Bi Xenon's - Driving abroad

[GrannyJen]

I am quite disappointed as the whole point is to travel abroad.

What effect does setting the lights 'flat' have when driving back in the UK?
Thank you.

I had mine set flat for travelling to France, which I do most months. They were adjusted in 5 minutes by the dealer free of charge. I have no problems driving with them, either here or France, and so far no one here or there has had a problem with me.

 

[MCh1777]

I have owned my Cali with bi-xenons for a couple of months now and have noticed that I get 'flashed' quite a lot. The 'flashing' usually happens when my bit of road is uphill which raises the beam and presumably dazzles oncoming drivers. I don't have this issue in other cars that I drive - could it be the brightness of the xenons is the problem, or is it possible that the auto levelling is not doing quite what it should? From my position in the driver's seat it all looks exactly right!

 

[GrannyJen]

I must confess I try to avoid driving in the dark. I plan my days around hours of daylight which meant that in northern Scotland a couple of weeks ago I moved for about two hours a day.

Seriously, I bounced all over the highlands, also last time in France drove for 300 miles in the dark, and no problem so you might want the levels checking?

 

[Blue-T4]

Well, to start with, every time we travel to the UK we use the Stickers on our Lights. On my Blue T4 with Project Two Headligjts I can " turn" the light for Lhd/Rhd. On our Silver T4 wuth Angel Eyes I use the Sticker.
Now, on my 2006 BMW X3 with Bixenon I used the Stickers as well. In the Manual it was exactly described on how to stick them on for Bixenon.
I don't see why I could not use the Stickers on our new T5.2 California witb Xenon. I am one ofcthe guys that asked in our German Forum but the answer was never really given. Some kind of "because VW says so " but no technical Reason. Why should it work on the BMW Xenons and not on the T5 ?
Interresting, on my Car Manual it states " Use Stickers when travelling to the UK".
However, I will order a Set of Stickets from ADAC just to ser what the manual states for T5 with Xenon.
I do have the feeling that the Xenons are "Flat" on our 2015 Cali.
Greets from Germany
Frank

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

When I pulled up behind my wife Golf tonight, it showed perfectly how flat the xenons are from factory. Just thought Id share that

 

[AlanC]

[QUOTE="
I don't see why I could not use the Stickers on our new T5.2 California witb Xenon. I am one ofcthe guys that asked in our German Forum but the answer was never really given. Some kind of "because VW says so " but no technical Reason. Why should it work on the BMW Xenons and not on the T5 ?
Interresting, on my Car Manual it states " Use Stickers when travelling to the UK".

Greets from Germany
Frank[/QUOTE]

I think it is something to do with the heat that the Xenons generate. The stickers can bubble up and peel off. But don't quote me.

Alan

 

[robc]

When I pulled up behind my wife Golf tonight, it showed perfectly how flat the xenons are from factory. Just thought Id share that View attachment 6563[/QUOT

Your beam pattern is consistent with with the pattern from my xenons and whilst they look flat, there is definitely a subtle kick there. It only really becomes properly noticeable when the light is hitting something further away, that's probably why you aren't spotting it with your beam checker.

When I visited France in the summer without correcting my lights, I was flashed many times and I could totally see why. The shape of the kick is different to what you'd expect, it's flat and then there is a little kick, and then it's flat again. If you look at your photo, the small kick is about a third of the distance from the reflection of your left headlight to the VW badge on your wife's car. You can also see that the base line of your right hand headlight is ever so slightly lower.

When I used VCDS to lower the beam pattern on my headlights for driving on the other side, the change was also almost impossible to spot at close range.

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

Your beam pattern is consistent with with the pattern from my xenons and whilst they look flat, there is definitely a subtle kick there. It only really becomes properly noticeable when the light is hitting something further away, that's probably why you aren't spotting it with your beam checker.

When I visited France in the summer without correcting my lights, I was flashed many times and I could totally see why. The shape of the kick is different to what you'd expect, it's flat and then there is a little kick, and then it's flat again. If you look at your photo, the small kick is about a third of the distance from the reflection of your left headlight to the VW badge on your wife's car. You can also see that the base line of your right hand headlight is ever so slightly lower.

When I used VCDS to lower the beam pattern on my headlights for driving on the other side, the change was also almost impossible to spot at close range.

Whats odd is not everyone gets flashed, we and none of our customers ever have, and we check each vehicle before it goes abroad, in our MOT bay. I suspect VW are sending these xenon equipped vehicles out with two different settings, otherwise we would all be getting the same issues. Ill ask their technical department in the week to find out, as we need to talk to VW UK about something else anyway. Mind you they probably won't know either......

This picture was a quick demonstration, and not technically set up. It was taken again the kerb on the RHS of the road, so this has to be taken into account, probably causing the o/s be slightly lower, also taking into account the boot is curved etc, which will distort the pattern, but was it quite clear is there is no kick. A halogen equipped T5's headlight pattern has a very obvious kick up to the n/s, although the lines are not as clearly defined, as the xenon. Not masking one of these will cause every vehicle to flash when abroad.

 

[Vantastic2]

Not long after we bought our Cali, we were driving along an A class rd with a dip and double bend going dn hill when a car coming towards us sounded it's horn in an ' angry ' tone ...LOL !
We also had occasional flash of lights same year, so as the Cali had to go to VW for some checks I asked about the lights.They found that the Bi-Xenons were slightly out and did the adjustments for free, never had any more problems to date,plus also used abroad twice a year without any stickers or any adjustments and never been flashed driving in the dark by the ' friendly ' frogs !

 

[Larkrise]

Our is (& was supplied) flat rechecked by dealer who showed us the proof on a large bit of card. We travelled through Spain & never got flashed. However , in spite of all that I am convinced there is a kick up to the left! I would prefer it flat and then we would know it was perfect both home and abroad.