Hello everyone. I'm sure this topic has been covered before but I'd still like some up-to-date guidance nevertheless.

 

I've just driven my 2014 Fabia for the first time at night and I find the lights unbelievably poor. What's the current recommendations for improving them?

They are poor. I spent 5 long Scottish winters with my Fabia, and had the front fog lights on we're on more times than I could remember for extra light!

 

The Fabia uses projector headlights, halogen 55w H7 bulbs. I fitted Philips Xtreme bulbs +130%. Bosch do a version too. It's a marginal improvement but seems to give better definition of road sights, cat's eyes and the white lines on the road. Philips also do Racing a vision +150%. They reckon you'll get 200 hours maximum out of them. Prepare for scuffed knuckles, fitting is a pain.

 

Personally I'd avoid any HID upgrade. The headlights aren't self levelling and there's no headlight wash facility, which makes it an MOT fail.

 

I should mention, I sold my Fabia earlier in the summer and bought a Polo with LED headlights, but still drop in from time to time.

Edited 1 December, 20196 yr by spartacus68

Thanks for that, spartacus68. I'll look into getting the Philips bulbs, I've heard others say that they improve things a lot.

I have the philips to and can recommend.

 

Also when it comes to MOT time, check they are adjusted correctly, mine were quite low which was still within the MOT guidlines, but lifting them to max height allowed improved them significantly.

found the same issue and went through the same bulbs, in the end I installed HIDs and finally i could see much better. I keep mine pointed down all the time out of respect for the oncoming drivers. I had 3 MOTs done since in 3 different places and never had an issue. I am not recommending HIDs because...you know, illegal. But this is my story. Good luck. 

Thanks to everyone for all the comments/advice. I've got a Haynes Manual on order, and when this comes through I will have a more detailed look the lights - with a view to replacing the bulbs. In the meantime, I'm quite lucky that I don't have to do much driving at night.

I've only just got round to dealing with this issue - haven't used the car at night for months. Now with dark nights just around the corner I thought I ought to sort it out. I've ordered some new bulbs, but looking at fitting them it looks as if access is very difficult. Does the fuel filter have to be removed to do it? It certainly looks difficult with it in. Also, on all the YouTube videos I've seen there is a spring clip holding the bulbs in, but on mine there appears to be two torx screws. Do these have to be removed?

BTW, are these bulbs ok for my Fabia: https://tinyurl.com/y6rkc456

I have fitted the above bulbs, which are said to be HID - although the vendor assures me they are road legal. Relatively easy to fit - although a right-angled T20 would have made it much easier (have one on order). However, I can't say that the headlights have improved that much - going to try adjusting them before I give up or try other bulbs.

1 hour ago, Salopshire said:

I have fitted the above bulbs, which are said to be HID - although the vendor assures me they are road legal. Relatively easy to fit - although a right-angled T20 would have made it much easier (have one on order). However, I can't say that the headlights have improved that much - going to try adjusting them before I give up or try other bulbs.

 

If the advert is correct they are 'super white HID effect' and they look like standard halogen technology to me. What worries me is that they are 100 watt so definitely not road legal in the UK (55 watt max). Someone better informed than me will hopefully be along soon to advise whether this extra wattage will damage your wiring or blow fuses.

Thanks for the reply, Phil866. I take your point about the extra wattage - which I hadn't thought about. Over 8 amps of current is very high considering the size of the wiring - high voltage drop as well as heat is likely to be a problem (not to mention fuses). They weren't expensive, so I think I'll change them for the Philips type.

Thanks again.

Some sellers just add any old sh-tuff to the description, in order to get more viewings as viewings mean sales!

These are just "Normal" bulbs, not HID's but they suggest they give the HID look, I.E. White or blue-ish-white light output, rather then typical, l yellowish light.

 

I am unsure as to their output but would almost certainly be deemed "Not for road use" as will LED bulbs, HID's on a car without the legal specs to fit them, etc.  This illegality is perhaps warranted, perhaps not as LED bulbs are now becoming the norm but were not, when the rules were made and retro-fitting may still be an issue, depending on the bulbs, the vehicle and basically, opinion!

 

Cheap-ish LED's will look nice and white but won't be that much brighter. They work ok and are not too dazzly to on-comers, if adjusted properly but don't tend to last very long, perhaps a year, maybe two, like a good quality set might. (£13 rather then £60-up).

 

The price they are sold for, tells me they are going to be no better then what you may have had, whereby  Phillips, Halfords high performing bulbs (Cant remember their name, Osram night breakers, Bosch, etc all supply higher spec bulbs, with a higher spec price. Expect to pay at least £20 a pair, often more, to buy them and be sure to REALLY have the premium type bulbs as they are much better. The downside, apart from cost, is longevity. The higher brightness usually means a shorter life. (Think Bladerunner, "And you have burned so very, very brightly, Roy).

 

Oh, Halfords often have a buy one-get one free, deal so their own brand high performance bulbs can then be quite good value. CP4L, EPC, etc often have good deals and discount codes so look around, buy better and don't be fobbed off with cheap "Pretend" Bulbs. A little blue tint fools many people.

 

That wattage will almost certainly cause long-term issues, though! The heat may also melt the plastic lens or at least, make it yellow quickly. Genuine 100W bulbs will be for rally cars, off roading, etc.

Thank you mrgf for your very helpful post, which I fully accept and agree with. I think I will go for the Philips type now - https://tinyurl.com/y2j7wvky -  but I'll check Halfords out before doing so. I have only replaced the main beam bulbs with these pretend HID ones, but my dipped lights are also very poor - so can they also be replaced with Philips H7s?

Your model has different lights to mine but if they are H7 bulbs, any H7 should go. Brighter again, the better, My car has a single bulb, with the motorised flaps that block out part of the bulb's output, effectively forcing them to be lower then they are on full beam. It kind of cuts off the top half of the light emitted. I do find LED sidelights are brighter then the normal sidelight bulbs but they are a little fiddly to swap. Not bloody difficult but with practice, ok-ish. Then again, there may be nice, bright Philips or something, sides...

Thanks again for that.

 

I've looked at Halfords, and they don't seem to have any offers on at the moment. I've found Osram Night Breakers at around £20 for a pair of bulbs, so I'm going to replace both dip and main beam with those.

I improved my projectors (and main beam) by replacing all 4 H7 bulbs with these https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ring-xenon150-150-12v-55w-477-halogen-bulbs-pair.html 2 yrs ago now and all 4 still work fine (they come with a 6 month warranty). ABD also sell loads of other bulbs and no, I don't have any connection with them 😇. The biggest improvement however was having the headlight aim adjusted correctly.

On 29/08/2020 at 09:30, Phil866 said:

I improved my projectors (and main beam) by replacing all 4 H7 bulbs with these https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-ring-xenon150-150-12v-55w-477-halogen-bulbs-pair.html 2 yrs ago now and all 4 still work fine (they come with a 6 month warranty). ABD also sell loads of other bulbs and no, I don't have any connection with them 😇. The biggest improvement however was having the headlight aim adjusted correctly.

 

As i mentioned ealrier in the thread, made as much if not more of an improvement.

Hid bulbs all the way 🤣👌 mine used to pass mot until they became illegal. If you install them correctly you won't blind anyone. Brighter h7 halogens imo waste of money. 

Edited 31 August, 20205 yr by K888Fabia

HID 

£32 / doesn't blind oncoming vehicles. 😊

Now I'm confused!

H.i.d (High-intensity discharge) Requires a subtle modification to the metal bulb holder other than that it's easy fit. (Attached picture) - The red bit I've circled requires bit if filing, so that the bulb connector can fit through.

 

These are the best chinese one's I've had if anyone wants to get a pair.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181789221814 Bulbs - H7 50w/ 5k for white and anything higher for blue (MAKE SURE YOU GET BULBS WITH METAL BASE)

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264311829461 - Ballast for the hids (Usually the bulbs that come with the ballast are either plastic base or low quality metal base ones, so I would get this separate.)

 

Do this at your own risk, these are not road legal anymore. 🙈 

Edited 1 September, 20205 yr by K888Fabia

I've just replaced all four with Osram Night Breakers - bit of a fiddly job! - I've also adjusted the beam. Much better, although I may have to tweak the adjustment a bit.