Collected a Y reg Octavia.L&K 1.8T on Saturday (26 Sept 09). I'm used to the headlights (Halford Extreme bulbs) on my old V reg 1.8T SLXi. On the L&K the lights seem odd. On dip beam the light is very blue & comes on with a bit of a "ping". On main beam the light is quite yellow. But on main beam the dip beam still shows. Any comments welcome before I see the dealer.

This is how Xenon headlights are designed to work. The dipped beam is Xenon and has a bluish light, main beam is a standard Halogen bulb, hence the yellowish colour. On the octy Main and dipped are always on when main selected due to the beam patterns.

Thanks for info.

Would it be possible to get a bluer/ brighter bulb ? Would the Halford Extreme bulbs be suitable ? I don't see in the driver's manual any info about (head) light bulbs.

Halfords extreme bulbs are just fine, if you look up Octavia in the book in Halfords it will lead you to the correct bulb. The fitting is the same as for non Xenon headlamps I believe, although if anyone knows otherwise feel free to comment.

Ta. I'll have a shufti in Halfords then. The H4s that I used on the 1.8T SLXi covered main & dip.On the L&K they'd be needed only for main (60w) beam. Do the main beam only bulbs as at present fitted to the L&K have an "H" number ?

yes cant remember if they are h1 or h7 it does list them in the manual.

Xenons get dimmer and bluer with age, so I replaced mine recently. There £120 each from thedealer, I just got a pair from hidsdirect on ebay for £20, if you don't mind spending more you can get osram ones (same as original) for a reasonable price cheapest from germany but the exchange rate has put the price up some at the mo. Pimpmyskoda has instructions for removing the headlights and changing the bulbs

Rob's Skoda vRS

Halfords Bulb code for the Octavia is 472. I have the Extreme in my dipped beam at the min and i think they are total pants for £20 (bogof).

Can't wait to fix my xenon sparadic on then off then on when t feels like it syndrome