Head lights

[oggy249]

Hi all, i am sure you have all been asked this before but my girlfriends 8V has crap head lights on dipped beam i have the 8P and mine seem fine, does anyone have any ideas on upgrades , i have already changed the bulbs to night breakers but still seem to be crap, i feel they are too low and when going down unlit country roads its like driving blind unless main beam is on ,
is there a big difference in LED bulbs ,or after market head light units,
thanks , Oggy

 

[Jassyo06]

Hi all, i am sure you have all been asked this before but my girlfriends 8V has **** head lights on dipped beam i have the 8P and mine seem fine, does anyone have any ideas on upgrades , i have already changed the bulbs to night breakers but still seem to be ****, i feel they are too low and when going down unlit country roads its like driving blind unless main beam is on ,
is there a big difference in LED bulbs ,or after market head light units,
thanks , Oggy

invest in some new xenon bulbs from Phillips at around £220,thing is does your partner drive around with the headlight setting to early ie they are on most of the time....if so the bulbs through hard use will diminsh in brightness vastly,every S3 l see has there headlights on constantly during the daytime hours....even leds dim with a lot of use......only use headlights when its getting dark

 

[KenL]

invest in some new xenon bulbs from Phillips at around £220,thing is does your partner drive around with the headlight setting to early ie they are on most of the time....if so the bulbs through hard use will diminsh in brightness vastly,every S3 l see has there headlights on constantly during the daytime hours....even leds dim with a lot of use......only use headlights when its getting dark

Are these £220 Xenons legal? My understanding is that Xenon lights need to have automatic self-levelling.

I have been blinded many times by chavvy HID kits.

Osram nightbreaker unlimited are a good upgrade.

Good point made by Jassy. My auto lights turn the headlights on unless it is a very bright day.

 

[Jassyo06]

Are these £220 Xenons legal? My understanding is that Xenon lights need to have automatic self-levelling.

I have been blinded many times by chavvy HID kits.

Osram nightbreaker unlimited are a good upgrade.

Good point made by Jassy. My auto lights turn the headlights on unless it is a very bright day.

£220plus for top end replacement bulbs mate, they're re just a higher quality bulb with a slightly higher colour temperature..... But they far out perform the oem Osram bulbs

 

[Tom.H]

£220plus for top end replacement bulbs mate, they're re just a higher quality bulb with a slightly higher colour temperature..... But they far out perform the oem Osram bulbs

Not sure if they have Xenons though Jassy after the OP asking about them needing self levelling.

 

[Jassyo06]

Not sure if they have Xenons though Jassy after the OP asking about them needing self levelling.

I see it may have halogen headlights...... Which don't have self levelling.... Manual levelling though but still a quality set of halogen upgrade bulbs should improve things quite a bit, they don't last as long because they burn at a higher temperature/brighter

 

[sve170]

Hi all, i am sure you have all been asked this before but my girlfriends 8V has **** head lights on dipped beam i have the 8P and mine seem fine, does anyone have any ideas on upgrades , i have already changed the bulbs to night breakers but still seem to be ****, i feel they are too low and when going down unlit country roads its like driving blind unless main beam is on ,
is there a big difference in LED bulbs ,or after market head light units,
thanks , Oggy

Had exactly the same on my 2014 Golf R, bought it new and from day one noticed the headlights were ••••.
Especially on unlit country roads it was like driving blind, I actually went out one night and picked an out of the way country road just to get a good ‘distance test’ on them. I stopped the R and paced out in front of the car the distance to where there was no beam showing. From memory I think it was about 20 metres then all headlight illumination was lost.
Absolutely shocking, took my info to the dealer, they tested it as per MOT guidelines and said it’s good enough.

Usual dealer not interested in helping out, from then on it was full beam all the time, I was always wary of another car having stopped on a country road for whatever reason, as I am sure regardless of speed there would be no time to react, 20 metres is nothing if travelling fast. It’s nothing new in the Golfs.


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[oggy249]

thanks for the comments guys, we do have osram night breakers in and they are still crap, im thinking of just raising the level of the headlights but i dont want to cause any other drivers grief , might have to try LED bulbs ,

 

[Jassyo06]

thanks for the comments guys, we do have osram night breakers in and they are still ****, im thinking of just raising the level of the headlights but i dont want to cause any other drivers grief , might have to try LED bulbs ,

Yeah use a flat screwdriver or alun key to raise them, led bulbs ain't the answer as these need a magnifying lens in front of them to get anywhere as bright as a halogen reflector enclosure headlight

 

[KenL]

Don't raise the bulbs without knowing what you are doing? They cannot be set too high.

Better light for you could be another person's annoyance or even worse accident!

 

[cemerson]

Agree - don't go around fiddling with headlight levels if you don't have the correct calibration kit available. Take it to a dealers if it's very bad though. Definitely don't buy an aftermarket Xenon kit unless it has the legally required headlight washer mod & self-levelling kit with it (these are checked for on MOTs now).

 

[Phil-1]

The OEM Xenon lights on my A3 were bad when I got it. I asked my dealer to check them and he agreed they needed raising. But they are still poor compared to my 8P


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[mr gee]

What I did with my cars was to park against the garage wall and mark where the headlight beams line up and raise them an inch or so. More on the curbside lamp and less on the main road side so as not to blind oncoming cars.

 

[traindweller]

I finally replaced my halogens with Philips racing vision +150 after trying loads of different ones including night vision and laser. I also had the lights checked and adjusted to the highest they would go on the mot test box. That has made a significant difference ( no flashing either) but still nowhere near as good as the light output from my original stock halogens I run on the 8p. I think it must be the difference in the reflectors as the 8v halogen are quite different from the 8p.

 

[royalsteve68]

I always find headlights to be disappointing. Halogens are c**p, LEDs on the S3 were marginally better though the High Beam assist was good. Matrix LEDs on the RS3 was a must have and is astronomically better than the LEDs I had on the S3. Lights up the WHOLE road even around oncoming cars and doesn't blind oncoming drivers, unless the 20+ cars coming the other way down a country lane couldn't be bothered to let me know

 

[Rideen]

This is why FL models don't have halogen lights at all anymore.

Bi-xenons are amazingly good for what they are, LEDs are very similar to them (if not just slightly better but I feel like they scatter more) whereas Matrix LEDs are ****** awesome.

 

[GW1]

I must say I have LED Matrix on my S3 and they are fantastic. The roads where I live are mostly unlit rural country lanes and the Matrix system lights the whole road up, it’s like driving in daylight.