LHD European motorhomes do not need beam benders in the UK - true or false?

[Casimir]

Most people probably know that if they are touring in Europe with their RHD motorhome they need to fit headlamp beam deflectors so as to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers at night when driving on the right.

But is the reverse also true?

Beam deflectors are available for LHD vehicles but it seems that few visitors to the UK from Europe bother to fit them.

I have come across a number of suggestions that they are not necessary because the headlamp beam on European vehicles dips straight down (instead of to the left or the right).

Does anybody know the answer to this?

[EJB]

I think all continental vehicles have flat topped beams....check against a wall....therefore are OK in the UK...unless the MOT requires a shaped top to the beam?

I await an expert ;-)

[Guest JudgeMental]

Casimir - 2014-08-23 1:56 PMI have come across a number of suggestions that they are not necessary because the headlamp beam on European vehicles dips straight down (instead of to the left or the right).

Does anybody know the answer to this?

Not definitively...but like you say above thought euro vans beams dipped straight.

[Brian Kirby]

EJB - 2014-08-23 2:05 PM

 

I think all continental vehicles have flat topped beams....check against a wall....therefore are OK in the UK...unless the MOT requires a shaped top to the beam?

I await an expert ;-)

For vehicles likely still to be on the road this is incorrect. The right dipping beam is the mirror image of the left dipping beam, both having a "kick up" on the nearside, designed to illuminate the side of the road and possible pedestrians. Some A class vans have an adaptation within the headlamp that allows the kick-up to be eliminated, resulting in a flat topped beam, but they are a very small minority of vehicles.

[Brian Kirby]

Casimir - 2014-08-23 1:56 PM

Most people probably know that if they are touring in Europe with their RHD motorhome they need to fit headlamp beam deflectors so as to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers at night when driving on the right.

But is the reverse also true?

Beam deflectors are available for LHD vehicles but it seems that few visitors to the UK from Europe bother to fit them.

I have come across a number of suggestions that they are not necessary because the headlamp beam on European vehicles dips straight down (instead of to the left or the right).

Does anybody know the answer to this?

The requirement in all countries is that the dipped beam does not dazzle oncoming traffic. Others choose to enforce this: we, for whatever reason, do not. It is that simple.

[StuartO]

My LHD 2006 Fiat-based MH came new with RH dipping beams which illuminated the RH kerb, so the opposite of the UK headlight pattern.

 

Fortunately the lamp units were designed to be rotated in order to switch them to the RHD equivalent, so after adjustment mine dips properly in UK. You just slacken the securing nuts and riotate, them tighten up. As I recall the centre position in the rotation range for the headlights yielded a flat-topped beam.

 

When i go to France I should of course reverse the adjustment process or use stickers.

 

Should continental visitors adjust their headlamps or use masking stickers? I suspect they should - but whether they do or not is perhaps another matter.

 

Incidentally motorcycles supplied for use in UK have left- dipping beams, same as cars, and those supplied on the Continent the opposite. USA vehicles (or at least motorcycles) have flat-topped beams and these get through UK MOTs without difficulty.

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Similar questions have been asked on this forum before and have been answered in some depth. The following link lists related threads I’ve participated in

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/search/query.asp?action=search&searchforumid=all&keywords=hot+policing&author=derek+Uzzell&days=&Submit=Search

[Brian Kirby]

StuartO - 2014-08-23 5:05 PM

 

My LHD 2006 Fiat-based MH came new with RH dipping beams which illuminated the RH kerb, so the opposite of the UK headlight pattern..................

What van is that please Stuart?

[elamessa]

Well we wont be applying beam deflectors to our lhd car when we visit the UK in October, but then we wont be driving anywhere after dark!! >:-(

[KeithR]

when i got my new LHD adria in 2004 the dashboard was changed to comply with uk . when it was 3 years old i failed the MOT because the headlights dipped the wrong way. apparently they should also have been changed but were overlooked. i did request and get an english set which i keep on all the time (i dont drive at night, and i mostly drive over the water).

[StuartO]

Brian Kirby - 2014-08-23 7:59 PM

 

StuartO - 2014-08-23 5:05 PM

 

My LHD 2006 Fiat-based MH came new with RH dipping beams which illuminated the RH kerb, so the opposite of the UK headlight pattern..................

What van is that please Stuart?

 

Hymer B674

[KeithR]

did you spot the deliberate mistake :$

as i dont usually drive at night, and mostly drive over the water, i use my euroean headlight set, NOT my english!!! (lol)

[Derek Uzzell]

StuartO - 2014-08-23 5:05 PM

 

My LHD 2006 Fiat-based MH came new with RH dipping beams which illuminated the RH kerb, so the opposite of the UK headlight pattern.

 

Fortunately the lamp units were designed to be rotated in order to switch them to the RHD equivalent, so after adjustment mine dips properly in UK. You just slacken the securing nuts and riotate, them tighten up. As I recall the centre position in the rotation range for the headlights yielded a flat-topped beam...

 

 

This is just idle curiosity...

 

Your 2006 Hymer B674 will be fitted with Hella small-diameter individual dipped-beam light-units producing a beam-pattern that can be altered by moving the unit’s rear housing.

 

As your motorhome is LHD, can you say, please, what the shape of the beam-pattern is in ‘right-dipping’ and ‘left-dipping’ format?

 

As far as I can see, rotating the rear housing will alter the position of the bulb, but I’m not sure if doing that would radically alter the beam-pattern. While I accept that moving the rear housing could alter the pattern from right-dipping to left-dipping, I’m not sure if it could make a right-dipping pattern with a right-hand verge-illuminating ‘kick-up’ become a left-dipping pattern with a left-hand kick-up.

 

My RHD Skoda car has Hella ‘projector’ headlamps that produce a left-dipping dipped-beam pattern with a prominent left-hand kick-up. For driving in countries that have ‘right-hand traffic’ (eg. in Continental Europe) moving a lever within the headlamp-unit to an alternate position causes the kick-up to be masked but doesn’t swap the left-dipping pattern to a right-dipping pattern that would better illuminate a right-hand verge. Essentially, moving the lever prevents the Skoda’s lights dazzling oncoming drivers when the car is being driven abroad, but it doesn’t produce the ‘genuine’ right-dipping with kick-up pattern that is normally found with the headlamps factory-fitted to LHD vehicles.

 

I’m just interested whether ot not your Hymer’s dipped-beams have kick-ups and, if so, whether they are present when the lights dip right and left.

[Brian Kirby]

StuartO - 2014-08-24 9:01 AM

 

Brian Kirby - 2014-08-23 7:59 PM

 

StuartO - 2014-08-23 5:05 PM

 

My LHD 2006 Fiat-based MH came new with RH dipping beams which illuminated the RH kerb, so the opposite of the UK headlight pattern..................

What van is that please Stuart?

 

Hymer B674

'Tis as I thought, an A class with lamps that are adjustable. :-) The reason I asked is that Fiat Ducato (or, AFAIK, any other) derived coachbuilts do not have this facility, and I thought your comment might cause confusion.

 

Derek has already raised the other relevant issue of beam pattern. Although the lamps on our Exsis are different again, they also have the facility to adjust the diped beam. I do know that when these units are adapted for left hand traffic there is no kick-up, they merely produce a flat topped beam. The adjustment is not easy to access, so I leave them flat topped wherever we are.

 

I don't drive after dark - I prefer eating and sleeping at those times - but when I have used the dips in poor visibility or in tunnels, I have gained the impression that the beam is well controlled and should not cause dazzle, whichever side of the road we are on, and have not experiened oncoming drivers "retaliating" to being dazzled, so assume they must be at least acceptable.

[lennyhb]

Brian Kirby - 2014-08-24 10:41 AM

 

Although the lamps on our Exsis are different again, they also have the facility to adjust the diped beam. I do know that when these units are adapted for left hand traffic there is no kick-up, they merely produce a flat topped beam. The adjustment is not easy to access, so I leave them flat topped wherever we are.

.

 

Under the fancy exterior the Exsis still uses the Hella projector lamp as all other Hymers for quite a few years which like you say are only adjustable for straight dipping.

 

I can only assume Stuart has some one off custom made headlamps :D :D

[StuartO]

Either that or he's forgotten what the lights were like eight years ago before he made the adjustment!

 

Sorry if I misled anyone.

[Derek Uzzell]

lennyhb - 2014-08-24 1:37 PM

 

Brian Kirby - 2014-08-24 10:41 AM

 

Although the lamps on our Exsis are different again, they also have the facility to adjust the diped beam. I do know that when these units are adapted for left hand traffic there is no kick-up, they merely produce a flat topped beam. The adjustment is not easy to access, so I leave them flat topped wherever we are.

.

 

Under the fancy exterior the Exsis still uses the Hella projector lamp as all other Hymers for quite a few years which like you say are only adjustable for straight dipping.

 

I can only assume Stuart has some one off custom made headlamps :D :D

 

A 2006 Hymer B674 was fitted with four separate small-diameter round Hella light-units (as shown in the attached photo) with a pair of these being dedicated to dipped-beam operation.

 

The way in which the dipped-beam pattern of these light-units can be modified is shown in Item 1 here

 

http://hymerinfo.com/index.php/8-technical-stuff/31-head-light-adjustment

 

In 2007 Hella ‘projector’ modules began to be fitted in Hymer A-class headlamp units and their dipped-beam pattern can be modified via a lever.

[StuartO]

That's the type Derek, well done for finding it. I assumed that they were the same lamp units on all Fiats of that series, wrong!

 

I remember that doing the job without taking the front bumper off for access was extremely awkward.

 

I met a chap on an Aire who had suffered a stone chip to one of the newer-type lamp units and he had been quoted over 900€ for a replacement unit from Hymer, so I'm quite happy with the older type!

[keninpalamos]

Derek Uzzell - 2014-08-25 9:06 AM

 

lennyhb - 2014-08-24 1:37 PM

 

Brian Kirby - 2014-08-24 10:41 AM

 

Although the lamps on our Exsis are different again, they also have the facility to adjust the diped beam. I do know that when these units are adapted for left hand traffic there is no kick-up, they merely produce a flat topped beam. The adjustment is not easy to access, so I leave them flat topped wherever we are.

.

 

Under the fancy exterior the Exsis still uses the Hella projector lamp as all other Hymers for quite a few years which like you say are only adjustable for straight dipping.

 

I can only assume Stuart has some one off custom made headlamps :D :D

 

A 2006 Hymer B674 was fitted with four separate small-diameter round Hella light-units (as shown in the attached photo) with a pair of these being dedicated to dipped-beam operation.

 

The way in which the dipped-beam pattern of these light-units can be modified is shown in Item 1 here

 

http://hymerinfo.com/index.php/8-technical-stuff/31-head-light-adjustment

 

In 2007 Hella ‘projector’ modules began to be fitted in Hymer A-class headlamp units and their dipped-beam pattern can be modified via a lever.

If you look on the front lens of this type of light at the bottom edge you will see an arrow pointing left.....& right. This is cast or in the mould of the glass. Also if you are a practising contortionist there is a symbol on top of the bulb holder under what is laughingly called the engine bay access panel. Undo the three screws holding the bulb holder to the light unit, (do not remove the screws completely) pull the bulb holder rearwards until you are able to turn the unit to line up the arrows and marker on the main body of the light unit. ( L or R) Push the bulb holder forward again and tighten screws. The units on my old E700 Hymer have that kick up pattern on both left and right dip beam. incidentally these light were used on the 1990- 2000 BMW cars of the day. Hope that helps.