Xenon Warning

Rich Corrado · Aug 18, 2014

I just wanted to give everyone a warning about Xenon lights before you spend ££££ having them added as an extra.

Now before I start this rant I would like to point out that I think the xenons on my California are amazing so it is a case of weighing up the pros and cons.

4 months ago I went to France for our first trip abroad in the California. Before I went I spoke to my dealer and asked about the xenons abroad and asked if I needed to put the stickers on my headlights?

Their response was that I didn't need to because xenons worked in a different way??

Unfortunately we found that the dealer had been talking rubbish and as soon as it was dark in France we discovered we were not very popular with the locals. We were flashed 100/200 times by some very angry French drivers.

Upon return I started doing some research and discovered that they Xenons need to be adjusted for driving abroad.

You would expect that a vehicle that is designed for travelling would be suitably equipped for travelling abroad! (Another VW mistake)

Now unfortunately it's not just a case of flicking a switch or pushing a button on the California. No that would be too easy! VW in their infinite wisdom have designed it so that you have to take it to a main dealer and have it plugged in to the computer.

Now every time I want to go abroad I have to take my California to the main dealer and have them change my xenons so they do not dazzle everyone! I also have to take it back to the main dealer when I return home to have it switched back!!!

What a joke!

Oh and did I mention that VW want to charge me £20 every time they do this?

Now I would like to point out that there are some nice VW dealers out there like SMG who have offered to to this service free of charge but unfortunately they are not local to me.

I have put this to my local dealer and they are discussing the situation with the service department.

I think that it's bloody stupid that they charge £1000 for an amazing extra but haven't thought about simple things like this?

Xenons are fantastic but please bare this in mind when making any order.

GrannyJen · Aug 18, 2014

SMG are adjusting mine free of charge and I intend just leaving them in "neutral" so no further adjustments needed.

I can understand your frustration but quite honestly a simple, once off fix that takes 5 minutes and should cost nothing is hardly worthy of a rant

reserves · Aug 18, 2014

That's not great.

Not saying this is acceptable but for info, with any laptop & a VCDS cable you should be able to do this yourself.

MisterTea · Aug 18, 2014

id give you a 3.5 out of 10 for the quality of that rant.

try harder!

Rich Corrado · Aug 18, 2014

I hear what your saying Jen but on this occasion I disagree.

If you are happy leaving them adjusted for travelling abroad then that's fair enough, but I didn't spend £1000 for an extra that isn't set up correctly for the UK.

SMG have very kindly offered to do this free of charge but they are not local to me and my local dealer wants to charge me £20 to change them each time.

My argument is that VW haven't thought this through and should advice people when they are ordering the Xenons.

Plus I know of lots of cars with xenons that are fitted with a switch so you can change the height of the beam.

Why didn't VW fit one?

Rich Corrado · Aug 18, 2014

MisterTea said:
id give you a 3.5 out of 10 for the quality of that rant.

try harder!

I'm just trying to give people a little "heads up"

Larkrise · Aug 18, 2014

Is the purchase of a VCDS cable and software a viable response to this? I see them on Amazon for £20 but with mixed reviews- some folk saying they work fine, others not at all. If it were a cheap and simple process it would be almost as good as a factory installed switch.

GrannyJen · Aug 18, 2014

Rich Corrado said:
I hear what your saying Jen but on this occasion I disagree.

Why didn't VW fit one?

Yes, I agree with this, in fact by coincidence I am having this very same conversation with my local BMW dealer as I have Xenons on my BMW as well.

Andresz · Aug 18, 2014

If I am not mistaken... xenon adjusted at the workshop for continental Europe, make UK drivers blinding, before the van reaches the channel crossing and before it goes back for re-adjustments?

BMVS-Camper-Hire · Aug 18, 2014

Its the kick in a headlight that will dazzle a vehicle coming the other way. All ours have been set flat from factory, and, as I've mentioned before, we have never had any issues when driving abroad. If I get chance tomorrow, and I have a xenon equipped vehicle onsite, I will stick it on the headlight aligner and take a pic. to show what I mean.

If I were you, Id get them set flat, at your dealer, as I presume yours have been set with a kick up to the n/s and then you will never need to adjust them again - You won't notice this either, it only lights the hedgerow up!! Being xenons they auto height adjust every time you start the vehicle, so it can't be the height that dazzles...

gatvol · Aug 20, 2014

I had xenons on my last Audi. I am delighted that I do not have them on my Cali. I would not even consider upgrading them for £1,000.

The complexity, expense and (most importantly to me) repair expense of these is not worth it in my opinion. Yes they are better at illuminating the road - but as we head off in the Cali in the summer months, we don't tend to drive it at night anyway.

Stu · Aug 20, 2014

Larkrise said:
Is the purchase of a VCDS cable and software a viable response to this? I see them on Amazon for £20 but with mixed reviews- some folk saying they work fine, others not at all. If it were a cheap and simple process it would be almost as good as a factory installed switch.

What you are seeing on places such as Amazon are either counterfeit or what are known as 'dumb' interfaces and will not work with your van.

Manufacturer

UK Reseller

Gasgas · Aug 27, 2014

We have our xenons set flat and have had no issue with uk drivers or continental drivers flashing us...

Larkrise · Aug 27, 2014

When we bought our van the dealer said that the only way to change the setup was to replace the lamp units!! So when I go back to the dealer I need to be armed with a little guidance. I can say: use the VCDS. Is there anything more specific than 'set them flat'?

GrannyJen · Aug 27, 2014

Chris and Sue ...

Tell him that they can be programmed to "travel mode" which is flat. A 5 minute job offered by SMG for free.

This topic might help

http://vwcaliforniaclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=7781

skinnywhippet · Aug 27, 2014

Ours were set to travel mode from new in June and have been used in UK and Europe with no issues. We'll just leave them as they are now.

andyj007 · Sep 4, 2014

We just stick a bit of gaffer tape on our non Xeon covers If get flashed Makes me chuckle seeing people paying a ten pounds for the stick on deflectors.

Our volvo v50 2005 has a switch on the back of the headlight cluster, for xeons, sounds great when reading the manual, until you try to get the back light cover off and squeeze you hand in there. Resorted to gaffer tape on this too..

Vw have some really stupid engineers working for them.. How about our brand new amarok with factory supplied 19" wheels, the spare could not be lowered with supplied jack. It was interesting whatching the sales manager try to do it in his suit!!

Having said that they have some clever ones too!!!

KernowLad · Sep 5, 2014

Our BM has them and they are great for rural roads but we just left them alone when we drove it to Germany.
Not got them on the van; maybe the height of the lights makes xenons worse? They do look better but at least the standard lights are quite good.

I upgraded my Defender lights because they were comically diabolical as standard.