Europe driving headlight conversion

[Ishj]

Just a quick question over light conversion to enable driving in Europe. I had an Octavia a few years back and it had a shutter in the headlight unit that removed the requirement for deflectors being stuck onto the lens. Does the standard halogen unit on the 8v have a similar feature?

 

[TreborA4]

I guess you mean conversion and not conversation!

 

[NHN]

Just a quick question over light conversation to enable driving in Europe. I had an Octavia a few years back and it had a shutter in the headlight unit that removed the requirement for deflectors being stuck onto the lens. Does the standard halogen unit on the 8v have a similar feature?

You need to check your manual to see if it has accessible levers to switch beam lower or not.

 

[Ishj]

I guess you mean conversion and not conversation!

opps thanks.

 

[Ishj]

You need to check your manual to see if it has accessible levers to switch beam lower or not.

Will do when I get the car. The wait has been so long, well it feels that way.

 

[mjcourtney]

Would be interested to know whether the Xenons need adjusting for continental driving too.

 

[h5djr]

Cannot this be done from the Car section of the MMI screen. I'm sure I saw this on the one I test drove a couple of weeks ago.

 

[NHN]

I would expect so for xenons, but unless they've tied the manual height adjustment in some halogens, to mmi tourist mode aswell, then doubtful.

 

[mjcourtney]

Just been out to check, and no - there's no option to adjust the headlights in the MMI.

 

[A3sportbackrob]

Finally after a chat with two local dealers I can give the answer that is kind of written in the book. The supplying dealer told me on the phone that my xenon's need to be changed by the dealer not as per the mentioned process through the mmi in the book. They did say they would do this free of charge but I was close to another dealer and armed with my manual I went in and got to the bottom of it.

They had just been on a course on the new A3 and confirmed that as loosely mentioned in the manual that no adjustment is needed!

This is because the beam pattern no longer has the kick up on the left hand side it is flat so this is deemed acceptable for driving aboard so all we have to do is just change the digital speedo to kmh and we are away.

I think this could be the same on the halogens but I think it has an option on the mmi for if you have cornering lights or what ever they are called.

Hope this helps

 

[mjcourtney]

That is very useful to know! Thanks

 

[cemerson]

That's strange - I wonder why they changed the beam pattern like that. On the configurator for the adaptive lights it clearly shows the beam pattern being 'longer' on the left in the diagram too. Does this mean the lights aren't as effective?

 

[A3sportbackrob]

They are very good but they are just flat and wide not kicking up in the air as they used to be.

 

[NHN]

I'm going to ask some questions to a mastertech friend, some people on mainly service desks don't know what they're talking about, they maybe correct for once, but I'd prefer a technician to confirm

 

[Jenks108]

NHN - That would be great, im picking my Sportback up on Saturday and im off to France a week later so would really appreciate knowing if i can avoid having to buy the stick-on deflectors. ive got standard headlights on my sport so any specifics about these headlamps would be welcomed.
cheers

 

[cemerson]

I'm looking at the Workshop manual which I received today, and it says the following:

Adapting headlights for driving on the left or right side of the road - halogen headlights
No adjustments need to be made to the headlights when travelling in countries where the vehicle is driven on the other side of the road.

Adapting headlights for driving on the left or right side of the road - gas discharge headlights without cornering light
When travelling in countries where the vehicle is to be driven on the other side of the road, both headlights must be adjusted to prevent dazzling by the asymmetric dipped beam.
Procedure
– The headlights are adapted for driving on the left or right via the multimedia system operating unit → Vehicle Owner's Manual.

 

[NHN]

That sounds more like it, but I still cant see halogens not needing adjusting at all.

 

[Jenks108]

cool, that's good enough for me. Cheers

 

[mjcourtney]

I can't find any setting in the MMI for adjusting my xenons.

 

[cemerson]

Strange. Not sure then - can't find any other reference to it in there.

 

[cemerson]

Perhaps its an option that needs enabling with a vcds first?

 

[A3sportbackrob]

As I said earlier from the master tec they have flat beam pattern so no need for any changes to be made. You only have the option on the mmi if you adaptive lights.

 

[cemerson]

Ah, that would explain it, though the workshop manual / elsawin doesn't seem to distinguish between the xenons with the adaptive function or not.

 

[hittchy]

As I said earlier from the master tec they have flat beam pattern so no need for any changes to be made. You only have the option on the mmi if you adaptive lights.

This makes sense. I had the option on my A4 in the MMI, but not on the A3.