Nolden say their lights should be good for 10 years.
As a rough guide, equivalent Nolden aftermarket lights seem to be @£750 to replace. So if you were to write them off over that period (yes I know some will last longer but some will inevitably fail earlier), that's a simple £75 per annum for the set, or £37.50 per lamp.
That buys you an awful lot of halogen bulbs...
The only other saving of LEDs I can see is lower power consumption equaling less call on the alternator so maybe some quantifiable fuel savings. Anyone ever worked that calculation out?
Added to that, if a lamp fails at an inconvenient point then your whole vehicle is unroadworthy. Everyone (OK not everyone) carries spare halogen bulbs but who's planning on carrying a spare set (they are handed) of headlights for those long intercontinental trips?
Is the smart solution to "upgrade" or "downgrade" to halogen units?
May I jump in here?
Why were Ineos "strangely" silent? Why not just "haven't mentioned it"?
I owned a specialised lighting company when swappable LED's first came in and they were fantastic compared to incandescent lamps. The problem with all high powered LED's is heat. You will notice on LED headlamps and driving lights that they have large heatsinks. Metal fins.
You can't do that easily on a swappable lamp. Halogen lamps don't like vibration, so to counter that they use a thicker filament and more supports. This leads to longer life but lower light output.
LED headlight lifespan is measured in operating hours and is typically 30-50,000 hours.
Halogen headlamps are typically 450-1,000 hours.
HID headlamps last approximately 2,000
My HID headlamps are now 8 years old.
I wouldn't worry about changing your LED headlamps.
Very well explained-.. LED light technology is robust and rigid and Nolden is a very big player when it come to special forces and military light. They fullfil highest requirements like CISPR-25 level 5 and they have 1st Generation 7" on the roads globally for more than 10 to 15 years. Still working.
The argument of a broken light at inconvinient places...ok...in general that applies...but...a single good LED gives you enough if not even more light than a single halogen and if you're deep in the African jungle or desert most people have a vast of other light sources mounted to compensate that easily. And as long as you do not leave the planet. you get a spare light. If really in doubt. install an old halogen again if this is easier to get in Turbilutschistan...ehmmm....wait...ok, that's a point...the Grenadier has not a standard light size like 7". Ok , forget my last argument. And to be honest, I would be afraid of an engine or gearbox brakedown, two flat tires and no spare, a fire in the electrics in the bush (what happend to a German couple with a VW T3 who were saved by an Toyota Land Cruiser pulling them 650 km to the next town), or the absolutely nigthmare, THE desaster: no beer! But not if one light goes out.
In general, if a LED car light fails (when speaking about a well designed product, no cheap stuff), it almost always does this right in the beginning or never. The light is more like daylight, which lowers fatigue and a well designed lens gives you far more homogeneous light in front of you car. Another advantage is, that the light creates more contrast so you can see details a lot better. Same spot, first = halogen, second = LED, check the grass and the plants:
Compare ISO-Lux diagrams of halogen and LED lights! LED light illuminates brighter and further, in average between 30 and 60 meter further. Use a ISO-Lux diagram because that is an agreed measurement procedure, eliminating every subjectivity. Because the LED low beam is so much better than with halogen, people are often disappointed from the high beam. But there is a reason for this. First, low beam has a invisible limitation vendors and car manufacturers don't love to cross, 2000 Lumen. If you cross that line you have to install an automatic headlight adjustment and a light washer. So most of the time they try to stay under that limit (difficult with Xenon). However, that is not bad, you still get enough performance, especially if good lenses are used. The goal is not to have as much Lumen as possible, but to get as much Lumen as possible on the street (--> ISO-Lux Diagram). As the LED low beam illuminates brighter and further, your also limited (by regulations) LED high beam doesn't add as much light as you're used with your halogen high beam (which adds a lot of light to the low beam).
A good LED headlight is sealed, so you have no corrosion and degradation problems with the reflector. In fact Nolden headlights are IP6K9K proof, so you can use a pressure washer from the front end the rear. The glas doesn't brake and what you see here in the video when we crossed a river at night in Albania, doesn't happen. You can dive them 1 m for 30 minutes (and probably longer, but that is guaranteed):
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BMS9KyrenIs
That was the light of the second car after crossing the river:
Nolden themself run tests and their lights reach 30,000 hours minimum what equals roughly 11 years of 8 hours night drive or 8 years 24x7 night drive. And that doesn't mean they fail at 30,000.001 hours. Halogen lights suffer especially from every switch-on, touching, vibration and increased voltage. LED work usually from 6 to 32 volts without any difference in performance. Repairing a LED light is not possible. If you ever saw what is necessary to get a homologation for a light and to guarantee that the requirements are met over thousands produced units, you'll understand. I'm talking about reference points, aligment of the components in the light housing, sealing, etc.
Regarding LED-bulbs, like the Osram Nightbreaker LED, yes, they give you far better light than halogen and they can easily be swapped. But, we gave the Osram LED-lights to an acknowledged light labor. The result was, that they do not reach all minimum standards which the UN-ECE requires. That is the reason why they have a national homologation in Germany and they are not legal in France, for example. The have a lot of scattered light above the light border and their asymmetrical part is far too much right, illuminating more of the acre than the curbside. And they use active cooling, what is not desireable and they do not seal your halogen light. So they will also drown in water.....I would always prefer a discrete complete LED-light.
Maybe I forgot things..don't know, but I have to leave for now...
Cheers and always one illuminated candle
AWo
) in the USA on my gray G, they were good and SO much better than the anemic OEM halogens, but the beam pattern could have been better. It's been ~10yrs now but from my recollection, there were some gaps in the beam pattern, meaning it wasn't uniform.
