Headlight Aim

[Ladiesman_317]

Hi, recently I have noticed that my drivers side headlight aim is considerably higher than the passenger side. It has been bugging me to find out whether this is normal.. so guys what do you think?
Anyway, thanks guys.

[Ben90]

First thing I would do is check that both bulbs are seated correctly and are solid in the holder, sounds condescending but everybody knows how much of a nightmare it is replacing bulbs on these and nobody wants to take the bumper off to get the unit out.

If they are, then you can adjust the beam height individually on the units themselves. Lift the bonnet and you'll notice on the top of the units there's a large plastic allen key screw thing, that's the adjuster. Just park her facing a wall when it's dark and you'll see the beam pattern, match them and you're set, considering the other bulb was the right height in the first place though Then it's just a case of lowering them both if you get flashed a lot.

Hope this helps!

[Ladiesman_317]

Well I took it in for MOT, with a slight hunch that it will probably fail due to the wonky beam pattern and what do you know? It failed! They're saying its cause the bulb holders have burnt?! Which is believable cause i did run mtec's and i noticed some burning on the inside edges of the headlight unit... hmm, not sure what to do? cant afford to fork out 100 for new lights and another MOT lol.. bad times...

[Ben90]

Bad times, I hope you did your MOT some time before expiry so you can still drive (sort of legally) while you sort it out.

I'd go to a breakers and find a set, offer them like £50 and see what happens.

In the meantime maybe see if you can improve your beam as mentioned above, anything to keep the fuzz from pulling you over.

[Ladiesman_317]

Well.. The bad news is that, my mot expired 2 days ago and the cars at the garage atm, so im waiting for them to call me tomorrow morning for an update on the headlight situation to see whether it can be repaired. On the bright side, FK Automotive have a sale going on and I bagged a set of 9n angels for like 40 odd quid, which is a steal... they go on ebay for like double that. But... theres always a but, seeing as theyre coming from germany im not 100% sure whether they are road legal LOL. however they are e-marked? so im guessing its gonna be fine.

[Ben90]

Break an egg make an omelette those lights will look awesome

I'm not 100% on the retrofit projector MOT laws, but I think as long as you put standard bulbs in for the MOT they should be okay.

[RUM4MO]

I just hope that you have ordered in RHD drives from Germany, if not you should fail the MOT as there will not be a kerbside "cast" of light which is needed for safety reasons. Good idea getting projector beams though, HIDs next?

[Ladiesman_317]

I just hope that you have ordered in RHD drives from Germany, if not you should fail the MOT as there will not be a kerbside "cast" of light which is needed for safety reasons. Good idea getting projector beams though, HIDs next?

Ummm as far as I know, I think you can flick the beam on them to aim towards the kerbside rather than oncoming traffic. HID's are tempting lol. I've done countless hours of research on HID's however I cant seem to get to a satisfactory answer as to whether they actually are legal or not. some say, they are fine, others say you need washers/self levelling motors etc etc.. so confusing. some mot-testers dont care, and then theres the temperature differences, thats a whole different matter, what temperature is deemed okay/roadworthy lol. 6000k does look nice, but I think its gonna be abit unsafe, might look into 4300k

[benmkiv]

It's not legal. It's as simple as that. But whether you get any grief for it is a different matter. I've had more hassle for my presse plates than my headlights(none) ran them in reflectors for a while too. A lot safer in the projectors less flashes from people an I run 6000k ones they're the best for visibility and style!

[Ladiesman_317]

Hi, I thought I'd update anyone who was concerned regarding this situation lol. Well, my fk projectors havent even left germany yet and I use the car daily, so I needed to sort something out. So, after fettling around with the headlights for a good few hours, I managed to lock the s**t in place and temporarily stick some tape on it so it doesn't move too much. Presented myself at the MOT station, and it passed with no advisories... its funny, cause I just checked last years mot paperwork and I got an advisory for corroded brake discs.. and i haven't changed them, bit weird they didn't pick up on that.

[RUM4MO]

That is good news, wrt the MOT tester's changing approach, I've had that, in fact this year both cars only got credible advisories - previous years they both got crazy/stupid advisories with really annoyed me but it seems that at that time few or no advisories meant the MOT station would come under tight scrutiny from the DOT - and they were trying to avoid that . This year's advisories were Polo - very slight wear in RHS inner track rod but not affecting safety etc Passat - front exhaust jointing clamps corroded but exhaust pipes okay. Passat was 12 year sold at that test so that was not too bad on original exhaust, Polo, at 10 years old and 85K with a light petrol engine - I would not have thought that the track rods inner joint would be getting loose - I have not spotted any of this sort of issue with Fabia, Polo or Ibiza on these forums yet.

I think that you will find that any "switching" on projector lights will only remove the "dipping sweep" to get chopped off - its intended to get used with a RHD drive car when in a LHD region - or wise-versa. Essentially a LHD car can be used for extended periods in a RHD region, though after a year or so you are required to pay, in this case UK road tax and retro-fit the correct front, and maybe if necessary the rear fog lights to conform with local regulations. The only exception would be where an annual "trip home" is made. In your case, if the replacement lights are indeed not intended for RHD use, then you will have an issue as these lights will not comply with UK regulations and your insurance company would need to be notified.

[Ladiesman_317]

F that bro, YOLO.

Lol jk.