Extremely Poor Headlight

[softscoop]

Exactly as Phil says.  The only option for using fogs with  CH/LH  lights is provided on preFL  with factory xenons. Mike

 

Is that with a different controller or something then?

[Anddenton]

I guess a newer central electrics module might let you use fogs for ch/lh but could be a minefield.

I use ch/lh with my factory xenons and on a 6.5 year old car with 127.5k miles have never had a bulb blow.

[Cleo]

I was going to order a set from him too but I need the canbus ones at 55 quid

[Anddenton]

I was going to order a set from him too but I need the canbus ones at 55 quid

No you don't, non canbus and code as applicable. Canbus friendly just fries the central electrics module and wiper motor.

[paddypaws]

Yes definitely. I spoke to the chap at Londoncolour about a year ago, perhaps longer, and he was telling me to get  a canbus friendly kit. I told him I was getting the non canbus and I was having the HID kit coded in. He said that's fine then. I'd read all the threads on here carefully, and knew that it was bad advice to buy a canbus friendly kit. I bought the non-canbus kit, had the coding done and that's the way to go! To be fair to Londoncolour he only sells the kits, he's not going to know the details of what to put in every model of car.

[paddypaws]

Also it sounded right in my mind anyway, I know the damage capacitive and inductive loads can do to delicate electronics, sticking a large capacitor across the load to fool the controller that its a filament bulb isn't a clever solution really.

[neomancer]

Whats the best location to put the ballast? got a kit here ready to fit.. just need to find time.. loose in the bottom of the light unit? :/

[adamal]

Exactly as Phil says. The only option for using fogs with CH/LH lights is provided on preFL with factory xenons. Mike

Mike

Just seen this. Have you done this on a pre FL as I couldn't find this in the coding and I have factory fit Xenons. Maybe it needs the 30 byte cecm? I would prefer to protect the Xenons but want to keep CH/LH so it is of interest to me.

Ta

Adam

[Phil-E]

Would love it if I could do that.

 

I'm not worried about the HID bulbs but sometimes full headlights when unlocking the car is a bit too much.

 

Phil

[adamal]

Good point Mike.  I will look myself now you have got my interest going.  Have you got the 23 or 30 byte CECM?

[neomancer]

The slimline ballasts fit inside the headlight casing.  Just use double sided foam pads or self adhesive velcro to secure them to the bottom of the unit.  In fairness, once the ballasts and igniters are in there, along with the wiring, there isn't lot of room for them to move anyway.  It's a really neat job with everything enclosed within the headlight itself. Mike

 

Cheers mike

[Cleo]

OK, further to a PM from Cleo, he has told me that he has emailed london colour and that they are telling him that he needs the canbus friendly kit. Once again, and I've lost count of how many times I've told him now    

 

Mike

Ok ok ffs I hear you

[booke23]

Ok ok ffs I hear you

 

Chill........He's only trying to do you a favour. He's just stopped you from doing many £££ worth of damage to your car.  

[boneman]

I went through this process a few months ago as the Skoda Octavia vRS has the feeblest dip beams of any car I've driven in 40yrs. I can't repeat my actual words here!!

 

This is a bit confusing at first but after reading all the posts here on HIDs/Xenons I was convinced I needed the London colour Non Canbus ones and to get coding done. All good now.

 

Fitted all parts inside the headlamp unit using Halfords self adhesive velcro to secure. Coded by a member here thankyou.

 

It's a no brainer for £25.00. Eight years ago I fitted HIDS to my Subaru Impreza, which also had poor lights for a 320BHP car. Did high and low beams, wow the high beam was fantastic No problem passing MOT every year, not even a question asked. Never got flashed by other drivers as had manual beam height adjustment so kept low in traffic.

 

Would love to do the high beams on the vRS but seems it's not possible with the coding etc.

 

Has anyone changed the 35w for the 55w HIDs as I'm curious on the improvement.

 

BTW you can remove the headlamps from the car quite easily, take them indoors fit all the bits and then refit to car, then get it coded.

[Brimma]

I have noticed that the London Colour HID kit takes much longer to reach full temperature / brightness than the factory fit OEM xenon headlights.

On our Octavia with factory xenon's the lights are bright enough to see as soon as you flick the switch with only a very small amount of warming up evident, say a second or so.

My HID kit has the flash as mentioned above but then the light all but disappears (at least from behind the wheel). Over the course of about 5 to 10 seconds they reach full brightness.

Whilst warming up they are very blue and eventually become whiter.

Not a major issue but one of the biggest differences I've noticed between the £30 HID kit and the close to £1,000 factory fit option.

I think I'd sooner wait 8 or 9 seconds before driving off and save the £970 difference

[silver1011]

I wasn't complaining, just my observation versus OEM.

 

There must be a difference between the two systems that allows one kit to warm up (or reach full brightness) quicker than another...

[Cyberstaff]

Can any one give me the step by step instructions for coding the hid's on a 2010 vrs please

[Cyberstaff]

Hid's all coded with cornering lamps activated and led number plate bulbs activated.

Did have an issue with the Drl's not working but that was due to the bi-xenon with shuttering activated by mistake.

Thanks to R K ENGINEERING in St Agnes for coding and thanks for the advise on here.

Must get my self VCDS!

[Cleo]

I can certainly second the really poor light output of mine too (octy mk2) they're the worst I've had in a car yet, it's bordering on dangerous on unlit rds I don't know. They're aimed right too as I got it done the other day, only the drivers was down a bit, and not by much at all. I've only got ordinary 55w halogens in but very tempted to put hid in as its got projectors anyway

[Cyberstaff]

Ahhhhhh problems with coding!

[langers2k]

Do headlights have a wide variance in output power? I only ask as there are many people that are dissatisfied with the lights on the mk2 and yet mine seem to work well and are nowhere near 'dangerous' or even 'bordering on' when driving along unlit roads as Cleo seems to suggest.

 

I can understand the output degrading as the bulbs age or if the reflectors/lens start to cloud or discolour but other than those factors I'd expect them to be pretty similar when correctly aimed and cleaned.

[Stuarted]

 

... mine seem to work well and are nowhere near 'dangerous' or even 'bordering on' when driving along unlit roads ...

.

Me likewise.  No problem whatever, and I live out in the sticks.  I wonder why some people have a problem?  Why should some cars' lights deteriorate, and not others?

[Phil-E]

There is a coding option for voltage reduction on the bulbs to extent their life.

 

Phil

[Cleo]

I'm hopefully going to someone local at the weekend for a vcds scan maybe they'll be able to tell me why, it'll be dark when I'm there and will gladly suggest if he wants to take it out as there's plenty of dark rds near him

[silver1011]

I think a few members have reported that the reflectors inside the projector headlights can deteriorate over time.

 

I'm guessing this will be influenced by the age of the car, the climate and how often the headlights are used etc.

 

It seems plausible then that some members may experience different light outputs on different MkII Octavia's?