I am thinking about upgrading the Main Beam bulb as the standard one is poor in comparison to the dipped beam.

(The Dipped beam is an excellent Icy Blue Xenon, whereas the main is a comparatively dull Yellow Halogen).

It seems that the "Simple Bulb Swap" is not so simple as the unit appears to be sealed. The manual refers you back to the dealer (even for converting for Continental driving !!).

Anyone had any experience (L&K owners ?) or a "Man in the Know" (Big K!)

Thanks

Graham

:drive1:

I thought it was main dealer only with xenons due to the voltage these things have ie about 35,000 of the suckers

Graham,

I think it also has something to do with the heat generated by the xenon bulbs. I'm not sure the lamp enclosure could cope with two lots of xenon light, never mind any oncoming drivers!!

There's a section in the manual that mentions you shouldn't use dipped beam, full beam and fog lights all at the same time when not moving. Now why would you do that anyway??

Hope this helps!!

:cheers:

Howard

Thanks Gents,

I knew the voltage was high, but if I had to "Grab Hold" give me a higher voltage than ampage any day of the week!

I was not thinking about 2 Xenons, but a slighlt higher wattage main or one of the Blue Vision Plus style lamps to make the lighting pattern match (i.e. both the near & far spread of light blue-white rather than the main beam looking a bit "Yellow".

Looks like it might not be possible.

Does anyone know what the life-expectancy of a Xenon setup is, I am guessing this is going to be expensive when it comes to replacing any of the parts !

Thanks

Graham

bandit you can change main beam bulb but this involves removing headlights and taking gas charge unit off i think the book recommends to take it to dealer because this could be very expensive if you break something i can advise on how to do this if required. not sure on life expectancy but bulb is

Thanks BK.

All of a sudden the Yellowish light does not seem that Yellow after all !!

:cheers:

Graham

and i forgot the control unit at

I thought about doing the same mod when I had the L&K. I thought the main beam bulbs must be easy to reach.

How wrong can you be..........

I think it just demonstrates how tight things are at the front of the bonnet -fititng the xenons in must've been an interesting engineering job......

Phil

Originally posted by philc in this post

I thought about doing the same mod when I had the L&K. I thought the main beam bulbs must be easy to reach.

How wrong can you be..........

I think it just demonstrates how tight things are at the front of the bonnet -fititng the xenons in must've been an interesting engineering job......

Phil

Phil,

Did you think the main beam was not as clear as the dipped on the L&K then ?

Graham

I take that xenon bulbs last a hell of a lot longer than standard H4's then....thats a mighty big bulb bill :eek:

Interesting prices!

Am I correct in assuming that all Octavia-owning xenon headlight devotees have invested in plastic headlight protectors which retail at circa

Denis,

Someone told me - and it might have been the dealer - that you shouldn't fit protectors as they would hinder the wash system and create a build up of heat. Could be my memory playing tricks on me.

The lenses look like they are polycarbonate rather than glass so should be pretty tough.

And I don't want to be the first to find out!!

I guess from what big k was saying eralier, if you did get a cracked lens you could refit the working bits from the old one on to the new one - or at least I think that's what he was inferring. Otherwise it would be a *VERY* expensive trip to the dealer.

Howard

Howard

I don't have any problems with protectors and the headlight washer system, but I can see that heat build-up could be an issue with xenons. The protectors don't seem to have any noticeable effect on beam pattern, but again it might be a different story with xenons.

Unfortunately if a headlamp glass breaks, then you have to buy a new headlamp unit - whether halogen or xenon - hence I reckon the protectors are a worthwhile buy for non-xenoneers. And while we are talking about halogen headlamps, continental beam adaptors can be ordered from your Skoda dealer. They are called cover foil for headlamp and the part number for the RHD 2001 Octavia onwards is 1U2 941 981.

Originally posted by DGW in this post

Continental beam adaptors can be ordered from your Skoda dealer. They are called cover foil for headlamp and the part number for the RHD 2001 Octavia onwards is 1U2 941 981.

Denis,

You have an encyclopaedic mind !!

Graham

No, he is sad!

Latest set of beam adaptors that I bought actually had a diagram for attaching them to the Octavia headlights, they never did previously. I'll copy it and post it up.

Thanks Denis,

I'm going on what the dealer said - perhaps he has a vested interest in broken headlamp lenses! Certainly at the prices big k mentioned it would be a nice little earner!

I'm keeping everything crossed.

I wonder how much the dealers charge for the pattern re-assignment for continental driving? (again no beam adaptors allowed on Xenons).

Cheers,

Howard

Originally posted by fen_l&k in this post

Thanks Denis,

I'm going on what the dealer said - perhaps he has a vested interest in broken headlamp lenses! Certainly at the prices big k mentioned it would be a nice little earner!

I'm keeping everything crossed.

I wonder how much the dealers charge for the pattern re-assignment for continental driving? (again no beam adaptors allowed on Xenons).

Cheers,

Howard

Not sure what they charge, but it's a long job, involving dismantling most of the front of the car....

The adjustment they make changes the dip pattern so the lights dip vertically, rather than just to the left. Because I cross the channel at least half a dozen times a year, I didn't want to go through the whole palaver every time (although I'm told that vertical dipping lights aren't illegal in the UK). I just used the time honoured method of sticking bits of tape on the headlight glass. It's a small piece of tape. but I didn't get any problems in all the time I used it -including a two -week blast down to the Pyrenees.

Phil

Phil,

That's good to know.

How did you find out where to place it, or was it just trial and error?

H

Parked car close to garage door.

Faffed about with tape 'til the beam pattern looked about right.

Avoid looking directly at the lights -it hurts!

Phil

I was under the impression that if you has xenon headlamps then you had to have headlamp washers as well (some sort of legal/MOT requirement). Please correct me if I am wrong, but if thats the case then swapping up so to speak will be a non issue for many.

On the subject of headlamp lense, the lenses on my Superb are acrylic and appear to be clipped in place and therefore replaceable. Can anyone confirm my hope on this matter?

Cheers

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

I was under the impression that if you has xenon headlamps then you had to have headlamp washers as well (some sort of legal/MOT requirement).

Cheers

True -they have to have a cleaning system, to avoid beam deflection and dazzle. They also have to have a self-levelling system.

I still got flashed in the L&K -and still do in the Omega!

Phil

I like the 'waggle' the lights perform when you first switch them on and the self-levelling system resets itself. I've had a couple of confused people looking at me when I have been in Tesco's car park and it's done that!

I still get flashed - not much at this time of year obviously.

Wouldn't give em up though...

Howard

Originally posted by Kentish in this post

On the subject of headlamp lense, the lenses on my Superb are acrylic and appear to be clipped in place and therefore replaceable. Can anyone confirm my hope on this matter?

Sorry. The lens is a non-replaceable part of the complete headlight. The lens on my Felicia's foglight looked as if it was replaceable too but I had to buy a complete unit. Same applies to the Octavia's headlights.