Headlights - Discussion and Questions

[DV52]

Thanks DV52, but the photos are not showing.

egosolomon: My apology - all fixed, I hope!

[brad]

If you anyone knows who can supply OEM VW bumpers please feel free to PM me the details

Sorry to hijack your this thread, just thought I better let everyone know what they could be getting themselves in to with the law.

I think the bulk of people are aware of the legal side of things. We try & keep that part seperate from the practical side of fitting HIDs.

I can't vouch for VW but on Skodas the cut marks are in the bumper & you can retrofit the washers into the existing bumper. There's a guy over on Briskoda that has done it to his MK2 Octavia & it looks factory.

I've had HID bulbs without levelling / washers in my Octy for 5 years (100,000+ km of motoring). I've never had an issue with the police. I pass at least 4 HWP cars per day & my lights are set to Scandinavian mode so are on whenever the engine is running.

Unless you are particularly handy & capable of DIY the full conversion isn't worth it IMO. You may as well get Osram Night Breakers & be done with it.

[egsolomon]

Thanks DV52, much appreciated.

[BFPO40]

Anyone here experiencing this with their Bi-Xenons?

My driver side headlight -

Cloudy build-up on inside of lens, noticed it within days of picking the car up from the dealer.





Dirty projector lens on the same headlight.



By contrast here is my passenger side headlight, dusty on the inside and dirt on the projector lens but far more acceptable.



I'm about to become a pain in Volkswagens ass over this after the dealership could not get the go ahead to replace the headlight under warranty.

[aussietanker]

I think the bulk of people are aware of the legal side of things. We try & keep that part seperate from the practical side of fitting HIDs.

I can't vouch for VW but on Skodas the cut marks are in the bumper & you can retrofit the washers into the existing bumper. There's a guy over on Briskoda that has done it to his MK2 Octavia & it looks factory.

I've had HID bulbs without levelling / washers in my Octy for 5 years (100,000+ km of motoring). I've never had an issue with the police. I pass at least 4 HWP cars per day & my lights are set to Scandinavian mode so are on whenever the engine is running.

Unless you are particularly handy & capable of DIY the full conversion isn't worth it IMO. You may as well get Osram Night Breakers & be done with it.

Are the Osram Night Breakers compatible with the 2014/5 Golf mk 7 90TSI ... and are they better than stock?

cheers

[brad]

Are the Osram Night Breakers compatible with the 2014/5 Golf mk 7 90TSI ... and are they better than stock?

cheers

definitely better than stock

Try http://www.powerbulbs.com or Car Bulbs, Headlight Bulbs, Wiper blades, headlamp bulbs, Xenon Bulbs: Autobulbs Direct Ltd

You might have to flick them an email or (shock, horror!) look up your owners manual for confirmation of the bulb type.

[Lucas_R]

LEDPerf also have a good range of bulbs: Pack of 2 bulbs H15 Xenon Effect - MTEC Super White

[Euro Car Upgrades]

It is very hard for anyone without a proper scanner to test the lights or the washers properly if the lights look factory
- Auto Levelling does not work every time you switch on the car - it will activate when the car is stationary and locked for a couple of hours. When you simply jump out of your car on the side of the motorway, it will never ever re-activate the auto levelling unless you lock it for a period of time.
- Washers - 1st - useless in Australian climate unless you are in the snowy mountains. 2. Nowadays you can set them not to activate as well. I did this on my A6 as it would always make a mess of a car which was just waxed. These can also be set only to activate every 5th time or even every 10th. Most vehicles like Golf have provisions in the bumpers for the washers and generally its not a hard DIY weekend job if you absolutely certain you must have it.
- my wife drives an old ML with Xenon as standard in 2005 and because the bulbs are 35Watts it was not a requirement for this vehicle to have washers. It just passed the RWC with no problems at all. The same goes for VW Beetle - they dont have washers when they have xenons as the bulbs are 35W.

I think cops dont like the boys in Hondas with aftermarket "fancy" headlights with VW led strips look-a-likes rather than questioning genuine headlights which they are not able to test unless at the dealership.

This is the test which can only be done at VW dealer or with VCDS diagnostics which i dont think cops have:

[fastmk7]

Had a 2014 MK 7 GTI for a couple of months, lights were what you'd expect from a modern headlamp shape, traded up to a 2015 GTI Performance which come std with BI-Xenon , just like chalk and cheese,and yes they look far better with the LED dru's .Also got the DAS pkg, its a perfect vehicle the average driver would be more than happy , but as my "hobby" seems to be "modifying sh.t" its getting twin forge intercoolers, and 3" 4 outlet ss exh and reflash shortly along with APR cold air intake.

[Mountainman]

I know I've complained about the weak Mk7 lights before but perhaps I should take it all back. Recently I have run next to a latest model Prado and a HiLux on the 4 lane Gatton bypass west of Brisbane at night. There was no other lighting to affect the results but what amazed me was the stock high beam on my Golf killed the pathetic light given out by the other two vehicles. They were truly awful. No wonder you see Prados and HiLuxes running spotlights. It's hard to believe Toyota could sell vehicles that they expect to do lots of rural miles with such pathetic lights. Under the same conditions I know that my Golfs high beams are better than the latest Corollas and i30 too.

[brad]

That surprises me MountainMan. Traditionally Toyota have had good headlights. It appears they have slid backwards like the brand in general

[stat71]

Recently I received a alert on MFD "check left dipped headlight beam"...so I checked it and sure enough, not working but all other lights were.

Down to repco and picked up a replacement only to find it didn't work either. So I tried swapping in the right bulb that I know is working and still no success.

I then spent a considerable amount of time trying to identify if it is a fuse....no joy here...

So I next visited my local VW Dealer who following an extended assessment decided that the entire left front headlight assembly needs to be replaced. They assert that the problem is was a result of me using non-genuine bulbs (I am using a whiter globe and have been for over 18mths - from memory it was a legal version of OSRAMS). The dealer agreed to not mention the fact I was using aftermarket globes and has placed this as a warranty claim.

Very interesting and I'm not sure I agree with their assessment of the cause of the issue. When I questioned the tech further he stated that the aftermarket globe causes overheating of the mount which caused irreversible damage. The were legal H7 globes. I'm now back to VW supplied genuine ****ty bulbs ($67)!

So what is the vwwatercooled thoughts on the above?

[Eaglehawk]

If it was because of 3rd party bulbs, wouldn't the other side show signs of overheating too? If it doesn't, it's a warranty claim.

[brad]

When you fitted the new bulb, did you cycle the ignition & headlight switch. I found out the hard way that you need to do this.

[Euro Car Upgrades]

Surely that is a joke beyond my comprehension. What do they make these plastic holders of? Jelly beans