Headlamp power, well I never knew that!

[chinkostu]

Jim, do you use a relay per lamp or a relay per pair? I wired some spots to my saxo many years back and just used nice chunky wire to and from one relay. Obviously that had new earth runs too, so the big issue with the xantia is picking apart the lamp connector to fit a bigger guage wire!

Definately seems a worthwhile mod either way, I'm just pondering as to if one hefty relay and decent wire will run both dips, and likewise one for mains!

On the topic of wattage, I thought anything over 55w wasn't road legal, or is it a massive grey area? Aformentioned Saxo had 100w H4 bulbs too and they were great, they also came with a length of connector about 4" long with thicker wire.

[Stickyfinger]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52577

[chinkostu]

A relay for each pair then just seemed daft to fit 4 relays!

[CitroJim]

A relay for each pair then just seemed daft to fit 4 relays!

Yes, that's how mine is done.

A very good point about the earths... Ensuring the headlamps have a very good earth connection is vital and can bring forth very significant improvements...

[white exec]

. . . And shared earth cable needs to be even beefier than the individual supply cables.

[chinkostu]

Very true Chris. If anything I make the Earths thicker!

[HDI]

Looking at the headlamp fuses, each beam, left and right has it's own fuse, logically enough. They are all rated at 10 amps, so each of those circuits will be capable of providing more than that, due to safety factor. I'll due a voltage drop test on each beam to see if there is any appreciable loss.

[van ordinaire]

As I said, in the past I've just bunged in megwatt bulbs (e.g. had an SD1 Rover with 80/100's in the dipping outers AND 120's in the inner main beams) & never given it a thought. Wouldn't do it now though & favour the more scientific approach of relays & uprated cables first - you'd be surprised the improvement to standard bulbs by the elimination of voltage drop. The definitive work on this is an Australian post on an American forum! The Yanks are hot on this - probably an over-reaction to freedom from sealed beams! They even have neat little H4 plugs, so you can easily tap into the original loom for the relay switching circuit.

Ultimately, though you will be limited to using the heaviest cable that you can find suitable terminals to fit.

All this is, of course, paying scant heed to the legal position, providing you don't dazzle others (actually more likely with poorly adjusted lights than upgraded ones) AND the install's not so silly it'll dip (sorry) come the MoT, you should be fine.

As for not needing special tools to change bulbs, very few modern cars have bulbs you can change by the roadside - & even if you can, you then need to hook them up to a computer to tell them the bulb's been changed otherwise, at best, the lamp fail light will stay on. Makes a mockery of mandatory bulb kits!

[white exec]

My Rover P6 3500S* had four replacement Hella 5.75" units (glass, with metal reflector).
Lamped up with 2 x 100/80 on outers, and 2 x 100W on inners.
Like daylight. Extemely effective for shifting night-time lane hoggers from otherwide empty motorways.
All the essential wiring and relay upgrades, of course.

* Amazingly, the P6 OE headlights were Lucas sealed beam, with unbelievable 60/37.5 watt for outers, and 70 watt for inners. 37.5 watt ! What were Rover thinking of? A whole new meaning to "dim dip".

[Peter.N.]

Practically everything in the '50s used 700 the sealed beam units and although they might not seem very good now they were an immense improvement over the lights used on earlier cars, the final version were truly sealed units, an evacuated lamp with two filaments, they were even better because the reflectors didn't get dirty but it did mean replacing the whole unit in the event of a failure and they were about 30/- each. Easy enough to fit though, one screw to remove the rim and then press and twist anti clockwise and the complete unit was out.

Peter

[CitroJim]

Speaking of dim dips... I'll never forget the 6v headlights on my first R4... They made XM/Xantia headlights look brilliant!

The beams used to exit the headlamps, immediately loose interest and die right in front of the lens... Once both dipped beams failed almost simultaneously. I just drove on main beam for several days until I could source new bulbs... Nobody noticed...

Sealed beams were good... I remember them well.

[demag]

The lights on my old R16 were phenomenal, the rest of the car was rapidly turning to dust but the headlights used to light the road up for some reason. The XM on the other hand, well they are well documented all over the interweb. I fitted a hid kit to mine, expensive at the time but worth the trouble. The Synergie is also lacking in the lighting department and the headlamp units look similar to the XM. Last night was a bit stressful on a 15 mile drive along busy country roads at 5.30pm. I think I will try Night Breakers as I've used them before with success.


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[Peter.N.]

I remember driving an XM back from Slough (with no clutch) and finding I couldn't see where I was going when I got off the motorway, none of the XMs were good but this one was dreadful. I did a few mods to it and it improved no end.

Peter

[elma]

Having done my research now I cannot ascertain if 100w bulbs are legal. I have decided though they will likely melt the plastic of the headlamp and damage the reflector so I'm sticking to 55w.

[Stickyfinger]

ahhh BUT.....and here is today's useless snippet....

Did you know

The Xantia S1 Headlamps are taller at nose cone edge than at the indicator edge....by 5mm