I am about to travel in Europe (France, Switzerland and Italy) for the first time in my xtrail. Cannot find any information about converting my headlights. Do I need to buy a kit or does it need doing at the dealers? Please help
I am not sure I understand what you mean by the need to convert the headlights? What is the current headlight configuration on yours and why would you need to convert them?
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Jalal (Sydney, Australia)
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I never realised that the headlights were directional depending on driving on the left or the right side of the road. I thought they were just pointing straight in all countries
I have seen LHD cars here in Australia and their headlights didn't bother me. I can't say they were pointing in my direction.
Maybe it's just a UK thing..I dunno.
__________________ Cheers,
Jalal (Sydney, Australia)
See my X-Trail HERE
See what we have on offer at the Australian X-Trail Forum
I am about to travel in Europe (France, Switzerland and Italy) for the first time in my xtrail. Cannot find any information about converting my headlights. Do I need to buy a kit or does it need doing at the dealers? Please help
Hi Keith
You need to buy the converters from somewhere like Halfords for a few quid. They are two pieces of sticky backed opaque plastic which are stuck on the headlights. They come with a leaflet showing the exact position for a large range of cars. You will infuriate the French and Italians if you don't use them.
All headlight main beams point straight ahead in all countries, but the dipped beam will point to the left or right depending on the side of the road that you are driving on. It is difficult to realign the headlamps to change the direction of the dipped beam (probably would need a whole new pair of headlamp assemblies. Expensive!) so the opaque plastic simply cuts out that part of the beam which points in the wrong direction.
They can be difficult to remove because the adhesive is pretty good. Heat them up by turning on the main beam for a while to soften the adhesive.
In use, there is a little loss of illumination, but I have driven many thousands of miles in Italy and France without this causing any problems.
I am about to travel in Europe (France, Switzerland and Italy) for the first time in my xtrail. Cannot find any information about converting my headlights. Do I need to buy a kit or does it need doing at the dealers? Please help
It depends whether you've got ordinary halogen bulbs or HID/xenons.
You should be able to get a kit from Halfords for halogens but don't think you can't do that with xenons. There's usually some sort of shutter device but I haven't looked so it may be something you can do yourself or it may be something that a dealer needs to do. Can't see anything in the handbook.
In France you are also required by law to carry a spare set of bulbs but don't know how that applies to xenons.
If you do go round France with unconverted headlights they get very shirty and they lighten your wallet with big fines.
Jalal, take a look at Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply it's a great source of info, it's for America (driving at the right side of the street) but could be easily translated to UK & Aussie.
Thanks Manuel, you learn something new everyday and I never knew that the headlights aiming angle was different between LHD and RHD. This is a very important fact for those of us wanting to import headlight assemblies from overseas, especially if it is coming from a country that drives on the other side of the road.
__________________ Cheers,
Jalal (Sydney, Australia)
See my X-Trail HERE
See what we have on offer at the Australian X-Trail Forum
Seem to be a lot of differences in national laws on headlights. In Europe, xenons have to be self-levelling and incoporate headlamp washers. Don't think they do in Japan (where they drive on the left as in UK and Oz).
Jalal, if you haven't had the fun yet of driving round roundabouts the wrong way it's something to look forward to. Funny thing is, it takes a couple of days to get used to driving on the other side but takes a couple weeks to get really used to the normal side again when you get home.
In France they're especially fond of those multiple roundabout things. This is how we got our own back. Try going round that when you usually drive on the right and go round roundabouts the other way.
Thank god I never go to swindon LOL
I think the local road designer must have been having a bad day when he designed that.
I wonder if it is the worst roundabout ever designed?
Jim
The French invented confusing roundabouts but we improved on them.
Not especially complicated, the Arc de Triomphe is a noble runner-up for scariness especially at full speed and the priority rules that only the French understand.
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