Sorry Everyone, Another Newbie Headlight Query...

[Blind-dog]

Hi All - newbie here - first post. We picked up our Autohaus conversion in November and all good except been totally shocked by how bad the headlights are... been an avid Forum reader ever since getting the van and learned so much I wish I'd known before hand about T6s in general - everyone seems to know so much and willing to share their knowledge which is great.
Based on the info in the 'lighting' forum which I've spent many happy hours reading, I have been in touch with Andy at TransporterHQ and he has been really helpful and currently I've got the van booked in for upgrade in a couple of weeks - but just a little niggle at the back of my mind about how this might affect the warranty on the van - its a brand new Nov '19 van so still nosey 3 years warranty left.
Have any of you had the TransporterHQ lights swap done while still under the VW warranty and if so has this been an issue, or should I put up with limiting my night driving for 3 years and have done then.... any advice very appreciated! Thank you.

 

[sparkzer]

The general feeling is anything you change will then not be covered by warranty...change the lights and if they fail in the next 3 years...its on you...so personally nothing that stopped me upgrading mine!

 

[DaveD]

I think you could put some upgraded bulbs, such as Osram Nightbreaker or similar in your existing lights without affecting the warranty.
That's not going to give you good headlight performance but they will be slightly better than what you currently have and could be a stop gap until your warranty expires and other options are available. I'm guessing you have H4 bulbs which do dip and main beam.
Or sell a kidney and get VW to upgrade the lights to LED.

 

[Blind-dog]

The general feeling is anything you change will then not be covered by warranty...change the lights and if they fail in the next 3 years...its on you...so personally nothing that stopped me upgrading mine!

Thank you for the feedback DaveD and Sparkzer - it is the basic H4 on our van and we have tried the Osram Nightbreaker route but we live in the countrside so lots of unlit roads and even with these its still difficult especially when another car coming towards you - just drowns our lights out - did you have the Transporter HQ lights sparkzer and was it a worthwhile improvement over the standard VW ones in your van?

 

[sparkzer]

Yes, i installed theTHQ V1s. i also live out in the sticks and the stock H4 route with any bulbs was poor in my opinion on any unlit road. its like night and day with the new lights and whilst they are probably not as good as VWs LED offering...they are compatible with other vehicles i drive so well worth doing in my opinion.

 

[DaveD]

I eventually ended up getting Novsight 50w LED "bulbs" for my H4's, totally transforms the lights, cost about £80. Driving at night these lights give a very good view of the road ahead even in the rain.
I didn't initially recommend them to you because they are supposed to be an MOT fail and illegal because construction and use regulations stipulate that LEDs cannot be used in a lamp designed for incandescent filament bulbs. (Although others on here have passed MOT tests with LEDS in H4 lights.)
The beam pattern cut off is not as sharp as a bulb but as I have posted on here before, I have sat in a car while a friend drove my T6 toward me at night and there was no more dazzle or glare from my van than from all of the other traffic. I wanted to be sure that I was not being antisocial. Since fitting them nobody has flashed their lights at me at night.
Fitting is not a straightforward job though it should be do-able for a competent DIYer, use the search function on here for "novsight" and you will quickly find plenty of reading material.
Using LED in the H4 housing is a contentious issue and some think it is totally wrong while others think it is better than driving around in the dark with very limited vision due to the factory lights being pathetic.
I say it's a personal choice, I'm not suggesting you should go down this route, just telling you what I did.
Of course, if anybody does this they could put the old standard bulbs back in in the event of a warranty claim.

 

[Blind-dog]

Thanks DA and Sparkzer for helpful feedback! Between your advice and the forum I am feeling happier about the swap to the THQ lights - I guess they will let me keep my H4 units so could always put them back if any issues in the future. I'll let you know how I get when see Andy next week!

 

[Stay Frosty]

Do a bit more reading on previous threads and fitting Hid lamps to the dipped projector on the THQ headlights is as near as you're going to get to factory LED regarding light quantity and quality.

I took the Novisight H4 £63.99 route as realistically I don't need to drive the camper during winter anyway but the improvement in light output was confidence inspiring, regarding beam pattern you can always wind the headlight motors down around town.

 

[Blind-dog]

Do a bit more reading on previous threads and fitting Hid lamps to the dipped projector on the THQ headlights is as near as you're going to get to factory LED regarding light quantity and quality.

I took the Novisight H4 £63.99 route as realistically I don't need to drive the camper during winter anyway but the improvement in light output was confidence inspiring, regarding beam pattern you can always wind the headlight motors down around town.

So Andy and his team fitted the lights on Friday in next to no time and driving that evening a definite improvement. I went with Andy’s advice and left the standard bulbs for the time being as he has new LEDs coming soon which he has been getting developed especially for these lights - will look to change to them once they’re available. The whole experience was straightforward and easy - I think a slight bit of fine tuning of the beam pattern will help - I guess they’re set up in the factory for empty vans, but tail heavy conversions like mine mean they seem a little high and they’re possibly pointing slightly to far to the right... I’ll take to the MOT centre this week to get this checked... but I have to say the LED DRL and sequential indicators look very very smart when you see the reflection from the car in from of you! Very happy camper.