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changing headlights to continental


merliauds

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I have not heard of tape Anton, but one person I know got through with deflectors but quite frankly in my opinion its a false economy where we live and they are daft for putting their lives at risk for £80 on Ebay for a brand new set of lamps.
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Coops its not satisfactory to use tape in the short or long term,  its downright reckless.  Have you ever driven a car on dark night in rain with tape on the headlights, I have on holiday here , it put the fear of Christ up me and I had to take the tape off. Great advice from the garage, I bet he sells insurance for UK registered cars as well[Www]
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I hate the tape too, but many use it for hols and in summer it's not bad - I rarely drive after dark myself at this time of year anyway.

And no, he doesn't sell insurance for UK registered cars etc etc.  My friends are awaiting delivery of LHD headlamps and they've been quoted "up to four weeks."  In July, when they don't drive in the dark much, if at all, it's pretty safe.  If they waited, they could not re-register their car, and it would illegally have a UK registration.  Which is the lesser of the two evils, then?

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CT regulation code 42141 provides that headlamp lenses must have the appropriate E markings.  Plastic stick-on supplementary lenses (beam benders) do not have EU type approval markings, so they are a fail item.  Adhesive tape applied to the lenses contravenes EU directive 70/156/CEE as enacted in French law by the Order of 1 October 1999 (Journal Officiel). 

In terms of importing a car here, it's the same process as in the UK - there, the UK Vehicle Certification Agency require proof that the headlamps have been changed for left dipping ones and state that "stickers, beam deflectors and other non-permanent changes are not acceptable".

Obtaining the necessary equipment to modify one's vehicle to comply with French traffic law should be done before arriving here, otherwise if you can't get the necessary parts within the time limit for registration, then you can't legally continue to drive the car.  

In terms of expense, it's just one of the costs of moving to France which should be taken into account before anyone moves over here.   

 

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It was a nice surprise as I had to pay VW to fit new units,the invoice for which was presented to the insurers to proove they had beenchanged for the CT and then a week later I got a cheque from the insurers here for the full amount and I even went to see them asking why. Mind you there weren't many english cars coming here to be re-registered then compared to today.
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Just read on a Spanish Forum, looking for something else, that the from May 2007 any owner of any UK registered car not registered in Spain within 30 days of arrival in Spain would be fined 12% of its value. Not sure of the accuracy although it was on  spanish TV programme apparently, as the same topic said all cars imported to Spain had to pay VAT,  so not sure if this is true or how it applies, in most cases at the airport car parks that would be a fine of 30€.  One poster said her car was not worth putting iinto the Spanish system as that cost more than the car, I hope nobody on here meets her on the roads of Europe, mind you I just saw a F reg Rover in the village, it was exported in 1988 and still on UK plates so how much would that be worth and who the hell insures such wrecks?
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Well we have a VW Scirocco GTX bought brand new in UK 1985 and insured and reimatriculated here in France and not a patch of rust on her. In fact we were offered twice the price it was worth ten years ago by an enthusiast but decided to decline and keep her ourselves.
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I'm about to move over to France in September and have started a search re: right dipping headlights for my 2000Citroen Xsara. Tried E-bay and they are brand new at £149 + £21 p/p. There are 1 or 2 specialists in my area that may be able to help,  but I feel £170 is not a bad price to pay compared to the other poster who may have to fork out €800.

roseysan

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[quote user="sclarke2208"]

I'm about to move over to France in September and have started a search re: right dipping headlights for my 2000Citroen Xsara. Tried E-bay and they are brand new at £149 + £21 p/p. There are 1 or 2 specialists in my area that may be able to help,  but I feel £170 is not a bad price to pay compared to the other poster who may have to fork out €800.

roseysan

[/quote]

I think its probably best to buy them in France. I found left hand drive headlamps for my car for £149 & £20 pp. But, RHD ones are only £100 here. Working on that basis LHD ones are bound to be cheaper in a country where they are the norm surely ? If not I can still get them from the company on Ebay (which are in Germany).

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[quote user="nicktrollope"]

[quote user="Val_2"]WhenI bought a car over in 95, my insurers paid for the lights to be changed, bet they don't pay these days.[/quote]

I wonder if anyone will take you up on that Val?

 

[/quote]

I was speaking to someone recently who is trying to reregister a British Transit van, when I offered to convert his headlamps (yes it can be done, and no I will no longer post how to after being flamed) he said that the local garage had done it and the insurance (French) were paying, he wasn't sure how or why as his French is not that good, perhaps they claimed under breakage of glass like windscreens or perhaps he will learn more when he loses his majoration but perhaps it is still possible?

Aside from my converted headlights and his new ones all the other reregistered british cars, (which are sadly outnumbered by those still on UK plates) have passed the CT with sticky tape or sick on lenses, mind you they all go to the same CT centre.

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[quote user="Philouis"]If you have a popular make of car, it is possible to go a breakers yard and pick up LHD lenses quite cheaply. I did![/quote]

Oh dear I find myself once again drawn to comment, I just hope that I dont get flamed again[:(]

I apologise if you meant that you changed the whole headlight but your post indicated a change of lenses.

You could indeed fit LHD lenses, and having the relevant E number (E4 I believe) they may pass the requirement for say a DRIRE visual inspection but they will in no way at all change the beam pattern as tested at CT, this will be quite evident when driving at night.

Contrary to poular myth (and this is where I will probably once again get flamed) the headlight glasses to use their correct name do not deflect or mask the light emitted from the dipped beam bulb element, that is done by the angular orientation of the bulb within the housing, or to be more exact the angular position of the dipped beam shroud within the bulb.

During the 80's it was common for Italian cars especially Lancias to have two different angular locations for the headlight bulb one for LHD the other for RHD.

The only physical difference between E1 and E4 marked lenses or RHD and LHDF ones is the position of the lines indicating where to mask the lenses for temporary travel ie holidays driving on the other side of the road.

I can tell you exactly how and when I first discovered this: I had one of the first production Ford Galaxies, at its first MOT it failed on headlight dip pattern, on closer examination I found it had been fitted with LHD units. After paying loads of money for the new ones only to find that they appeared identical I examined them in detail, aside from the lens marking as above the only (yet significant) differnce was the angular rotation of the bulbs within the bulbholder.

I now convert my cars from RHD to lhd by modifying the bulb flange to fit in the correct angular position, every car I have submitted to CT like this has been met with scepticism but always remarked as "impec" after the beam test, it also has the advantage of being easy to switch back for travel in the UK by putting standard unmodified bulbs back in.

The above information does not apply to the new gas discharge projector type lights which as posted before usually have some form of lever control to effect the change.

P.S. It wasnt this forum that I was flamed on but the memory lingers on of being on the receiving end when trying to help someone who could not source LHD units, since then I have helped out several people, one or two on this forum but only by PM, it was very heartening though to get e-mails back to say how pleased they were to pass the CT and with the efficacity at night.

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