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European equivalent of Cibie headlights


nectarine
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Hi there, our kit car has Cibie round headlights fitted and we are going to replace with European ones that point the right way. The headlight has a reference number but how can I find out what the reference number is for the same headlight, but European?

Cibie and Valeo sites don't tell me anything. Dealers only want to sell the UK one and don't know the European equivalent. And a round Cibie headlight on the internet looks pretty much like any other (and there's lots of different sorts).

All advice appreciated. thanks
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Ha!!!

I replaced a shattered round cibie headlight on a Caterham and the one they sold me had a LHD dip pattern!

The same year I put my 3 year old Ford Galaxy (RHD) in for its first MOT only to find that it had left the factory in Portugal (Automotive europa that made the sharan and alhambra also) with LHD headlights, I learnt a lot that year including how to convert headlights rather than bin them and pay out a fortune for virtually identical units, but only after having paid a fortune for virtually identical units [:(]

Anyway from memory your lights will have either E1 or E4 marked on them, cant recall which is which so you need to find some with the other marking or rotate the bulbs.

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thanks, so E1 / E4 indicate LH or RH pattern, do they? I'm on a site and can find two round Cibies with seemingly identical patterns, so will enlarge the photos to see if they are E1/E4.

* edit * just checked the headlights I want to replace and they are E2. What is that?
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I think so Nectarine but its been a long time, I recall scrutinising the new and old units very very closely to try and find if there was indeed a difference or whether I had just thrown away a pile of money for nothing (which I had!)

The angular orientation of the bulbholder was different, each type is about 5 degrees one side or the other of 0 degrees, the pattern etched onto the glasses for masking the beams was the mirror image and the fresnel markings to sharpen up the edge of the kick up was also mirror image, I am sure the only way of judging one from the other without a magnifying glass or putting it on a headlight tester was the E1 or E4 marking.

I have French tractor units on my Caterham now as they are smaller, they have a very interesting dipped beam pattern as they are supposed to be fitted the other way up [:-))]

My pal the MOT tester reckons that he has seen it all from me now!

Editted, after your edit! Maybe it was E2, the old grey matter isnt what it was, I think there maye even be a 3rd E marking for flat beam lights.

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If you need standard round 7" headlights, I have a box of them here (near Carcassonne), both right- and left-hand drive. These were for various cars we had with round headlights - we used to swap units when we travelled between UK and the Continent.

I have both bulb type and sealed beam units (the ones which are all glass). If you are interested send me a PM.

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Finally amongst that site I found the following:

Some older reflector-type headlamp designs use a bulb holder that can be rotated through an angle of 30 degrees and the bulb locked in either a "Right Hand Traffic" or "Left Hand Traffic" position, and some modern European (ECE/EEC) projector headlamps have a similar capacity to produce either a left-traffic or a right-traffic beam by moving a lever. Such headlamps can be used on either side of the road, but only if they are shifted into the correct position for the traffic in which you intend to drive. Here is how to read ECE traffic-direction markings:

  • → Low beam is suitable only for use in Left Hand Traffic (e.g., Britain, Australia, Africa, Japan)

  • [NO ARROW] Low beam is suitable only for use in Right Hand Traffic (US, Canada, Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, etc.)

  • ↔ Low beam is adaptable for use on either side of the road (many projector lamps and older reflector high/low lamps)

 

I remember the bit about the arrows now but not all lights have them, the E number for the country should tell you what you need.

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Thank you for all replies, and that's a really useful site. Well done on finding that, Chancer. My Cibies are the 5 3/4inch ones ... if they were 7inch then I'd snap up that lot instantly!

They have a right pointing arrow which, according to the site, says they are UK pointing direction. Mr. Nectarine is going to look at the bulb holder to see if there's any tweaking that can be done but he's not hopeful. Meanwhile we've emailed Valeo/Cibie to get a part number for the LHD drive equivalent of our current lights.

But thanks for taking the time to reply, everyone ... much much appreciated!

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oh believe me, if I extinguished somebody then they would certainly know about it!!!!

For the record, Cibie's website is useless, why they can't ahve a chart that says "you have this UK spec headlight and this is the European equivalent" is beyond me. Nothing, zilch. I've emailed them three times and they tell me they don't know what the European equivalent of the UK light is. So we are taking Chancer's advice and, er, slightly doctoring our lights.

It doesn't need a controle technique since it's a three wheel kit car but, all the same, it would be nice to see where we're going in the dark!
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