Does anyone know the state of these 'blue' super-white bulbs as far as the MOT goes? My Focus was eating bulbs at a rate so I bought a full set on Ebay (the 'super white' type etc) which have a bluish tint to the bulb glass. I wouldn't normally bother but they were cheap and 'E' marked so I though what the hell.
When my car had its MOT done last week, it was failed on the two sidelights because of the tint (both bulbs were working) but the main beam bulbs weren't mentioned?
Seems a bit odd - after all the light isn't blue (and isn't any brighter than the normal bulbs to be honest) so why pick on the sidelights and not the main beams?
It was a £2 extra on the MOT so I doubt the garage is trying to pull a fast one.
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Sidelights - From www.motuk.co.uk/manual_110.htm
Reason for rejection
3. a. A front position lamp shows a light other than white to the front, (or yellow if incorporated in a yellow headlamp)
Headlights - From www.motuk.co.uk/manual_120.htm
Reason for rejection
4. e. does not emit light that is either substantially white or yellow.
From the above info, all that I can deduce is that your headlights were substantially white enough for a pass, but your sidlights (by your own admission) showed a light other than white.
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I've got the Philips blue tint sidelight bulbs on my car, they came free from www.powerbulbs.co.uk (not blue light, but whiter than standard).
Mine has passed 2 MoTs with them so far and they have not been mentioned, so either you have got a fussy tester, or the bulbs you have are 'too blue' for them to be acceptable?
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I've got the Philips blue tint sidelight bulbs on my car. They came free from www.powerbulbs.co.uk
(not blue light, but whiter than standard). Mine has passed 2 MoTs with them so far and they have not been mentioned, so either you have got a fussy tester, or the bulbs you have are 'too blue' for them to be acceptable?
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I have had exactly the same experience.
You do have to look extremely closely to notice any change of colour.
In fact these sidelights are a much closer colour match to my Silverstars whereas the old standard bulbs looked a dim yellow. ( They do look better, not that that concerns me)
I will always fit them from now on as they are a much better instant back up for a failed dip beam.
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Side lights and headlamps should be checked that they are the correct type and colour, and have the right dip and aim.
I think that people who've fitted ultra bright bulbs should have their cars crushed, but that's only my opinion, unfortunately.
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Fussy tester seems more likely as all the bulbs had a blueish tint visible on the glass, but only normal white light visible when they were in use. I certainly didn't notice and difference in colour or brightness when they were in use.
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I have had a tester fail headlights because the degree of white/blueness was not quite the same left and right, although bought from the same rack at Halfords.
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My MOT tester failed my van because the rear lights werent red enough.
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My MOT tester failed my van because the rear lights werent red enough.
I had that happen MOTing an old motorbike. The chemist just round the corner sold me a vial of red nail varnish. I'm sure they weren't impressed!
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Sidelight bulbs generally emit yellow light. The way I see it, the blue paint on the bulb (for that is all it is on the cheap sidelight bulbs) is simply there to recolour the light to a more pleasing K-rating.
I had blue-tinted sidelights on the Hyundai, and they just shone pure white really.
Not really worth it though -- they're about £2 each, and the standard bulbs are 50p. And because the standard bulbs are higher quality they last longer. The blue bulbs are just a chav special and I won't be silly enough to buy any again :)
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