Now remember i'm just a poor non-techy primary teacher when answering this!

How do you tell if you have Xenon headlights?

The lights on my new vRS are great and give the best view I have had with any car, when shining onto white sign posts and things there is a slight rainbow effect on the edge of the lights reflection.

So do I have Xenons? If so I didn't pay for them. :eek:

Do you have headlight washers?

its your caravan on the back - he he

The headlamp units look identical from the outside as far as I can see - they are both projector type units - the only difference is the bulbs.

I have read that by law original fit Xenon lights must have automatic levelling and washers. Probably easiest to check if you have these.

Xenon fitted cars don't have the little levelling roller on the dash to the right of the steering wheel, because levelling is automatic.

The colour fringing is caused by the projector lenses (chromatic aberation if I remember my physics correctly) rather than the bulbs so may be visible with either sort.

Finally to confuse everything there are aftermarket Xenon kits and zenon bulbs both of which will burn brighter and whiter than standard without the washers etc. So if its second hand it could be that.

Les.

You will get a rainbow effect with halogen and xenons as the light is focused through a glass projector lens giving a slight prism effect at the cut off point.

When xenons are switched on they start with a flash, then they 'warm up' gradually increasing in light intensity and will turn from an obvious blue colour to a more white light, all within about 7 seconds. The light beams should also move down and back up when the engine is started.

If you have factory xenons you will not have a headlight levelling switch next to the dashboard dimming switch to the left of the lighting control switch.

As I write this i realise Les has just about covered it all

Oh well doesn't look as if I do then as they don't warm up, I do have headlamp levelling and I don't have headlamp washers! I don't have the caravan on - though will in the morning when we set off on our Oct hol jolly!

All I can say then is the standard set up is the best I have come across in any car I have owned.

enjoy the hols

Ta!

Fully intend to. If anyone sees us out on the M90 etc wave!

Have a good'un :wave23d:

Actually the colour of the xenons on my car are more of a brilliant white (once warmed up) rather than the blue colour they used to be, so they're less obviously xenons other than through their brightness.