[Euro] adjusting low beams

[ngupil]

I just bought a philips crystal vision 4300k and put them on in my car. When I turn my low beam on, the lights from the left low beam is higher than the right low beam. moreover, last week i went to the rural areas where there is hardly any lights on the road, and what scared me the most is that i can hardly see anything with my new bulbs.

Is there anyway to adjust the low beam in the euro standard? and is my limited visibility is caused by the white lights, or is it because i wrongly installed them?

[STTICH]

if everthing clicks in properly, u should have installed them properly.

it is normal to hav the left beam pointing slightly higher than the right, this is made apparently for rhd vehicle not to glare at the opposite cars. and it may b quite normal for a 'white beam' bulb such as ur philips to affect ur visibility as these arent really the best for certain road condition. our standard orangy/amber bulbs are the best for wet/rain/foggy wheather condition. so it is normal if somtimes u feel ur new lights isnt doing its job properly, but im sure it'll hav its benefit. :)

and finally wth adjusting ur beams. yes u can, im pretty sure for most, not all, headlights are adjustable (at least for my car it is). all u need to do is to reach behind ur headlights, search for a 10mm bolt (or other size in a euro?) tat allows u to turn/screw left and right, tat will adjust the angle of ur reflector.

all the best.

[me_kevinly]

hi ngupil
it is normal that the right is low than the left
because you wouldnt blind the drive on the other side of the road
no matter how you adjust the beam
it will still be the right lower than left
best to leave it as it is(factory setting)
only adjust it when you lowered you car.
and if you really wanna adjust it
you need a philip screw, stick it in a small hole next to the hid
and turn.
hope that helps

[me_kevinly]

oh sorry
i didnt read sttich's post
....
yeah he cover's everything already :P

[EuroDude]

How much did you get your Crystal Visions? I got mine for $100 :O

...but they look awesome, especially with LED park lights :)

[ngupil]

Thanks for the response stitch and me_kevinly

yeah i've lowered my car, but still the angle of the left low beams is wayyyyyyy higher than the right one. i'll try to snap some picture tonite, and see whether it is normal or not.

eurodude, check your pm

[aaronng]

My left side is also higher. Check if you put in the right bulb upside down. In fact, check both bulbs. They are directional. If you look at the filament, there is one side with a coil in it. The coil should be on top when you install the bulbs into the car. If that is not the problem, I have the service bulletin for adjusting your lowbeams :D

[MiSloVic]

I just bought a philips crystal vision 4300k and put them on in my car. When I turn my low beam on, the lights from the left low beam is higher than the right low beam. moreover, last week i went to the rural areas where there is hardly any lights on the road, and what scared me the most is that i can hardly see anything with my new bulbs.

Is there anyway to adjust the low beam in the euro standard? and is my limited visibility is caused by the white lights, or is it because i wrongly installed them?

at 4300k, it is too bluish for dark roads. for real dark roads, the highest i would go for, is the 4000k, which is just white enough.

strange, but true, for halogen, the stock yellowish lights still lights up dark roads better than 4300k bulbs.

[ngupil]

i cant take the photos of the lights, coz in a really dark place, the lights are just simply invinsible, and in the slight light areas, the lights are also invinsible.

aarong, can u post the bulletion that you mentioned?

mislovic, why do u go for 4000k bulbs on dark roads? is 4000k is dimmer than 4300k??

[MiSloVic]

i cant take the photos of the lights, coz in a really dark place, the lights are just simply invinsible, and in the slight light areas, the lights are also invinsible.

aarong, can u post the bulletion that you mentioned?

mislovic, why do u go for 4000k bulbs on dark roads? is 4000k is dimmer than 4300k??

the 4300k is just the 'temperature' of the light. read that as the color of the light. dont confuse this with the brightness, mate.

the higher the number, the more blue and purplish it is. stock lights yellowish are around 3400k(cant remember the exact). and yellow foggies are at 2800k.

white is around 3800k to 4000k. the brightness is indicated by the wattage (55/60W).

in the halogen construction, there is only this much light a small bulb can produce. normal glowing halogen light is yellowish, and to get the bluish effect, bulb manufacturers add a layer of blue tint on the glass. the higher the temperature you want, the darker the blue tint.

while giving a bright bluish white light, the darker the blue tint, the more light is absorbed, thus, for halogen bulbs, the higher the 'k' number, the darker it is..

there is another school of thought which says that the more bluish the light, the less the light can penetrate the atmosphere. which is why, on dusty and polluted air, sunset produces a redish hue (blue is absorbed by the atmosphere).

personally, i tried those 4000+k PIAA platinum bulbs some years ago.. externally, the car looks damn nice and cool.. however, i fine day i drove in pitch dark condition.. shis!! those bulbs are useless, they only managed to project a faint blue hue on the roads, and i cant see far enough. had to crawl my way back to civilisation. the very next day, i have them removed.

[jkz]

so how do u adjust it. i am having trouble finding the bolt :(

[EuroDude]

Its not a bolt, its a teethed dial you turn using a screwdriver. There are holes in the headlight assembly (The horizontal one is on top if I remember correctly, I think the vertical one is on the side somewhere), get a torch and look for the teeth. I think a normal philips screwdriver can move it - well it worked for my Civic.

But the headlights are adjusted from the factory so its not really a good idea to adjust it yourself unless u know how to aim it properly. If the bulbs arent bright enough then they should be replaced with non-blue ones. The yellower the bulbs are, the brighter they are.


I got some Philips BlueVision H1 bulbs in my car, they are excellent :thumbsup:
ps. they are not blue at all, rather a bright white colour with a slight tinge of blue at certain angles.

[jl88rl]

if you could find the adjustable screw locations can someone pls post up pics ?!?

threw in philips diamond vision yesterday and a coincidence i found this thread :D

(pls help, vision so poor)

[stephen8512]

diamond vision will be poor vision as its more blue than white
the higher the kelvin rating, the less usable light

[Omotesando]

The Crystal Vision Phillips have a 'blue' tint on the bulb itself doesn't it?

Usually 3800-4300K Colour Temp K is considered to be the best brightness wise.
There really shouldn't be any difference between these two colours, if anything 4300K would be slightly brighter. This is certainly why oem Xenon HID lights are at 4300K as it emulates the Sun's light colour.

FYI 4300K is considered still yellowish/white, not white nor blue/white if anyone care to look at the "Colour Temperature chart".


The problem - as far as I'm concerned, normal halogen bulbs can only go up to around 3800K before it cannot become any more 'whiter' without resorting to a blue tint coating on the bulb itself.


Hence on Halogen light bulbs with filaments and no colour coating the OEM 3800K would be slightly brighter than 4300K blue tint coated bulbs that can't achieve the more whitish colour otherwise. The exception is that some 4300-4500K bulbs DO emit more lumens (brightness) depending on the brand and may be slightly upped Wattage, which might even-out or overcome the slight darkening of the blue tint itself.


PIAA makes some bulbs which can do this - unfortunataly they probably make about 20 varieties, so you got to choose very carefully. I have used PIAAs with the right brightness and COOL factor 5000K before - they were definitely brighter than oem 3800K lights.


As for XENON HIDs, diff story. 4300-5000K bulbs aren't tinted. The colour comes predominantly from the burning gas's colour itself, and the blue look looking at it far away, is from the defraction of the HID projector cut-off 'shield' itself I believe.

[aaronng]

I use non-tinted +50% 12v 55W bulbs. They draw the same power, but have a different gas mixture and a thinner filament so that it burns hotter and brighter. The downside is that they cost a bit more and only last about 12 months before the filament fails.

J88rl, here's the info that you wanted. It's for LHD, so the figures are mirrored for RHD.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3444/accordeuroheadlightadjustment3.jpg

[ngupil]

i'm currently using crystal vision. visibility wise, its very poor
when i drive at night with my friends in the car, everytime they say 'hey turn on the head light', while i already turn my head lights on. i cant imagine what would it be like if you use diamond vision, visibility will be even poorer. now i'm thinking of getting HID kit, because they are much brighter and whiter. even though you manage to find the adjuster, unless it is really focused, than it wont improve your visibility at night. now i'm against using the philips 55w bulbs, because low visibility = danger

[aaronng]

i'm currently using crystal vision. visibility wise, its very poor
when i drive at night with my friends in the car, everytime they say 'hey turn on the head light', while i already turn my head lights on. i cant imagine what would it be like if you use diamond vision, visibility will be even poorer. now i'm thinking of getting HID kit, because they are much brighter and whiter. even though you manage to find the adjuster, unless it is really focused, than it wont improve your visibility at night. now i'm against using the philips 55w bulbs, because low visibility = danger

Are your crystalvisions on upside down? The filament coil side has to be on the top. I tried it with the coil down and it's like driving without your lights on.

[Omotesando]

Actually off topic its the same if you intalled the HID light bulbs upside down. Very hard to do so mind you unless you're using aftermarket kits.

The problem - the coated Electrode on the bottom, means it creates a large shadow on the ground :(

So I think for normal halogen bulbs - AARONNG has a point that it should be right side up too!@!

[aaronng]

I had a fun time trying out up and down combinations for the left and right when I first changed bulbs. Because I forgot to check the orientation of the original bulbs when I took them out! LOLOL :D But yeah, having both bulb filaments facing down is the same as driving without lights. It's bloody scary.

[ngupil]

LOL ...
maybe i put them the upside down
i'll try to put them the other way around and adjusting them tommorow, if i can find the adjuster

aarong, is the diagram came from the euro workmanual cd?

[as001]

LOL ...
maybe i put them the upside down
i'll try to put them the other way around and adjusting them tommorow, if i can find the adjuster

aarong, is the diagram came from the euro workmanual cd?

I was just about to say the same thing i put the h1 in the wrong way when i changed t brighter globes :confused: just may sure the fuse is aiming down that most likely the thing once you mess with the aiming it could turn ugly i learnt the hard way on my old dc2R

[jkz]

still having a bit of trouble finding which one to turn. i installed HID's and i think they are too high at the moment so i want to adjust the angle down abit.

[aaronng]

If it is too dim, check your bulbs first. You don't want to be messing with the aiming. If it is aiming too high, the the screw is in the hole that is located at the same spot as the indicator bulb.

[aaronng]

LOL ...
maybe i put them the upside down
i'll try to put them the other way around and adjusting them tommorow, if i can find the adjuster

aarong, is the diagram came from the euro workmanual cd?
Diagram is from the TSX service manual. The Euro workshop CD is for the Europe-spec model that comes with self-levelling lights and cannot be adjusted. So that means, those with Lux Euros probably can't adjust their headlights. The TSX has HIDs but no self-levellers!

[jl88rl]

Hey fellow members, back from garage..

I just wanna sincerely thank aaron and u guys for great assistance!

I adjusted the lowbeams higher and it helped a bit but it was still poor. I thought maybe that was the standard and nuthing else much to do to it... for the sake of it i yanked out the bulbs again and to my joy it was actually upside down!

I flipped it over and went for a test drive and, take my word for it, its much better than stock! i never expected that having the h1s the wrong way would make such a prominent change.

Maybe its just im so happy that i can finally see again at night but its almost as if i'm using hi beams all the time without the terrible glare it opposes to other drivers on road.

I'm very happy and once again our ozhonda members have helped me thru top notch advice :D

thanks guys, Jeremy.

[aaronng]

Haha, good to hear that all is well with your lights now. I hope you did readjust your lights back down to stock though. Otherwise you'll be copping a lot of flashes from oncoming drivers. :)

[ngupil]

I've tried to put my crystal vision upside down, and it still doesnt help much in terms of visibility. it seems that the bulbs aren't bright enough to give me better visibility. i think my driver side bulb is too low and the passenger side is too high. i've also try to find the adjuster, like the tsx diagram posted by aarong, and it seems its in different location in euro. please advise

[EuroDude]

i think my driver side bulb is too low and the passenger side is too high.

Thats how all the Euro's are set up from the factory so ur lights dont blind oncoming traffic on the right.

[aaronng]

I've tried to put my crystal vision upside down, and it still doesnt help much in terms of visibility. it seems that the bulbs aren't bright enough to give me better visibility. i think my driver side bulb is too low and the passenger side is too high. i've also try to find the adjuster, like the tsx diagram posted by aarong, and it seems its in different location in euro. please advise
Don't put your bulb upside down. Check the bulb. Filament side is up. Look for the adjuster again. J88rl managed to find it.

[jl88rl]

Its exactly where it was shown in pic. Poke ur screw thru the hole on top: next to a small engraving arrow of " U--D".

[Cranial]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I have a problem. I have a Euro standard and I've just installed some 6000k HID's in them. Now, here are the two problems:

(1) I'm not sure if it was installed upside down. Yes, I've read the the thread about halogens being upside down is bad. As for the HID, the long black electrode, when inserted to the healight assembly, the "keyhole" will only allow me to insert the HID with the electrode on the bottom - which, from what I've read in this thread, is a no-no. But I cannot physically insert it the other way up as the metal 'keyhole' for the lamp on the assembly does not physically allow me to do this. Has anyone else had this problem?

(2) I've seen the alignment tech note, but no matter how much I turn the adjuster - it seems to be giving off less light than my old Osram +50% Silverstars. Is it the fact that it's possibly upside down, or that my 6000K gives me less visibility than my bright halogens?

Thanks all!

[Omotesando]

for 1) I think because a lot of oem halogen headlights aren't really suppose to be able to fit an HID globe with-an-electrode attached, it should be okay with it squeezed in and installed at the bottom.. Its just that it'll create a bit of a shadow. :(

2) 6000K - what brand bulbs are they? :)

[Cranial]

Well, the bulbs are "EXSUN" brand, bought on special from Carmate.
Another niggly is that the driver's side HID doens't seem to seat properly - I think the clip has been bent! :(

The drivers side light seems to be aiming w-a-y to the passenger side - something's wrong! I'll have to look into it again when I have time. But yea, before I realised the clip was bent, I was at my work's carpark for an hour trying to get the clip on! :eek:

So yea, seems like I'll have to live with it upside down. The shadow's not too bad.

[mastcell]

Hi all,

This site explains what you need to know about headlight and those blue-white bulbs. I sometimes wonder why bother with these blue bulbs when the normal halogen works best?
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/blue/blue.html

[EuroDude]

Yeh I wander too, its mainly because they want to mimick HID's and look 'cool'.

The only Blue bulbs I would buy are the Philips BlueVisions, which actually are not blue at all (they are bright white). The "blue" part comes into play because Philips somehow added a blue cut-off/edge like HID's have, without affecting the brightness and overall light colour. They are just as bright, if not better than the stock dull white halogens.

[mastcell]

I agree the HIDs are novel and looks kinda of cool. Now that I own a car with HIDs, I can honestly say that they are a bit over hyped. Yes, it is brighter, but I dislike the severe cut-off and the back reflection/back scatter (eg, fog). For other road users, glare is an issue, the worst offender is BMW X5s.

On a separate note, the driver-side HIDs in the Euro is potentially dangerous because it is aimed much lower and the illumination is quite poor when the nose is tip down on a downward slope. Some say it has auto leveller, I love to see more levelling please! This issue has been covered elsewhere before.

So guys, you haven't missed anything if you have normal halogens!

[Cranial]

Since changing my halogens to HID's in my Euro standard, I would agree with most points that people are making. Although it is definately much brighter right in front of the car, it does seem to illuminate the far distance less than my halogen Sylania Silverstars (+50). I know most of my friends now complain of the glare coming from my HID's, as well as countless hi-beams from oncoming drivers (although most Euro Lux's have said the same thing on their factory HID's).

[Onrmnd]

I've gotten to used to the HID's. i drove my GF lancer and i found her lights to be pretty sh*tty. Given they are standard lights though.

[Omotesando]

Yes. Considering the Halogen lamps are around the 1100-1300 Lumens (light output intensity) and HID Xenon bulbs output around 3500 Lumens, u would expect them to be around 250% times brighter than non-HID lights.

On some other HID cars this is certainly the case. On the Euro Lux I would think its only around 50% brighter at most.

That's not to say I would rather revert back to halogen, no way!! I just want more, more and more light, but less less less glare...

Mastcell - my drivers side lamp isn't aimed that much lower than my passenger sides to be honest. It is noticeable but not that much - now u got me thinking whether all of us have very differently aimed headlights but somehow I doubt it. I kept getting blinded by oncoming Euros tonight *_*

[mastcell]

Omotesando,

Haha, *_* is what HIDs do to my eyes after a while as well.

My driver side healight is not that much lower, but it is noticeable on level road. As I mentioned before, it becomes annoying on a downward slope, when one might sudenly lose illumination because of the severe cut off.

Because of the trajectory, even a few degree off is significant at the outer edge of the light beam. I had already mentioned this to Honda Service when the car was having 1000k service. They didn't touch it...I am wondering if I should call them back to ask if this set up is normal?

[EuroDude]

With all this HID annoyances at the moment with a select few cars (somewhat 3% of cars on the road), imagine when ALL cars will have HID as standard, everyone will be constantly blinded and more accidents will occur. Many cars halogens are misaligned these days which isnt too bad, but what happens when 10% of cars have misaligned HID's? HID's shone directly in the eyes is like looking at the sun...


imo halogens should be used for night time city/urban areas, and HID should be a switchable option for people driving in dark regional/country areas when not many cars are around. But then you will get thousands of n00bs switching to HID in the city/urban areas and blinding everyone, so maybe it should be controlled/activated by a GPS positioning system, or simply restrict HID's to High Beams only.

HID's used as low-beam are more of a menace novelty, rather than true practicality.

my 2c... *_*