So another update, just took the drivers side arch off as nice weather and felt sick to know that the silly prongs are still on the right side of the bulb and not the left and the clips were even more inside the housing than the passenger side (I'm in UK) but i've managed to get them done, turned on the lights and they're working phew! Tonight i'll go for a drive to see what they're like and i'll take the obligatory pictures.  I do have some from the other night, so i'll take some tonight using the same phone and same location (it's not a pitch black road and has street lights but best test for me)

Question anyone else who has changed the Xenons bulbs, non SLA with the two metal prongs, did you struggle?  I'm wondering because i'm left handed my brain physically couldn't understand the clips, like I know top clip is down, forward and a bit and up, bottom clip is up, forward a bit then down, but I still struggled.  Wondering if people who are right handed it just makes sense and works and for left handed people tough, either that or i'm a bit thick haha

 

P.S The pictures tonight will be previous bulb from I believe factory 2016 and approx 44k miles, compared to brand new Osram Night Breaker Laser Next Gens at 0 hours old. I might be able to put about an hour on before I take pictures of the new bulbs, but I do know these Xenons can take like 20hours to fully bed in and only get brighter & whiter, so i'm guessing I'm going to feel a little underwhelmed to start with

Edited 15 November, 20232 yr by Danoid

3 hours ago, Danoid said:

So another update, just took the drivers side arch off as nice weather and felt sick to know that the silly prongs are still on the right side of the bulb and not the left and the clips were even more inside the housing than the passenger side (I'm in UK) but i've managed to get them done, turned on the lights and they're working phew! Tonight i'll go for a drive to see what they're like and i'll take the obligatory pictures.  I do have some from the other night, so i'll take some tonight using the same phone and same location (it's not a pitch black road and has street lights but best test for me)

Question anyone else who has changed the Xenons bulbs, non SLA with the two metal prongs, did you struggle?  I'm wondering because i'm left handed my brain physically couldn't understand the clips, like I know top clip is down, forward and a bit and up, bottom clip is up, forward a bit then down, but I still struggled.  Wondering if people who are right handed it just makes sense and works and for left handed people tough, either that or i'm a bit thick haha

 

P.S The pictures tonight will be previous bulb from I believe factory 2016 and approx 44k miles, compared to brand new Osram Night Breaker Laser Next Gens at 0 hours old. I might be able to put about an hour on before I take pictures of the new bulbs, but I do know these Xenons can take like 20hours to fully bed in and only get brighter & whiter, so i'm guessing I'm going to feel a little underwhelmed to start with

Are these the bulbs you fitted, £104.49 each?

8 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

Are these the bulbs you fitted, £104.49 each?

Quality Xenons aren't cheap haha

@Agustnr I know, I'm just checking because doing a Google search for the bulbs as listed by @Danoid I also get results listed as Halogen at much cheaper prices 😊, which I'm sure someone might be fooled into thinking are the same thing only to find out the hard way that they are not.

5 minutes ago, Graham Butcher said:

@Agustnr I know, I'm just checking because doing a Google search for the bulbs as listed by @Danoid I also get results listed as Halogen at much cheaper prices 😊, which I'm sure someone might be fooled into thinking are the same thing only to find out the hard way that they are not.

Oh yeah it would be quite a feat if someone managed to fit halogens into a xenon bracket hahah

Just now, Agustnr said:

Oh yeah it would be quite a feat if someone managed to fit halogens into a xenon bracket hahah

Correct, but they could still order the wrong bulbs. 

I got them from Amazon and verified them £144 for two bulbs the price has already gone up since a few days ago.  The one Graham posted is D4S but ours is D3S https://www.amazon.co.uk/OSRAM-BREAKER-Generation-brightness-66340XNN-HCB/dp/B0BBN98YTY?th=1

 

So the results are in, and i'm underwhelmed! but I was expecting it because it needs to burn in but here's a before and after

OLD

 

NEW

 

Same camera, but the top picture almost looks like LED's which it didn't look that white and annoyingly some plonker has parked their van there ruining my pictures as the other vans always park in the same spot 🤣

 

Tomorrow i'm hoping to do half a turn adjustment on each headlight as it's still far too bloody low, i'll do it without maths and hopefully it wont blind people, if it does i'll turn it back a quarter turn and see how it goes.

What I plan on doing is getting a marker so I can draw a line at the top of the screw and on the screw itself, that way I have a reference point as to where current settings are and can easily go back.  I just need to find something thin and permenant, something like a yellow pen will do as long as it's visible on white and black plastic

Edited 15 November, 20232 yr by Danoid

@Danoid Yes, I'm a bit disappointed as well, there currently does not seem to be any improvement, which I was hoping that there would be. My old Mk2 L&K had the Xenon lights as well as the Halogen main beams, so in essence like a twin headlight, and those lights were brilliant. My Mk3 L&K does not have the 2nd main beam, instead it has the so-called "Crystal" effect insert which adds zero extra lighting and has just the Xenon headlights, while good, are no match for the old ones.

 

They are not too bad on dry roads but on wet or damp roads, they leave much to be desired as the light just reflects off the road.

Just fitted some Audi RSQ3 wheels (8,5x19 ET36).

22 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

@Danoid Yes, I'm a bit disappointed as well, there currently does not seem to be any improvement, which I was hoping that there would be. My old Mk2 L&K had the Xenon lights as well as the Halogen main beams, so in essence like a twin headlight, and those lights were brilliant. My Mk3 L&K does not have the 2nd main beam, instead it has the so-called "Crystal" effect insert which adds zero extra lighting and has just the Xenon headlights, while good, are no match for the old ones.

 

They are not too bad on dry roads but on wet or damp roads, they leave much to be desired as the light just reflects off the road.

I reckon yours will need new bulbs and aim adjusted too.

 

I’ll see if I can remember to take some pictures in a few months time after 10-20hours, I rarely do much driving as it is especially nighttime.

 

Saying that I am doing a 4 hour drive each way soon, in the day but I might just set my lights to be on to help burn in

Also I just adjusted my headlights 1 full turn and seems a bit better

 

Note to self and for anyone else

Turn screw ANTICLOCKWISE to HIGHER

Turn screw CLOCKWISE to LOWER

 

Weird that clockwise isn’t higher but there you go 😩

What I done to mark it’s original position was mark it with a gold permanent pen, on the black plastic and on the screw itself (btw what size is the screw nothing would fit so used a philips screwdriver which wasn’t great)

 

If I find it’s too high I can turn it clockwise half a turn, then if it fails MOT turn it another 180degrees clockwise to original value

 

Edited 16 November, 20232 yr by Danoid

24 minutes ago, Danoid said:

Also I just adjusted my headlights 1 full turn and seems a bit better

 

Note to self and for anyone else

Turn screw ANTICLOCKWISE to HIGHER

Turn screw CLOCKWISE to LOWER

 

Weird that clockwise isn’t higher but there you go 😩

What I done to mark it’s original position was mark it with a gold permanent pen, on the black plastic and on the screw itself (btw what size is the screw nothing would fit so used a philips screwdriver which wasn’t great)

 

If I find it’s too high I can turn it clockwise half a turn, then if it fails MOT turn it another 180degrees clockwise to original value

 

Just make sure your car is unloaded and preferably on level ground too, otherwise you'll have a wonky beam that doesn't align. It's good if you can mark on a wall where the beam should be.

35 minutes ago, Danoid said:

Also I just adjusted my headlights 1 full turn and seems a bit better

 

Note to self and for anyone else

Turn screw ANTICLOCKWISE to HIGHER

Turn screw CLOCKWISE to LOWER

 

Weird that clockwise isn’t higher but there you go 😩

What I done to mark it’s original position was mark it with a gold permanent pen, on the black plastic and on the screw itself (btw what size is the screw nothing would fit so used a philips screwdriver which wasn’t great)

 

If I find it’s too high I can turn it clockwise half a turn, then if it fails MOT turn it another 180degrees clockwise to original value

 

It isn't a screwdriver you need but a 7 or 8mm Allen key.

23 hours ago, Danoid said:

So the results are in, and i'm underwhelmed!

Well that is disappointing, to say the least, given Osram claims - 220% more of this, and 5,000 more metres of that!
I’ll just hang on to the OE bulbs ‘til they’ve had it, as forking-out £150 for an early zero, to a potentially mediocre improvement, is a daft idea.

3 hours ago, numskull said:

Well that is disappointing, to say the least, given Osram claims - 220% more of this, and 5,000 more metres of that!
I’ll just hang on to the OE bulbs ‘til they’ve had it, as forking-out £150 for an early zero, to a potentially mediocre improvement, is a daft idea.

I’m hoping it’ll be better the more I use them, but no way are they brighter yet, but I was expecting to see more straight away

3 hours ago, Agustnr said:

Just make sure your car is unloaded and preferably on level ground too, otherwise you'll have a wonky beam that doesn't align. It's good if you can mark on a wall where the beam should be.

Car was unloaded and flat as could get it on my drive.

 

I must admit I didn’t do any measurements as it just didn’t make sense to me, so one turn and I noticed the beam on the garage go up 2cm or so.

 

Shouldnt be an issue blinding people because it was so darn low anyway.

 

One thing I’ve never noticed on my car is the beam changing shape depending on what speed I go, I can see the left/right swivel but that all. I suppose with street lights it’s hard to tell anyway

Edited 16 November, 20232 yr by Danoid

3 hours ago, Graham Butcher said:

It isn't a screwdriver you need but a 7 or 8mm Allen key.

I tried a 6mm and that was too big, 5.5mm too small hmm

20 minutes ago, Danoid said:

I tried a 6mm and that was too big, 5.5mm too small hmm

Hmm, try a 7/32 key instead, it is marginally bigger than a 5.5mm.

It won't stay like this for long anyway. Without a tester or coding tool, the new height will not be saved. The adjustment is always made when the headlight has previously been moved to the basic position using a tester. So the new value (height) is not saved.

On 16/11/2023 at 22:48, Danoid said:

I’m hoping it’ll be better the more I use them

 
According to my brother, who was a lightning engineer and designer for 35 years, during which he worked for Thorn, GE and Schneider, that statement is, I’m afraid, a complete myth; they won’t become brighter with use. 
Additionally, it is a myth than an LED will last for 20,000 hours. It might still “illuminate” (albeit the vast majority of Far Eastern LED’s are cheaply made and poor quality and may last 20% of those hours) but by that time, it will also be 90% less efficient than it was when it was new and is therefore, effectively useless. 

23 minutes ago, numskull said:

 
According to my brother, who was a lightning engineer and designer for 35 years, during which he worked for Thorn, GE and Schneider, that statement is, I’m afraid, a complete myth; they won’t become brighter with use. 
Additionally, it is a myth than an LED will last for 20,000 hours. It might still “illuminate” (albeit the vast majority of Far Eastern LED’s are cheaply made and poor quality and may last 20% of those hours) but by that time, it will also be 90% less efficient than it was when it was new and is therefore, effectively useless. 

A lot of people say differently so time will tell quite literally
 

I can’t find anything official about burn in tines, so could be just people’s eyes adjust 😁

8 hours ago, Danoid said:

I can’t find anything official about burn in tines, so could be just people’s eyes adjust

Unsurprising on the first point and probable on the second. One other thing to remember is, in the last 10 years, most local authorities (and all in Greater London) have replaced their old, expensive-to-buy-and-run and very inefficient sodium street lighting for far cheaper, more efficient and much brighter LEDs. This could also be the reason that Xenon headlights appear to be no longer as bright as they once were. Get out into areas with little or no lighting and they’re far more acceptable. I certainly remember being amazed how good the Xenons were on our MKI Superb, compared to the Halogens on the Octavia it replaced. 

10 minutes ago, numskull said:

I certainly remember being amazed how good the Xenons were on our MKI Superb, compared to the Halogens on the Octavia it replaced. 

Same for me. I was amazed when I came from my halogen equiped MY2009 Audi A3 to my MY2012 Superb Mk2 fitted with Xenons as standard spec. Still satisfied with my current Superb Mk3 also Xenons equiped.

But I agree, when you compare to another car fitted with OEM LEDs. It's almost the feeling a boy scout proud of his swiss knife seeing John Rambo coming by with his big guns... 😄

Yes, I know... talking about Rambo gives an idea of my age. I should have spoken of any Marvel hero to look younger... 🤣

6 hours ago, Bap33 said:

But I agree, when you compare to another car fitted with OEM LEDs

Yeah, LED are ridiculously bright at the headlamp but strangely, in a lot of applications, they’re not the huge improvement that Xenon was over Halogen. 

11 hours ago, numskull said:

Unsurprising on the first point and probable on the second. One other thing to remember is, in the last 10 years, most local authorities (and all in Greater London) have replaced their old, expensive-to-buy-and-run and very inefficient sodium street lighting for far cheaper, more efficient and much brighter LEDs. This could also be the reason that Xenon headlights appear to be no longer as bright as they once were. Get out into areas with little or no lighting and they’re far more acceptable. I certainly remember being amazed how good the Xenons were on our MKI Superb, compared to the Halogens on the Octavia it replaced. 

I went for a doggo walk earlier and was pitch black when we got back

 

Got two more pictures, I do think they’re getting brighter slowly as I noticed more on the motorway, still only 2 hours

 

I’ll do another light post around mid December as I’ll have more then 2hours use by then