Are stock headlights sh*t?

[pudding]

Cheers for the feedback!

I might try those in my full beams.  Can't do anything about the sh1tty Xenons though.

[Jons1001]

Cheers for the feedback!

I might try those in my full beams.  Can't do anything about the sh1tty Xenons though.

I was so underwhelmed with the Xenons on mine. Before i bought it i read lots of posts online saying they were great and a sought after option, but the light output is no better than the ones on the bog standard Peugeot 207 that it replaced.

I was planning to get the headlights refurbed as they are a little cloudy and replace the bulbs with something like this;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XENARC-BREAKER-UNLIMITED-headlamp-66240XNB-HCB/dp/B00FQ8AVHS?th=1

Or is it a case of don't bother?!

[pudding]

Cheers for the feedback!

I might try those in my full beams.  Can't do anything about the sh1tty Xenons though.

I was so underwhelmed with the Xenons on mine. Before i bought it i read lots of posts online saying they were great and a sought after option, but the light output is no better than the ones on the bog standard Peugeot 207 that it replaced.

I was planning to get the headlights refurbed as they are a little cloudy and replace the bulbs with something like this;

https://www.amazon.co.uk/XENARC-BREAKER-UNLIMITED-headlamp-66240XNB-HCB/dp/B00FQ8AVHS?th=1

Or is it a case of don't bother?!

£73....each!     FFS, I'm sure they were £80ish a pair when I bought those 5-6 years ago.  Madness.

I would say don't bother.  If they are supposed to be brighter than the OEM bulbs, I couldn't tell!

Save some money and try these instead - https://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs/osram-d2s-85v-35w-plus200-percent-brighter-xenarc-282598.html

Yeah the cloudiness doesn't help.  I think in my case that's coming from 1000s of micro stone chips diffracting the light.  Xenons need crystal clear front covers to perform properly......but the VW ones are still sh1t though 

EDIT: that price *is* for a pair of bulbs, my bad     I would also like to watch Halfords fit the sodding things for £8 

[Mekaniko]

Haven't tried E90 xenons but E46/E39s weren't great, about the same as the MK4/5!

The most annoying thing about my Xenons (OEMs) is they wobble/shake over bumps. Grrrrr. My MK4 R32's did the same.  Do other folks do that?  Is something busted inside the lamp assembly?

Yes, mines shake over the bumps too... haha

[pudding]

Haven't tried E90 xenons but E46/E39s weren't great, about the same as the MK4/5!

The most annoying thing about my Xenons (OEMs) is they wobble/shake over bumps. Grrrrr. My MK4 R32's did the same.  Do other folks do that?  Is something busted inside the lamp assembly?

Yes, mines shake over the bumps too... haha

Hurrah! Not just mine then 

It's on my ever growing list of things to sort.

[Lewo]

I've bought some Ebay specials to replace my standard lights but to be honest I might just give them another refurb and put some c5 on the lens after.
Need to check what strength night breaker bulbs I fitted some time ago, looks like they might make brighter ones now?

[Jons1001]

I mentioned above my headlights are fairly cloudy. I live in Kent and have come across this guy who does headlight restoration;

https://www.google.com/search?q=marked+improvement+headlight+restoration&oq=marked+i&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j35i39j0i512l7.3861j0j7&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#wptab=s:H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLVT9c3NEyvNM4wMjWueMRowS3w8sc9YSn9SWtOXmPU5OIKzsgvd80rySypFJLmYoOyBKX4uVB18uxi4vfJT07MCcjPDEoty0wtL17EapqbWJSdmqKQmVtQlF-WmpuaV6KQkZqYkpOZnlGiUJRaXJJflFiSmZ-nkJKamAMUAOsDAH07AwSWAAAA

Sorry for the weird link. He has over 70 reviews all 5 star which is pretty impressive. However the price is £90 per pair. What are peoples thoughts?

[pudding]

If you haven't got a machine polisher/die grinder it's not a bad price. It would take quite a while to do it by hand!

[Lewo]

£20 odd quid on a 3M headlight restoration kit (also there are cheap alternatives on Ebay) do a good job. I've also used wet and dry paper. If you've got a cordless drill and a good 2-3 hours to spare then.....
Pretty sure someone has done a guide on here, do a search.

[JoshB]

Toothpaste and a car sponge did the trick for me on my old Vauxhall Nova. Pretty sure they were glass though...

[LC5F]

Having experienced horrific light output in previous cars - let's just say the low bench mark for me many years ago was a ur-quattro with standard bulbs - that was terrifying -  I have to say I am very happy with my Mk5 standard Xenons, they respond quickly enough for screaming along country lanes and throw enough light on motorways to be confident.

The most annoying thing about my Xenons (OEMs) is they wobble/shake over bumps. Grrrrr. My MK4 R32's did the same.  Do other folks do that?  Is something busted inside the lamp assembly?

I've never noticed any wobble/shake from my Xenons.

Mine were originally perfect, with no shake, completely solid, but after taking the front end apert to install new intercooler I can see on big motorway signs they now jiggle - suspect something has either not been fully tightened - or - has worked itself loose...need to get busy with the thread lock!
At least in its current state it now provides some encouragement for motorway lane hoggers to move over.

Maybe these guys have something that will boost MK5 lights. https://www.morimotohid.com/lighting/projectors

A mate redid his Mk4 headlights with these - reported very good results with superb finish - but they are a custom install

Just stumbled across this, no idea if this is a good idea of not?

https://www.xenonsonline.com/products/volkswagen-golf-mk5-xenon-hid-conversion-kit

They sound like just just a bulb kit, they work, but are really not great for other road users.
The issue is if fitted to standard headlight the reflectors are designed for a sideways filament and not the Xenon bulb that is pointing straight ahead - this mismatch creates bright spots and dazzling other cars even on dipped beam.
Thankfully, MOT's have really clamped down on them, failing cars with improperly fitted aftermarket kits.

The old school way to fix this was relays triggered by original wiring, with a beefy direct feed off the alternator and then fit 180 watt bulbs - this works with glass lenses and metal reflectors, its how I fixed my brown trouser issues in my ur-quattro - but suspect in the plastic Mk5 headlights they may get a bit melty.

Were LED's being pushed forward as the solution - with the brightness of Xenon, low heat, but without the issues fitting into standard headlights?

Actually - this thread has made me re-evaluate the output of my Xenons, that and a lexus following me last night was throwing more light past the Golf than my lights!
On my own with no other light sources, such as a country lane the lights are OK, but add other lights I can now see they are a bit dim.
I wasn't aware that the output of Xenons reduces after X thousand hours of use - so the plan is to try some new D2S bulbs and also a lense restore.
Another thing that can happen within the projector unit is the heat from the bulb can erode the aluminum reflective surface, the only fix for that is new projector unit...hopefully mine are not there yet.

[pudding]

Let us know how it goes. You're right about bulb degradation over the years. Perhaps just a set of new ones might restore the output.  It's fairly standard tech - a bulb behind a standard shape glass dome, so I can't understand why ours in particular are so pants compared to other cars.

[LC5F]

Done a bit of research on the OEM Xenon projectors.
The OEM lights are made by AL, this stands for Automotive Lighting - They must have been having a really creative day when they came up with that name!
I have read of entire replacement headlight units made to OEM standards by Magneti Marelli and Hella (both better names!) under licence - plus also read Depo Xenon lights apparently contain some AL components.

Tracking down the AL projector units on their own is not straight forward, but googling lead me to a kind of cryptic titled listing on Ebay refering the "AL" and "VW Mk5 Touran CC", £63.60 for a pair made by Sinolyn, the listing claims the lens is genuine AL
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312258220916?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160727114228%26meid%3D0b625c4567434901b4517e4318c3c580%26pid%3D100290%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D312258220916%26itm%3D312258220916%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2060778%26brand%3DSINOLYN&_trksid=p2060778.c100290.m3507

Digging into the Chinese brand on Aliexpress listed the same product up for £11 less landed in the UK:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32670291575.html?spm=a2g0o.cart.0.0.53fa3c00IYKt5R&mp=1

Interestingly these units seem to be widely used, they list all the cars these units will fit:
For Alfa Romeo 159 Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens
For Alfa Romeo Brera Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2006-2010
For Alfa Romeo Spider 939 Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2006-2010
For Audi A1 Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D3S Projector Lens
For Audi A3 S3 Headlight Original HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2002-2005
For Audi A3 S3 Headlight Original HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2006-2008
For Audi A3 S3 Headlight Original HID Bi-Xenon D3S Projector Lens 2009-2012
For Audi A4 S4 RS4 B7 Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2006-2009
For Audi A4 S4 RS4 B8 Headlight HID Bi-Xenon D3S Projector Lens 2008-2012
For Audi TT MK1 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2001-2006
For BMW 3 Series E46 AL Headlight Xenon Projector Lens 2002-2005
For BMW 6 Series E63 E64 LCI Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens  2003-2007
For BMW X3 E83 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2006
For BMW E46 M3 AL Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2002-2006
For BMW E90 E92 E93 M3 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2007-2009
For BMW M6 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2005-2010
For BMW X5M E70 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2008-2011
For Cadillac DTS Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2006-2008
For Land Rover Range Rover L322 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2002-2005
For Maserati GranTurismo Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2007-2012
For Mercedes-Benz A-Class A150 A160 A170 A180 A200 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2004
For Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 C160 C180 C200 C220 C230 C240 C280 C270 C320 C350 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2000-2007
For Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 C30 C32 C55 AMG Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2000-2007
For Mercedes-Benz CL Class Coupe W215 CL500 CL600 CL55 CL63 CL65 AMG Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2006
For Mercedes-Benz S-Class W220 Also Called S280 S320 CDI S350 S400 S430 S500 S600 S55 S63 S65 AMG Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 1998-2005
For Mercedes-Benz SL-Class R230 SL350 SL500 SL600 SL55 SL65 AMG Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2008
For Mercedes-Benz SLR-Class McLaren R199 Z199 722 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2008
For Mini One Cooper R50 Mk I Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2001-2006
For Mini Hardtop Hatchd Cooper R53 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2001-2006
For Mini Convertible R52 Mk I Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2004-2008
For Peugeot 407 Headlight Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2004-2010
For Saab 9-7X Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens 2005-2009
For Volvo V50 Headlight Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2005-2007
For Volvo S40 Headlight Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2004-2007
For Volvo C70 Headlight Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2006-2010
For Volvo C30 Headlight Original OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2006-2010
For Mk4 Mk5 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2002-2009
For Mk5 R32 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2008
For Mk5 Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2005-2010
For Touran Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens 2003-2007
For CC Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D1S Projector Lens
For  Sharan Headlight OEM HID Bi-Xenon D2S Projector Lens

With so many cars running these, I am surprised replacement projector units are not more readily available - or is it all the other marks are thrown away?

From the reviews on Aliexpress there are a few from people with Mk5 Golf's, strangely the web site lists less reviews on PC and more on ipad  -The only negatives I read were:
Instead of 3 wires connecting to the shutter motor, these only have 2, just need to find positive & negative, I suspect the reflector in these are plastic and original metal, I can only assume the third is an earth to the reflector.
Another said the motor created a fault, so they swapped out the new for their original and all was good.

Removal of the unit appears to be just 4 screws and it just comes out the access cover opening, no need to split the lenses, but the headlight unit will have to be out of the Golf.

That's the storey so far - going to do a bit more investigation into the condition of my current units before putting in an order, fixing my existing reflectors for only £27 a side seems good value.