Beam deflectors?
- Thread starter Andrew_5105555
- Start date
There is no law which requires lens deflectors. There is only a law that thou shalt not dazzle anybody.
Hi Andrew
If you have xeon headlights then you should not put any material on the outside of the lens.
If you have xeon headlights then you should not put any material on the outside of the lens.
Andrew.
Don't fall for the pressure sales on the cross Channel ferries, they will try to sell you everything from bulbs to high vis vests including lamp deflectors.
Don't fall for the pressure sales on the cross Channel ferries, they will try to sell you everything from bulbs to high vis vests including lamp deflectors.
30 years of using cross channel ferries etc with a car. not once been pressurised into buying motoring bits and bobs. I must be so lucky!!!
Personally, I think the hi-vis are an excellent idea, and for use at home too!!
I bought vest for myself and children last year and kepp them in my car just incase, you are easier to spot with them on.
Have just bought the little one another vest for riding her bike.
I bought vest for myself and children last year and kepp them in my car just incase, you are easier to spot with them on.
Have just bought the little one another vest for riding her bike.
X11,
Can you expand on your comment please.
It's just that I recently purchased a pair of black 'stick on' lens deflectors for an up and coming French trip as the major UK driving organisations advertise the fact that they are a legal requirement (unless I imagine, you can alter your lights as Lutz suggests), which I can, but......
......My car has a switchable Xenon headlights for 'short term' Continental use, but this requires stripping the headlight assembly down to reach the lever and carries a handbook warning that this must only be done by a qualified auto electrician if Xenons are fitted.
Obviously this is not something that can be done in advance, as my lights would not be legal in the UK for a night trip to the ferry, and similarly, it can not be easily done as I get off the ferry on the French side due to the complexity.
I bought the stickers from a main VW dealer in Durham and stipulated that they were for Xenon headlights and told that they were suitable.
I am aware that Xenons generate a load more heat than standard lights, but are they likely to damage the lenses with the deflectors stuck on.
Any advice appreciated before I take my local VW dealer to task,
Cheers,
Ken.
Can you expand on your comment please.
It's just that I recently purchased a pair of black 'stick on' lens deflectors for an up and coming French trip as the major UK driving organisations advertise the fact that they are a legal requirement (unless I imagine, you can alter your lights as Lutz suggests), which I can, but......
......My car has a switchable Xenon headlights for 'short term' Continental use, but this requires stripping the headlight assembly down to reach the lever and carries a handbook warning that this must only be done by a qualified auto electrician if Xenons are fitted.
Obviously this is not something that can be done in advance, as my lights would not be legal in the UK for a night trip to the ferry, and similarly, it can not be easily done as I get off the ferry on the French side due to the complexity.
I bought the stickers from a main VW dealer in Durham and stipulated that they were for Xenon headlights and told that they were suitable.
I am aware that Xenons generate a load more heat than standard lights, but are they likely to damage the lenses with the deflectors stuck on.
Any advice appreciated before I take my local VW dealer to task,
Cheers,
Ken.
Hi Andrew
The reason I say this is because there is a warning in the handbook not to do it.
I tow with a Galaxay (Sharan in disguise) so I will make a presumption that your light are like mine.
Instead of going to all the bother of taking out the light unit there is a small black rubber cover you can remove at the back of the headlamp unit.
Pull the cover up that guards the electric motor and it is on the top lefthand side.
Through this hole there is a small plastic recevier that I insert (I think) an 8mm alen key. Turn it until you feel it click. Do this in the dark facing a wall and you will see the beam turn.
Now if this sounds easy the drivers side one is a pain because the electrics box is quite close to it so I have cut down the long end of the key by about 1 inch so that I can slide it in at an angle. ( this goes in quite far so you need the length)
The first time I did this I removed the unit just to see what it was I was doing and the simplicty of it will astound you.
One word of warning there is no stop when you turn it as I found out once with crosseyed headlights.
Was away to post when it stuck me that I used to use the clear benders and it also tells you on their pack not to put on xeon lights.
The reason I say this is because there is a warning in the handbook not to do it.
I tow with a Galaxay (Sharan in disguise) so I will make a presumption that your light are like mine.
Instead of going to all the bother of taking out the light unit there is a small black rubber cover you can remove at the back of the headlamp unit.
Pull the cover up that guards the electric motor and it is on the top lefthand side.
Through this hole there is a small plastic recevier that I insert (I think) an 8mm alen key. Turn it until you feel it click. Do this in the dark facing a wall and you will see the beam turn.
Now if this sounds easy the drivers side one is a pain because the electrics box is quite close to it so I have cut down the long end of the key by about 1 inch so that I can slide it in at an angle. ( this goes in quite far so you need the length)
The first time I did this I removed the unit just to see what it was I was doing and the simplicty of it will astound you.
One word of warning there is no stop when you turn it as I found out once with crosseyed headlights.
Was away to post when it stuck me that I used to use the clear benders and it also tells you on their pack not to put on xeon lights.
Look at the notices in the queueing / boarding areas and listen to the PA announcements on board to invite you to visit the shop with warnings that you will be hung drawn and quartered by the french authorities if you fall foul of frence motoring laws.
Oh and I have also been given flyers when in line and waiting to board in Dover.
Ken,
Whilst strictly speaking its illegal to convert your lamps via the switch & use the car in the UK, the reality is that all the switch does is convert the dipped beam from kicking up to the left (so that you can read unilluminated road signs at night) to the continental normal flat beam, so the reality is that as long as you convert the flat beam back to the kick up to the left before the car gets MOT'd its highly unlikely that anyone other than yourself would notice.
The French Gendarmes take a very dim view (parden the pun) of any Enlish driver driving at night without "converted" lights & you'd be liable to both an on the spot fine and a prohibition to move the vehicle during darkness!
DO NOT under any circumstances fit the stick on beam converters to xenon headlamps, they are for halogen lights only, thats why the VW group vehicles have either the "change over switch" or on the very latest models the beam can be changed via the on board computer. The guy in the VW dealer who sold them to you has made a grave mistake!
I am a MOT tester & I work for a group of garages which have Audi & VW garages within the group.
Whilst strictly speaking its illegal to convert your lamps via the switch & use the car in the UK, the reality is that all the switch does is convert the dipped beam from kicking up to the left (so that you can read unilluminated road signs at night) to the continental normal flat beam, so the reality is that as long as you convert the flat beam back to the kick up to the left before the car gets MOT'd its highly unlikely that anyone other than yourself would notice.
The French Gendarmes take a very dim view (parden the pun) of any Enlish driver driving at night without "converted" lights & you'd be liable to both an on the spot fine and a prohibition to move the vehicle during darkness!
DO NOT under any circumstances fit the stick on beam converters to xenon headlamps, they are for halogen lights only, thats why the VW group vehicles have either the "change over switch" or on the very latest models the beam can be changed via the on board computer. The guy in the VW dealer who sold them to you has made a grave mistake!
I am a MOT tester & I work for a group of garages which have Audi & VW garages within the group.
Hi all,
We are off to france at end of july with our new x trail which has zenon lights, i didnt realise you should not use the stick on converters. I wonder if i can ajust the beam as with the VW, guess i better get the handbook out and read up on it. Any body else done this to there new x trail?.
Cheers,
Darren
We are off to france at end of july with our new x trail which has zenon lights, i didnt realise you should not use the stick on converters. I wonder if i can ajust the beam as with the VW, guess i better get the handbook out and read up on it. Any body else done this to there new x trail?.
Cheers,
Darren
Can't comment on the legal requirement other than to say that as I understand it you have to prevent your lights from dazzling oncoming drivers - but if you don't plan to drive at night....?
What I have discovered though is that the new 'lens' type stick on deflectors are VERY hard to remove! We drive a Grand Voyager which (discovered the hard way!) has plastic headlights. Trying to get the deflector residue off scratched the headlight.
Last time I used them I deliberately dabbed the palm of my hand onto the sticky side before applying to try and reduce the glues effectiveness. I think it helped but it was still quite a job getting the stuff off.
Tried to find the old style black tape type deflectors but no luck.
What I have discovered though is that the new 'lens' type stick on deflectors are VERY hard to remove! We drive a Grand Voyager which (discovered the hard way!) has plastic headlights. Trying to get the deflector residue off scratched the headlight.
Last time I used them I deliberately dabbed the palm of my hand onto the sticky side before applying to try and reduce the glues effectiveness. I think it helped but it was still quite a job getting the stuff off.
Tried to find the old style black tape type deflectors but no luck.
For some vehicles you can buy covers that fit over the lights that have a blacked out section that prevents the kick up. They clip over the car lights and can be fitted and removed quickly. The downside is that they are expensive!
Graeme.
Graeme.
Such lens covers should not be used with xenon lights, either. Besides, their optical quality is generally so bad that they just scatter the light beam instead of deflecting it. They are not worth their price.
George,
I think I'll take the stick ons back and try to get a free 'switchover' from them as compensation, just before I go away.
The car is a '57 plate Touareg and I've scoured the handbook but it doesn't look like it's something that can be done from the onboard computer.
Thanks for your advice,
Ken.
Had the lens protector for the Freelander and now have a pair for the Mondeo. Flogged the freelander ones for
I have spoken to someone who tested these lens covers and he said that they weren't worth the plastic they're made of. They do prevent dazzle, that's true, but they also reduce the amount of light where you need it, too.
Lutz if they are legal to use in the uk as a lense protector they must have passed some kind of test you know the uk rules. I purchased the freelander ones from Landrover, and the Mondeo ones after market but same make as the landrover ones. Im happy that they work good enough and the small amount of night driving on the continent is minimal anyway.
Lens deflectors are not required to fulfil any legal requirements. There is no such thing as an E-marked lens deflector.
Anyone own a Kia Sorento (post 2006 facelift). We're taking our 2007 Titan to the continent for the first time this July and I'm looking into possibilities.
I have been warned NOT to stick "stick on" deflectors" directly onto headlamps.
In these days of EEC I'd have thought the bureaucrats could have made switchable headlights a legal requirement - too useful and sensible I suppose!!!
Tim
I have been warned NOT to stick "stick on" deflectors" directly onto headlamps.
In these days of EEC I'd have thought the bureaucrats could have made switchable headlights a legal requirement - too useful and sensible I suppose!!!
Tim
Hi darren mine is also the xtrail but the old model,thanks for all your answers i have been away this weekend so have not had time to look if a can adjust the lights(does anyone know?)i think i may call into nissan and ask the question.
Ta andrew.
Ta andrew.
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