Headlight Issues

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Dave_Bayern

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I've been having some trouble now that the hours have changed, thus making my journey home in darkness.

I have aftermarket Xenons fitted, in projector lamps, so they are very bright, but have a clear cut-off and I had my MOT 3 weeks ago, so I know that they are adjusted correctly.

Anyway, as its dark, maybe 1/10 people flash me thinking I have my lights on full as opposed to just a bright dipped beam.

So, I decided to upgrade my main beams so that I can indicate to these idiots that the world has moved on from candles in a davy lamp and that my dipped beam being brighter than their main is simply a by-product of their being left behind, technologically speaking like.

So eBay furnished me with some 80W rally lights.

Phillips competition rally, not suitable for public road etc.

Now, when someone flashes me I can actually inflict the power of the sun on them!!

Bwahahahahahahahaha.

Its like opening up a can of light based whoopass.

Does anyone else have a modern car and thus have these light based problems with peasant car driving proles?
 
im not sure if mine are standard or aftermarket on my s3, by my dipped lights are zenons...however they are in the inner bulbs (ie my headlight has 2 seperate holders...and usually you see a3's with dipped on outters...mines on inners...next to grill)

anyway...i know wot u mean, had the same problem on a trip to colchester this weekend gone, every1 kept puttin there mains on to **** me off, height adjustment is right...they just seem to think there toooo bright?

oh well :hubbahubba:
 
Surely if oncoming cars flash you, repeatedly, your lights must be dazzling them. If you have an aftermarket hid kit, these are techincally illeagal, due to the fact they are fitted to non xenon lamp backings. even if you have washers (required by law on xenons) these aftermarket hid kits are not legal according to the vehicle use guys.
There have been many cases of insuraces being invalidated when such an issue is found and other drivers make allegations of being dazzled.


Your solution, Dave, I have to say is quite pathetic! to dazzle people even more is stupid and downright reckless, as is the fitting of 80w rally bulbs that are labelled not for road use.
I hope you get done for them, before you cause an accident.

Grow up a bit, fella!

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/videos/featuresvideos/204742/xenon_test.html
 
First of all, you need to check your facts, as aftermarket Xenons are not regulated by the relevant acts for factory fit Xenons.

First of all, they do not need washers, and secondly, mine are fitted in projector lamps designed for Xenons, as mentioned in the post.

If you want, I can dig out the exact paragraph stating aftermarket fitments do not need to adhere.

I challenge you to find me an actual case of invalidate insurance. Stop making up nonsense.

And actually, on another forum where I posted this, a lot of people agreed, and said that their Xenon lights make other people flash them too, as they are naturally whiter than standard gas bulbs, people think they are brighter. Coupled with the fact I dont use main beam on most roads as my Xenons are bright, people dont see me change the beam, so they assume i still have full beam on.
 
a lot of debate about it being a grey area I agree, but you are asking for trouble. Clearly your lights are a danger to others by dazzling them, I have factory xenons and I hever get flashed.....!
But your solution to fit rally illeagal bulbs and dazzle them more is totally illeagal and stupid too, so I stand by what I think!

What I found out when I investigated a kit was they are illegal according to RTA 1988.
 
Thats the thing, I had my MOT 3 weeks ago, and they said they were fine, this is the first MOT with them fitted too, so I asked specifically to know.

I'm wondering if it is just the lack of me having to switch that people assume as its a country road I must be running main beam.

The rally headlights are main beam, hence not often used, so I'm not going about dazzling people into hedges :)
 
"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."

seems clear enough to me......
 
The headlamp unit is the exact same as the one thats for use with HID's
 
That article states that the regulations are for new cars only and that "However we feel that saying "HID is banned in the after market" would not be reasonable"

This "In summary it is not permitted to convert an existing halogen headlamp unit for use with HID bulbs" is also not true in my case, I have facelift Xenon lamp units.

And to confirm, even the DfT say that its not clear.

"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."

So NO-ONE, not even new cars can have HID as the letter of the law stands.

I stand firmly in the grey area as per usual, with my HID's and pressed plates :)
 
As do i lol, they make the ruuuuubish standard audi headlights at least a little better
 
In fact, looking at it, the last time there was a bill on road lighting in the UK was 1989, so in fact, as it doesnt mention Xenons as per DfT, I'm as legal as everyone else.

Thats mad, 17 years ago, its like stopping distances, which are based on distances measured in the early 80s.

Northern Ireland last updated theirs in 2000, which is still only just on the cusp of these new popular lighting options for production cars.
 
And even more investigation shows

"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)."

My light units are German supplied and have a proper TuV stamp. So my lights have European type approval, so in fact I am 100% completely legal.

Hooray!
 
I'm all for Xenons - yes they can dazzle under certain road cambers but they make a huge difference to visibility. I used to get the odd flash when in my facelift S3 but have replaced that with an A4 with Xenon pack which includes 'see round corners' active headlights. The lit area of road is very bright, but despite the area outside this being seemingly unlit, I get more flashes from other motorists than I did in the S3. Again, I think it's a camber thing - the lights are clever at reading the road - but not that clever. While making for a great story I think I'd be wary of using the rally lights (no matter how irate the flashing makes you). Flash a copper and you could be in trouble (especially if it doesn't involve headlights).
Reminds me of a bloke who runs a Porsche garage who told me he fitted about a dozen rally lights to his MkII Escort - went out to show off to his mates at the pub and when he flashed them the electrics blew and the car ground to a halt, smoking.
 
Live happily in your grey area on the HIds, but your solution to the flashing from dazzled users is blatantly illeagal, childish and reckless.

Like I say I hope you get stopped and done for them before you cause an accident. No grey area involved at all with not for road use bulbs, is there?
 
Have to say I sometimes get flashed, but thats only usually when I'm coming round a corner or on an uneven road - the flicker sometimes blinds people.

Other times it's just miserable old ******** who just dont like people with HID's.

Every time I wash the car too I get a couple of flashes.

as for higher wattage bulbs, I can't really see the problem. I used to run 110w bulbs in my corrado, only because the headlights were so poor - and even then they weren't that bright. They can't say that they missed them at MOT time either, because there was a big fat loom and set of relays for them which stuck out like a sore thumb.
 
Dave_Bayern said:
Anyway, as its dark, maybe 1/10 people flash me thinking I have my lights on full as opposed to just a bright dipped beam.
Click to expand...

Surely people flash you because they're blinded, not because they think you have your main beam on? So by flashing them with 'not for road use' lamps, just blinds them further? Two wrongs don't make a right.

Grow up man, causing an accident will quickly fill your grey area with ****, regardless how many regs you bring up in court.

I run factory Xenons and have yet to be flashed by oncoming traffic.
 
Its not everyone doing it, thats the thing, maybe 3 people on the way home, and I pass a maybe a hundred cars, not sure, but steady traffic as per any normal berkshire road.

As madvw says, the looms on VW (and therefore A3/S3) are notoriously bad, and produce very poor light. In fact, if you look at the loom you will see its only 7amp wire in the loom, so pretty poor for headlights.

Internally the wires are even worse, my iPod has thicker wires.

You are all correct, two wrongs dont make a right, but the fact people flash me to start with is odd, seeing as my beam pattern is fine.

HID's produce a 'whiter' light, mine are 5500K, so are probably percieved as brighter, and when I dont change from main to dipped on a country road (as I dont use main) people seem to assume I'm running mains all the time.

In the Boxster its even worse, people flash ALL the time, and also, the pattern is fine on that as per the MOT tester mans picture, but Porsche Xenons just seem to be a different light to other HIDs.
 
Dave what HID's you using? 6K, 8K?

Im going for some 8K Hid's soon,

If the leveled correctly i cant see the problem, the new BMW's etc come standard with 6000k

Jason
 
I'm using 5500K.

Beam pattern is correct too, but 5500K is pure daylight so percieved to be brighter.

Personally wouldnt bother with 8000K, too purple and not enough light.

Mine are in genuine Audi facelift Xenon lamp units too, not sure what they'd be like in copies or the pre-facelift units.
 
Dave_Bayern said:
Its not everyone doing it, thats the thing, maybe 3 people on the way home, and I pass a maybe a hundred cars, not sure, but steady traffic as per any normal berkshire road.

.
Click to expand...

You said one in 10 in your first post, now its one in 33.....??



And you said its only mian beam so your not exactly flashing people into the hedge...............er your first post says you upgraded your main beam to flash these IDIOTS etc etc........so you deliberatley dazzle drivers who already seem to be being dazzled by your HIDs using illegal rally bulbs,......!

Thats sounds like you are doing exactly what you said above youa re not, ie you are deliberatly flashing them and for all you know into the hedge.....!??!


I wait for the "oh no I've had an accident..." post or the " the plod did me for my lights and plates, go catch some real criminals" posts from you, Dave. I jsut hope it is not me or someone I know coming the other way when they are dazzled and plough into you are the hedge............
 
Yeah, one in ten might be a slight exaggeration. Interestingly in summer, no-one flashed me, despite the same setup, and if its anything like last year, in 2 weeks no-one will flash me, as people just need to get used to it being dark at night.

I have also fitted a James Bond style oil slick release for when people tailgate.

It now empties 5l of oil onto the path of any car too close.

P.S. This is not illegal...honest.
 
So long as its the 5 litres out your engine, I dont mind!!
 
Today I unleashed the power of the sun on someone who flashed me for dazzling them.........i am tewl.....?!
 
I get the flash from oncoming motorists in my S3 every now and then, I just flash them back, so they know it's my main lights on, not high beam. It's a more common occurance in my Passat though, with 6000k HiD kit, but the MOT guy said they we're fine, infact, they we're pointing a little too low, but the manual adjuster mech is broke lol.
 
Dave_Bayern said:
Yeah, one in ten might be a slight exaggeration. Interestingly in summer, no-one flashed me, despite the same setup, and if its anything like last year, in 2 weeks no-one will flash me, as people just need to get used to it being dark at night.
Click to expand...

I'm surprised anyone sees you Dave, given how fast your car is! :nyah:
 
I drive slowly though, so everyone can admire my shiny car and aviator sunglasses.

And so as people can see me in winter I keep the cabin lights on, and affix a shiny metallic star to my teeth so it looks like they are shining in a distinctly american way.
 
UPDATE - I WAS dazzling people!!!

I took my lights out at the weekend to re-wire them and it looks like the excellent MOT testers had snapped a mounting point on my lamp units.

Which would account for the people flashing me only coming about recently.

I ended up having to fix one point completely and adjusting another.

Tonights drive home and no-one flashed me, and I can visibly see the convergence point has moved.

So, looks as if the MOT tester snapped the clip whilst adjusting the lights. ********.
 
D'oh!! You mean the whole world wasn't wrong then, Dave......?? stop the press!!! lol :)
 
simch said:
D'oh!! You mean the whole world wasn't wrong then, Dave......?? stop the press!!! lol :)
Click to expand...


LOL,

that explains what you meant when you said you fixed the lights.
 
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