Headlight Converters for driving in Europe

iceblue24

you can use electrical tape as well. as long as it blanks off that triangular area of the headlight beam.

wba31

LillythePink wrote: »

We have been to france loads of times in the car and rightly or wrongly, have never ever put deflectors on our headlights and have never been stopped for it (have been stopped for speeding a few times, so have had contact with police and they have never said anything)

Rightly or wrongly again, but whenever have you seen a french/european car with them on when they drive in the UK??

I have never looked at European cars that closely in this country, but it's hardly the attitude to have really is it? I bet the Europeans love you as you dazzle them when you drive in the opposite direction. don't be so inconsiderate

wba31

My parents go to Europe in their car every other year pretty much, the first time my dad went in their current car, he put the deflectors on, and couldnt get them off again when he got home. Being an MOT tester he checked his beam with the deflectors still on, and although the beam didnt go left, it didnt go right so he can legally drive here with them still on.
I have been to France once, and i couldnt get the deflectors off my headlights when i got back.
should you not wish to buy deflectors, there is usually a marking on the headlight glass of where deflectors should go, insulation tape/gaffa tape/masking tape over that part of the light should block your beam going left.
You mention it's a new car, some new cars have a switch that adjusts the beam without the need for deflectors so have a look through your owners manual incase you have this

Gloomendoom

'Deflectors' is really a misnomer, they should be called blockers as all they do is create a shadow in the part of the beam that normally shines to the left.

Ebe_Scrooge

On my car the headlight cover actually has a little plastic line etched into it to show the area you need to cover for driving "on the wrong side". You can then just use masking / electical / whatever tape to cover this bit of the lens. Might be worth checking your handbook to see if your car is the same, I don't know how common it is but it makes a lot of sense.

vikingaero

Check your Kia dealer to see if they sell plastic headlamp protectors. If they do then buy a set and leave the deflectors permanently attached. Then clip the deflectors on whenever you go abroad - far easier than faffing around with sticky tape. I know that with the old Zafira they sold protectors with the deflector already masked.

dzug1

If your kit is the type where you cut out the shape needed for your car then you can get several uses out of one sheet - just save the backing paper as a template and cut out a second, etc, mask from the spare plastic.

hubert_cumberdale

just buy a roll of sticky plastic and cut as many as you want out its usually about 1.20 a meter probably get about 50 deflectors on a 1 meter sheet

just write down where your meant to fit them my mates porsche has a little button that move the bulb projectors to european handing (flash git)

wba31

hubert_cumberdale wrote: »

my mates porsche has a little button that move the bulb projectors to european handing (flash git)

This is the kind of thing i was trying to get at...
I'd say either make your own, or buy a Porsche... simples!

MoneyLoser

The reason why gendarmes don't usually monitor the use of headlamp converters is because, I understand, it is not a legal reuirement to carry them: it is a requirement that you do not dazzle oncoming traffic. So they can only check this at night. But I agree that it pays to keep the Gendarmes happy by showing that you are complying.

A few years ago I used a pair of Halfords stick-on converters. Afterwards I removed them and used warm soapy water to remove any stickiness.

The next couple of years I used the black sticky tape used by electricians to cover a 5 sq cm area. I remembered the area covered by the previous Halfords ones. You can also test this by hovering a lollipop shape like a small fly swatter over the lens. I found fom this testing that there was negligible effect; simply a bit of bluring.

As my sticky tape was getting old and not very sticky, last year I used duct tape. It was super-sticky and I had to rub hard using a green washing up scouring pad to remove the glue. Stoopid, I know. I ended up scratching the glass. My garage managed to polish the glass to a reasonable level and warned that obscure glass could fail the MOT.

Does anyone know whether solvents can be used on headlamp glass to remove stubborn glue? I have not attempted this for fear of dissolving the glass.