Headlight condensation in new cars - for shame!
Discussion
Just an observation having noticed it quite a lot in recent months - specifically today, a Carwow vid on the latest ghastly BMW tribe-hauler, but notably on a freshly plated McLaren thingamabob last week in London (among many, many others).
How can / does this happen? I had sort of hoped as we've been manufacturing light housings for a fair few decades now, we'd have mastered the relatively important element of sealing them adequately.
So is it corner-cutting; our collective inability to habitually overcome a seemingly basic automotive problem; or is this genuinely one of those things that we will forever be b'lighted' with? I'd understand if the housing was damaged, tampered with or modified, but it's clearly (or, unclearly) not in cases I've seen.
It's probably trivial to most human beans, but I would be pretty peeved if I ordered a spanking £100k+ car with the unoptioned extra of misty eyes..
How can / does this happen? I had sort of hoped as we've been manufacturing light housings for a fair few decades now, we'd have mastered the relatively important element of sealing them adequately.
So is it corner-cutting; our collective inability to habitually overcome a seemingly basic automotive problem; or is this genuinely one of those things that we will forever be b'lighted' with? I'd understand if the housing was damaged, tampered with or modified, but it's clearly (or, unclearly) not in cases I've seen.
It's probably trivial to most human beans, but I would be pretty peeved if I ordered a spanking £100k+ car with the unoptioned extra of misty eyes..
normalbloke said:
More problematic now that most headlights don’t produce any heat, to help keep them dry inside.
This, old headlamps dried out quickly from the heat produced.Unless the headlamps are airtight with no moisture in them at all, then surely some condensation is inevitable?
For all the rocketing prices and supposed quality of the likes of BMW, and those doing the inflation comparison thing everyone forgets that ALL the manufacturers have been driving prices down of their suppliers year on year, hence their huge profits while selling cars made with an increasing amount of cheap s
te components, many made in places where the quality control is only in operation when being inspected by the manufacturer they are supplying, no unannounced quality/safety audits to keep them on their toes.
Donkey Apple wrote a hilarious post regarding a fictitious company called Poopsi in i think the finance forum, for me BMW,Mercedes,Porsche and Audi are the Poopsis of the car world. What DA forgot was the overriding desire to create the right appearance in certain sections of society. The trauma little Timmy would face eating Lidl/Tesco own brand crisps or cereal, especially in front of his friends over for a sleepover is similar to that middle income Mike would face if he had to chop the BeeEmm in for a Skoda, hence the success of Poopsi and multiple German car brands. Good for us all in the long run as it keeps people employed while providing a greater choice when it comes to cars and crisps
te components, many made in places where the quality control is only in operation when being inspected by the manufacturer they are supplying, no unannounced quality/safety audits to keep them on their toes.Donkey Apple wrote a hilarious post regarding a fictitious company called Poopsi in i think the finance forum, for me BMW,Mercedes,Porsche and Audi are the Poopsis of the car world. What DA forgot was the overriding desire to create the right appearance in certain sections of society. The trauma little Timmy would face eating Lidl/Tesco own brand crisps or cereal, especially in front of his friends over for a sleepover is similar to that middle income Mike would face if he had to chop the BeeEmm in for a Skoda, hence the success of Poopsi and multiple German car brands. Good for us all in the long run as it keeps people employed while providing a greater choice when it comes to cars and crisps
cuprabob said:
hammo19 said:
I had drips of condensation in my TT headlights I spent about an hour with a hair dryer on the outside of the lense and they’ve never been back since.
I'm sorry but that made me chuckle because often the TT is said to be a "hairdresser's" car 
Good tip, though. I've got condensation inside my TT headlights and it only just scraped through the MOT (the tester mentioned the condensation causing a problem).
It's pretty difficult to seal them for life. Potentially you might find retrofitting a dessicant point on some items might be a better.long term solution. Even equipment that has been filled with dry air will still have a dew point somewhere in the minus 10 region. At normal British temperatures it's usually manageable when freshly assembled.
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