Ed Scherer

Thanks again, Karsten. This is looking good. By my math, that will work by about 1 mm (assuming the 3 tabs on the flange are about 1 mm thick).

Regarding your, "the control boxes are huge," I just looked back at an old post (and updated it with some dimensions) that shows this mounting arrangement for a 65 mm × 46 mm × 15 mm driver module. It worked, using mounting brackets bent to 45° (instead of the usual 80° for the smaller driver modules). The driver module you measured looks to be about 70 mm × 45 mm × 20 mm. That extra 5 mm of thickness (and maybe extra 5 mm width) might be a problem. Probably just need to try it.

Darklands

Ok, I try the first set and if it works fine I show it my 928 shop.;-)
If the driver modules are to big I install the Gen II bulbs and this modules can work in my VW Caddy.

Ed Scherer

The Philips 11342XUWX2 X-tremeUltinon LED gen2 H4 bulbs that Karsten mentioned in post #23 intrigued me enough that I bought a set. They just arrived today.

My initial impressions are good, but I'll reserve final judgement until I have more time to examine the light output and beam patterns.

My observations so far:

• The LED emitter geometry is probably the most accurate to date relative to incandescent/halogen H4 bulbs. They're also Lumileds LUXEON Altilon, which were specifically designed for automotive applications, unlike the LUXEON Z ES emitters used in so many other LED H4 bulbs. There are a total of four 1×3 columns (one for low beam and one for high beam on each side of the PCB). Most of the Z ES-based bulbs use four 1×4 columns. I'm pretty sure that those 1×4 columns were actually a little longer than the H4 filaments, which probably introduced minor geometry issues.
• The barrel where the bulb will seal against the sealing cap is ⌀ 22 mm and measures approximately 16.5 mm to the inside surface of the 3-tab flange. That's good (compatible with the sealing caps). It's not beveled at the end, though, which makes it difficult to get the sealing cap over it without dislodging the sealing cap's O-ring.
• The two cables (one terminated with an H4 plug and one terminated with a connector for the bulb) on the driver module are significantly longer than they need to be for our 928 application.
• The driver module is nice and small. However, the screw spacing along the long edge of the bottom*cover is 51 mm rather than the 56 mm we see on lots of other drivers (e.g., the one for which the sealing caps were designed).
• The screws that fasten the bottom cover are Phillips oval head, M2.5, 8 mm long.
• The box states "Made in China" and "Designed in Germany".

To get the driver module mounted on the sealing cap, I had to add some extra straight brackets to the angled ones, as shown here. I also rotated the bottom cover on the driver module so that the slots are on the front instead of the back.



To get the sealing cap over the bulb without dislodging the sealing cap's O-ring turned out to be challenging due to the lack of a bevel on the sealing part of the barrel. What I finally did was to bevel the end of a piece of 3/4" type L ("blue label") copper pipe and then use it as a short ramp. It would work better with a much longer bevel, but I just used a pipe reamer I had on hand. I'm not really happy with this and would like to find a better solution. Anybody have any better ideas? The OD of the threaded section of the barrel is ⌀ 19 mm and the seal eventually lands on the barrel where it's ⌀ 22 mm.





The lengthy cables on the driver module are a bit of a nuisance; I'm not sure I've found a good way to make this look good.

rjtw

I'm watching with great interest, Ed. If you report that the observed beam pattern is improved, and more true to beam pattern of the halogen original, I'll definitely get a set. I LOVE the LEDs but the beam pattern isn't quite the same and there is a pronounced "scalloping" effect on the upper right of the pattern I don't like. I would expect everything to improve with fewer emitters that are geometrically closer to the halogen's source of light. Please let us know what you find!

M. Requin

I'm bumping this thread for two reasons, first, to help Ed see what the current demand level is (others like myself have probably already asked to be put on a waiting list, but that may not include everyone who would like to buy a set), and also because it has great info about bulbs. I just bought a pair of JDM Astar LED's, and I'll write a mini-review when I put them in service, to contribute a data point to bulb evaluation..

checkmate1996

Bump for demand

Ed Scherer

Bump noted.

I plan on including this among the things to do between Christmas and New Year's Day.

rjtw

Anyone have any thoughts on the new Phillips bulbs from post 23? A picture of the beam pattern would be much appreciated.

Ed, do you know if these new bulbs will fit with your existing covers? I have a pair already!

Cheers!
Rick

Ed Scherer

Yes, they do work. I'm running them right now. I've got a slightly better solution for getting the cover over the (non-beveled) barrel than what's shown in post #33, too.

rjtw

Oh that’s great! I may just pick up a set too. Do you think they’re any better on the whole?

EDIT: They’re on Amazon (usa) here:

Ed Scherer

I'm really not sure.

It seems like they (the Philips LED-HL [≈H4] X‑tremeUltinon LED gen2, product code 11342XUWX2) should be, given the attention to detail (e.g., reflector design and LED emitter geometry is about as close to the incandescent H4s as one could hope for); I already noted this a few posts back.

BTW, the sealing caps are available again. Official support now (documentation, additional hardware) for the Philips LED-HL [≈H4] X‑tremeUltinon LED gen2. This is likely to become my number one recommendation for H4 LED bulbs/drivers, as it's from a well-known, respectable brand, without all the weirdness attached to unbranded/rebranded/who-the-hell-knows-who-makes-it "generic LUMILEDS" stuff that keeps showing up with slight cosmetic variations.

Ed Scherer

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