A practical solution to our poor Halogen Headlamps

[Welton]

This is a guide on how to lift the beam for much greater distance vision, especially when the manual adjusters have broken.

There's plenty of threads around showing how to manually adjust the beam level using an Allen Key and counting the number of turns etc but as I found (and many others will) the mechanism is poor and breaks inside the unit.

Like this:


So I set about raising the beam level myself because, frankly, the beam pattern I was getting on the road was downright dangerous; falling just a few metres in front of the car I could not see anything further up ahead.

With the Headlamps out I first cleaned the outside plastic covers with Meguires Plastic-X scratch remover, I really which I'd taken a 'before' photo because you couldn't see through them clearly.

Cleaned outer cover:


Now to introduce 2 x Washers to the two topmost screws holding the projector in. The washers 'tilt' the projector upwards but by a fixed known amount:


Now fit these new to the market H7's £17.50 and a 2 year guarantee (not sure how that works but hey):


The resulting 'lift' in the beam from previous:


Nice clear lens, the glass globes were cleaned with a microfibre cloth:


Nice colour and strong lighting:


It is difficult to capture lighting in photos but believe me the difference is shocking. Both the new H7's and a much longer range ahead meant I had no real need to use high beam on unlit back roads. Road signs are picked up from much further away.


If I'm honest the beam is maybe a tad high on the car's highest setting on the dash but the projectors have a clean cut-off line and I am sensible enough to adjust the level to be just right for me and not to cause nuisance to others. In fact I compared the beam to my wife's just-MOT'd Astra and the beam height was the same on both.

The washers do not interfere with the electronic level adjustment on the dash that is a separate unit.

Overall this took about 1.5hrs experimenting with different 'packers' etc until I found the right washers and cleaning everything but the result is fantastic. Driving in the dark is no longer a game of chance and is much less stressful.

[v70stu]

I was going to say, "that's OK but..." about lifting the beams but it seems you've considered that. I suppose the test is whether oncoming drivers flash their lights or not.

You've prompted me into cleaning the inside of my projector lenses this morning.

[Welton]

I suppose I have more control over the beam level now, I certainly don't want to dazzle anyone as that's a pet hate of mine anyway. What I wanted was a greater range and I can play with the level until it's just right.

To be fair its quite easy to see the cut-off line with projectors and keep an eye on whereabouts it falls in relation to other road users. As you say I'll keep a close watch on things anyway.

I might actually remove one of the washers which'd probably be spot-on beam wise but had to start somewhere with it for testing.

I should add that I posted this due to the headlamps mechanism being broken/weak which I assume most probably are as they get old. I'm certainly not suggesting we go around dazzling everyone with beams being too high.

[Proghound]

That is actually a practical fix for Xenon P1 headlamps too.

The adjusters are exactly the same weak design, and the factory-level beams are still ridiculously low - just brighter. If anything, IMHO brighter is worse on a low level - your eyes adjust to it, so that you can't make out anything at all above the cutoffs, unless it's reflective.

At the weekend I inadvertently found another potential solution. The factory front foglight level is equally useless, but I discovered they have adjusters under the covers. I wound mine up during the day to test once it got dark - only to find they now started where the headlights cut off, and I could see the trees! And no-one flashed me at all.

At the moment they are clearly way too high and won't do anything to help in fog, but they do put out a surprising amount of light - I could see to do 20mph on the fogs alone. With some fine tuning I think they could be made to provide some peripheral assistance to the dips, suitable for clear as well as fog use.

[Sasha94]

After adjusting and cleaning my (halogen with aftermarket xenon) projectors I've found the increase in the throw of light to be well worth the effort. I was lucky in that the adjusters on my car aren't broken but this is a handy guide if you do have broken adjusters, so nice fix

Re Foglights, yes these are pretty useless too; I can't fathom why Volvo as a manufacturer who pride themselves on safety fit such rubbish lighting equipment! The rear of the car is light up ok though ???

[v70stu]

Problem with fog lights though, it's not legal. I know that aftermarket HIDs are not legal either but not overtly so like using fog lights when it isn't foggy. In the rain they can be seriously distracting to other drivers. Even with standard bulbs I can't imagine that there is justification for using the fog lights. The beam pattern isn't correct for normal driving for starters.

[v70stu]

Welton, is that the S40 grille? That's a mod I want to make on my car. Like it.

[Welton]

Originally Posted by v70stu

Welton, is that the S40 grille? That's a mod I want to make on my car. Like it.

Yes, the car is an S40 and has the black Egg Crate grille with chrome surround.

[fenton_jd]

This is a vital mod.

Projector lenses might appear to be duller in light output than standard halogen reflectors, but when adjusted to the right level they can illuminate FAR into the distance.

Did a similar thing on my Ford Cougar and I never needed main beams on a country road since.

By comparison, the Bendy Bi-xenon's on my S60 feel like they're aimed far too low.

[v70stu]

Originally Posted by Welton

Yes, the car is an S40 and has the black Egg Crate grille with chrome surround.

Oops, should have read your sig line! For some reason I thought you had a V50. I assume the S40 egg crate grille fits the V50 of the same age?