VW Bora Headlights

Zola.

The dipped headlights on my car are staggeringly dim at the moment, I think they must be on their way out. The full beam is ok, maybe not amazing, but the dip is very poor. Its nothing to do with the angle or alignment etc, I had an MOT a month or two ago and they passed no problem.

I was going to go and get them changed today, but I think I would like those brighter ice white or blue type ones, they seem much better.

Of course I dont want to buy anything illegal, so I hope someone can help me out with recommending a good set of these lights which ideally are not too expensive?

:beer:

LandyAndy

Zola. wrote: »

The dipped headlights on my car are staggeringly dim at the moment, I think they must be on their way out. The full beam is ok, maybe not amazing, but the dip is very poor. Its nothing to do with the angle or alignment etc, I had an MOT a month or two ago and they passed no problem.


:beer:

Are they adjustable? Have you knocked the adjuster inadvertently. I had my Mazda2 for six months before I realised the poor dip was due to the lights being set to the 'shortest' setting.:o

Strider590

They use projector headlights correct?

If so then the "cut off" line is probably very sharp.

My Vectra has projection headlamps and the cut of line is so sharp that it's like having a wall of black in front of you. The expensive high output bulbs just made it worse and didn't last as long as regular halogens.

All headlights produce a cut off line, but projection headlights have almost no light that bleeds above it, where regular lights have A LOT.

One trick we Vectra owners use is to drop the headlights a notch on the adjuster, zero the headlights under the bonnet, then adjust back a notch on the adjuster. At MOT time it'll be slightly high, so drop the adjuster a notch and it's all good.
As long as your not dazzling other road users, I don't see a problem.

AdrianC

Mk IV Bora?

Are the headlamp lenses plastic, and misted over? The anti-UV coating on a lot of early polycarb lenses mists very badly at about this kind of age, and needs to be polished off. Think of it as your car having cataracts...

Zola.

MKIV yeah!

They were very misted over a few months ago, I sanded them down for the first time, so much yellow stuff came off...then polished and waxed them, came out quite well, not perfectly new looking but better..

The car is rather dirty so it probably does need a good clean again. I may get it washed today and then look at the headlights to see if they need worked at again.

Do lights ever get dimmer in general or is it more likely to be the other issues?

Zola.

LandyAndy wrote: »

Are they adjustable? Have you knocked the adjuster inadvertently. I had my Mazda2 for six months before I realised the poor dip was due to the lights being set to the 'shortest' setting.:o

I have twiddled with the notches ranging from 1-3 but it seems to make no difference at all!

Is 3 the highest?

AdrianC

Zola. wrote: »

Do lights ever get dimmer in general or is it more likely to be the other issues?

All the headlight does is to turn electrical energy into light, then focus and project it.

If the electricity flow is down, because of poor and corroded contacts giving voltage drop to earth, you'll get less light.
If the bulb's gone cloudy, you'll get less light.
If the reflector's cloudy, you'll get less light.
If the lens is misty, you'll get less light.

You can easily see the last two. Remove the bulb, take a look, and you'll see that. The first can be easily checked with a multimeter.

Zola.

Do you check the electricity flow on the battery contacts with a multimeter ?

AdrianC

Zola. wrote: »

Do you check the electricity flow on the battery contacts with a multimeter ?

Engine running, headlights on.

Check the voltage between +ve and -ve battery terminals.
Remove the plug from the bulb, and check the voltage across +ve and -ve connectors.
Check the voltage between +ve bulb connector and battery -ve.

You've looking for how much voltage drop there is across the bulb at the moment, then how much of that is due to a poor earth.

wba31

If I remember correctly from when i looked into changing the headlights on my Bora (what a car!) it involves taking the whole front bumper off to get access...

WobblyDog

I recommend washing the car. I find that even a thin layer of dirt makes my headlamps substantially dimmer, and a lot of dirt is thrown up from the damp roads at this time of year.