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£250 Xenon kit is rubbish!

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I suspect because I'm still using a 30-year old design of bowl and lens.
Result: very bright, blueish light, but thrown down and no depth.
So I adjusted the beams upwards, but it doesn't make that much difference.


I'm going to take the replace the headlamps with 7" Wipac Crystals, then fit the Xenon kit into these new headlamps.
I should get a longer, wider beam pattern.
I got them from http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WIPAC-CRYSTAL-HEADLAMPS-PAIR-Land-Rover-Defender-90_W0QQitemZ140159220901QQihZ004QQcategoryZ43122QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Will let you know if they made a difference.

PS - is it true that the standard H4's are from a Golf Mk2?
Did we really accept poor lights in the 80's?
Are we spolit today?
Or do we deserve decent lights?
 


Modern overbright headlights are one of my personal major bugbears with modern driving and now that the nights start to draw in I apologise in advance as I start to rant more and more about them in the next few months [:D]

PS - is it true that the standard H4's are from a Golf Mk2?

The reflector bowl is the same but the mounting points are slightly different. They do fit but you will lose any height adjustment

Did we really accept poor lights in the 80's?

No, the lights are perfectly adequate but far too many cars these days have overbright lights which in turn dazzle everyone and ruin your night vision so you can't see a blooming thing.

Are we spoilt today?

Yes - driving at night has been spoilt for everyone because modern lights are too bright

Or do we deserve decent lights?

Clean lights with a new lens, proper wiring and a good bulb are perfectly suitable

Signed - Victor Meldrew [:)]
 
Apparently brand new bowls and lenses are pretty cheap. 20yr old bowls and reflectors are never going to be at their brightest to begin with.

What were the bows and lenses that the Ice Shark kit used? I believe they were Cebe but weren't they specifically designed for Xenon and were pretty much a direct replacement for the originals?
 
Paul, I could not agree more with you on this issue!
If only drivers would reduce the glare from their over bright dashboard lights, (I can almost see to read by mine in the Audi, when on full power!), they'd find that trying to 'laser' the eyeballs of oncoming drivers totally unnecessary.
But then again, I'm older than most of the 'grumpy old men'!
 
was actually thinking of this tonight. noticed the front lights on mine are poor. what would you recommend to upgrade them? i was going to get xenon lights but after reading this, i thought i would ask.
 
I just upgraded the bulbs for around £20 and its made a world of difference don't think I will ever bother with a full blown kit.
 
ORIGINAL: xenon
I'm saying nowt.
[:D]

I have always fitted more powerful bulbs (with an additional set of high-power relays) to all my previous cars, and it has made a huge difference. I have a similar set-up ready and waiting to go for my S2 as well, but have yet to get around to fitting them. (Another job that should have been done over the summer but wasn't!)

Why do lenses and bowls deterioraite with time? If the lenses are clean and not chipped they should perform as well as when new. And the bowls ... if they are dirty and losing their silver then the performance will drop off quite quickly, but (last time I looked), mine looked clean and fine.

(One point - lenses need to be clean to work well, but I ALWAYS forget to clean mine when I wash the car. This can make a big difference. The headlight squirters are better than nothing, but don't remove caked-on flies and dirt which has been there for some time.)


Oli.
 
ORIGINAL: sawood12

.....What were the bows and lenses that the Ice Shark kit used? I believe they were Cebe but weren't they specifically designed for Xenon and were pretty much a direct replacement for the originals?


They were Ciebes, from a Jaguar I believe. But they didn't fit. Seemingly US spec cars didn't have the hight adjustment facility so used the older type of lamp. Ice Shark sent me the R/H drive version of what he supplied in the States and they didn't work for the UK cars. They might be fine on an early Lux or 924 without hight adjustment.

As far as I am aware the later headlamp bowls are specific to the 944. [:mad:]

New lamp bowls do make a fair difference but still nothing like modern projector type headlamps.

I agree with Paul, overly bright headlamps are nothing but a pain. They aren't much good for the driver of the car either as you get dazzled by reflective road signs and can't see the lights of cars coming around the corner. Been there, seen it, got the T shirt.
 
My car hasn't got the height adjustable headlights!!

I've neverhad the headlights apart but if you got a more modern light that was a smaller diameter than the standard couldn't you make up a donut shaped adapter? I'd like to see some BMW style ring lights with the lensed Xenon main beam element in the centre fitted in the pods.

Agree with the overbright lights as well, but am more annoyed on a daily basis by peoples lack of use of indicators, especially on roundabouts.
 
I recently replaced the headlamps (bowl & lens) on my S with new H4's from Porsche Reading as the originals were all cracked. They cost me £74 each (if memory serves me) & they give good visibility when driving at night. I used the same bulbs as on the originals.
 
My 83 lux has had some mod done so when you put the main beam on the dipped beam stays on as well which i have found to be quite an improvement over my other cars !!
 

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