Finally! But some questions...

Hi everyone,
finally got my Jimny (Jamaica) jb74 after about a year of waiting. It is the GL AT model. Not really sure how that model corresponds to the UK variants... 
It came fitted with halogen headlamps, as well as halogen fogs. 
I know I cannot simply replace the bulbs with Led variants, but could I get upgraded "halogen" bulbs to give me brighter lights and closer to a white colour temp? 
I checked OSRAMs website, and saw some options listed. But to be honest I'm not really understanding. 

Looking forward to posting some photos of my Jimny and its mods. I've owned a few vehicles, but my Blue Jimny (kids can't decide if to call it Sonic or JimnySmurf) has fully captured my heart.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

You have all of the luck, a lovely island, fantastic weather and you can still buy a Jimny with four seats! It must be a little corner of paradise. Great colour as well, if I fly over can I take it back in the plane as hand luggage?

By the way my first drive in a Jimny was on holiday in St Lucia, I guess that is why 10 years later I bought one.

I have Osram Night Breakers in my Gen 3, I think there was a big improvement, mind I thought that the stock lights were fine for the speed of the vehicle, but the Osrams are better again. I did see a Jimny with LED headlight bulbs, they made my Osrams look yellow, but they aren't legal yet here as after market fitments, just from new.

Just find which bulbs are already fitted and there should be a replacement.

Robin

Hello and Welcome

Thanks so much for the comments! Yes, I do feel quite blessed and lucky for what you have mentioned. I grew up driving in a jimny with friends picking mangoes lol. I will see what other info I can find out about the nightbreakers. Thank you again.

Welcome to the forum. Another vote for the nightbreaker. Great things on a quiet back road night drive.

Hello an welcome to the forum.

At least in the EU there are now street legal LED headlight bulbs for the Gen3.

www.osram.de/am/night-breaker-led/index....=/night-breaker-led/

wrote:

Hello an welcome to the forum.

At least in the EU there are now street legal LED headlight bulbs for the Gen3.

www.osram.de/am/night-breaker-led/index....=/night-breaker-led/

I see these are listed as compatible with the Gen 3 Jimny - anyone tried them?  My interest is specific to the negative switching that Suzuki uses which has been known to cause problems with LED retrofits.

I did not try them but some from some other forum and I did not read of any problems so far. However these LEDs are quite recent, so there might not be any long term experiences yet.

I can’t see what the problem might be in switching the negative? I have been designing electronic control modules for about 40 years, it’s very common to switch the negative side, in fact I can’t remember the last time I saw a switch 8n the positive side.

The LED clearly needs to be the right way up, but beyond that the only thing I can see killing it is ripple or over voltage.

Robin

wrote:

I can’t see what the problem might be in switching the negative? 
 

An H4 incandescent lamp has two filaments, one for high beam, the other for low beam - and three terminals - high beam, low beam & common
The H4 version of the lamp will contain two diode arrays, one for high beam, the other for low beam, and the same three terminals, so either the anodes will have to be connected together and the cathodes separate, or the cathodes connected together and the anodes separate.

In a conventional automotive environment, for example the park/side lights on a Jimny, the positive supply side is switched, and the negative side is connected to the chassis.

On many cars, the headlights are conventionally switched, so that common terminal in the bulb is grounded and the positive supply switched to the high beam or low beam terminal as required - on a Jimny, and every other Suzuki I've looked at, the headlights have been negative switched, with the positive supply connected to the common terminal in the bulb, and a ground applied to the high beam or low beam terminal.

Because diodes (LEDs included) are polarity sensitive, not all LED lamps work in a negative switched headlight system, 

By the way, over current is what kills LEDs - over current & over heating.  My first exposure to LEDs was in the late 70's when red was the only color available, and all they were good for was panel indicators and seven segment calculator displays.

Whilst I agree with you 100%, the new generation of LED H4 headlamp bulbs appear to be non-polarised, I guess the LED chip driver is a full bridge circuit and it doesn't matter which way they are connected.

If it was polarity sensitive then a LED for a negative common [terminal] just wouldn't work in the Jimny with positive common.

I thought that ther was a prohibition against fitting an led element into a lamp unit not specifically designed for such a thing.