Volvo 480 Club Europe

I was lucky enough to be given some cash at Christmas & decided to buy new front light clusters . They came from The Netherlands & had both the indicator & DRL bulb holders fitted, though the DRL's were the European 5w fittings. Anyway, using the original bulb holders I thought I'd try & keep the new clusters pristine & avoid the dreaded toasting of the plastic lenses by fitting LED's. I've tried everything to fit LED 21w/4w bulbs but they've either not dimmed or have stopped the pop-ups working & the light is so white it doesn't match the headlights or spotlights so would probably fail the MOT here in the UK. So my question is... can I use the European 5w holders & fit 5w bulbs? Is it legal in the UK & will everything still work? We all know how sensitive the 480 electrics can be
I would really like to fit warm white LED 21w/4w but haven't been able to find any anywhere. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks,

Cheers,
Dave

I got some led driving lights off Spree and they are great, they keep the lens cool and the temp builds slowly so there is no super fast led on / off thing.Mine has been through 2 mots with them, although I think your right, technically I should have been picked up on that but they look very natural!

Thanks timrosser, I did pm Spree but got no response I guess it's a while back since he did the LED's. For now I'm running with the LED's that don't dim. Not due for MOT for a while yet

I have been through a number of mots (5) and I have the 5w european drls and there has never been a problem with them. They are a lot better than the uk ones and to be honest your car is 20+ years old how the hell would they know what it should like!

so dont worry about it .

ps they are legal

and yes everything still works

That's brilliant Jim, thanks . I'll give mine a go. I was a bit worried they would switch off or only come on once the pop-ups were active as they only have 2 connections & not 3. Should save the front plastics from burning eh? Wish I'd tried this before buying the LED's

My DRL are not only toast, but now broken both sides - I'd like to replace the clusters entirely both sides (one is a late clear version, one an orange). Is there a website for the Netherlands supplier?

Thanks

Martin

Hi Martin,

I had mine from here: http://www.estateservices.nl .
Looks like I had the last ones as they're not available now

Regards,
Dave

You can get ones from a Volvo dealership through the spare parts shop. I used this method got get a pair of new OEM parts, the later, clear white model for my Turbo. Mind you that was several years ago, so I'm not sure they are still available.

Ah, those were the days! Unfortunately neither colour indicator cluster is available new anywhere now. If you are patient, you will eventually find a decent pair on eBay as they do come up, often from Europe.‎ You might even get new-old-stock.