Hi guys,

Prior to driving to France in my Fabia Mk III I naturally wanted to adjust the dipped beam to comply with regulations. As the Monte Carlo is fitted with the projector style lamp then I knew that by regulation they must have a manual adjustor fitted. As expected the manual just states that you need to go to a ‘specialist’ i.e. Skoda, but after questioning a good friend at Skoda he was unable to provide any help as they never do them! A search of the forum didn’t reveal anything either so I tackled it myself! And with that I thought I’d give you guys some help in case anyone finds themselves in the same situation.

Whilst the regulations require these to be manually adjustable they do not state that there has to be the room available to do it, so ideally the lamp units need removing. However, if you have small enough hands and a flat head driver you should be able to manage this.

With the lamps on the car this is quite a fiddly job. As you will be going in blind, so that you know you have the right part, the lever is aluminium and will make a ‘ting’ sound if you flick it. This was the only way I knew that I was correctly on the lever. I would also advise taking before and after pictures so that you know you have moved the lever. The pictures shown here are the view looking straight in from the back of the lamp. There is only room on the inside of the bulb so you can’t go wrong.

1. Remove the rubber cap to gain access to the dipped bulb.

2. For the off-side: As you can see in the picture there is a metal lever which simply needs to be pushed down. This is located on the inside of the lamp (right side as you are looking from the front, reverse this if you remove the lamp and can look at it straight on). I could put my finger on it but couldn’t get enough purchase to actually move it. However, if you carefully manoeuvre a flat head driver you in there will be able to gently push the lever down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. For the near-side I would advise releasing the battery (but leaving it connected) and sliding it over to gain access to the lamp. The leaver is on the inside of the lamp again (left as you look from the front) and functions up rather than down. Again I have attached a picture to demonstrate the positions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Once you have done this pop the rubber covers back on and that’s it, all done!

5. Upon return to the country the levers then just needs sliding back to the original position. Repeat the process but this time:

1. Off-side needs to return to the up position

2. Near-side needs to return to the down position

The lever simply operates a flap to cut off the beam pattern. Most establishments will probably offer you a sticker to put on the front of the lamp, but with this style of lamp it is almost impossible to cut off the pattern (and believe me, I had the country’s leading optics specialist investigate whether he could tape this up manually!).  

Hope this helps J

 

 

Thank you - good to know. Pics didn't come through - but your detailed text was very clear. Thanks, man!

Sorry guys, this is the off-side in the UK position...

And this is the off-side in the adjusted position.

This is the near-side in the UK position...

And the near-side in the adjusted position.

 

Hopefully that gives everyone a better idea of what you are looking for :-)

Thank you for this information: just what I needed to do for my car, before popping over to Europe.

 

My experience:

- I couldn't see the little "levers" directly, so I used a small mirror (eg ladies compact, handbag makeup mirror) and a torch

- you'll need a 5 to 6 inch (total length) screwdriver - smaller (= thinner) is probably better

- it didn't need a lot of force to move the levers

- I actually removed the battery to get to the nearside lamp - there was no problems when I put it back (ie integraeted radio worked fine, no code needed)

 

So, it was very fiddly to do, but not at all complicated. 

Hi - these tips were a godsend! Just adjusted the lights on my Fabia and all's well for our trip. I removed the plastic covers in the wheel arch and could see the lever shown in these photos. The levers moved really easily when pushed gently with the end of a screwdriver. Thanks again.

Excellent sounds a lot like when I bought a brand new VW Passat 4Motion, I just used insulating tape to cover the HIDs for the trip back to UK from Holland, but as we were on holiday to France in a month's time, I set about finding out how to alter the lights for driving on the other side of the road.

 

First I talked to my local VW dealership, they would contact VW UK and get back to me within 3 days - that did not happen, so I contacted VW UK directly and they said that they would pass the required info onto my local VW dealership, that did not happen, so again I just used insulating tape.

 

About a year later I discovered that like this Fabia, there was  movable metal shutter on each light assembly, but I never ever tried to mess about with that while in queue for a ferry in both directions, really complete nonsense on the part of VW Group then and now!

 

Both our 2011 Audi S4 and 2015 VW Polo with LEDs came with better systems - but nowadays we tend to fly drive, oh well!

I used to use the levers on my previous 2008 Octavia with Halogens. Once I'd don't it once it was easy enough to do quickly. And certainly better than those horrible stickers.

 

Found it easier to remove the lights since it's super easy on the Octavia.

 

It was also the same system used on my Saab that had factory xenons. I could get to those without removing the lights at least.

 

Now I can change this in Maxidot on my FL Octavia.

very  helpful  mate . but on my phone its stopped  showing uour pics?

On 25/06/2023 at 10:41, kezziemate said:

very  helpful  mate . but on my phone its stopped  showing uour pics?

Probably your phone and/or the programs on it as the photos show clearly on my old PC, try using a different device.

 

Sorry to bring such an old thread up but I’m often travelling to Europe by car and would love to figure this out. I’ve had now two attempts at finding these levers but I think my assemblies aren’t the same? I have a mk3 Fabia estate se. Photos attached. I simply don’t see the levers? Could anyone help me please. 
 

 

1 hour ago, turboskodaria said:

Sorry to bring such an old thread up but I’m often travelling to Europe by car and would love to figure this out. I’ve had now two attempts at finding these levers but I think my assemblies aren’t the same? I have a mk3 Fabia estate se. Photos attached. I simply don’t see the levers? Could anyone help me please. 

I don't think your car has those type of headlights, yours look to be halogen type.

 

For a Mk3 Fabia (2020) If you have LED type headlights you adjust via the infotainment menus but I forget if I've seen how to adjust them for halogen,

 

Edited 9 November, 20241 yr by nta16
forgot which forum I was in

Hey, no this whole thread is about manually adjusting them. Is that what you meant with wrong forum edit?

4 hours ago, turboskodaria said:

Hey, no this whole thread is about manually adjusting them

If you have the 4 x H7 headlamp type unit then:-

 

You want to remove the rear bulb rubber covers from the dipped beam bulbs.

These are the outer two which are almost under the wing.

Then look for the small silver lever.

 

Are your photos of the inner two main beam bulbs?

 

Thanks. AG Falco

 

 

Oh my word I didn’t realise there are two covers! I must have looked at the outer larger ones. What a numpty. I’ll check later and get back to you. Thank you!

11 hours ago, turboskodaria said:

Hey, no this whole thread is about manually adjusting them. Is that what you meant with wrong forum edit?

No I was a numpty too, I was going to direct you to the Fabia Mk3 forum as I thought this thread was elsewhere then saw it wasn't.  And now I know I've not seen how to do the adjustment until AG Falco's post, now I know. but doubt if I'll remember. 🙃

 

 

So I found the outer lamps (how was I so blind) but couldn’t really see or get to the levers. Starting to think that it’s probably not feasible to adjust these on the Eurotunnel if I can’t even find them. I did however find the handy inspection covers in the wheel wells giving better access/view into the lamp assembly. 

As with aa lot of items on modern cars your dealing with black bits of plastic against black background, often other bits of black plastic, in dark areas that can be awkward to view and the bits are often cover in black oil and debris and/or mud.  on my wife's 2015 the covers are to access the incandescent DLR bulbs which are a PITA and wrist to get at and despite being cleaned and lubricated the covers are awkward to pull off with the wheel/tyre in the way.  I've had to take them off twice already as the bulb holder or wiring or something doesn't seem to be up to the job of keeping 21w bulb alight and will have to do it again to swap to LED bulbs so the DLR can be switched back on as the car owner wants. I have real difficulty refitting the bulb holders so have my, normally very relucent and absent, glamorous assistant do that part.  Gawd knows how I'd get to the other bulb through that access.