Improving Headlights

robin collis

Active Member
Any siggestions as to how to improve the headlight of a 3500S?
Lights fitted were bought at auto jumble some years ago, and main/dip use separate bulbs, Bulbs fitted are what came with lights, and look to be unusually dim, compared with main beam. Driving at night on dipped beam, gain seems very dim.
When i converted my side lights to LED I bought LED headlight LED 'bulbs' as well, but I cannot se how to fit these. They came with an electronics module hat won't fit in the headlight bowl, and won't math up to the existing wiring.
I really do want to see where i am going without being anti-social.
I have relays fitted for headlights, so could use increased wattage if that is available.
Are Hi intensity dicharge light I have seen advertise woth the money and are hey a direct replacement.
 
How old are your bulbs? They will get dimmer over time, try new bulbs or borrow some, just to check it's not the bulbs.

We have a set of CIBIE H4 headlights in, works great.... more than enough to hold your own in the dazzle war with modern cars. Got them from Tony Hart Stag Parts, but a quick search would suggest he's not active anymore.

No experience of the discharge bulbs, other than the annoyance of other cars using them!!
If changing to Hi Discharge bulbs, be sure your autojumble lamp's reflector and lens are in good condition, I.e the dip beam is well defined, or by fitting brighter bulbs, you'll end up blinding the rest of us....
 
No need for HIDs, which are illegal anyway as a retrofit to headlights designed for halogen bulbs, and very likely to cause dazzle. Same is true of LEDs. Cibiés are indeed very good but seem unobtainable nowadays. The current Lucas H4 units are a good substitute – I have these for my outer headlights and am happy with them. Avoid cheap H4 halogen units such as Autopal or Soligor, which are hopeless with a poor and badly-defined beam spread.
 
I think with a lot of old cars, there's a big improvement that can be head by re-wiring to use relays and decent feeds.

That way the load is taken off the switch, which is only triggering the relays, and you can reduce the voltage drop to the bulbs. There must be a post on here with info on how to do it somewhere...
 
Wiring and relays need checking. Also you dont give the wattage of your bulbs. Std UK bulbs should be Outers 50/37.5W and inners 75W.
 
Go Halogen and fit Philips Xtreme vision lamps. Enough light. No, not as good as my new Mercedes LEDs but as good as any halogen fitting from the 2000s and unrecognizably better than "back in the day".
 
The problem with the Philips Xtreme vision and similar modern H4 is that they don't fit into the standard Lucas H4, they need a conversion ring, but even with this they don't focus very well and subsequently the beam pattern is far from what it should be. I know this from personal experience.
 
The problem with the Philips Xtreme vision and similar modern H4 is that they don't fit into the standard Lucas H4, they need a conversion ring, but even with this they don't focus very well and subsequently the beam pattern is far from what it should be. I know this from personal experience.

OK, they are pretty good in my Bosch units. Some odd patterns on the fringes but nothing bad.
 
All suggestions appreciated. At the moment, rover is in UK and I am in Thailand, so i am writing from memory, but AFAIR, headlight lens are H4, bought at auto jumble complete with bulbs.. Beam pattern is reasonable, with flat top cut off, and pointing to left.
I think inners are 75W sinle filament bulbs, but cannot remember what dip outers are. Look very dim compared with main beams..
Lamps fitted straight into standard rover mountings, and bulbs have standard 3 pin firring.
When fuse box was replaced 3-4 years ago with blade fuses, I specified that headlamp relays were fitted. Never checked on this but every reason to believe it was done.
The LED 'bulbs' I bought most definitely are not direct replacement for the old bulbs, so I have never fitted them, not wanting to destroy the headlamp bowls. I now note that suppliers web-site states 'for off-road use only' so presumably illegal beam pattern.

Presen set-up is OK on main beam, but dipped is pathetic, and almost impossible to see the kerb or road edge. I was hoping to be able o make some improvement without major mods to existing lights, or becoming illegal.
Sounds as if I should be investigating different bulbs, for more light on dipped.

My impresioni that many modern SUV type vehicles have badly adjusted headlights. Is there any check or any way of adjusting them?
 
No need for HIDs, which are illegal anyway as a retrofit to headlights designed for halogen bulbs, and very likely to cause dazzle. Same is true of LEDs. Cibiés are indeed very good but seem unobtainable nowadays. The current Lucas H4 units are a good substitute – I have these for my outer headlights and am happy with them. Avoid cheap H4 halogen units such as Autopal or Soligor, which are hopeless with a poor and badly-defined beam spread.
HID / LED retro fitted to halogen lamps now only illegal post 1986 and as long as a correct beam pattern is there it's a MOT pass.
 
HID lights in Oz are required by law to have washers - they are typically hidden under a little cover in the bumper, and pop out and spray if the lights are on and the windscreen washers are used. Had to actually read the owners manual for my Suby to find out how they worked.
 
HID / LED retro fitted to halogen lamps now only illegal post 1986 and as long as a correct beam pattern is there it's a MOT pass.
That was my understanding as there are many retrofits for Land Rovers and the likes. However these are single unit dip/mains I don't think I've seen suitable quad setups but I assume they must exist (BMW and the like).

But TBH they can be pretty anti-social as a retrofit as the aim is often not adjustable with the loading of the car.
 
Good discussion here. Might be the very first product that interests me. And he's right, the other options look weird...

 
Looking at the specs for the LED lamps.
The good is the wattage 25/30w for low and high beam. Lower than the draw of standard sealed beam units.

the not so good, the lenses are polycarbonate, I’d be concerned they’re going to age and go cloudy like most modern headlamps.
 
Looking at the specs for the LED lamps.
The good is the wattage 25/30w for low and high beam. Lower than the draw of standard sealed beam units.

the not so good, the lenses are polycarbonate, I’d be concerned they’re going to age and go cloudy like most modern headlamps.

I don't think you can certify any new product for this purpose in glass. A Rolls has polycarbonate light lenses.
 
Polycarbonate lenses can be brought back to new with a quick polish with some very fine rubbing compound. I used some menzerna 4000 (which is weirdly now called 3500) on the "crystal" headlights I have fitted to my Landover Defender the other week and they are as good as new now, apart from the fact they are probably 15-20 years old! Took max of ten mins to do both :)
 
The Holley LED's look very tempting to me. Quite expensive however. I might try another set of H4 /H1 lights before I try this. My Low beam light is absolutely crap.
 
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