Headlight upgrade 940

[lnparry]

Hi all,

I'm surprised to hear the comments on quality of 940 headlights as I think those in my '97, 945 are the best of any car I have driven. I get a faint projected beam on DLRL, good dip beam and very powerful main beam.

Have had a bulb blow today so I can verify Philips H4 12342 60/55W were fitted. I had to fit an Auto Spark replacement from the local motor factor so will let you know if I notice any difference in the dark.

Cheers,
LeeP

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by lnparry

Hi all,

I'm surprised to hear the comments on quality of 940 headlights as I think those in my '97, 945 are the best of any car I have driven. I get a faint projected beam on DLRL, good dip beam and very powerful main beam.

Have had a bulb blow today so I can verify Philips H4 12342 60/55W were fitted. I had to fit an Auto Spark replacement from the local motor factor so will let you know if I notice any difference in the dark.

Cheers,
LeeP

The 760 facelift/940 headlights are pretty poor IMHO Lee, certainly compared to my Rover 827 that gives a much better beam.

You'll certainly see the difference with that cheap bulb in there, almost visibly yellow compared to the other Philips which won't last much longer anyway - they usually go in pairs as they are used in pairs.

[griston64]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

The 760 facelift/940 headlights are pretty poor IMHO Lee, certainly compared to my Rover 827 that gives a much better beam.

You'll certainly see the difference with that cheap bulb in there, almost visibly yellow compared to the other Philips which won't last much longer anyway - they usually go in pairs as they are used in pairs.

I definitely noticed a much whiter beam from the Phillips.

What should the average lifespan of the bulbs be Dave ?

Cheers Mark

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by griston64

I definitely noticed a much whiter beam from the Phillips.

What should the average lifespan of the bulbs be Dave ?

Cheers Mark

That's one of those "piece of string" questions Mark - depends how much you use them, whether your alternator is putting out the right voltage, whether you often flash your lights or change from dipped to main and back again and a whole host of other factors.

Also on the general quality of the bulb, whether the glass envelope was degreased before fitting and not touched with anything greasy (including fingers), to a certain extent the type of road driven on 9smooth roads will allow a longer life) and if it's a standard bulb or a "Xenon Look" or other similar higher output bulb.

With any incandescent or filament bulb, the brighter the bulb the higher the temperature, the higher the temperature the quicker it burns out.

[classicswede]

I was keen on the sound of these LED bulbs but seeing the pics has put me off. The blue light or at least it looks blue in the photos is going to be more dazzling to oncoming traffic. Being so bright on dipped beam is not a good thing. I would prefer a dimmer dip but a good bright main beam.

I might give a set a try and stick some yellow tint on the glass to correct the colour and reduce dazzle. The big question is if the main beam is upto the job. 940 lights with good bulbs are fairly decent - a lot better than the mk2 960 s/v90's are

[classicswede]

Reading the blurb they are 100% not for me

"We have designed these bulbs so that the DIPPED beam LED's stay on when the MAIN beam is used - we have designed this feature specially and is not a standard feature on LED bulb"

That is a sure sign of bright light where you have just been and very little to show where you are going

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by classicswede

I was keen on the sound of these LED bulbs but seeing the pics has put me off. The blue light

It is WHITE light, not blue! Also it doesn't dazzle and doesn't glare either. Using yellow tint film would just spoil the advantage of the pure white light.
As my MoT tester said to me today as he handed me the pass certificate "They're very white! Nothing in the dazzle area so i can't fail them"

I've not tried 960 headlamps but have had 740 pre-facelift and 760 facelift lights (which are better than the 740 pre-facelift) and many contemporary cars from a similar age.

Think Nissan 300C, Rover 800, Jag XJ40 Sovereign and similar. Out of all those and several others, the worst are the Volvo headlamps.

The dipped beam on the LED bulbs is still way better than normal halogens and for the record, mine don't keep the dipped beams on with full beam.

[classicswede]

You ones will be better in that case with the dip part switching off with main beam.

A lot of cars with so called white light has a blue tinge and strictly do not comply with UK regs. They should be white/yellow. You actually see better with a yellow light than pure white or worse still blue tinge

[Laird Scooby]

It's about as close to natural daylight as it's possible to get with artificial light. According to my optician, we all see best in natural daylight so any artificial light that comes that close has to be better than the horrible yellow of some of the cheap halogens.

It's also a lto more resetful on the eyes having it that close to natural light making night driving that much safer.

The so-called white light with the blue tinge is a higher colour temperature and while a tiny bit of a blue tinge is permissible, anything that is obviously a blue tinge isn't legal. The lights that produce the blue tinge are the HID - High Intensity Discharge lights, in simple terms an automtive version of the metal halide lamps often used in street lighting, high-bay warehouse lights and similar.

It's a total myth about seeing better in yellow light by the way, can't remember where or when i found that but it was many years ago and the result of a scientific test.

[classicswede]

I have been using French yellow bulb covers for years. I find them far better for night driving and everything looks much clearer with them. Other drivers who have used my car all commented on how good the lighting is (340 and 240) but with the V90's using H1 ones not had a cover for them so been back to "normal" lighting for a while