Installing LEDs is a plug-and-play process, but you still need LED installation accessories to do it. These accessories are specifically designed to help your system accept the upgrade. These LED accessories aren’t often discussed on automobile forums. Because most buyers simply focus on the bulb itself.
However, modern cars are pretty sophisticated machines. That have an extensive electrical system to manage each aspect of the vehicle. And there are specific sensors dedicated to ensuring the proper working of headlights. So, you can simply swap a bulb and expect it to be over.
What you need are a few LED installation accessories that will help bypass these systems. So your vehicle doesn’t reject the upgrade. This is part of the reason why LED upgrades generally void the car warranty in a lot of countries. This is why we suggest this upgrade mostly for older vehicles who are already out of warranty.
Here are the main components that you will need to invest in. We are going to be picking things from a single family of products. This makes it easier to put everything together. Since they have already been properly optimized to work with each other.
1. LED Cap:
This is the first part of the headlight housing that you need to modify. The headlight cap helps provide a base for the mounting brackets to go in. You simply need to take out the light housing from the lamps. Then remove the stock cap and ring from the base. Then replace them with an aftermarket cap for LED lights. OSRAM LEDriving Cap is a good example of this. Once that is properly fixed you can move on to the next step.
2. Mounting Brackets:
As you can guess, these help mount the LED light into the housing. Since LEDs are a lot more compact than regular halogen bulbs. You need special mounting brackets to help them fit in the existing housing. OSRAM makes separate mounting brackets under the LEDriving Adapter nameplate. The street-legal version is officially used for mounting the Night Breaker LED lamps. While the off-road version is for the LEDriving H7 off-road LEDs.
3. LED CANBUS:
A CANBUS refers to a Controller Area Network Bus. This system is specifically attached to the headlights to monitor their condition. It reports back to the general control unit of your vehicle. And can detect when one or more lights become defective.
When you attach a stock replacement LED to your existing headlight module. It can trigger the vehicle’s lamp failure detection system. This is why you need to replace the existing CANBUS with one that is specifically made to recognize LEDs. OSRAM LEDriving SMART CANBUS is an example of such a system. That acts as a bypass for the detection system. And lets you install H7 LED retrofit lamps. An additional bonus of these modules is that they enable flickering-free operation.
4. LED CANBUS Control Unit:
While this is not a compulsory component, it is a nice fail-safe to have. Sometimes when you change so many components of a headlight. The onboard computer can put up an error message. This can prevent the vehicle from running the lights. Even when everything is properly installed. This is when you need an additional control unit for the CANBUS. OSRAM’s LED CANBUS Control Unit is good for this job.
You can use all these components together to successfully install stock replacement LEDs in your car. They will work together seamlessly to give you a reliable lighting experience. Make sure you check with your local mechanic to see if your system needs any more modification.