Vantage headlight failure & solution
Discussion
Spoiler alert, this post is nothing to do with fogged-up headlights - I have the AM Upgrades venting kit which makes that problem go away for ever.
As some may recall my 2014MY Vantage S was off the road for a year in 2022/23 following a catastrophic engine failure: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
When I got it back at the end of the year I noticed that the headlights were dreadful; basically dangerously bad. I know some people moan about them but I actually thought they were OK when I bought the car 10 years ago, when it was 18 months old. However, having driven other cars over the previous year, when I got my Vantage back I suddenly realised they were now very dim, particularly the dipped-beam, and were, in my opinion, borderline unsafe to use. So what had happened over the previous year and why were they now so bad?
The alignment and self-levelling was checked with no improvement. New bulbs were tried but again, with no appreciable improvement. My eyes seemed to be fine and I could see OK with my push-bike lights that were maybe brighter. So I did a bit of Googling because there had to be a reason and I didn't want the solution to be two new headlights for at least £3000. What I found was that a member of our forum, DB9S Paul, had also found his lights to be inadequate and had come up with an upgrade solution. Not only had he done his car https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... but was also offering the service to others via his website: https://db9s.com/upgraded-aston-martin-headlights/
For me, the interesting bit was why my lights had deteriorated from "perfectly OK" to "basically dangerous" over a year or so. The problem is failure of the reflectors inside the projectors. Rather surprisingly, the reflective material breaks up and peels off the backing material leaving nothing useful to reflect the light (see below):
So I contacted Paul, dropped my car off with him on my way to the Chunnel for a week's skiing, then collected it a week later. The transformation is astonishing and at less than half the price of new headlights (that would presumably fail in the same way as the old ones eventually). Externally, the headlights look unchanged but they now actually illuminate the road as they should and better than they ever did. Before and after dipped-beam pictures below:
I'm sure many of our cars have this problem although I imagine that the rate of deterioration depends on how much night driving you do in your car. Anyway, if you're not happy with your lights and want to do something other than throw >£3K+VAT at new mediocre lights then give Paul a shout as I cannot speak highly enough about the product and service that he offers (usual disclaimer that I am not associated with his business in any way other than being a customer).
As some may recall my 2014MY Vantage S was off the road for a year in 2022/23 following a catastrophic engine failure: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
When I got it back at the end of the year I noticed that the headlights were dreadful; basically dangerously bad. I know some people moan about them but I actually thought they were OK when I bought the car 10 years ago, when it was 18 months old. However, having driven other cars over the previous year, when I got my Vantage back I suddenly realised they were now very dim, particularly the dipped-beam, and were, in my opinion, borderline unsafe to use. So what had happened over the previous year and why were they now so bad?
The alignment and self-levelling was checked with no improvement. New bulbs were tried but again, with no appreciable improvement. My eyes seemed to be fine and I could see OK with my push-bike lights that were maybe brighter. So I did a bit of Googling because there had to be a reason and I didn't want the solution to be two new headlights for at least £3000. What I found was that a member of our forum, DB9S Paul, had also found his lights to be inadequate and had come up with an upgrade solution. Not only had he done his car https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... but was also offering the service to others via his website: https://db9s.com/upgraded-aston-martin-headlights/
For me, the interesting bit was why my lights had deteriorated from "perfectly OK" to "basically dangerous" over a year or so. The problem is failure of the reflectors inside the projectors. Rather surprisingly, the reflective material breaks up and peels off the backing material leaving nothing useful to reflect the light (see below):
So I contacted Paul, dropped my car off with him on my way to the Chunnel for a week's skiing, then collected it a week later. The transformation is astonishing and at less than half the price of new headlights (that would presumably fail in the same way as the old ones eventually). Externally, the headlights look unchanged but they now actually illuminate the road as they should and better than they ever did. Before and after dipped-beam pictures below:
I'm sure many of our cars have this problem although I imagine that the rate of deterioration depends on how much night driving you do in your car. Anyway, if you're not happy with your lights and want to do something other than throw >£3K+VAT at new mediocre lights then give Paul a shout as I cannot speak highly enough about the product and service that he offers (usual disclaimer that I am not associated with his business in any way other than being a customer).
Thanks for that write up, I noticed mine were terrible last year and asked the garage to adjust them because I thought they were off. They said no problem so I just assumed that my night vision wasn’t what it used to be. Did Paul remove the headlights for you or did you have to do it yourself and drop them off?
4Q said:
I can't access it.. may be its security cert or something similar... CatalystV12V said:
4Q said:
I can't access it.. may be its security cert or something similar... I'm sure you've done it already but if you just google DB9S you'll fine the website.
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