Quick question.. LED headlights?
- Thread starter Leon5f
- Start date
Try driving a car with standard halogen lights, then get back in yours…
In all seriousness, check that all of the individual LED units are actually working. Then perhaps get the beam adjusted properly in a garage that has MOT testing equipment. Seen too many threads on here where peeps have a go at adjusting beams themselves. As a quick test, if you park the car facing a wall/garage door with the lights on you can usually see the beam pattern to check if one or both lights are low.
In all seriousness, check that all of the individual LED units are actually working. Then perhaps get the beam adjusted properly in a garage that has MOT testing equipment. Seen too many threads on here where peeps have a go at adjusting beams themselves. As a quick test, if you park the car facing a wall/garage door with the lights on you can usually see the beam pattern to check if one or both lights are low.
When I first got my 184FR, the headlights were shocking. On unfamiliar backroads at night, I couldn't drive more than 30/40 MPH. I got the dealer to have a look at them when it went in for a service, and they adjusted them up as they found them set too low. The difference was literally like 'night & day'.
This - try parking your car facing a wall etc, and then turn the car on when its dark - my LED headlights noticeably sweep up and down before settling at the correct level when I start the car. IMO they're a noticeable improvement over the xenon's on my old car, and give a better/longer light spread than the LED headlights on my wife's Yaris...
I used to have these exact headlights (car was 1 yr old at the time), and I def do not find them dim (unless 5-6 years later they have dimmed?). As others said, I did have to adjust them up a little (I parked by a wall, marked off the height of each, and turn the raising level (knob) 3/4 a turn. On the wall at 10 meters away it was like 'only' a 1cm raise, but over a longer distance these were significant, and nobody flashed me, so I guess it was allright. Also unlike halogens or xenons a dirty headlight lens reduces the output significantly. So try to perhaps spray those, clean with sponge, and wipe dry with microfibre everytime you fill up with fuel. At the time mine had headlight washers, so I didn't really have to clean them, as the car wash does that once every couple of months, and in between the washers would do the honours.
You can use a screwdriver to adjust the screws on the headlight unit (when the bonnet is open). If I remember correctly, the outer 'screw' nearer to the edge of the unit (near the odd one out higher LED light out of the 6 dipped beam). The inner screw 'nearer the front' of the car is the one for left right allignment. Try it 10 meters from a white wall and mark original height off with tape / blue tac, then raise it 1cm or so...(on the wall). Both my Seats (Leon / Ibiza) I required to raise them, they must be at the lower end of the 'required' height, and may 'drop down' over time. Subsequent cars Volvo V40 and now Audi A3 had the headlights perfect height. Of the four cars I've had (Leon LEDs / Ibiza Bi-Xenon / V40 LEDs / Audi A3 (basic LEDs)) the brightest were the Volvo V40s! Best High-beam were the Leons (as the dipped beam even raised up). Current A3 I feel is the dimmest of the lot!
Imagine when I had my Ibiza with Bi-xenon, took a holiday to Portugal and rented a car for a week that had halogens! Who turned the lights out?
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