On Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:22:20 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article ,
ARWadsworth wrote:
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article o.uk,
Dave Liquorice wrote:
HID lamps need special control gear to strike and maintain the arc. I
also thought the construction and use rules insisted that HID lamps
could only be fitted to self-leveling headlights.

I have them on my old Rover, and the MOT people seem happy enough as
it has self levelling suspension and headlamp washers. The beam
pattern as seen on their tester is extremely sharp - better actually
than the original. But I have non standard headlight units anyway.

ISTR the headlight washer is an MOT requirement.

Self levelling lights or suspension and headlamp washers is a construction
and use requirement for vehicles fitted with factory fit HID units. As
regards aftermarket ones, it's not so clear. Simply bunging them into
reflectors not designed for them can result in very poor beam control as
the 'filament' size is different. But this should show up on the normal
MOT beam test.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.

Dave Plowman London SW

All sorts of interesting car lighting stuff here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlam..._light_sources and
about the HID lamp system here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-in...discharge_lamp
Not sure about the authority of this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lighting#Xenon
Lamp types round the world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_lamp_types
and some specific vehicles using it here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special... zilla-search