stubzie83 Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Hi all, I've noticed that my headlights seem to be really dim of late to the point where I can hardly see anything more than about 10ft in front of the car clearly. I'm sure they were much better not too long ago. I have had a search and realise that pre-facelift HIDs are not meant to be great and that adjusting the angle can help, but I'm sure the bulbs are on the way out. I've been in a lot of other cars recently (all with halogens) and they seem to throw out much more light than my zed. Even my GFs Mini with standard halogens seems to have much better lighting! When I start up the lights they have a very green hue initially and take about 30secs to a minute to warm up and change to a whiter light. I'm sure they used to be quicker to warm up and didn't have a green tint before. Also from outside the car the lights appear very yellow from head on whereas they were more white not that long ago. They do seem quite bright when reflecting off my garage wall though from a couple of feet away but just don't throw out light when on the road. So would this mean that new bulbs are in order? They seem to have deteriorated very quickly as they were much better just a few weeks ago. Any other recommended things to check? Cheers, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roscopervis Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Has the angle of the lights changes so that they point straight down? If so, your height adjuster is playing up, located near the arb droplink on the passenger side (IIRC). If the lights are just dim then new bulbs I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyZed Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 I have this too! i cant see much at all in the dark! ill ask my garage to tell me if they need adjusting.... but they prob wont be able to tell in the day light!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tprice Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 they can tell in daylight, take it to an MOT test station, your garage probs has one, they will use the headlamp alignment equipment! and youll be all good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M13KYF Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 First thing is to the check alignment. Dealers or good independant. Mot centres are spose to be hot on checking this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFM Posted December 21, 2011 Share Posted December 21, 2011 Hi all, I have had a search and realise that pre-facelift HIDs are not meant to be great and that adjusting the angle can help, but I'm sure the bulbs are on the way out. I've been in a lot of other cars recently (all with halogens) and they seem to throw out much more light than my zed. Even my GFs Mini with standard halogens seems to have much better lighting! I recall that halogens die immediately and xenons die slowly with clues such as colour change and output, colour change coming first, although it seems odd that both are on the way out out at the same time? There has been some recent news about how much X are brighter that H so I reckon bulbs................ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16215106 Let us know what the outcome was to the problem please. Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubzie83 Posted December 21, 2011 Author Share Posted December 21, 2011 Thanks for the responses. I will probably try and make sure that the alignment is correct although I didn't have my MoT that long ago and I would have thought that if the lights were too low they would have picked this up. Also nothing was said at the P3 service at the same time and I'm fairly certain that headlight adjustment is a service item. I found that the lights were a bit better last night. They immediately seemed brighter at switch on and looked whiter than on Monday night from outside when I pulled up at home. However, as soon as I get on a dual carriageway the throw still isn't that far or that bright. Not sure why the brightness and colour would vary from day to day unless the ballasts are on the way out but it seems unlikely that both would go at the same time. I might bite the bullet and replace the bulbs if the alignment is ok. I would also like to check the auto leveling sensor. I wasn't sure where it was but I'll have a look around the rear passenger drop link as was mentioned and make sure it is free to operate correctly. I'm assuming it's just an arm that connect between the suspension and the chassis to measure the amount of compression on the rear suspension due to weight in the boot and thus work out the angle of car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubzie83 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 Right, just to follow up this is now sorted. I bought a replacement set of Philips 85126+ 4300K (OEM) D2R bulbs and replaced them the other week. The difference in light output is amazing. The new bulbs are much brighter all the way up to the cutoff and I can actually see a lot more now I would say that if you have an older car with original bulbs or if you've put a lot of hours on the headlights and are finding the top part of the beam to be weak it might be a good idea to replace them. They're not that cheap (about £35 each) but it's well worth the investment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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