Headlamp converters and Xenons

cheeky · 05-07-2005, 16:07

Following on from a thread a few months ago about converting headlamps for trips abroad, I ordered Skoda headlamp converters (part ZGB6Y0072101) as detailed in the Fabia Accessories brochure I picked up when I got the car.

Picked them up at the weekend and have just attached them, but I have to say I wonder whether they are actually for xenon-equipped models, bearing in mind the brochure doesn't have a (*excluding Fabia vRS with xenon headlights) caveat on it.

Attached some pictures just taken, perhaps would have been better to take them in twilight but you get the idea. I've tried to take a couple from the sort of angle (somewhat exaggerated) where you'd expect the light to be blocked so it doesn't dazzle oncoming traffic on the continent.

Phoned Skoda Customer Services who said to go back to the supplying dealer with them on and get them to check them out.

Any thoughts?

I'll be taking the car out later once it gets dark to get a better idea.

ChrisRs · 05-07-2005, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheeky

Following on from a thread a few months ago about converting headlamps for trips abroad, I ordered Skoda headlamp converters (part ZGB6Y0072101) as detailed in the Fabia Accessories brochure I picked up when I got the car.

Picked them up at the weekend and have just attached them, but I have to say I wonder whether they are actually for xenon-equipped models, bearing in mind the brochure doesn't have a (*excluding Fabia vRS with xenon headlights) caveat on it.

Attached some pictures just taken, perhaps would have been better to take them in twilight but you get the idea. I've tried to take a couple from the sort of angle (somewhat exaggerated) where you'd expect the light to be blocked so it doesn't dazzle oncoming traffic on the continent.

Phoned Skoda Customer Services who said to go back to the supplying dealer with them on and get them to check them out.

Any thoughts?

I'll be taking the car out later once it gets dark to get a better idea.

The plastic cover does not appear to be on right. Is this OK?

cheeky · 05-07-2005, 17:08

Ah, this is due to the design of the attachment and the siting of the holes you put the clip in; where the other end of the clip attaches to the top of the headlamp (kind of along the part where the 'glass' lens meets the reflector part) it lines up with the ONLY obstruction along the whole of the top of the headlamp - ideally I guess they would be 1cm or so nearer the radiator grille...

WW_VRS · 05-07-2005, 18:12

They fit 100% perfect. I've got some and it's most likely you have the left & right clips the wrong way round.

They work fine, no problems whatsoever with heat or rain for that matter.

The new kits from Skoda dealers have a plastic strip you put 'under' the clips that go underneath the head light unit, so you dont damage the paintwork there. Mine didnt have those as they're older ones.

Personally I find these things a LOT better than fiddling with something in the headlights myself, or worse, going to a dealer every time I cross the border to the continent, which is looking like it's gonna be frequent soon..

cheeky · 05-07-2005, 20:13

I didn't notice any mention of left and right clips in the destructions - and thought they both looked the same - but will have a look again when it has stopped raining.

Mine came with the little card strip to protect the bumper too.

The query was more about whether the black sections are in the right place to make any difference to blinding oncoming traffic rather than the fit of the covers themselves.

In fact dammit - I don't care about the rain, I'm so intrigued I want to find out now!

cheeky · 05-07-2005, 20:35

Sorted out the fitting alignment now - the upper clips DO fit the other side of what I earlier described as an obstruction and they certainly look better now.

I'm still not convinced whether they will actually prevent me from dazzling oncoming traffic on the continent (see attached photos) but will take her for a spin later and see what the effect is.

WW_VRS · 05-07-2005, 21:43

It definitely works - basically it knocks the 'corner' down so the light shines virtually level horizontally

Must admit the placement of the 'black bits' look very odd, but having driven the car on dipped beam all the time whilst I drove through France, Belgium & The Netherlands only a few weeks ago, I reckon you'll be fine.

It's worth checking they haven't come unclipped when you pull over at say a service station or similar though. On mine I put a little foam on top of one of the two clips, so the bonnet pushes it down a little. That stopped it unclipping itself.

Even unclipped it's still fine though, it won't drop off

week46 · 05-07-2005, 21:49

For my recent trip to Le Mans, my dealer advised that they would physically switch the xenons on my fabia, using the leaver or VAG Com or whatever it is they have to do to move xenons for driving on the continent.

In the end I didnt have time for a dealer visit - even though they were great and told me to pop in and it would only take a few mins

- went to France and stuck on plastic converters over the side lights to 'look legal' in the event of a pull and left my xenon beam clear. I had no problem with my beam pointing the wrong way - lights were as good as they ahve always been - and no one flashed me for dazzling them.

Result

WW_VRS · 05-07-2005, 22:01

Exactly - it's much easier to have converters in your car that you can fit in minutes, rather than using the lever(s).

Personally I always hope this kind of thing could be done using a button on my dash:

Shine to left/shine to right. Wouldnt that be nice

Mil · 06-07-2005, 07:59

What are those covers for i dont get it.

WW_VRS · 06-07-2005, 08:11

When you have a car made to drive on the left (UK) and you go to continental Europe, where they drive on the right, you need to do something to prevent dazzling oncoming road users.

The light pattern in the UK 'angles up'. Rubbish text-based thing follows:

*
**
************
************

(image * means light is hitting it).

When you go to the continent you knock out the triangle bit, and you keep:

************
************

Thus you're not blinding people.

In the Xenons there is a lever (both head lights) to allow you to achieve the same thing. But you cannot get to that lever without IMHO far, far too much effort. And if you travel abroad a lot (and even if you don't) it's easy to just clip on these converters, that block that triangle off using the little black patches.

I would have preferred the light-redirecting lenses that I used to have on my old car, but they're tricky to position properly, which with Xenons (and the normal lights too) is getting too hard to do.

These headlight-protectors come with the patches in the right spots so it's absolutely perfect.

Only thing I have not as yet figured out is what the problem is with using these covers in the first place. It can't be the heat (as the Xenons are COOLER then the normal bulbs in my experience, lense-wise). Must be something to do with the cleaning aspects

Mil · 06-07-2005, 08:18

Wow ok...that's new information to me

WW_VRS · 06-07-2005, 08:44

You liked the drawing then

vindaloo · 01-11-2005, 19:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheeky

Following on from a thread a few months ago about converting headlamps for trips abroad, I ordered Skoda headlamp converters (part ZGB6Y0072101) as detailed in the Fabia Accessories brochure I picked up when I got the car.

Picked them up at the weekend and have just attached them, but I have to say I wonder whether they are actually for xenon-equipped models, bearing in mind the brochure doesn't have a (*excluding Fabia vRS with xenon headlights) caveat on it.

Attached some pictures just taken, perhaps would have been better to take them in twilight but you get the idea. I've tried to take a couple from the sort of angle (somewhat exaggerated) where you'd expect the light to be blocked so it doesn't dazzle oncoming traffic on the continent.

Phoned Skoda Customer Services who said to go back to the supplying dealer with them on and get them to check them out.

Any thoughts?

I'll be taking the car out later once it gets dark to get a better idea.

Re-open dabate?!

I used these on Monday on my booze-cruise and they didn't seem to work at all. If anything they did the opposite to what was required. I couldn't see the verge on my side of the car (driving on the right). I could see that the beam appeared completely un-attenuated on the LHS of the car, however.

I haven't got piccies yet but the blacked out sections of the converter appear to sit in utterly the wrong place.

Not at all happy as they cost £33!

J.

andy ellis · 01-11-2005, 20:26

anyone want to flog theirs or send me a paper copy......

vindaloo · 01-11-2005, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by andy ellis

anyone want to flog theirs or send me a paper copy......

I did think to get the normal headlamp protectors and faff around with masking tape. Have a look on the Skoda website. The converters are IMO the same things but with a blacked out section.

In the end I got the converters that didn't work

J.

05-07-2005, 17:08	#3
cheeky Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Crowborough, East Sussex Posts: 960 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Ah, this is due to the design of the attachment and the siting of the holes you put the clip in; where the other end of the clip attaches to the top of the headlamp (kind of along the part where the 'glass' lens meets the reflector part) it lines up with the ONLY obstruction along the whole of the top of the headlamp - ideally I guess they would be 1cm or so nearer the radiator grille... __________________ Vorsprung durch Zufriedenheit

05-07-2005, 18:12	#4
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,733 Thanks: 44 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts	They fit 100% perfect. I've got some and it's most likely you have the left & right clips the wrong way round. They work fine, no problems whatsoever with heat or rain for that matter. The new kits from Skoda dealers have a plastic strip you put 'under' the clips that go underneath the head light unit, so you dont damage the paintwork there. Mine didnt have those as they're older ones. Personally I find these things a LOT better than fiddling with something in the headlights myself, or worse, going to a dealer every time I cross the border to the continent, which is looking like it's gonna be frequent soon.. __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there)

05-07-2005, 20:13	#5
cheeky Briskodian Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Crowborough, East Sussex Posts: 960 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I didn't notice any mention of left and right clips in the destructions - and thought they both looked the same - but will have a look again when it has stopped raining. Mine came with the little card strip to protect the bumper too. The query was more about whether the black sections are in the right place to make any difference to blinding oncoming traffic rather than the fit of the covers themselves. In fact dammit - I don't care about the rain, I'm so intrigued I want to find out now! __________________ Vorsprung durch Zufriedenheit

05-07-2005, 21:43	#7
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,733 Thanks: 44 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts	It definitely works - basically it knocks the 'corner' down so the light shines virtually level horizontally Must admit the placement of the 'black bits' look very odd, but having driven the car on dipped beam all the time whilst I drove through France, Belgium & The Netherlands only a few weeks ago, I reckon you'll be fine. It's worth checking they haven't come unclipped when you pull over at say a service station or similar though. On mine I put a little foam on top of one of the two clips, so the bonnet pushes it down a little. That stopped it unclipping itself. Even unclipped it's still fine though, it won't drop off __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there)

05-07-2005, 22:01	#9
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,733 Thanks: 44 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts	Exactly - it's much easier to have converters in your car that you can fit in minutes, rather than using the lever(s). Personally I always hope this kind of thing could be done using a button on my dash: Shine to left/shine to right. Wouldnt that be nice __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there)

05-07-2005, 21:49	#8
week46 Briskodian Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 91 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	For my recent trip to Le Mans, my dealer advised that they would physically switch the xenons on my fabia, using the leaver or VAG Com or whatever it is they have to do to move xenons for driving on the continent. In the end I didnt have time for a dealer visit - even though they were great and told me to pop in and it would only take a few mins - went to France and stuck on plastic converters over the side lights to 'look legal' in the event of a pull and left my xenon beam clear. I had no problem with my beam pointing the wrong way - lights were as good as they ahve always been - and no one flashed me for dazzling them. Result

06-07-2005, 07:59	#10
Mil Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: United Arab Emirates Posts: 3,801 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	What are those covers for i dont get it. __________________ Milton Kyvernitis Private Government

06-07-2005, 08:11	#11
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,733 Thanks: 44 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts	When you have a car made to drive on the left (UK) and you go to continental Europe, where they drive on the right, you need to do something to prevent dazzling oncoming road users. The light pattern in the UK 'angles up'. Rubbish text-based thing follows: * ******** ********** (image * means light is hitting it). When you go to the continent you knock out the triangle bit, and you keep: ********** ********** Thus you're not blinding people. In the Xenons there is a lever (both head lights) to allow you to achieve the same thing. But you cannot get to that lever without IMHO far, far too much effort. And if you travel abroad a lot (and even if you don't) it's easy to just clip on these converters, that block that triangle off using the little black patches. I would have preferred the light-redirecting lenses that I used to have on my old car, but they're tricky to position properly, which with Xenons (and the normal lights too) is getting too hard to do. These headlight-protectors come with the patches in the right spots so it's absolutely perfect. Only thing I have not as yet figured out is what the problem is with using these covers in the first place. It can't be the heat (as the Xenons are COOLER then the normal bulbs in my experience, lense-wise). Must be something to do with the cleaning aspects __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there)

06-07-2005, 08:18	#12
Mil Briskodian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: United Arab Emirates Posts: 3,801 Thanks: 0 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Wow ok...that's new information to me __________________ Milton Kyvernitis Private Government

06-07-2005, 08:44	#13
WW_VRS Escorted Estate Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Oxfordshire/Berkshire Posts: 9,733 Thanks: 44 Thanked 68 Times in 59 Posts	You liked the drawing then __________________ WW --->> Project Journal (pic links in first post there)

01-11-2005, 20:26	#15
andy ellis Briskodian Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Warrington Posts: 1,289 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	anyone want to flog theirs or send me a paper copy...... __________________ Fabia TDI PD100 "Q" and driving school car. Citroen C4 Coupe 1.6hDi+EGS with disability adaptations.

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