Weak Headlights - Contact Volvo

[rowdy]

When I bought my Volvo earlier this year the Volvo main dealer where I bought the car put a new MOT on it. I took the car back for several pieces of warranty work to be carried out, one of which was my complaint that the headlights were borderline dangerous on dipped beam.
They replaced both the headlights stating that the headlight aim was rather low and couldn't be adjusted because the adjusters were broken.
They were better when they were replaced but it did make me wonder how they passed the cars MOT in the first place.

For the record, the headlights on both my 97 V40 (T4 with the better headlamps) and phase 2 V40 were excellent, on my 96 S40 they were not great but still better than those on my current 05 V50.

[Double_Trouble]

Here are three pictures to follow my post of yesterday.

The first shows the volvo and alfa projectors side by side (volvo on the right). You'll see the volvo bowl is considerably smaller - putting the bulb much closer to the mirrored plastic. You can already see damage to the silvering from the outside.....

The second image attempts to show the damage to the silvering on the inside (it doesn't really show the full horror - the bit that looks like the dark side of the moon - it should be nice and shiny).

If you look back at the first picture you'll see the two assemblies look quite different but, the pcd of the mounting holes is close enough to work - and it fits!

The third picture shows the Alfa projector fitted. If you look really closely you may see the lens is a bit smaller and sticks out a few mm further so you can see part of the grey steel that holds it.

It took about an hour all in - and did not require me to remove the clear lens... Not too bad (for £10) and at least I can see at night now.

If I get a chance I'll post a more complete "how to"...

[Clan]

i would say the 100w bulbs did the damage but , this can also happens with the standard H7 , but the brown backing then shows through .
I have a pair of good used standard projectors complete is someone needs them . Send PM if interested ..

[TEZ-1]

What model alfa were the projectors from please?

[duinmaheedin]

Originally Posted by rowdy

For the record, the headlights on both my 97 V40 (T4 with the better headlamps) and phase 2 V40 were excellent, on my 96 S40 they were not great but still better than those on my current 05 V50.

The head lights on my 05 V50 were pathetic yellow puddles of gloom that were downright dangerous. I bought a cheap HID kit off eBay which made night driving possible.

When I traded it for my V70 I kept the HID kit just in case but thankfully the new car has good dipped beam...

[Double_Trouble]

Originally Posted by TEZ-1

What model alfa were the projectors from please?

Sorry I don't know - I found them on the seat of an old escort in the scrap yard.... When I asked the owner about them he said they were from a fairly new Alpha that was written off after a heavy roll (car now crushed).

Apparently a guy had pulled them out and decided they were not suitable for him so he'd left them in the yard....

Maybe it was a 159 or 156? Sorry I can be more helpful.

[ian7675]

Originally Posted by fenton_jd

What are Factory HID's like in the PRE-facelift S40/V50?

I installed aftermarket HID's in my S40 a few years ago... The light output was significantly improved, but only to the standard I would expect from any safe halogen headlamp....

Corners must have been cut designing that headlamp cluster.

Oddly enough the Main beam on the S40 is one of the best I've ever seen, even with boggo cheap bulbs in.

I have a 2005 v50 with HID/Xenon lights and they are the worst I have ever had in any car. My Renault Megane of the same age has far better lights even with standard bulbs.

[Hadrian]

Originally Posted by Clan

i would say the 100w bulbs did the damage but , this can also happens with the standard H7 , but the brown backing then shows through .
I have a pair of good used standard projectors complete is someone needs them . Send PM if interested ..

I was wondering if the would fit a 06/07 model v50?
If so what do you want for them?
Sorry unable to send a PM yet

[ian7675]

I can only guess that as my car has done over 100k miles and the headlights have been on for every one of them I would imagine, then something is slowly wearing out. When the weather improves I shall have a nosy about.

[danielg1980]

I've got an '07' V50 with, I believe, xenon's. I don't have the in car adjuster for the head lamp level but I do have head lamp washers.

I have only had the car a couple of months and a few things have gone wrong on it already. As I drive in town a lot I had not noticed how bad my dipped lights were until the weekend when driving home on an unlit section of the M25 in the rain I realised I had very poor visibility. Poor illumination over a very short distance. Main/full beam is fantastic, much better than the mini we had previously, but dipped is definitely a risk I wouldn't want to subject my wife to!

I was planning to remove the lenses for a good clean but are there any other options I could take to improve the output? I will also check the silver coating at the same time.

Cheers