Warning: DIY Lamps Aren't Such A Bright Idea

Lighting firm Hella's Jonathan Walls warned: "Drivers are buying DIY kits off the Internet without realising many are illegal in the UK." Fitting them can land you in trouble with the law, plus lead to MoT failure and invalidate insurance cover.

Walls added: "Worst of all, cheap conversions can prove dangerous to other road users, as they emit up to 100 times more glare than legal units." Xenon lamps are popular as they provide double the light of a standard halogen bulb. A legal conversion for a BMW 5-Series using Hella parts costs around ΂£870.

But we found a unit on auction site eBay for only ΂£236. Unlike the Hella system, which replaces the entire lamp, the cheaper version plugs the xenon bulb directly into the halogen socket. Walls ruled the kit was not UK-legal. "It has no self-levelling device to keep the beam on the road, and no washer to remove lens dirt," he said. Illegal xenon use brings a ΂£50 fine and three penalty points.