Headlight beam

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babz

Active Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2011
Messages
130
Location
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Car
1996 Mercedes C180
Hi guys ive got a problem with my headlights, the aim is a little bit out since i have just installed some HID's, but the problem i am having is that the beam seams to be slightly scatterd.

ive attached a photo onto this post (i dont know if you can see it, 1st time ive done this :))

any ideas?
 

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HID police incoming....

Did you change the whole lense/wiper assembly or used one of those "for offroad use only" kits?

M.
 
just a general HID convertion kit (bulb and ballast) pretty sure they are legal?
 
just a general HID convertion kit (bulb and ballast) pretty sure they are legal?

They probably are...but the lens on an OEM Xenon lamp is completely different. You are getting scatter from the lamp lens.
 
That pattern looks pretty bad to me!!
 
this is when it is about 3 feet away from the garage door, wen its about 15 feet away from the garage door the beam is scatter all over the front of the house.
 
A perfect example of why fitting after market HID's is a bad thing.

They are illegal of course and your car shouldn't pass the new MOT with them fitted.

Throw them away.
 
hmmm.... the police dont seem to say anything about it and it sailed through its MOT last week. plus they are E marked. still get rid of them?
 
Can you give me the name of the MOT station so I can report them? :mad:
 
I can't see the picture, as I'm dazzled by the beam.
 
im going there now to get my wheel alignment done, ill have a word with them. if they have given me an MOT with illegal lights then i think they should have told me. ill let you know the outcome.
 
TBH Babz, for a long time I thought aftermarket HIDs were a great idea, and planned to put them on the bike/SLK.
Having seen a lot of cars (read Corsas!) with what are clearly aftermarket kits, the amount of scatter/dazzle is such that I wouldn't do it.

You can see from your photo that the beam pattern is poorly defined/has loads of scatter.

I've also found that a set of quality bulbs match the lights of the HIDs on my CLK
 
IIRC, MOT doesn't check HID legality (yet... 2012 is the proposed date).

E marks don't mean much I'm afraid... let us know what E mark they have, there was a report a while back of a chinese producer randomly putting E-marks, CE marks and DOT approval on their kits... one such kit had apparently passed approval as door hinges...

For an aftermarket HID kit to be legal in the UK, you'll need to change the lenses, reflector, and headlamp as well as fit lens washers and self-levelling...

From the Department for Transport:
Aftermarket HID (Xenon) headlamps

Also a good link:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html
M.
 
Last edited:
so ive just dropped off the car, the guy who carried out the test said that he 'thought' they were legal conversions. they have offered me a free re-test, they will supply the correct bulbs, and they will do my wheel alignment for free. plus the owner of the garage said he would give me a full service free of charge for the 'inconvenience' RESULT!

i should complain more often HAHA
 
How could this have possibly have passed the current MOT test with that much light scatter?
 
i genuinely have no idea. im not a very technical person, so i leave it to garages to sort everything out for me. but they have offered to sort everything out for me, plus they have given me the opportunity to regain faith in their garage by giving me some freebies
 

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