Marylyn Monroe headlights - what to do?

[wca]

The beam from my headlights on my 350i has been compare to Marylyn Monroe or more specifically 'like a candle in the wind'

Are there any easy and obvious upgrades so the dipped beam reaches beyond the nose of the car and the main beam allows me to see the road more than 10 feet in front of me?

I know that they were all like this once but I have grown used to HID and bi-xenon lights. I am not expecting that to work in the TVR but there must be something I can do.

Please, someone, show me the light!

[adam quantrill]

Upgrade the wiring loom that feeds the lights - someone posted up a few years ago on this - do a search...

[mrzigazaga]

Hi Mate...I do believe there are headlight conversion kits available..Although im not too sure what ones are best suited for the wedge..Ziga

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=h...

[Jack Valiant]

Usually the culprit is old wiring especially at the front of the car were they get the weather etc. Over time the wire corrodes up from the joints / connectors and introduces a voltage drop as current is drawn. Check voltage at the bulb and compare at the fuse box. If a drop is noted then cleaning up the various joints may help but cutting out the bad wiring is the best approach in my opinion, I ended up doing the whole lot including the the motors on my car.

Chris

[ralph350i]

Hi Mate
Have used these on many old bmw's and they work really well, worth a try

http://www.care4car.com/productdisplay/categoryid/...

[vampire222]

Xenon conversion kit should work just fine in a wedge.

[wca]

I will definitely check out those Xenon HIDS but first check the wiring.

Any ideas what wattage the head lights are?

H1 35W Pro Plus Xenon HID Conversion Kit
or
H1 55W Pro Max Xenon HID Conversion Kit

are the choices. I guess the 35W would be fine but any advice welcome

[jmorgan]

Not wanting to damperise the issue but are there new MOT rules coming in soon and light upgrades will come under that?

Not sure what we get to worry about in the new stuff.

Just saying.

[ralph350i]

wca said:

I will definitely check out those Xenon HIDS but first check the wiring.

Any ideas what wattage the head lights are?

H1 35W Pro Plus Xenon HID Conversion Kit
or
H1 55W Pro Max Xenon HID Conversion Kit

are the choices. I guess the 35W would be fine but any advice welcome

Watch out for the Hid lights mate am pretty sure when the new Mot rules come into place they are illegal unless stock fitted.

[RCK974X]

In case it's useful - standard H4 headlights are 55w DIP, 60W Main, so wiring should be up to that spec.

I reckon it's worth checking all your connections if the bulbs seem dim... or alternately replace with thicker, heavier wires, including a good earth return.

My headlamps were definitely better (along with a lot of other stuff) after fixing up dodgy earth returns on my Wedge.


(Yep, I know, it's my obsession about wiring again)

Edited by RCK974X on Wednesday 7th March 22:24

[matt-man]

Agreed, lights on new cars are great and pants on wedges!

Improved mine with upgrade bulbs, not get cheapies as they arent any good. Worth checking voltage though for certain

[Wedg1e]

I made up a new loom (could be me that Adam was referring to) that takes 12v from the battery via the shortest paracticable route to the headlamps via two new relays and fuses mounted on the inner wing. One of the original headlamp plugs is used to provide 'trigger' voltages for the relays (the other connector being taped up).
So instead of the lights supply having to pass through all the convolutions of wire and relays under the dash, the new heavy-gauge cable makes sure that max. juice is available to the filaments.
A by-product of the mod. was that there isno longer any voltage drop on the stereo supply so I can get out on the highway and keep my mtot running even louder
Parts from the usual suspects at Vehicle Wiring Products, total cost under £20. I also changed the headlamp lens units themselves but in a back-to-back comparison with te old ones I couldn't see any difference.
One issue of the old round lens units is that the beam pattern is not particularly well-focused compared to new designs so newer cars have a better beam-spread.

[RCK974X]

I reckon that's one of the few designs where the early wedges are better... their relays on the drivers front wheelarch (ish) means the headlight wires are all shorter! I did the same wiring trick though, put some new beefier wires in, and fixed up the earth returns with a nice fat wire back to the battery terminal.... it does make a noticeable difference !!