Going from UK to France - Headlight Adjust

[aubrey]

I'm off to Normandy for 2 weeks summer holiday soon.

So what do I get for the headlights ? I think I read once that you can just pull a lever under the bonnet near to each headlight - Is that correct ?

Can anybody tell me what to do or buy before I go ?

Thanks.

[ggireland]

Sorry I'm not providing you with an answer but I'm off to France soon too and I'd like to know the answer to this as well.

Thanks from me to.

[Makefish]

I travel on holiday to France nearly every year and for the past 10 years or so have not bothered with headlight adjusment, it really has not been worth the bother.

I feel it is only necessary if you intend to do a LOT of night time driving and even then why bother if most of your driving is on Autoroute/Motorway?

[sms]

just get some skoda headlight protecters and stick the beam benders on the protectors, once back on uk soil take off the protectors.

[alickswud]

you can adjust the beam on a roomster to a flat setting which is allowed for use on the continent in a holiday situation, i did it last year. i am trying to remember how to do this as the wife has the car at work.

i seem to remember that if you remove the rubber cover off the back if the headlight (where you access bulb) that there was a leaver that changed the setting to the flat pattern, i used my garage door to check this and it transpired that my roomster was already on the flat setting when it was supplied!

this is only a five minute job no hassle.

[anderson24]

good idea re the protectors, how much are they?

[Decron]

good idea re the protectors, how much are they?

Check this out

?koda Accessories

[sms]

im not sure off the top of my head but i dont reckon they be more than £30 for a pair.

[wobbly]

When I head abroad I'll be going with the protector idea - saves sticking things to your headlights, and they're a ****** to remove... Flat setting sounds interesting - kudos to Skoda.

[bahnstormer vrs]

Flat setting sounds interesting - kudos to Skoda.

Not terribly original.

Back in the mid 1970s, I had a pair of Cibie headlights with H4 Halogen bulbs fitted into a Ford Escort (back then OE fitment was Tungsten bulbs and Halogens were the 'new' thing) that had a lever to rotate the bulb and vary the cutoff pattern for UK or Continental.

However, finding the lever on your projector lamps and flicking it to provide a flat beam seems the thing to do. Why pay £30 for protectors plus a further £5 - £10 for beam cutoff stickers, when by flicking a lever the job is done for free!

I'm sure your local dealer would do it for you if asked.

[Allams Skoda]

I've never adapted my headlights when driving abroad, doesn't bother people on the autobahns, it is only on the country roads you might dazzle people, I find that aiming my headlamps low solves that issue.

[Lance]

I travel on holiday to France nearly every year and for the past 10 years or so have not bothered with headlight adjusment, it really has not been worth the bother.

I feel it is only necessary if you intend to do a LOT of night time driving and even then why bother if most of your driving is on Autoroute/Motorway?

Hoorah, someone with sense.

In the 20+ years I've been driving abroad, I too have never bothered.

From some of the posts I've seen on this and other car forums, I reckon some folk need a trailer just to carry the bulbs/hi-vi vests/warning signs/torch/socket set/trained mechanic/spare drive shaft/spare windscreen etc etc etc.

Just drive to port, get on ferry, get off other side and drive.

[fluffmeister]

Hoorah, someone with sense.

In the 20+ years I've been driving abroad, I too have never bothered.

From some of the posts I've seen on this and other car forums, I reckon some folk need a trailer just to carry the bulbs/hi-vi vests/warning signs/torch/socket set/trained mechanic/spare drive shaft/spare windscreen etc etc etc.

Just drive to port, get on ferry, get off other side and drive.

I must admit that in over 11 years of living there, I adopted the same attitude. The car had to have continental lights fitted or it failed the BFG lighting check but I never bothered with much of the other stuff and never had a problem. It used to make Military Police get a tad upset because there was no GB sticker on the boot........ The GB Sticker on the boot apparantly made me look like a tourist and not a squaddie, making me less of a target for the evil paddies

I don't suppose driving the big yellow V70R into the barracks every morning, and being 6'1" with short hair helped keep that illusion up either.

Any back on topic, I am off to Germany on my hollies at the end of August and won't be bothering with headlight beam adjusters / converters at all ...... and I don't really intend to do much night driving over there either.

Save the cash / hassle and buy beer with it

[mdk1]

Used the stick on Hella deflectors

took a couple of mins to get off on the chunnel on the way back, used a wet wipe to get the stickky off.

[Organist]

When the ****in' froggies bother to adjust their lights when they drive over here will be when I bother to do mine when I drive over there.

[Frank H]

My understanding is that beam deflection is a legal requirement and, as such, going without could cause problems if there was a bump.

I'm happier to use stick-ons but haven't a clue where to put them on a Fabia.

Previous cars have had an obvious zone where insulation tape did the trick but the on plain front of the Fabia ????????

[mdk1]

I bought the ones from Halfauds,as already stated elsewhere inside the pack was a leaflet, with diagrams on where to put the stickers.

Seemed to work ok.

[L&KDET]

Having spare bulb packs and warning triangles is law in some countries and rightly so, it should be in the UK too. I hate the fact that people can't be bothered to get new bulbs and drive round all year untill the MOT then get a new rear bulb ect. They are there for a reason, and not to change them is shame full.

So if everyone had a spare bulb pack there is no excuse. As for a warning triangle, as with many autobahns, they use the hard shoulder as a third lane at times, so in the event of having to stop, I would rather someone hits my triangle and changes lanes than hit me and the car!

I also see plenty of Brits not using beam deflectors, and its anoying, but I do not flash as that is also dangerous, so they also probably think it does not matter.

Its plain lazy and there is no excuse to carry the right kit, so Lance and Fluffmiester's comments are irrisponsible.

[aubrey]

Just got back from France, had a great time in Normandy and I saw just 1 other Roomster. A French one drove past me once while I was walking.

I adjusted the headlights using the flat setting as suggested by alickswud. All you need to do is take the rubber dust cover off the rear of the headlight assembly from inside the bonnet. The rubber cover is about 2-3" diameter and just pops off. It is a bit like the cover on the washer bottle but bigger and softer.

Then you just move a bar and replace the rubber dust cover, as said before very easy. I've just swapped them back again easy.

I attach a drawing from the manual I have that shows also what needs to be done.

There seems to be 2 types of headlights according to the manual with H4 or H7 bulbs. It seems this adjustment is only possible on the H7 type which thankfully I had. Is the H7 type standard in the UK, I don't have the cornering option ?

[alickswud]

i'm glad it worked for you aubrey. i'll be doing the same again when i go to the alps next week, you can adjust the headlights on the octavia II in the same way

[sms]

I attach a drawing from the manual I have that shows also what needs to be done.

is this from a vag or skoda manual?

[aubrey]

It is the Volkswagen AG ElsaWin User Manual.

Such as SKODA ELSAWIN 3.30 WORKSHOP REPAIR SERVICE MANUAL - £6.00 : Autocare4U, The Right Tools for the Job

[sms]

cool.

[the_near_side]

Just got back from France, had a great time in Normandy and I saw just 1 other Roomster. A French one drove past me once while I was walking.

I adjusted the headlights using the flat setting as suggested by alickswud. All you need to do is take the rubber dust cover off the rear of the headlight assembly from inside the bonnet. The rubber cover is about 2-3" diameter and just pops off. It is a bit like the cover on the washer bottle but bigger and softer.

Then you just move a bar and replace the rubber dust cover, as said before very easy. I've just swapped them back again easy.

I attach a drawing from the manual I have that shows also what needs to be done.

There seems to be 2 types of headlights according to the manual with H4 or H7 bulbs. It seems this adjustment is only possible on the H7 type which thankfully I had. Is the H7 type standard in the UK, I don't have the cornering option ?

Many thanks for the diagram. I asked in the skoda garage, and they said that some models need tape or plastic converters, and those with module headlights (H7 bulbs) can be adjusted, but thgey did not know how to do it, BUT they did take my phone number and said they would find out for me.

FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN'T BE BOTHERED, don't blame me if you end up in a Turkish jail. If you have an accident in France (or elsewhere in continental Europe) and the driver of the other vehicle claims to have been dazzled, they WILL check, and if you have not adjusted your lights, you are in deep do-do... prison even, depending on the injuries sustained. Be warned.

[Calomax]

I asked my dealer about adaptors only yesterday and he showed me how to do it on my Roomster 3 with H7 headlamps. You remove the rubber covers and there's a quite obvious silver coloured lever that you push one way for driving on the left and the other for driving on the right.