Recommended LED Low-Beam upgrade for 2013 Leaf S?

[pointlomadave]

I just want brighter headlights for my 2013 Leaf S. I have this recollection that the low beams are only 35W halogens. They are borderline dangerous with the low light output. Anyone else just get a higher wattage bulb and have any success?

[LeftieBiker]

If you want to swap terrible low beams for terrible high beams and good lows, try the headlight assembly from a halogen SV. Then replace the bulbs with Philips 'X-Treme Power' halogens. The highs will still be bad, though.

[powersurge]

I'm sorry, but I think the standard lights are fine and adequate, and they cost nothing. Improving may be a good idea, but the difference of a few lumens will not make a difference unless you drive in the totally black wilderness....

I will not spend hundreds and "modify" my working car and trust that the bulb FAN will continue to work for the life of the bulb..

I will not risk my expensive headlight assembly with possible damage or fire, or the risk of setting my car on fire to get a few more "lumens"... Or worse yet... To make my headlights "cooler looking"...

[pointlomadave]

I'm sorry, but I think the standard lights are fine and adequate, and they cost nothing. Improving may be a good idea, but the difference of a few lumens will not make a difference unless you drive in the totally black wilderness....

I will not spend hundreds and "modify" my working car and trust that the bulb FAN will continue to work for the life of the bulb..

I will not risk my expensive headlight assembly with possible damage or fire, or the risk of setting my car on fire to get a few more "lumens"... Or worse yet... To make my headlights "cooler looking"...

Normally I agree. In this instance, the "S" model (at least for 2013) came with standard headlights and the SV & SL trim came with LED headlights IIRC. The light output is dangerously low on the "S." I've modified lots of cars and motorcycles and I've NEVER seen any reason to change the headlights except in this case. And even here, all I want is a higher wattage replacement halogen bulb. Maybe a 55/60W bulb rather than the 35/35 I think it might have on there now. Need to confirm that info, but that is my take. =)

[LeftieBiker]

In this instance, the "S" model (at least for 2013) came with standard headlights and the SV & SL trim came with LED headlights IIRC. The light output is dangerously low on the "S."

LED low beams were an option on the SV, not standard. Mine has what I guess are the same halogen lights as the S, and the low beams are perfectly fine. It's the high beams that are terrible, and you get that same halogen high beam setup with the LED option, IIRC. If you have terrible low beams, then you have a problem with the lights in your car, not a design defect.

[pointlomadave]

OK, just checked the bulb. 55/60W. So, no upgrade for me. Oh well. =(

[nerys]

why not just upgrade to LEAF LED headlights?

I already have TWO sets ($100 to $120 off ebay if you hunt for a while though I bought both my sets 2 years ago so YMMV)

I bought them to eventually install them on my other cars so I could have dot approved proper light pattern LED headlights on my others cars because once I drove my leaf with its headlights I NEVER want to use regular lights again.

update. on checking it seems they sell for a lot more today ($150 to $300 ish) ouch. I guess I got lucky.

keep checking though. I imagine they are plug and play.

[Leaf15]

There was a few bulbs mentioned in earlier posts/threads, but most of them are no longer available. I tried and failed with quite a few LED kits to get me SV halogen H13 replaced. Finally, I found a good alternative with passive cooling and small enough profile to fit info Leaf lights.
H13/9008 LED Headlight Bulbs Hi/Lo Beam Conversion Kit, DOT Approved, SEALIGHT S1 series Super Bright 24xCSP chips LED Automotive Headlamp-6000K Xenon White (2 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CP ... UTF8&psc=1.

Here is what I did to get those to fit and adjusted:
Have to re-adjust the base to match OEM bulbs filament arrangement (DOT label pointing to the widest locking pin on base). Also, you need to make sure you tighten the base screws so it is flash with base, otherwise it will get stuck in the bulb seat. The bulb is not aligned vertically in the light itself, but it is the way those were designed, so the beam pattern should be correct one.You have to tackle connected plug inside the light first and then secure the bulb in the light so you can put cover behind the bulb. So far I did not get any oncoming flashes, so everybody are happy on the road.

[sendler2112]

These new 50W LED bulbs from DDM Tuning are amazing in my motorcycle and should be great in a halogen Leaf. The Beam pattern is perfect
bright white velvet with no artifacts or hot spots. Vertical cut off remained perfect so as not to glare oncoming drivers even though these are the brightest thing on the road. The compact cooling fan mounted on the back makes them a bit longer out the back and they run quite hot though so it is necessary to leave the access covers off from behind them in order to get rid of the heat. On the motorcycle I cut out the center of the cap to fit back on around the fan to keep the water out of the lens and also cut an intake vent on the bottom of the cap for through flow. The stock LED low beams on my 2014 SL are really good but I might upgrade the high beams and fog lights since turning them on in addition to the stock LED lows seems to do little more than add some yellow color. definitely will do the fog lights. You can see from the photos how small they have gotten these super bright led emitters so that they occupy the same physical space as the original halogen filaments so as to retain the perfect beam pattern and cut off with no glare or aiming problems. DDM also sells the can bus decoder in case these cars have bulb monitoring warnings that come on after LED installation.
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https://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Sabe ... 3HL-LED-PR
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They are also selling the previous 35W version.
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https://www.ddmtuning.com/Products/Sabe ... -H13HL-W-Y
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Here is a high end halogen to show the filament location but my experience with super bright halogens is that they don't last very long.
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https://www.bulbs.com/product/9008CVB2
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[BillHolz]

I got these for Christmas and like them: https://www.amazon.com/8000LM-Bright-Br ... _i=desktop

After 3 years these are flickering on low beam, which is what I use most of the time. They are also the loudest thing on the otherwise silent car when running at night. I have ordered a different brand and will report on them soon.