Sorry if this is boring and old thred, I have a 2,8 Q year 2000 model W reg (facelift) had the car for six months now and love it. Don't love the poor headlights on dip, on main they are good. As its now dark much more than when i purchased the car I never paid any attention to the HID threds on this site so know this may bore everyone that reads it. How do you improve the headlights, are HIDs the only way forward or are there other things you can do like better bulbs. At the moment I drive everywhere at night with the front fogs on as they help the dipped beam performance. But like I said on full/main beam the lights are great could it be the lights on my car just need the dipped beam adjusted?
Facelift lights
- Thread starter Nitro
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I would say they need adjusting, as mine are adaquate on halogens. My previous A4 had HIDS in and although the light output to the cut off was brighter, they did not stretch any further.
I am probably going to stick so silver stars in mine and have done with it
I am probably going to stick so silver stars in mine and have done with it
Putting hid lights in my facelift projectors was the best thing i did. They were verging on dangerous when it was wet and dark with the poor light output. They were adjusted fine just dull. I have headlight washers so almost legal too.
Thanks guys, i have a few questions, how easy is it to fit hids to the facelift a4. What are silver stars? Also why do headlight washers make it almost legal? How is improving the lights on a car not legal. There is something I am missing on this one
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HID's require by law to be fitted with an automatic levelling system and a high pressure washer system. They also require to be fitted to light units which are type approved to work with HID's.
This means any retrofit kit is in effect illegal, however if you purchased a set of genuine Audi HID's and fitted the correct washing and levelling systems, it would fully comply with the law. If you fitted the levelling and washers and used a retrofit into normal halogen units, you'd be mostly complying with the law.
If they're dull theres something wrong with them. Before you do anything else, check the alignment and ensure the voltage at the bulb is within 0.5v of the battery voltage with the motor running.
SilverStar is a type of bulb, made by Orsam
This means any retrofit kit is in effect illegal, however if you purchased a set of genuine Audi HID's and fitted the correct washing and levelling systems, it would fully comply with the law. If you fitted the levelling and washers and used a retrofit into normal halogen units, you'd be mostly complying with the law.
If they're dull theres something wrong with them. Before you do anything else, check the alignment and ensure the voltage at the bulb is within 0.5v of the battery voltage with the motor running.
SilverStar is a type of bulb, made by Orsam
i think b5 headlights are just rubbish. i had my first face lift b5 back in 2002 or 2003, even back then when the car was relatively new they were rubbish and foglights only lit up the grass verge immediately ahead of your car a little better (and made you look like a berk)
if you hid then, make sure theyre properly adjusted you should be fine. projecter lamps control the beam pretty damn well
the oem hids on my S4 are only a touch better than the retro fit hid i fitted to some hella quads on my golf
if you hid then, make sure theyre properly adjusted you should be fine. projecter lamps control the beam pretty damn well
the oem hids on my S4 are only a touch better than the retro fit hid i fitted to some hella quads on my golf
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I continually hear this "they're rubbish" comment, but i dont really see how a HID would change anything.
Our lights are standard projectors, running H7 bulbs salvaged from the old pre-facelift lamps (ie ****** old) and the beam upto the cutoff is perfectly bright.
Yes, sometimes it feels like the cutoff is a bit short on dark country lanes, but fitting HID's isnt going to improve that, it just means the same area of road is lit up brighter, and given our lights already light that bit of road up acceptably well and produce a very precise crisp beam cutoff, i dont think theres much to be gained. I've been in Craigs S4 with OE HID's and yes they're brighter, but it doesnt really improve the visibility by all that much, because the beam only reaches the same distance.
Unless of course you mess with the beam alignment until they're pointing into the stars, complain they're too dim because they're trying to illuminate about 4miles of road and then fit HID's to blind everyone this side of germany.
Also, the fog lights are supposed to only light up the grass verge. They're there to help you find your way in fog, and shining a bright light thru fog just causes mega glare. By shining the light towards the verges, it allows you to better pick out where the edges of the road are, and also makes the car more visible to oncoming vehciles without blinding them.
Our lights are standard projectors, running H7 bulbs salvaged from the old pre-facelift lamps (ie ****** old) and the beam upto the cutoff is perfectly bright.
Yes, sometimes it feels like the cutoff is a bit short on dark country lanes, but fitting HID's isnt going to improve that, it just means the same area of road is lit up brighter, and given our lights already light that bit of road up acceptably well and produce a very precise crisp beam cutoff, i dont think theres much to be gained. I've been in Craigs S4 with OE HID's and yes they're brighter, but it doesnt really improve the visibility by all that much, because the beam only reaches the same distance.
Unless of course you mess with the beam alignment until they're pointing into the stars, complain they're too dim because they're trying to illuminate about 4miles of road and then fit HID's to blind everyone this side of germany.
Also, the fog lights are supposed to only light up the grass verge. They're there to help you find your way in fog, and shining a bright light thru fog just causes mega glare. By shining the light towards the verges, it allows you to better pick out where the edges of the road are, and also makes the car more visible to oncoming vehciles without blinding them.
Thanks Aragorn, I checked the voltage of my car when running, on the battery the voltage meter was reading 14,25 v and at the bulbs it was 13,80 v. So I have no problem there, I think I will try some replacement bulbs. I see firms like Halfords offer replacement bulbs that are supposed to be 50 % brighter than standard ones. Can anyone comment on these?
It's the light output that is rubish,nothing to do with how they are adjusted or anything. If you put a brighter light into the dame lense it going to give better light output. That's why they use hid lights in cars as standard.
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http://www.modifieda4.com/web/tech/headlight-aiming.html
Give that a try, make sure the dashboard control is on 0 before you do it too.
No idea on the halfords bulbs, but there are probably cheaper places online that will do Ring or Orsam or whatever bulbs in the "50% brighter" style
Give that a try, make sure the dashboard control is on 0 before you do it too.
No idea on the halfords bulbs, but there are probably cheaper places online that will do Ring or Orsam or whatever bulbs in the "50% brighter" style
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ian: Thats the whole point though, i dont find it dim, but it does seem to vary from car to car and person to person.
People make out that fitting HID's suddenly makes you able to see for miles where you couldnt before and it was so dark it was dangerous.
You could project 1000w of light thru the projector and would still be unable to see any more road.
People make out that fitting HID's suddenly makes you able to see for miles where you couldnt before and it was so dark it was dangerous.
You could project 1000w of light thru the projector and would still be unable to see any more road.
With mine it was very bad at night in the rain with cars coming towards you. The lens could do with a polish so that wouldnt have helped but i was sick of driving in my own shadow when cars were behind me. The facelift projector lights are the same as the oe hid's just without the auto leveling from what i can gather anyway. I dont think anybody should put hid's into non projector headlamps as that will blind people.
Hi Matt, to raise them up a touch how is this done, can I do it or is it garage only job. Was thinking of trying to do this against a wall at night
Blue_Thunder
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The OEM Xenons and OEM Halogen facelift lights actually have different projectors and the same height adjustment mechanisms. I've got a photo I took somewhere when I owned one of each. Both had very similar light outputs though.
Agree about not putting HID's into non-projector lights. There are so many chavs driving round in Corsa's and Focus's blinding everyone with their blue HID's. They just don't seem to care about other road users.
Nitro - The headlight aim can be adjusted using an allen key or phillips screwdriver in the white screws at the top of the headlight units. Each unit has two, one for vertical, one for horizontal aim. One of them is obvious to see, the other needs you to go through one of the holes in the top of the wing. I've stuck pieces of blu-tac on a wall, then reversed as far back as I could. It's a pretty good method for aiming them.
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nitro: i linked you to an alignment guide a few replies back.
Give that a try before adjusting things randomly.
HID's can be fitted to reflector headlamps, and some vauxhalls for instance were sold like that from the factory. The bulbs and reflectors however are designed to be used like that, and are designed to ensure they dont blind everyone. Retrofitting them is never a good idea though.
Give that a try before adjusting things randomly.
HID's can be fitted to reflector headlamps, and some vauxhalls for instance were sold like that from the factory. The bulbs and reflectors however are designed to be used like that, and are designed to ensure they dont blind everyone. Retrofitting them is never a good idea though.
One last question, if I put upgraded bulbs in the dipped beam projector units is there any danger of the loom burning out or damage to the relay? Standard halogen bulb is 55w how much higher can you go without causing damage?
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If your going to do that, then i'd certainly be relay switching the feeds.
The issue is mainly that all the current flows thru the lighting stalk, and it will probably expire pretty quickly with double its rated current flowing thru it.
The issue is mainly that all the current flows thru the lighting stalk, and it will probably expire pretty quickly with double its rated current flowing thru it.
