For sure I could do that and I have some superb 3M helicopter tape which cost £hundreds in the 80's and what remains is still as good as new, the metal shield inside is well defined, it would be relatively (for a gyno!) easy to place a piece on top to make it completely flat without the kick up and which would do the job properly, masking the lens is always a real compromise and looks naff to me, I did not spend the money on new LHD lights to mask them.

 

The xenon lights are an experiment, they were so cheap I wanted to give them a try, for me who no longers has the night vision of his youth they are superb but if they dazzle people and I cannot resolve it then they are coming off, I like playing, its how I learn and remain young.

 

The unknown for me is the heat output of the xenon bulbs, as they take a lot less current I hope that like leds most of it makes light and not heat.

 

Interestingly the mask appears at first glance to be upside down but the optics are like the film in an old fashioned camera, I was not convinced till I tried them.

@J.R. - the following is my understanding based on what I found when I was looking at brighter headlights in my Octavia. To the best of my knowledge it is correct but as always, if there is solid evidence to the contrary I'd be interested to take a look at it.

 

Everything I've said should be applicable for the UK and probably most of Europe. Other countries may have different requirements.

 

Given the length of this post, I wouldn't bother quoting it as it'll just make the thread unreadable...

 

Beam cutoff

Reflector style headlights tend to have a flick to one side. Projector style headlights tend to have a step instead to give two distinct levels. A rough and exaggerated example is below using the power of ASCII art.

   RHD           LHD
\                     /
 \                   /
  \______     ______/

   RHD           LHD
__                   __
  \______     ______/

You can put almost any light source close to the focal point of a projector headlight and it should have a fairly decent cutoff.

 

A good cutoff is the main way to avoid glare to oncoming drivers. It relies on the cutoff being below their eyes but we will come back to this later.

 

Quick note, the DOT (America)and stepped ECE cutoff are similar but DOT style headlights have a steeper slope.

 

Beam distribution

This is where things get more interesting.

- A halogen lamp will make most light around the middle of the filament. 

- A xenon/HID lamp which makes most light either end of the arc.

 

Due to this and the obvious brightness differences, halogen and xenon/HID projector bowls are slightly different. If I remember correctly, someone compared two E55 style projector bowls (as used in the FL MK2 Octavia) and the xenon/HID version was a wider oval to give a better distribution matching the characteristics of the light source.

 

The H7 xenon/HID conversion kit you used *should* have tried to match the position of the original halogen filament with the arc of the xenon/HID bulb. This will have maintained the cut off but the distribution of light under the cutoff *will* have changed. It's hard to say if this is a problem without proper test equipment. There is a similar issue where people have tried H7 LED lamps in halogen projectors, they tend to be 'unfocused' causing more foreground lighting and less light at distance.

 

Due to the way our eyes work, extra foreground lighting tends to give us confidence as we can see more clearly. The downside is it'll cause your pupil to contract so your distance vision will be compromised given there is both less light to illuminate obstacles and less light can enter the eye. The earlier you can see an obstacle the earlier you can react so at least when driving, good distance lighting is more useful than a bright foreground. Some xenon/HID projectors even have foreground limiters to reduce the foreground light output but given better distance vision.

 

This is why it's important to have the correct light distribution under the cutoff.

 

Levelling

As mentioned previously, having a good cutoff is only useful if the cutoff is below the eye line of oncoming vehicles.

 

Initially only static levelling was performed. The ride height would be measured when stationary and beam height would adjust based on the front/rear load.

 

Most modern VAG cars including the FL MK2 Octavia use dynamic levelling. It's constantly changing the beam height based on the level sensor data. Literally every time you hit a bump, accelerate or decelerate it will make adjustments to keep the beam height correct and avoid glare.

 

There are still situations where the system doesn't do well such as cresting hills as it doesn't know about upcoming terrain. To solve this, the latest systems incorporate cameras so once the headlights of an oncoming vehicle are recognised, it can drop the beam below them to further reduce glare. These cameras can also be used with roller shutters, matrix systems and the very latest pixel systems to give 'permanent high beam' without causing glare by adjusting the beam shape.

 

The levelling can be done by adjusting the headlights or with self-levelling suspension. Some sports cars don't require levelling where their suspension is sufficiently stiff and the load area is determined not to have an effect. Which of these systems are used will be determined by the manufacturer and it will pass certain tests to gain approval.

 

ECE regulations

This is the part that stops your conversion being road legal.

 

In short, they state that the entire headlight system needs to be tested to meet certain requirements. Assuming it passes the tests, the system as a whole will gain approval for use on the road. If the specification of any component is changed, then the original approval no longer applies and it'll need retesting.

 

As your headlight would have been tested with a H7 halogen lamp, when you fitted a H7 xenon/HID lamp the entire headlight system needs retesting to regain approval. I can guarantee that it wouldn't pass because:

- a H7 xenon/HID is not a type approved lamp even if they are sold as having 'E-marks'.

- any headlight system producing more than 2000lm requires a levelling system (see above) and washers.

 

UK MOT

It's often said that projector conversions are fine because it'll pass an MOT.

 

All the MOT does is confirm the headlight beam height is correct and the cutoff is OK. The latest changes should also make sure the light source matches the ECE markings on the headlight although I don't know how well enforced this is or will be.

 

Unless the system as a whole matches a tested and approved system, it is not road legal and therefore should not be used on the road. It's that simple

 

Just checked my xenon equipped halogen projector headlights against the garage door and as I thought the beam pattern is exactly as the lower one in your diagram and as it was with the H7 halogen bulbs.

 

It does appear a little high though as when I reverse (drive is flat) the cut off does raise slightly, putting the level adjuster at 2 it remains fixed in the same spot.

 

My CT (mot) tester is a friend and I had set them on his optical alignment rig with the halogen bulbs, I set them bang in the middle of the allowed tolerance zone, I will go back to see if the beam pattern is as crisp and if it has raised at all and adjust them down in any case, plus I will need to do it again when I replace the rear springs, for the UK trips I will lower the headlights using the control and switch back to halogens if the car is loaded.

 

The new controls seem a good idea, it seems the manufacturers are playing catch up though, in my mind the regs should have been rewritten years ago to have a maximum candlepower and not a maximum wattage, that way LEDs and HID's would not have been available until the lobbyists had convinced tha authorities that with all the correct controls they could allow higher candlepower.

 

I dont know what the lumens output of mine are but I deliberately chose the lower wattage ones.

 

I understand and agree that my set up is not legal under the current regs, I am more concerned that it should not dazzle, if I cant avoid that I will remove it.

The drop in kits are probably ~35W producing 3000 to 3400 lumens. There are proper 25W xenons available (D5s and D6s) which should be below the 2000lm level. They are unlikely to be a direct fit into H7 projectors so you'd probably need to fit a replacement projector. Given a good quality H7 should be around 1550lm, it might not give much extra light. Have you checked your projector bowls and lenses are in good condition and not burnt?

 

In my opinion, you're probably always going to cause glare when accelerating unless the headlights are low enough to render them useless for normal driving. For context, if the levelling system detects a fault the lamps are set to a 'safe mode' position which only gives a few meters lighting at best...

 

I don't mean to sound negative but all this is why I did a full xenon retrofit on my Octavia including level sensors and AFS modules to match a factory system. At least on the facelift MK2 it also gives 'bending lights' and 'tourist mode'.

 

I will admit that 'tourist mode' isn't great, it basically disables the 'bending' function/AFS modes, drops both headlights slightly and the moves the passenger headlight aim inwards to try and fill some of the lost light. There's a common misconception that it's able to change from RHD <-> LHD beam patterns but the shutter is fixed making it impossible :/

 

The headlights are new so as good as they can be.

 

What are bending lights and AFS?

 

I tend to avoid night driving these days but do the same cross country journey 3 ior 4 times a week returning from the runing club, there is not much traffic but I can guarantee that even before the change of lights 4 out of 5 oncoming vehicles never dip their lights unless flashed and 2 of them wont even after that, when you follow vehicles you realise that a large proportion are being driven by drunk drivers.

 

Headlamp aim is generally completely random and I have never ever done the journey without seeing several vehicles with non functioning headlights, rear lights, brake lights etc, one had no rear lights and just small puddles of light shining directly on the road 1m ahead of the vehicle.

 

OTOH get on the autoroutes and the lorry drivers will soon let you know if your lights are high when laden.

AFS is advanced front lighting system. AFS modes include city mode, motorway mode and rain mode, basically it changes the aim of each xenon/HID projector to give more light where it's useful. As part of the AFS system it can move the projector left and right so the lights will 'bend' to follow corners, hence 'bending xenons'

 

Your profile suggests you have a 2006 which would be a MK2 pre-FL and never supported AFS. It would just be levelling on that generation.

 

Random example video to give an idea of how AFS works:

 

Video showing the projector moving whilst driving:

 

The factory xenons in my Scout have the kick up to the left. They can however be flatlined by an adjustment lever on the back of the light for driving on the continent.

The pre-FL got a lever to flatten the beam.

 

On the FL, only halogen headlights have the lever. With xenons, you're expected to use tourist mode which works as I mentioned above.

Sorry for late response, they’ve agreed to take them back just leaving me to cover postage,waiting for replacement.