H4 Bi LED - Dacia Sandero - Customer Review

Unfortunately, we very often see new cars with poor lighting. Annoying, but no disaster if you can easily upgrade the standard lighting with a LED kit. This way you have 3 x more light than with the traditional halogen lamp. This drives a lot more comfortably and gives extra peace to the eye, which also benefits road safety. And the looks are very nice too.

Dacia Sandero H4 LED: why did you choose a LED kit?

Well, first I was looking for better halogen lamps, first I tried the Philips Xtreme vision lamps, some improvement was there but it was not notorious. After 3 months there was already 1 lamp broken so I needed to look for something that is durable again. This way I got acquainted with LED lighting of Hilox and they have advised me which lamp I could take best.

Which products did you install and why?

Since my headlights are equipped with H4 lamps, I installed the Hilox H4 Bi LED kit from the Performance series. Because my Dacia has no lamp control on the lights, this LED kit does not cause any malfunctions. And to complete the picture, I have also replaced the T20 lights for my daytime running lights.

Used products

• Low beam + high beam: H4 Bi-LED, Hilox Performance
• Daytime running lights: T20D LED, Hilox Performance
• 82mm rubber housing caps

What is an H4 Bi LED kit?

Most cars have separate lamps for low beam and high beam. Some cars, like this Dacia Sandero, have low beam and high beam in one lamp. That is the H4 fitting. For these cars there are special Bi-LEDs: one LED lamp that does both low beam and high beam, just like the original H4 halogen lamp. Bi-LEDs are available for the fittings H4, H13 and HB5.

The advantage is that you upgrade both low beam and high beam with one set of lamps. The H4 XTR Black LED kit, 5700K, Hilox Performance is the H4 Bi LED kit in the current Hilox Performance range. According to the product information:

• It gives 3600 lumen per lamp, which is 3.5 times more light than halogen.
• The colour temperature is 5700K, a white colour of light.
• It uses Luxeon Z ES LED chips from Lumileds (Philips), which last up to 50,000 hours: 50 times longer than halogen and 12 times longer than xenon.
• The LED can be rotated 360 degrees, so you can fine-tune the light image in reflector and lens headlights.
• It is IP68 waterproof and has a Smart Cool IC chip with a Maglev fan to protect the LED chips against overheating.
• In the box: 2 H4 Bi XTR Black LED lamps (36.2mm) and 2 XTR Black drivers (66 x 31.1 x 15.7mm).

Compare this with the halogen experience of this owner: an upgraded halogen lamp broke within 3 months. Durability was exactly why he switched to LED.

Lamp control, CAN-bus and daytime running lights

Does your car have lamp control?

Many cars check whether their lamps still work. On those cars a LED, which uses less power than halogen, can trigger a warning for a defective lamp. That is what CAN-bus LEDs and CAN-bus modules are for. This Dacia has no lamp control on the lights, which is why the Performance kit works without malfunctions. Not sure about your own car? Check the manual or contact us before you order, and have a look at our CAN-bus LEDs.

LED daytime running lights with T20

The owner also replaced the T20 lamps of his daytime running lights. In the current range, the T20 W21/5W (7443) Power CAN-bus LED Hilox Evolution fits this fitting. According to the product information it gives 900 lumen at 5000K, which matches well with 4300K, 5000K and 6000K. If your car has a daytime running light function, the LED dims when the low beam is switched on and burns at its brightest when the low beam is off. It is polarity free, comes as a set of 2 and can also be used as a rear light. See all LED daytime running lights.

Installing an H4 LED kit step by step

1. Park the car against a wall with the standard lighting on and mark the light/dark cutoff with a pencil.
2. Remove the rubber housing cap behind the headlight and take out the H4 halogen lamp.
3. Place the H4 LED lamp and connect it to the original plug and the driver.
4. Check the space for the housing cap. When the standard cap is too small, a deeper rubber housing cap helps; this owner used 82mm caps.
5. Switch on low beam and high beam and compare the light beam with your marking.

After installation, have the light beam checked and make sure your car still meets the APK requirements. If in doubt, ask the RDW or your inspector. The Hilox product information states that these LED lamps have no ECE approval and are intended for circuit and private terrain use only.