[ashis89]

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Here's what I think: "Materials used for the headlight casings". May be the compatibility or long term weather effects aren't in-synch with the Indian environment so ageing takes place faster!! Could this happen?

I am NOT saying that it is lower grade materials used but the materials used aren't 'right' for our type of conditions.

Not likely. I did some digging and here is what I found:

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used...ting=166128441

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/l-Used...ting=154787139

https://www.truecar.com/used-cars-fo...-bmw-7-series/

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...ting=178953718

These headlights don't fare any better in cooler and cleaner climate conditions. And some of these cars are just 3-4 years/40k miles old.

Originally Posted by audioholic

This can only be analysed on a case to case basis. Firstly, headlight damage can occur due to various reasons:

• Cracking due to excess heat/prolonged usage/upgraded bulbs
• Yellowing due to poor quality bulbs which dont have UV block glass, due to exposure to heat and sunlight
• Dust accumulation due to improper sealing of the dust caps after bulb replacement
• Pitting due to sand particles as explained previously
• Oxidation and fading due to improper cleaning techniques
• Aftermarket replacement headlights which are made of poorer quality lens and reflectors

This was helpful. My assumption had been that a typical premium car would be cleaned regularly and maintained diligently with OE spares. And somehow I observed this issue to be consistent in 75% of all the premium cars I have come across and which are more than 3-4 years old. Hence my post earlier.

This had made it look faded and had a smoked effect.

Exactly what I observed. Refer the post below where a BHPian had to change the headlight cover for >50k km run, 8 yr old BMW.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post4270997

Another one, SRK's 5 yr old 740li which has run <40k kms.
http://www.cartoq.com/shahrukh-khan-...inds-no-buyer/

Second issue I have commonly seen is the yellowing and fading of assemblies, which is prominent with aftermarket replacement assemblies. My neighborhood has a lot of such cars where the headlight assembly was damaged and instead of paying a high cost at the dealership, the owners have opted for cheaper alternatives. These cars have shining OE headlight assembly on one side, and a yellowed and faded assembly on the other.

Very valid point. Going for cheaper spares could lead to early deterioration. But could it be true for a vast majority of the premium cars? Well, we can only come to know after checking their service record.

Forget premium cars, you can see even some Maruti cars with faded lights, while some others look brand new. My car has shining headlights after 8 years of use with Phillips 100/90, but I have seen a lot of SX4 with dull and yellowed headlights. Hence, you cant narrow down this issue to a certain cause since there are multiple causes of this issue.

Agreed. The yellowing of headlamps, somehow, is more frequent and prominent for certain car models compared to the rest. SX4, 1st gen Swift, Dzire, A-Star, Fiesta, Figo, Vista, Winger, Xylo etc. This could because the OE headlights are weak, owners go for after-market bulbs which spoil the reflector and the cover.

Also the smoking of the headlights is seen on slightly old cabs. Could it because they are driven in traffic and exposed to smoke constantly but the lamps are not washed regularly? Or some other reason?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by ashis89

Not likely. I did some digging and here is what I found:

These headlights don't fare any better in cooler and cleaner climate conditions. And some of these cars are just 3-4 years/40k miles old.

Also the smoking of the headlights is seen on slightly old cabs. Could it because they are driven in traffic and exposed to smoke constantly but the lamps are not washed regularly? Or some other reason?

Most premium cars come as a CKD or CBU so it is obvious that Indian markets dont get a different treatment compared to the other markets. But the same cars are sent to harsher places such as the middle east, Australian subcontinent or so in the same CKD/CBU route. Hence, the material of the headlights will be in question only when a local manufacturer has used his own concoction for the material.

Speaking of cabs, its difficult to find a cab with good upkeep after a few years of running. Hence, one way or the other, you can find them with packed up headlights.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

You can also interchange the bulbs and look for hotspot. Bulbs are also culprit most of the times. If the hotspot is fine with LHS HID bulb, you can change only bulb which doesn't need opening of headlight

This is a good idea, will have this checked.

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

If projector solenoid was shorting and car's fuses were blowing, it means the high beam solenoids are connected directly to the car wiring and not through the wiring harness. Hope this has been corrected.

Is the pinched area insulated again properly using heatshrink or did he use insulation tape?

The harness is plugged to the LHS OEM socket. Does the harness not control the high beam? The pinched area was covered with insulation tape and not a heat shrink. A hole was drilled in the reflector to route the wire with enough of play.

The lights are working perfectly fine now and the car's headlight fuse has been changed back to 10A (as it originally was) with no issues till now.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by audioholic

Most premium cars come as a CKD or CBU so it is obvious that Indian markets dont get a different treatment compared to the other markets. But the same cars are sent to harsher places such as the middle east, Australian subcontinent or so in the same CKD/CBU route. Hence, the material of the headlights will be in question only when a local manufacturer has used his own concoction for the material.

Anurag had suggested that probably these cars are not suitable for our climate and road conditions which made me wonder. Thus I looked around and found similar disintegration of headlamps of cars in other countries as well. So CBU/CKD or local manufacturing, the headlamps are getting discolored eventually irrespective of the environment where they are driven in.

I understand that these being global manufacturers, they would have a standard composition for materials/inputs being used to manufacture their cars even if they are being manufactured in different locations.

[Thilak29]

Very informative posts.

During my recent trip from UK I purchased few Osram Red LED and position lamps along with Philips Headlights for my Figo.

I am not much of a DIY guy so , I need some professional help for bulb replacement here in Bangalore. Any pointers where can I get some help, with neat workmanship. I know JC road has plenty of accessories shops but I wonder if they would offer time for something not purchased at their shops.

Thanks much for your responses.

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by Thilak29

I know JC road has plenty of accessories shops but I wonder if they would offer time for something not purchased at their shops.

You would be surprised! There are many a standalone mechanics out there, who would these odd/minor jobs for few hundreds!

[SunnyBoi]

Originally Posted by Epic

The harness is plugged to the LHS OEM socket. Does the harness not control the high beam?

Yes it should. But if the fuses on your factory fuse box are blowing, it clearly means the high beam circuit is not controlled by the harness. Ask your installer if this has been fixed or not.

Originally Posted by Epic

The pinched area was covered with insulation tape and not a heat shrink.

Headlights and projectors work under intense heat conditions, much hotter than even the engine bay. Insulation tape will lose its adhesive in such conditions and will come undone. Heatshrink tubing or silicon tape is the correct repair.

Anyways what's done is done. Just hope these issues does not happen again.

[Epic]

So I can now safely say that I have sorted out the missing/dim hot spot from the RHS projector. I am pretty satisfied with the outcome now. Pics attached.

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

The headlight lens will reduce the sharpness and blue colour in cut off for any projector setup. The alignment is fine and you can adjust the height as per your need.

I still have to adjust the height of the beam. Will be doing it this Sunday.

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

I am not sure if it's only in pics. If its in real also, The Hotspot is fully off in RHS projector. There should be good amount of hotspot around the Z line which is totally missing in RHS projector. I too had the exact same problem in XP Mini Super projector in Baleno. They had tried bulb seating, bulb change, projector shield mod (jugaad?) and finally did some shield mod in one projector and changed another projector.

I sorted this out by merely rotating the RHS bulb to the right

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

If you talk about perfection.. There is lot of bowing at edge in RHS projector. The cut off is going down to ground. This won't affect you much practically on road. So you can live with it, but not the hot spot issue. If the hot spot is not around the Z line, it should be much higher (This is why I wanted to see high beam pattern also). When the hot spot is much higher than Z line.. It will illuminate trees and not the road .

This is something I can live with as it isn't too bad.

Low Beam (Far)


High Beam (Far)


Low Beam (Close)


High Beam (Close)

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Yes it should. But if the fuses on your factory fuse box are blowing, it clearly means the high beam circuit is not controlled by the harness. Ask your installer if this has been fixed or not.

I will have this checked. I am currently using the stock 10A fuse in the car's fuse box which is working perfectly.

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Headlights and projectors work under intense heat conditions, much hotter than even the engine bay. Insulation tape will lose its adhesive in such conditions and will come undone. Heatshrink tubing or silicon tape is the correct repair.

Anyways what's done is done. Just hope these issues does not happen again.

I hope it holds up as I have no intention to open these lights again. Only time will tell.

[graaja]

Originally Posted by Epic

So I can now safely say that I have sorted out the missing/dim hot spot from the RHS projector. I am pretty satisfied with the outcome now. Pics attached.

The output is pretty good now. In fact, it looks awesome! You should now put all the trouble behind and enjoy the performance

Originally Posted by Epic

I will have this checked. I am currently using the stock 10A fuse in the car's fuse box which is working perfectly.

Most probably, the high beam shutters are not isolated by relays and are driven directly by the car's high beam signal. That is why when the projector had a short due to exposed wire, the fuse blew out.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Epic

So I can now safely say that I have sorted out the missing/dim hot spot from the RHS projector. I am pretty satisfied with the outcome now.

The hotspot is perfect now . Glad that you could fix it yourself by rotating the bulb.

[Thilak29]

Ford Figo Owner manual says , Rear Fog/position lamps is of P21/4W type, can I go ahead and replace with P21/5W type LED without requiring any additional circuitry change, please advise Gurus!

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Epic

High Beam (Far)
Attachment 1678599

Low Beam (Close)
Attachment 1678600

High Beam (Close)
Attachment 1678601

Why is there a difference in colour temp between the lights? Right side beam looks warmer and left side slightly bluish.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Why is there a difference in colour temp between the lights? Right side beam looks warmer and left side slightly bluish.

Bulb mismatch buddy.

I think the install was done by Xenon Planet guys. None of their installs are consistent. There is some or the other issue like wrong bulbs.

In my case, ordered 4300K, 6000K provided. Another BHPian recently fixed XP Micro on his S-Cross, he received one 4300K and the other was 5500K. After a months waiting he was sent the right one.

[Epic]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Why is there a difference in colour temp between the lights? Right side beam looks warmer and left side slightly bluish.

Could be it looks like this in the picture. In reality there is no difference really.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Bulb mismatch buddy.

I think the install was done by Xenon Planet guys. None of their installs are consistent. There is some or the other issue like wrong bulbs.

In my case, ordered 4300K, 6000K provided. Another BHPian recently fixed XP Micro on his S-Cross, he received one 4300K and the other was 5500K. After a months waiting he was sent the right one.

Yes the install was done by the Xenon Planet guys and I have had issues from day one which have been sorted out after a long two months of repeated visits. However, both bulbs are 5000K and as mentioned above it is probably the camera (shot from an iPhone 7) that has created this difference.

I will be posting my experience with XP in detail soon.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Sankar

Why is there a difference in colour temp between the lights? Right side beam looks warmer and left side slightly bluish.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Bulb mismatch buddy.

Originally Posted by Epic

Could be it looks like this in the picture. In reality there is no difference really.

Yes there is colour difference in the pics. But this won't be noticeable at all when you drive on roads.

@Epic : Did you notice the slight colour difference in reality on those wall shots?? If so, it's just that the bulbs are not that consistent. Anyways as I said before.. It won't be prominent at all when you drive