simple process when factored into design is not! ,,the latter is definitely a common modern headlamp bulb change phenomena as I'm sure we all have experience of :roll:

.the big blue (..and 'thanks' mrizzle for your research ,,from the back bench of the Forum)

 

[Anonymous]

Rizzo,BIG blue your minted :thumbup: and have been so helpful to this individual members thread.. :beer: Ken get the blue sidelights out mate and the halogen rear stop/tail bulbs and replace them for a far more aesthetically pleasing look,you have xenon lights, the front 92smd led bulbs will compliment these,as they are very similar in colour,as for the rear led stop/tail bulbs, yeah no photo could do them justice like Big Blue says...but stop/tail led bulbs also react a lot quicker..ie light on-light off.
So sum up they are probably the best mod you can do to your rcz without it costing a fortune

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the terse but meaningful reply jassy. I am shortly expecting to motor to just

north of Lisbon - Obidos (via Santander) on 23rd and I will do as you note when I get back.

I am of course wary of doing the trip without a spare (too expensive). But as I've done that trip

before in (a) a CSR260 (b) Lotus Exige S (c) Noble M400 all without a spare, fingers crossed

I hope my luck does not run out this time..