Thank's to Migwell030744 and Kevin for the below info.

Migwell030744 Wrote:I had thought of installing a HID kit in my car as above but after tucpal's warning I looked further into it and came up with this about the subject. I am NOT now going to do the upgrade. and can't aford to swap the whole headlight system for projectors.


The latest directive from VOSA includes their view that unless strict criteria are met, after-market HID kits may not be legal.


There is some confusion regarding the change in legislation towards HID kits. Although we are still trying to determine the full details here is some text that may help! Many thanks to the MX3 Forum guys who bought it to my attention


Here is the relevant text -


"In the Department's view it is not legal to sell or use after market HID lighting kits, for converting conventional Halogen headlamps to HID Xenon. If a customer wants to convert his vehicle to Xenon HID he must purchase completely new Xenon HID headlamps. The reason for this is that the existing lens and reflector are designed around a Halogen filament bulb, working to very precise tolerances. If one places a HID "burner" (bulb) in the headlamp, the beam pattern will not be correct, there will be glare in some places and not enough light in other places within the beam pattern.
The following is the legal rationale:


The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 regulate the situation in the UK.
Under these Regulations, HID/Gas Discharge/Xenon headlamps are not mentioned and therefore they are not permitted according to the strict letter of the law.


However new vehicles have HID headlamps. This is because they comply to European type approval Regulations. The UK cannot refuse to register a vehicle with a European type approval. These are to ECE Regulation 98 (for the HID headlamps which are tested on a rig in a laboratory) and ECE Regulation 48 (Lighting Installation on the vehicle).


For the after market, a used vehicle cannot obtain type approval because it is only applicable for new vehicles. However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable. Instead we should make analogies with new vehicles. It would be reasonable to require HID in the after market to meet the same safety standards as on new vehicles. The same level of safety should apply.


Therefore a HID headlamp unit sold in the after market should:


1. be type approved to ECE Regulation 98 as a component.
2. when fitted to the vehicle should enable ECE Regulation 48 to be complied with (although no government inspection will take place).
3. Comply with RVLR as far as "use" is concerned.


In practice this means:


1. The headlamp unit (outer lens, reflector, bulb) shall be type approved to ECE 98 and be "e-marked" to demonstrate this. That can only be done by the headlamp supplier - Hella, Valeo etc. who must test the headlamp in an independent laboratory.
2. Once fitted to the vehicle it must have headlamp cleaning and self-levelling (which can be for the headlamp or can be in the vehicle suspension - some expensive estate cars have "self-levelling suspension" and that is adequate). Also the dipped beam must stay on with the main beam.
3. The headlamp must be maintained in good working order, kept clean, and aligned/adjusted correctly like any other headlamp.
Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is an offence to supply, fit or use vehicle parts which are not legal.
In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs. The entire headlamp unit must be replaced with one designed and approved for use with HID bulbs and it must be installed in accordance with the rules stated above."


If you are found to be using lights which don't comply, in all likelihood, you may be reported to the Procurator Fiscal and may end up with a fine.


The above seems to be a precursor to the new MOT criteria slated to come into existance on New Years Eve 2011 (for 2012), this is from the MOT Testers VOSA bullitin explaining the new EU MOT regulations which were ratified this year, and includes amongst other things, the testing of wiring harnesses, the testing for illegal HID kits and, wait for it, chipped ECU's, whatever that means The article is quite long, but here is a small extract .....


"As far as changes to the test content are concerned, VOSA has already been analysing the requirements of the new Directive and working out how to implement them. We started this earlier in the year by talking with representatives of the MOT trade at our regular Trade User Group and VTS Council meetings. Both VOSA and the Department for Transport (DfT) are keen to ensure that any changes to the test are introduced in as practical a way as possible, keeping the burden on the trade to a minimum and ideally keeping the changes cost neutral.


In many cases, the changes shouldn’t necessarily lead to an increase in average test times. A good example is the malfunction indicator lamps on the dashboard that indicate defective electronic power steering, electronic stability control and secondary restraint systems. Testers already check the dashboard for other lamps, so no extra time would be required for this addition to the test.


Electrical wiring and batteries are now included in the test’s scope, but testers already check the vehicle structure where wiring is secured – often along the same routes as other testable items, such as brake pipes in the engine compartment. So again, this doesn’t look like an additional burden on the tester. In the pre-computerisation days, testers often (wrongly) failed vehicles for insecure batteries, so they must have been looking at them then! Now, it means that when we implement the new Directive, vehicles can legitimately fail for battery insecurity, for no extra tester effort.Other items – such as headlamp bulb and unit incompatibility, headlamp levelling devices and illegal engine ‘chipping’ – will need further thought before we can get a workable solution for MOT stations."

Kevin Wrote:For the mot side of things, hid's do not require headlamp levelling or washing system to be fitted. But if they are fitted, then they must work. Having said that, the levelling system can be faulty and still pass. As it's almost impossible to test the levelling side of things during an mot, the benefit of doubt goes to the vehicle presenter!


Strange thing is, when on refresher courses we get told that the lighting regs are the same for mot's and construction and use regs. Which really doesn't make sense now with the way hids are tested for an mot!

CD400 TO NAV500 UPGRADE

So you may have heard ANDY from VXMODS has fitted the NAV,500 To my astra j today
i had the CD,400 as standard and Andy has done alot of research to make this work
so as his slogan says he is doing the things that Vauxhall and many others have said can not be done
everything works on the NAV 500 SAT,NAV and USB he also reactivated the Bluetooth and DAB
that i had already retro fitted so you will not lose the Bluetooth if you have already had it retro fitted it will still work
here is a before picture with the CD,400



here are a few random pictures of the NAV,CD,500 that has just replaced the old CD400 unit







DAY AND NIGHT MODE DISPLAY
this can also be set to automatic.





DISPLAY OPTION PICTURES.
 




















I am over the moon with this retro fit
and its another astra j VX.O.C first
i now have the nav,500, USB, DAB AND Bluetooth and all are as factory fit.  
i knew if anyone could do this it would be Andy from VXMODS
so if you have any questions or want more info on how this was done
VXMODS have there own section on here in the trader section
sure he will be working out prices for this retro fit very soon.

SO THE QUESTION CAN THE CD400 BE UPGRADED TO THE NAV500 on the Astra j THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS YES IT CAN.

So despite what you may have heard on other forums this is now possible
he also says the NAV,600 should work as well
Also if he can get the NAV,600 to work then there are retro fit software updates
to turn the NAV,600 into the nav800 and nav900 upgrade
so that will be very interesting.

i can also say if you use a second hand NAV unit
the NAV disc will already be installed on the NAV and all the info will be there when you swap it over
i did get the disc as well with this so i have if for back up.

also if you want the Bluetooth and DAB to work they will have to be retro fitted separate
and the USB will come as part of the NAV unit.

If you are looking for a NAV unit from ebay etc
you will need the NAV unit, the NAV screen, the correct front display, and the tray for the USB. and the shark fin for the GPS







ANDY CAN NOW DO THE NAV600 AS WELL
So NAV500 and NAV600 can be done Astra J and GTC.

I WOULD ADVISE ANYONE LOOKING TO DO THIS TO CONTACT ANDY FROM VXMODS FIRST
BEFORE BUYING ANYTHING....look in the trader section