Chalky

Dear All,

I am now the proud owner of an '04 C2 996 Midnight Blue. I travel a lot between the UK and Germany and would like to register the car in Germany. I took it for the TUV today (2 yearly check) and it needs the fog light moving to the left side of the car and the beam angle on the lights changing. Otherwise passed with flying colours.

I took the lights out yesterday and switched the key from 'O' to 'T' which is the right thing to do. However, on the test it showed that this action simply restricted the beam angle from rising to the left, it didn't raise it to the right. ie to light the kerb.

Does anyone know if its possible to change the beam on bi-xenon lights so that it lights correctly for LHD? Couple of images to show what I did.


Many thanks and great to be finally posting on this excellent forum as an owner.

dan_189

Welcome on board!

To be honest I don't think what you're attempting is possible, I only say that because the PET lists different headlight part numbers for LHD and RHD cars:





maybe you could apply those stickers like i've seen Ed China do on Wheeler Dealers??

Chalky

Hi, and thanks Dan.

Yes, I had those stickers on when I drove over from the UK, but they flew off on the motorway. Useless!

The TUV guys here don't accept the stickers and I need to buy new lights which is an expensive option.

It would be very interesting to know which part of the light is different. If its the control unit on the back, the projector bulb or what.

Anyone any ideas?

I found a service on Ebay to change them over for 300 euros but I am a little concerned about the method and if they may get broken in the process.

Does anyone have a full set of LHD Bi-Xenons for a '04 996?

Thanks

Imo000

Why not just replace them with a used set of conventional LHD headlight to pass the inspection?

henr!k

jhbrennan

Absent buying a new set maybe find a friend who will loan you a set of LHD lights to pass inspection.

Chalky

Hi Henrik,

Great choice, I bought a mint Arctic Silver C4S in Scotland three weeks ago for a friend of mine. I had the pleasure of driving it back down to Kent (Southern England) in one sitting. They are simply beautiful cars and I wish you all the best with yours. Images are always welcome on here!

Re the lights, I tried everything at the time to resolve this in a cost conscious way, I even spoke with Hella and people in the US for replacement parts for my Xenons. I even (briefly) considered a conversion service in the Czech republic but sadly nothing worked in the time frame I had. I ended up buying the only LHD set available in the UK on eBay for £1,100.00. Way cheaper than the offers on German Ebay, but still big money. Even these where poorly described so be careful and only pass over the money once you have seen them and held them in your hands. If you take your car you could even test them!

The issue is the metal shutter between the light source and the lens which has the angled shape to it is simply the other way round on LHD cars. I have a note in my files from Hella stating that the module that needs to be replaced is this: LES9DR 151 333–16. I seem to remember it’s a BMW part, or perhaps a part that was shared between German makes? But I would double check this as it was a while ago. If you could source the part, I can’t remember if you need to separate the lens from the body of the lamp to access it or if it comes out the back. Either way, a right PITA and you risk damaging one very expensive set of lights.


A word of warning if you do buy a used set. These lights travel very badly and I found in both of mine that the beam adjuster arms inside had popped out of their sockets so the auto adjust wasn’t working. These can be popped back in carefully and once in the car you can adjust the level and pitch of the beam. For this you will need a very long and thin screw driver.

Good luck and let me know if I can be of any other help.


Regards

Joël

PS Any help? https://www.retrofitlab.com/en/hella...rojectors.html

Chalky

Hi Henrik,

I asked around for you and I have a contact in the UK who has a full set of LHD Xenon lights if you are still looking. Let me know. Got pictures from him too which I can send you.

Regards Joel