This page gives you information on, why these Blue Headlight Bulbs are illegal, the possible dangers, and why they should not be used on the UK roads. If after reading this you still want some, either for off road use or for demonstration purposes at Motor Shows etc, we will tell you how you can get some at the bottom of the page.

Don't confuse the bulbs we are talking about here with the legal blue ones which we also supply that merely offer a gentle blue tint, such as the Osram "Cool Blues" or our own brand of Cobalt bulbs. See LEGAL OPTIONS HERE.

The fact is these illegal "off road only" bulbs reduce headlamp performance while increasing dangerous glare. These Bulbs reduce road safety, for you and other drivers.

If you wish to be bored with the science bit, here goes:-

Pure White light is made up of every colour of light mixed together. But the colours are not all present in equal percentages.

The output of normal filament bulbs includes a great deal of red, orange, yellow and green light, but very little blue or violet light. (Though the human eye only sees it as white)

The illegal Blue bulbs we are talking about here have coloured glass (or a filter coating applied to clear glass) that allows only the blue light through the filter — this is why the bulbs appear blue.

Because very little blue light is produced by a normal halogen or xenon bulbs in the first place, it is only this very small percentage of the total amount of light produced by the filament, that ever gets projected on to the road.

Also Blue is one of the shortest wavelength/highest frequency colours of visible light, and, as such, scatters all the more readily.

The other thing to remember is that even though they project less light they give more glare.

Up to 67% less light and 33% more glare in fact. The fact is though that these bulbs are xenon's run off 100/80w so they are much more powerful than a standard halogen headlight bulb. This means that even though they project only 67%  of what the equivalent White xenon bulb would, the fact they are 100w means that you will be dazzling other road users. They will be brighter than the ones you are replacing, and the glare is dangerous.

When people fit new headlight bulbs they tend to switch them on and look at them, we suggest that you do not look too long directly in to them as you will definitely hurt your eyes.

They do not look particularly blue if used during the daylight, but during the hours of darkness you will certainly notice the blue tint.

If the above has not put you off then also be aware that unlike the road legal ones we sell the illegal ones do not run off the same power supply as your normal standard headlight bulbs.

A standard H1 headlight (or blue Tint legal one) will run off your cars normal 12v 55w output.
The illegal H1 runs at 12v 100w.

The standard H3 runs at 12v 55w, the illegal runs at 12v 100w.
 A H4 standard runs off 12v 60/55w, the illegal H4 runs off 12v 100/80w.

We've never had any customers come back say this has happened to them but, you have to be aware that the extra wattage can cause potentially dangerous and costly problems.

For instance, a vehicle with a 55W output putting in a bulb that draws 100/80w could melt the wires in extreme circumstances and/or blow fuses. Remember that electrical damage to your car can be very costly to put right.

If you understand the risks you can still purchase Off Road Bulbs here.