Information: Dipped beam hopeless on 2011 C30 D3

[JohnnyHowlett]

I am struggling with a headlight issue on my Volvo C30 D3 2011. The projector headlights on dipped beam are dangerously dim. I have gone from standard 55w H7's to Osram Nightbreakers and have now tried 55w HID's which are all dangerously inadequate and fail to throw very much light onto the road in front. On mainbeam, all is fine, but on dipped beam with cars coming towards you it is very scary, as I cannot see and am just driving into a black hole.
Can anyone please give advise on what to try next? is there an after market internal projector that will improve the light emitted or should I buy some after market headlights?

Presently, the car can only be driven safely in the daylight, which is absurd

Many Thanks

Johnny

[Peter86]

Have you had the headlamp beam alignment checked? My V70 was slightly low but the adjustment made a big difference.

[PRainbow]

My 2010 c30 seems fine, have you tried cleaning the lights inside? They get foggy and that cuts the light emissions down substantially. Worth a look.

[Harvey1512]

I had an S40 that was as appalling and tried a range of different bulbs with no success. I was very happy to hand it back, it was dangerous. Sorry I can not help, hopefully the other suggestions can, but you are not alone in having duff lights in an older Volvo.

It must be housing related in some ways as the upgraded bulbs help in other cars.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by JohnnyHowlett

I am struggling with a headlight issue on my Volvo C30 D3 2011. The projector headlights on dipped beam are dangerously dim. I have gone from standard 55w H7's to Osram Nightbreakers and have now tried 55w HID's which are all dangerously inadequate and fail to throw very much light onto the road in front. On mainbeam, all is fine, but on dipped beam with cars coming towards you it is very scary, as I cannot see and am just driving into a black hole.
Can anyone please give advise on what to try next? is there an after market internal projector that will improve the light emitted or should I buy some after market headlights?

Presently, the car can only be driven safely in the daylight, which is absurd

Many Thanks

Johnny

It is possible the top silvering has gone dull on the reflector inside the headlamp , dip uses the top part of the reflector .. also as said above alignment , i have found many of these lights set far too low , get them aligned as high as the MOT regulations allow .

[monkeh]

As Mr. Clan says, projectors are stuffed. Have a go at retrofitting new projectors in. Headlight out job. Have a look at retrofitlab.com They sell not too expensive projectors, some are direct replacement, some may need some loving to get to fit.

https://www.retrofitlab.com/en/volvo...eadlights.html

Aharon are top brand. I have them retrofitted in my 300c. I had your similar issue. Burned out projector lenses. Now, I have retina burning light at night. Perfect for the foglight toting eejits.

[domhart10]

Just how these cars are, terrible dipped beams. Even after cleaning headlights with original bulbs they wernt great.

I replaced my OEM dipped bulbs with a HID conversion kit with a 4300k bulb, so close enough to the original color and that sorted my dipped lights out fine.

If you post in the relevant section of the forum for the model of your car, you will get more people that can help you.

[T5R92011]

A number of us here have fitted the RetroFitLabs.com E46 H7 projectors, which are a plug and play swap. Just 3 torx screws to fit them+ a bit of adjustment.

Approx £130, but hugely worth it.

Pros:
- 100% plug and play, easy to install.
- Excellent distance visibility with halogen bulbs.
- Razor sharp horizontal cut-off beam pattern (if you like that sort of thing)
- Maximum brightness is focused right at the very edge of the cutoff... like a spotlight.
- They include a solenioid activated shutter that opens when main beam is activated, so that the halogens can assist the main meam. (OEM dipped doesnt have this feature)
- No need to use HID kit with these projectors, a good quality set of Halogen Bulbs are easily bright enough.

Cons:
- The beam is narrower than OEM
- Beam height adjustment needed, but the crappy adjusters on the Volvo headlamp always snap off. This is Volvo's fault.

These units have been designed to take as much light as possible from the light source and throw it as far down the road (directly infront of you) as possible, so for seeing straight ahead they are excellent.