Xenon Law?

[afiy2k]

Was trolling the interweb while at work and saw this:

Quote:

Factory fitted HID systems require a self levelling system and a lens washer to be fitted under the EU legislation.

However aftermarket kits do not come under this EU legislation so therefore they are not affected.
Our kits WILL pass an MOT and they are fully E-compliant in all safety, E.M. emission, performance specifications and produce the correct light output pattern.

is this statement true?

more info from their website:

Quote:

All of our products are MOT approved and fully E-compliant in all safety, E.M. emission and performance specifications.

There is a lot of misinformation regarding the legality of HID systems fitted to cars without headlamp power wash and rear axle self levelling these are only an E.U. legal requirement on Xenon systems fitted to NEW cars AT THE FACTORY PRODUCTION STAGE .

HID systems fitted as aftermarket accessory DO NOT REQUIRE the car to have power wash or self levelling; even the DOT have been known to get this wrong sometimes.

looking at the site with different colour HID, it sure doesnt look legal.

HID Conversion Kits for Cars and Motorcycles

[coupe-se]

Seems a rather grey area with multiple arguements on both sides.

One major point to consider if that the headlamp lens will have been specifically designed and shaped for either Halogen or HID lamp. Retro fitting a HID lamp kit into a headlamp unit designed for a halogen lamp will fall foul of the law as the nbeam pattern will not be correct. This seems to be the biggest issue effecting the legality of HID upgrades.

[Vitesse]

http://www.mini2.com/forum/exterior/...id-refund.html

See the thread above which has a link to the Dept of Transport website, which says the opposite to what the guy selling them says

[afiy2k]

Quote: Originally Posted by Vitesse (original)

http://www.mini2.com/forum/exterior/...id-refund.html

See the thread above which has a link to the Dept of Transport website, which says the opposite to what the guy selling them says

Department for Transport - Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps

wow i don't know what Midnight Styling is thinking when putting that on their own website. thanks for the clarification

[Vitesse]

Quote: Originally Posted by afiy2k (original)

Department for Transport - Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps

wow i don't know what Midnight Styling is thinking when putting that on their own website. thanks for the clarification

I've just noticed something I haven't seen before on that link. "Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal".

So the retailer is committing an offence by supplying them, but they could argue the case differently, if they say they advised people not to fit them unless they have self levelling and auto clean. But these guys are clearly mis-leading people and encouraging them to break the law. Not right really!

[Vitesse]

I'm getting boring now but that DoT website is very ambiguous.

"In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon."

In their "view" what does that mean? It doesn't sound like a legal statement to say one thing or the other? It sounds like their opinion?

[Martin F]

What is clear is that the law is unclear. That is why the DoT website is worded as it is. It would need a well fought court case to sort it out; not the local magistrates!