Volvo headlamps

I would guess that either the tolerances are quite large or else any professional garage which does the beam alignment does not do it properly, further undermining the belief that after a professional alignment that the beams are 100% perfect.

As an example, consider this. The following is a summarised guide to how to do beam alignment for a VW golf Mk 5. This is taken from the VW workshop manual - the same manual issued to dealerships. I happen to have a copy of this, and it is more comprehensive than e.g the VADIS which I also now have.

This is what it says should be done in preparation for the beam alignment:

1) Position vehicle on a flat floor surface meeting ISO 10640 specifications:
- 0.5mm or less floor slant from front wheel to back wheel of beamsetter
- 1mm or less slant per meter for length of vehicle
2) Clean headlight lenses
3) Adjust vehicle tyre pressure to specifications
4) Read off level of fuel in fuel tank on fuel gauge.
- determine additional weight from the following table (this is listed in the manual) and place weight in luggage compartment corresponding to this amount.
- note: the additional weight is best produced using fuel cannisters filled with water.
5) Have a second technician sit in driver's seat while aligning headlights
6) Bounce front and rear of vehicle up and down several times to settle the suspension.


Now, I ask you, how many MOT garages etc. do all this before a wheel alignment? Tyre pressures, weight compensation, the smoothest floor the world has ever seen... I think not! I've seen a couple of beam alignment checks done on MOTs and it was a quick "wheel the kit over and check" sort of thing.

Cheers, Pete

[Mike_Brace]

Originally Posted by peteS40

Yes thanks Mike for your comments, it's a pity you had to be abusive because you are actually making some good points. You shouldn't make assumptions about people who post in this forum because you don't know anything about them.

I actually agree with you 100%. It drives me crazy that some people dazzle me with their lights when I am approaching. More so if one light is super bright because the other is not working. I find a lot of modern BMWs have their lights adjusted too high, I don't know why this should be. If your lights are adjusted too high then you will find the vision is just as bad as if they were too low.



It is not just a problem of money, unless you have the beam adjustment equipment yourself you need to rely on someone else doing it properly and why should they give a toss about your lights? I actually investigated buying beam adjustment equipment, but it is about £600 minimum.

My lights were pointing mega low. You didn't need a degree in optophysics or any beam alignment machine to work that out. I have no idea why the beam was so low, they just were.

I mentioned above that I made sure my lights were not dazzling anyone by having a friend drive around to check. I adjusted mine up slowly in stages until they were ok for vision and not dazzling anyone. As well as not dazzling anyone else it is important I can be able to see myself isn't it! Not least with all the idiots out there who DON'T care dazzling people.



A good quality bulb can be an aftermarket bulb. These do NOT introduce more dazzling beams but they DO make a better beam which picks out things better. I am not talking about one of those daft blue light things, just a more brighter white light. For example, do Xenon lights which you can have Volvo fit to your brand new car for £500 or so dazzle people? No they don't else Volvo wouldn't be allowed to sell them, but they must be better so how is it done? With a better, more concentrated beam of purer white to pick things out at night better i would say.



Firstly, my eyesight is fine. I am not that old and consequently my eye sight has not yet deteriorated with age. I do not need glasses. My last eye test, paid for by my employer as I work with VDUs, was 3 months ago and my eye sight would be good enough for me to be a pilot I was informed.

I find your second comment offensive whether it was directed at me or S60_MBS, or both of us, or everyone in general. I certainly do NOT drive fast in fog and while in fog I see lots of idiots overtake me when they must plainly not be able to see. This worries me a lot in thick fog as someone else may come up fast behind me, despite the fact that my rear fog light is on (and I should point out I never put it on when the fog is not thick enough because that can also dazzle people behind me).

Besides, you are technically incorrect. Brighter lights hinder you in fog (try putting your full beam on in fog, you'll see what I mean) because the light just bounces back off the water vapour.

So thank you again for the comments, this is obviously something you feel strongly about. However you are in error to direct them to me, you have obviously made some assumptions about me and others which are actually incorrect.

Pete

Pete,
I hope you will accept my apology for causing offence. What I was trying to say about driving according to conditions is that if a vehicle's lights are poor it is necessary to drive within the limitations of the vehicle, the driver and visibility. The point I made rather badly and in the wrong way was that a lot of people also do not do this either. I was not suggesting that brighter lights are good in fog.

Mike

Ok Mike, no problems

I think we must have just had a bit of a misunderstanding / crossed lines.

Good points about driving within your lights... main thing I think is to keep your lights and windscreen clean, to help night visibility. Even slightly dirty lights will decrease visibility by an unbelievable amount.

Cheers, Pete

[Mike_Brace]

You are right about dirt - last winter my headlamp wipers stopped working - it was amazing how quickly the salt built up and the difference a stop to clean made.

Mike

[octo0072000]

Hi all

also how many people clean the inside of windscreen very often especially the smokers i borrowed a mates car a 30 a day man screen ok when warm cold morning like gooo tried to clean it worse cleaned it with meths in the end just don't know how some people drive like that

[S60-MBS]

hi all,hadc my S60 checked by local MOT station ,,,,it turns out my headlamps and bulbs are all ok except my drivers side headlamp was set abit lower than what it should be...so it is highly possible the people flashing their lights at me did have problems with their nightvision..my lights are now correctly adjusted and i am more than happy with the results

[Mike_Brace]

Originally Posted by S60-MBS

hi all,hadc my S60 checked by local MOT station ,,,,it turns out my headlamps and bulbs are all ok except my drivers side headlamp was set abit lower than what it should be...so it is highly possible the people flashing their lights at me did have problems with their nightvision..my lights are now correctly adjusted and i am more than happy with the results

I am glad you've got them sorted - do you think that the adjustment has improved things further?

Mike

[S60-MBS]

hi make,the new adjustment has certainly improved the lights further..the chap doing the checking also checked my bulbs he told me my bulbs are perfectly road legal...so i cant really understand why i was getting flashed by other motorists..another thread has appeared in the S60 forum regarding this issue with volvo headlamps..

[Mike_Brace]

I think people can now see why I said about getting lights properly set can be important to help achieve maximum illumination without dazzle.

Mike