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Old 20th November 2020, 20:47   #11
Mickyboy
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Sounds good mate can’t wait to catch up again.
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Old 21st November 2020, 09:01   #12
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Having a quick look at the manual and section 4.1.4 it may come under defect b

(b) Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow

I don’t want to be negative or cause upset but some MOT testers could have the opinion that you must prove that light intensity hasn’t been reduced by the etching? You can gauge this to some extent via the headlamp tester but looking and making a judgement I think will be different from one tester to another. There won’t be the luxury of comparing with another car. I think this modification looks absolutely fab but in my opinion there’s some potential doubt to how the manual is interpreted. It’s difficult to make an accurate mot decision via a photo or video so it may not be an issue but mot testers can be difficult to please if there’s some ambiguity
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Last edited by sworks; 21st November 2020 at 09:21..
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Old 21st November 2020, 09:58   #13
The Rovering Member
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Good quality work that, they look grand with the Rover one particularly elegant.
Not for my daily car though as they do get quite chipped in regular use.
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Old 21st November 2020, 10:00   #14
Mickyboy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sworks View Post
Having a quick look at the manual and section 4.1.4 it may come under defect b

(b) Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow

I don’t want to be negative or cause upset but some MOT testers could have the opinion that you must prove that light intensity hasn’t been reduced by the etching? You can gauge this to some extent via the headlamp tester but looking and making a judgement I think will be different from one tester to another. There won’t be the luxury of comparing with another car. I think this modification looks absolutely fab but in my opinion there’s some potential doubt to how the manual is interpreted. It’s difficult to make an accurate mot decision via a photo or video so it may not be an issue but mot testers can be difficult to please if there’s some ambiguity
That’s exactly what our MOT tester said and why he said “curious” because he couldn’t say if he would pass or fail it based on the video, he did however tell me he has failed some headlight tints before due to reduced light,
From memory I thought you was also a approved tester mark?

On a personal note I actually think they look fantastic
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Jobs done : new UBP, Spy hole mod, Rear hub(wheel bearing),plenum cleaned and emptied, Inline thermostat fitted,Full service, In car Digital tv/DVD Bluetooth Satnav etc, Replaced UBP, Restored headlights,Fixed airbag connection.replaced HP pump,replaced rear light seals,changed intercooler O rings.

Jobs to do: ,replace drivers lock,.
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Old 21st November 2020, 15:51   #15
Ched
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Tut tut Rick, no thanks to punch deck for the soundtrack.........
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Old 22nd November 2020, 23:14   #16
Rick-sta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sworks View Post
Having a quick look at the manual and section 4.1.4 it may come under defect b

(b) Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow

I don’t want to be negative or cause upset but some MOT testers could have the opinion that you must prove that light intensity hasn’t been reduced by the etching? You can gauge this to some extent via the headlamp tester but looking and making a judgement I think will be different from one tester to another. There won’t be the luxury of comparing with another car. I think this modification looks absolutely fab but in my opinion there’s some potential doubt to how the manual is interpreted. It’s difficult to make an accurate mot decision via a photo or video so it may not be an issue but mot testers can be difficult to please if there’s some ambiguity
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mickyboy View Post
That’s exactly what our MOT tester said and why he said “curious” because he couldn’t say if he would pass or fail it based on the video, he did however tell me he has failed some headlight tints before due to reduced light,
From memory I thought you was also a approved tester mark?

On a personal note I actually think they look fantastic

Key word there is being "Obviously". If the lights are emitting a satisfactory bright enough light with no issue with the beam pattern then there's no reason to fail it. It's common sense. If the MOT tester believes the light output is reduced due to the etching then it would be up to the tester to prove that point. The tester can't just fail it on a hunch, just because he/she "thinks" it affects the brightness. Same principle applies to decatting/gutting cat converts. The MOT tester can only fail it if he/she is 100% sure the car has been decatted. If the factory cat has been gutted i.e. internals knocked out but there's no obvious signs to prove it (i.e. can't see that the cat has been cut open and then welded back shut) then the MOT tester can't fail it.

If the light output matches the brightness you'd expect to see from that type of headlight ( i.e. halogen/xenon/LED) then there's no reason to fail it on brightness.

Applying a tint film over the lenses reduces the light output and can reduce it quite significantly depending on the tint % and yet so many vehicles I know of with tinted headlight lenses pass the MOT every time no issues. Etching the lenses doesn't affect the brightness of the lights.

In fact I can now confirm lens etching doesn't reduce the light output from the projectors what so ever or alter the beam pattern after completing the first running set now fitted to our Kuga. Have taken it out for some night runs over the last 2 nights including on unlit roads and there is zero change in light output, which is what I expected anyway from the research I'd done into this before hand.

This isn't something new, custom lens etching has been around for years now, it's just something I've only just got round to trying out myself. There's custom headlight building companies in the UK that have been offering this for a good few years now, and UK members on custom headlighting groups and forums I'm on who have had etched lenses on their cars for a few years with no MOT issues what so ever.

Here's some pics of the set I've done on the Kuga











and here's the beam pattern and brightness they emit, no change from before the lens etching.



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Last edited by Rick-sta; 22nd November 2020 at 23:41..
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Old 22nd November 2020, 23:39   #17
Rick-sta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sworks View Post
Having a quick look at the manual and section 4.1.4 it may come under defect b

(b) Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow

I don’t want to be negative or cause upset but some MOT testers could have the opinion that you must prove that light intensity hasn’t been reduced by the etching? You can gauge this to some extent via the headlamp tester but looking and making a judgement I think will be different from one tester to another. There won’t be the luxury of comparing with another car. I think this modification looks absolutely fab but in my opinion there’s some potential doubt to how the manual is interpreted. It’s difficult to make an accurate mot decision via a photo or video so it may not be an issue but mot testers can be difficult to please if there’s some ambiguity
If the MOT tester were to interpret 4.1.4 the way you're suggesting, then he/she should fail every single 75/ZT on that basis that goes though that MOT test garage. Reason why? Because no 75/ZT projector headlight performs as good as it should do and would have done when it was new.

This is because the projector lens over time collects dirt/grime and dust which over time makes the lens go a milky colour and cloud over time and reduces the light output.

See below, here's a projector lens removed from a facelift headlight, and you can see the layer of dust and dirt which coats both sides of the glass lens.



And after a clean here's how it should look:



Again here's a before pic with the projector switched on:



Same projector after a clean:



for a better comparison here's half the lens cleaned



Now here's a comparison of light output with a lux meter at 50cm from the lens, measurement taken from the center of the beam:

Light output prior to cleaning the lens:



Light output after cleaning the lens:



and as a further test, here's the projector with one of my etched lenses fitted with the xpower design:



And here's the light output test. Only the tiniest drop in the reading.



So this dirt built up causing clouding on the projector lens reduces the light output which is noticeable. If you took your headlights apart, cleaned up the projector lenses, reassembled and tested the lights at night you would notice a difference as I have.

Therefore if you wanted to interpret 4.1.4 in that way, i.e. fail the headlights because there is a product on the lens which reduces the light output (even if the light output is still at a satisfactory brightness) then every older car with projector headlights should fail under this rule. As this cloudiness is visible when you switch the projectors on.

This cloudiness paired with headlight lenses that need a refurb significantly reduces your light output, and yet very rarely does a 75/ZT fail on reduced light output due to badly frosted lenses. And I've had some very had ones well overdue a refurb here over the last few years, so bad that you couldn't see into the headlights at all.
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Old 3rd December 2020, 14:38   #18
Rick-sta
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Finished my custom etched lenses on Redfive's headlights with the MG logo turbine design over the last couple days with RGB Demon eyes. Done this on the outer factory projectors. Set the demon eyes to blue which goes really nicely with the red halos.

So the Demon eyes and Red halos are all set up to turn on when I unlock the car or when a car door is open. When the ignition is switched on the demon eyes and red halos switch off and the white DRLs turn on.

Went for an MOT today with the lights fitted with just the outer projectors running as the dipped beams (switched off the quads so that only the etched lenses are running as the dipped beams for the MOT) and it passed with no issues what so ever Didn't even get a comment on them which was rather disappointing, as usually the MOT tester notices and comments on my mods on our cars.

So there you go, perfectly fine for MOTS

Here's some pics of the etched lenses with blue Demon eyes.












With the dipped beams on



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Old 3rd December 2020, 21:35   #19
janker
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They look great Rick, well done fantastic job mate.
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Old 4th December 2020, 08:15   #20
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Nice to see this new option for our cars. Genuinely innovative. Good mini experiment to back up the innovation. Well done Rick.
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