Lighting
HID, LED and the trade we started with
The HID in our name is not decoration. Lighting is what this workshop did first, and it is still done properly here: projectors retrofitted inside your original housing, beams set on the board, and errors fixed at module level rather than papered over.
- From
- £69.99
- Typical job
- 2-5 hours
Read this first
An LED bulb in a halogen housing is not an upgrade
A halogen reflector is a precisely shaped mirror, designed around the exact position and shape of a halogen filament. Put an LED emitter in that housing and the light source is in the wrong place, the wrong shape and the wrong size.
The result looks brighter from outside the car and is genuinely worse to drive behind. Light scatters upward instead of down the road, the cut-off disappears, oncoming drivers get dazzled, and the vehicle will fail an MOT on beam pattern. You end up with more glare and less usable road ahead of you.
The correct answer is a projector retrofit: fitting the right projector unit and shield inside your original housing so the optics match the light source. That is what we do, and it is why our retrofits pass an MOT and yours will too.
Bulb swap
Glare, no cut-off
MOT failure on beam pattern
Projector retrofit
Sharp, defined cut-off
Passes, and lights the road
Lighting work
Six jobs we take on
Prices are per vehicle for a standard job and include VAT. Complex housings, adaptive systems and premium hardware are quoted individually.
- From £320
Bi-LED & bi-xenon projector retrofit
The correct projector and shield installed inside your original housing, so the beam has a defined hot spot and a sharp cut-off. This is the only way to properly convert a halogen headlight, and it is the job we do most.
- From £45
Canbus error & flicker resolution
Bulb-out warnings, flicker and hyperflash resolved at module level through coding where the vehicle allows it, or with a correctly rated decoder where it does not. No resistors taped into a loom.
- From £120
Interior, DRL & signal conversion
Full interior LED sets, daytime running lights, indicators, reverse and number plate lighting, using components matched to your vehicle rather than a universal kit off a shelf.
- From £140
Headlight restoration & re-sealing
Clouded lenses machined back and re-lacquered with a UV-stable finish, and condensation traced to failed seals or vents, stripped, dried and properly sealed. Almost always cheaper than replacement.
- £35
Beam alignment & MOT setting
Set on the alignment board to the correct cut-off height and horizontal position for your vehicle. Included free with every retrofit we carry out.
- Quoted per unit
Housing repair & lens replacement
Broken mounting tabs, cracked lenses and damaged adjusters repaired where the unit is otherwise sound, rather than writing off a headlight that costs several hundred pounds to replace.
How a retrofit is done
Six stages, most of it on the bench
A retrofit is patient work. The housing has to be opened without damaging it, modified accurately and sealed properly, or you will be dealing with condensation for the rest of the car's life.
Remove and inspect
Units come off the car and onto the bench. We check the housing, the seals, the vents and the adjusters before quoting any further work.
Open the housing
The lens is separated under controlled heat. Done carelessly this cracks the lens or distorts the housing, which is why it is a bench job and not a driveway one.
Fit projector and shield
The projector is mounted true, so the cut-off sits level. A projector fitted a degree out throws a visibly crooked beam that no amount of adjustment will correct.
Wiring and control
Ballasts or drivers mounted securely, loomed properly and connected so the vehicle's own lighting control still works as designed, including dip, main and any auto function.
Re-seal and vent
Fresh butyl seal and correctly fitted vents. This is the step that decides whether your headlights stay clear in three winters' time.
Refit and beam set
Back on the car, then set on the alignment board to the correct cut-off height and horizontal position. Included free with every retrofit.
Before you buy new units
Most cloudy headlights can be saved
Main dealers quote replacement because replacement is what they sell. On a modern car with adaptive or LED units that can run well past a thousand pounds a pair, and in the large majority of cases it is not necessary.
Yellowing and clouding is UV damage to the outer lens, which machines back and re-lacquers. Internal condensation is a failed seal or a blocked vent, which strips, dries and reseals. Neither means the unit is finished.
- Lens machined back and re-lacquered with a UV-stable finish
- Condensation traced to its actual cause, then sealed and vented
- Broken tabs, adjusters and mounts repaired where the unit is sound
- Typically a fraction of the cost of replacement units
Questions
Lighting questions
Legality, dashboard warnings, cloudy units and customer-supplied parts. The four we field most often.
Are LED and HID upgrades MOT legal?
It depends entirely on how they are fitted. Dropping an LED bulb into a housing designed for halogen produces scatter and glare and will fail an MOT. A projector retrofit, where the correct projector and shield are installed inside the housing, produces a sharp cut-off and is what we fit. We beam-set every vehicle before it leaves.
Can you fix a bulb-out warning on the dashboard?
Yes. Most warnings are caused by the module not seeing the expected current draw from an LED. Depending on the vehicle we resolve this at module level via coding, or with a correctly rated canbus decoder where coding is not available.
My headlights are cloudy and yellowed. Do I need new units?
Usually not. Most clouding is UV damage to the outer lens, which we can machine back and re-lacquer. Internal condensation is normally a failed seal or vent, which we can strip, dry and re-seal. Replacement is a last resort.
Do you fit customer-supplied parts?
We can, but we will inspect them first and we will tell you honestly if the quality will not give a good result. We do not guarantee the parts themselves in that case, only our labour.
Related work
Booked alongside lighting work
Advanced Vehicle Diagnostics
Bulb-out warnings and module coding sit on the boundary between lighting and diagnostics.
Read moreGhost Immobiliser Installation
If the car is worth upgrading, it is worth making sure it is still on your drive tomorrow.
Read moreCustom Performance Remapping
A common combination for owners bringing a car up to the specification it should have had.
Read more
See properly at night
Send us the make, model and year
Headlight housings differ enormously between facelifts and trim levels. Give us the exact vehicle and we will tell you precisely what can be fitted and what it costs.