When I first got my car the headlights seemed amazing in comparison to my previous car, but now I've had it for almost 2 years they actually seem pretty crap.

This is especially when comparing to even newer cars with LED headlights such as our Audi A3 and the Mercedes A-Class we just ordered.

 

I love the AFS system, how it responds to different conditions and steering inputs etc, and I upgraded the bulbs to a pair of stupidly-priced Osram bulbs earlier this year which made a huge difference, but the actual light output to me seems rubbish when using dipped beam, and the lights seem to be shining too low down. Full/high beam aren't too bad and the HBA is a nice feature So, 2 questions:

 

1. Can I adjust the height of the headlamp beams? The auto-levelling seems to be working fine - I can see it adjusting against the wall if I sit on the boot sill and then get up again.
2. Has anybody ever successfully changed their HID systems to LED and what were the results?

 

I remember posting in a thread a while ago in reply to someone who swapped to LED from xenon and I thought they were mad but now I'm leaning towards doing the same myself

 

Maybe my answer comes a little late, but i have the same problem. Excellent lights compared to my old car until my 1st service. It was actually an oil and filter change after 1 year/11500 Km, but they carried an update too about the lights. Since then i have the feeling that they aim too low.

17 hours ago, phph said:

Maybe my answer comes a little late, but i have the same problem. Excellent lights compared to my old car until my 1st service. It was actually an oil and filter change after 1 year/11500 Km, but they carried an update too about the lights. Since then i have the feeling that they aim too low.

I agree with this especially if you are driving on a decline you can hardly see more than one car ahead which is unnerving on country roads.  Have only had the car 6 months but noticing the poor lights lately. Full beam is an improvement over my previous 2006 car!

Before the update, i rarely needed the full beams and to be honest many times i thought that they weren't making a big difference anyway. Maybe that was wrong and the dipped headlights weren't so dipped. So they fixed it with the update, although no one had complained to me about my lights.

don't blame the headlights as being "poor" or "crap" when they've been incorrectly aligned, i.e. pointing downwards or too low.

 

the factory xenons on the Superb have a good spread and throw, when they are correctly aligned.

 

the same goes with any other car, be it a Skoda or something else.

 

7 hours ago, JR RS said:

don't blame the headlights as being "poor" or "crap" when they've been incorrectly aligned, i.e. pointing downwards or too low.

 

the factory xenons on the Superb have a good spread and throw, when they are correctly aligned.

 

the same goes with any other car, be it a Skoda or something else.

 

I agree with @JR RS. Mine are set up perfectly from factory. My Mark 7 golf gti had to be adjusted up as they were woeful! After a tweak upwards, they were perfect

I have adjusted the headlights upwards ever so slightly and it's made a difference, but I still think the light output could be better. I see other cars with HID/LED headlights and they just seem so much brighter than mine. My partner's A3 has the basic static LED headlights and they're so much brighter...

 

I might take a gamble and buy some Osram Night Breaker D3S bulbs and see how they perform (I was wrong in original post, I have the premium Philips bulbs fitted currently not Osram)

I went from the OE Osram to Osram Cool Blue Intense; signifant  improvement. 

On 03/12/2018 at 03:05, JR RS said:

don't blame the headlights as being "poor" or "crap" when they've been incorrectly aligned, i.e. pointing downwards or too low.

 

the factory xenons on the Superb have a good spread and throw, when they are correctly aligned.

 

the same goes with any other car, be it a Skoda or something else.

 

I don't blame the headlights, they were perfect before the update. But after the update...

Is it possible to lose their alignment because of the update? I am sure that the technician didn't touch anything physical. It was all software.

What about upgrading ballast to 45w? Anyone considered that?

 

On 13/12/2018 at 03:01, JackySi said:

What about upgrading ballast to 45w? Anyone considered that?

 

I considered it but after a little bit of reading around I wouldn’t be confident that the wiring/surrounding plastic housings etc would stand up to the extra load/heat

4 hours ago, drewellis said:

I considered it but after a little bit of reading around I wouldn’t be confident that the wiring/surrounding plastic housings etc would stand up to the extra load/heat

I wouldn't worry about that... The basic headlights produce much more heat than xenon and the platic is same/worse quality. did you check wires? They're really thick. 35w vs 45w vs 55w isn't that big difference on the wires. I would worry about lens, bulbs and actually replacing most. I don't mean this as anyhow attacky just trying to give you my opinion on your fears. I did only ask if anyone "considered" it. 

1 hour ago, JackySi said:

I wouldn't worry about that... The basic headlights produce much more heat than xenon and the platic is same/worse quality. did you check wires? They're really thick. 35w vs 45w vs 55w isn't that big difference on the wires. I would worry about lens, bulbs and actually replacing most. I don't mean this as anyhow attacky just trying to give you my opinion on your fears. I did only ask if anyone "considered" it. 

Oh yeh understand  I guess as you say actually replacing (and finding the right replacements) is prob the worst bit