Guys, I am having a nightmare with my headlights on my new Octy. The xenons shake as I go over bumps etc. The dealers have been as unhelpful as only dealers know how. What I wondered was if any of you in my area Surrey / Sussex have a Xenon equiped car that you wouldn't mind spinning me round the block in to compare to mine. I would come to you, and it's worth a pie and a pint.

Cheers

Stumpy

Mine will have Xenons when I get it next week, I'll be able to tell then.

Cheers VRStu.

Not in Surrey mate, but I can confirm that my Xenons do shake. I was a bit miffed at first (first time with Xenons) but just thought it was normal.

Think it's caused by the headlight levelling. Can't say it really worries me :D

Chris, I find it very dangerous and offputting. From outside the car you can actually see the bulbs shaking. Other Xenon equiped cars I own don't do this. 2 Dealers have checked and said no fault - SUK say there is no known problem with the Xenons and are trying to find me a demo that I can take home and try. If it is a feature and not a fault, then I find it shockingly remiss of Skoda to put it into production like that. I shall then sell the car. Peed off at losing money, but this is a quirk I cannot live with.

Matchmaker, I can see the levelling working in a gentle swaying manner. But over high freq bumps like cobbles for example, the beam shakes and flickers. Is this what yours does.?

As long as they have been set correctly its normal.

I looked at Tom's Fabia Xenons a while ago. They were shaking, his local dealer had 'adjusted' them but failed to set them with diagnostic equipment, since I did them they have been fine.

Thanks Lummox, what do I need to tell them to set them with? Since they last buggered about with them they are worse than ever. At walking speed you drop into a drain, and wobble wobble. But the wobble isn't on the edge of the light spread, but in the middle

VAG-COM, or VAS at the dealer, is required to tell them that they are in the correct position.

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/xenonalignment.html

I had a Vx Vectra 3.2 gsi and the Hid headlight used to shake on that as you went over bumps. It is all to do with the self-levelling function, apparently, which has to adjust quickly to aviod the beam dazzling other motorists.

They skake on my 06mod Octavia RS to as they did with my Audi A4, so i think this is normal, but honosly they skake more with my Octavia in bumps generally than they did in the A4

Can't say I have noticed too much shaking from the Clio 182 but don't have them on the octy to compare. Wish I had got them now though

Well folks, Graham from SUK says this is a feature and not a fault. I must say that I am gobsmacked that this is classed as acceptable. Xenons should enhance safety, but in my opinion, Skoda Xenons compromise it. I own a few other cars, all with Xenons, and none of them do this. I am mightily p issed off that I have spent north of 20 grand on such a duff product. I do not feel comfortable driving it at night, so I am ditching the car and buying a properly engineered car.........a BMW.

Thanks for all your replies though.

The shaky xenons are getting right on my t1ts.

If you turn the headlights on and give the fitting a gentle thump you'll see the light flicker.

The light fittings aren't as secure as they could be IMO. They feel loose on mine and thats the cause of the flicker over sharp bumps. The flickering coincides with the front wheel hitting the bumps and not the back where the self levelling sensor is.

Feature my a$$!

I wouldn't go as far as to say Skoda's aren't engineered properly though. Generally they are very very good and the xenons are just a little oversight.

I'm gonna pack the gap under the fitting with something to see if it helps.

Thats what you call engineering. :P

dstev, I'm not sure it is the whole unit wobbling. I've done lots of tests myself and yes when you thump them, the beam shakes. But I've wedged tissue between light and bumper / wing so that they are rigid, and right outside my house is a cobbled speedbump which always sets them off. Even tissued up, they shake. Furthermore, I've stood outside the car and had the missus drive towards me and you can see the bulb or the lens shake. Mine does it when both front and rear wheels encounter bumps (there are sensors on both axles)- even at walking speed. My guess is the lens which dictates the beam pattern is either loose, or the ecu is too sensitive and needs to be turned down a bit.

My remark about properly engineered cars was slightly tongue in cheek. The car is really nice to drive and seems well built, and I'm having none of the other DSG / Oil / leaky doors etc probs others here are having. But for something as fundamental as Headlights to have such a design flaw I truly find staggering. If my BMW were having these issues, BMW would be taking me a darn sight more seriously than these eejits at SUK. The fact that this lesson has cost me 24 grand is the final kick in the spuds

My comment about Skoda engineering wasn't intended to be too heavy either so don't take it to seriously.

24 grand is a lot of dosh and mine is a company car so I kind of understand where you are coming from.

I agree with you about the xenons and the fact they don't make for a confident night time drive. In fact they are very distracting and a tad dangerous.

I'll be contacting S U K about them next week myself.

Saying that, the customer services department is comical at best, I emailed about a generic MP3 lead a while back and they sent me a link for the Ipod lead when I clearly stated I don't own one.

I bought this car to commute from Surrey to Exeter twice a week, always at night, and I did find it incredibly distracting and dangerous on such a long high speed journey. Despite informing SUK of this, and offering to take the car up to MK for them to test, I have hit a brick wall. I really wish you the best of luck, but I don't hold out any hope.

It seems to be a common issue from what I have read on this forum so I think more people need to make Skoda UK aware that this is a big problem with an expensive optional extra.

If someone from SUK is reading this, sort it out!

I don't even think they can take them off and put Halogens on. Wiring / levelling etc all different. And as you say, and expensive SAFETY extra. You gotta laugh

It would be a pain with the manual levelling switch on the dash.

Surely the xenon and its levelling mechanism is shared with other VWAG cars?

My local dealer told me to go try a Golf GTi. But, in the middle of summer, doesn't get dark till 10pm, so this wouldn't work. And I can't wait till winter to try another car. Like I've said, No other xenon equiped car I've ever owned or driven has done this. That is enough for me.

Agreed, I've driven/driven in other xenon equipped cars without that flickering nonsense.