Volvo headlamps

[S60-MBS]

after afew general discussions with fellow forum members i understand that i am not the only one who thinks the headlamps on my S60 are not very bright..
has anyone got any ideas on how i may improve the lighting output....

[S60-MBS]

well igot it sorted now....
Osram silverstars was the answer,paid £20 for a set with a pair of extreme white sidelight bulbs free from autobulbs direct.com...those winding country lanes up there in bonny scotland were made much easier now that i could see them better..although a handful of other road users gestured to me that my main beams were on,,i flashed my lights back at them to show these were my dipped beams..

My S40's lights were useless they looked like they needed adjustment anyway had an MOT and assumed they'd sort it then but no they did not, I guess they checked "are the lights too high" - "no" - "ok, MOT passed". Useless. Ended up turning adjusting the beam up miles, now all ok (plus I also fitted the same bulbs you got). You might need to do the same. If you can see plenty of the road in front, but nothing in the distance, adjust up. If your problem is you can't really see the road surface lit clearly, and everyone flashes you (like some seem to), adjust down. Point the car at something so you can see where the beams shine, like a garage door. Adjust left hand side higher than right hand side (coz we drive on the left!). Go out in the dark, try it out, you might have to keep making adjustments. Ideally get someone else to drive ahead of you and check their mirror to see if lights are dazzling or not. This should all make the lights as good as they can be, and enhance the affect of the bulb. Other thing is keep lights clean - even a thin film of dirt can dramatically reduce light output.

An alternative to the above approach is to pay some garage with the beam-alignment kit some money to do it all properly for you. Funnily enough I preffered the "free" approach!

Cheers, Pete

[Mike_Brace]

There is nothing worse than being dazzled by inconsiderate drivers like you who are too tight arsed to pay to get the lights correctly adjusted. Modern lighting gives a very bright light with sharp cut off. These are bad enough for severe dazzling when they are coming round a bend or over a brow of a hill at you without mindless idiots doing diy adjustments to dazzle even further. If you find that a modern car on dipped beam is poor despite being correctly adjusted and with a good quality bulb there are two things you should do. Firstly get an optician to check out your visioin including your night vision. If this is ok then you are obviously the sort of idiot who drives too fast in fog. You should drive at a speed which is safe for the distance you can see! ADJUST YOUR SPEED ACCORDINGLY!!!

Mike

[S60-MBS]

Originally Posted by Mike_Brace

There is nothing worse than being dazzled by inconsiderate drivers like you who are too tight arsed to pay to get the lights correctly adjusted. Modern lighting gives a very bright light with sharp cut off. These are bad enough for severe dazzling when they are coming round a bend or over a brow of a hill at you without mindless idiots doing diy adjustments to dazzle even further. If you find that a modern car on dipped beam is poor despite being correctly adjusted and with a good quality bulb there are two things you should do. Firstly get an optician to check out your visioin including your night vision. If this is ok then you are obviously the sort of idiot who drives too fast in fog. You should drive at a speed which is safe for the distance you can see! ADJUST YOUR SPEED ACCORDINGLY!!!

Mike

Mike,my S60's lights are NOT dazzling anyone as far as i am concerned,my night vision is excellent,i do alot a driving up in areas were it is pitch black and i found volvos headlamps were not the best in these conditions,only 3 drivers up in scotland found my lights to be bright perhaps its their eyes that are the problem..i came accross plods if my lights were faulty i would imagine i would have been pulled.i did actually lower my lights using the level control.the bulbs i am using are 100% uk road legal,,,i really dont think i am being inconsiderate or have bad night vision...

[beemerkiller]

ahhh ignore them comments folks lol volvos do have crap lights...

[Mike_Brace]

Originally Posted by S60-MBS

Mike,my S60's lights are NOT dazzling anyone as far as i am concerned,my night vision is excellent,i do alot a driving up in areas were it is pitch black and i found volvos headlamps were not the best in these conditions,only 3 drivers up in scotland found my lights to be bright perhaps its their eyes that are the problem..i came plods if my lights were faulty i would imagine i would have been pulled.i did actually lower my lights using the level control.the bulbs i am using are 100% uk road legal,,,i really dont think i am being inconsiderate or have bad night vision...

I would make the following points. Many drivers on the road today do not even meet the mini9mum standard set out and many people do not have their vision checked much less on a regular basis. Mine is checked annually for my own peace of mind and for my safety and that of others. OK I am at that age where it is more important to do so.
Secondly regarding adjustment of lights. You can only be certain they are correctly set by using the proper equipment. Most MOT stations will set them for you at a small cost. I support the "free" methof Peter suggested as a tempory measure but would always get the checked on the proper equipment. This ensures that you get the best visibility out of them wihtout dazzling other road users. I have mine checked every six months and yes they can be out on occasion.
I know some modern cars are not so very good and changes to bulbs etc can help and I can understand anyone wanting to get the best possible out of their lights. Modern driving both in towns and in the country is extremely difficult particularly at night. I would not fancy driving any of the cars I had when I was young nowadays at night. However, I do on occasion have to drive a car with poor lights and as I was suggesting adjust my driving in a defensive manner accordingly.
I feel I was making a valid criticism aimed especially at those who will not spend on what I regard as a safety related issue. Would you try a diy approach if you felt your brakes were not performing correctly or would you have them checked on a rolling road? These threads are read by many people and I am merely expressing my concerns and offering my advice. It is up to the individual to decide if I'm talking out my @rse or if they feel anything I say is helpful and they may wish to take it on board.

Mike

[S60-MBS]

yuor comments mike are very good and certainly make good sense....like yourself i do have my vision tested every year due to my occupation..my vehicle has just had it first MOt performed by main dealer the only fault they found was a number plate bulb..which was replaced but i am going to have my headlamps checked by a garage just to make sure...your absolutly right about many people not being upto minimum standard on the road...

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.

Originally Posted by Mike_Brace

There is nothing worse than being dazzled by inconsiderate drivers like you who are too tight arsed to pay to get the lights correctly adjusted.

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.

Originally Posted by Mike_Brace

Modern lighting gives a very bright light with sharp cut off. If you find that a modern car on dipped beam is poor despite being correctly adjusted and with a good quality bulb there are two things you should do.

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.

Originally Posted by Mike_Brace

Firstly get an optician to check out your visioin including your night vision. If this is ok then you are obviously the sort of idiot who drives too fast in fog.

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

[TJMurphy]

What, if any, are the tolerances on setting up the light height in your car?

Comparing my wife's 10 year old Punto (a much better light throw), my S60 (with DIY "free" adjustment and Philips +50% bulbs*) and the number of times I've been dazzled by cars with Xenons (which have to have a self-levelling function IIRC) I can't help but think that there must be quite a margin of "acceptable" settings for car headlights? My lights were originally set far too low and I felt quite justified in tweaking them up a little bit. I've not been flashed and they've been MOT'd twice so I'm confident they're still within acceptable tolerances. But as my garage checked the lights the first time I complained and said they were fine I wonder if the dealer defaults are in fact at the lower end of any scales?

* Even with these changes my wife's car's lights are still better. There are other disadvantages to Punto ownership however IMHO my previous cars also had much better lights though I can't compare them back to back any more.

Edited to say I get my eyesight checked every six months ...