Where is the best place to obtain beam benders for driving in Europe ? The ones I've seen so far in Halfords seem to be universal ones and I'm not too sure how they would fit on a Xantia. Help and advice greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Phil
Beam Benders for Xantia 94
Moderator: RichardW
-
- (Donor 2022)
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
- Location: Epsom, Surrey
- My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1 - x 72
- Contact:
Look at the Lucas kits in Halfords. They are of the type where you cut black plastic to a given template design. The shape for the Xantia is complicated, consisting of a rectangle in the top right corner and another rectangle in the lower left corner of each headlamp. Having frequently driven overnight in Europe, both with and without the beam masks, I know they do work - but not without quite a reduction in available light.
I can't speak for the 94 Xantia, but on my August 95 model (pre-facelift) the universal converters actually work perfectly, and they give me a much better light level than the old two-rectangle thingummies.
I must admit that I was sceptical when I first fitted the universals - not least because my holidays in France always start with an all-night blast down straight down to the Med - but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't get flashed once. (And I never have been since.) Mind you, you do have to mount the universal beam converters at an absolutely crazy angle, and they do look a bit stupid on the car.
Of course, I never go on holiday anyway without a roll of silver gaffer tape in the car, so I'm covered both ways in case the frogs should take a sudden dislike to the universals. Can't really see myself switching back to the double rectangles, though.
I must admit that I was sceptical when I first fitted the universals - not least because my holidays in France always start with an all-night blast down straight down to the Med - but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't get flashed once. (And I never have been since.) Mind you, you do have to mount the universal beam converters at an absolutely crazy angle, and they do look a bit stupid on the car.
Of course, I never go on holiday anyway without a roll of silver gaffer tape in the car, so I'm covered both ways in case the frogs should take a sudden dislike to the universals. Can't really see myself switching back to the double rectangles, though.
-
- New User
- Posts: 302
- Joined: 04 Jan 2016, 00:01
- Location: nowhere
- My Cars: This is a dummy account added to fix some orphan posts.
- x 1
I used black insulation tape and just parked the car close to the garage door. All I did then was to mask of the high bits. The lights were still bright and the loss of the high side was overcome by switching on the foglights. I don't know if it's illegal in france but they all seemed to do it and I didn't get pulled. I have also seen someone fit beam benders to a set of headlight protectors so they are easily removed but they did a lot of continental driving.
-
- (Donor 2022)
- Posts: 2632
- Joined: 14 Mar 2001, 23:41
- Location: Epsom, Surrey
- My Cars: 2010 Citroen C5-X7 tourer
1998 Citroen Saxo 1.5D
2018 Citroen C4-B7
1998 Peugeot 306. 1.9D
2011 Citroen C1 - x 72
- Contact:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dnsey</i>
While you're there, why not search out a pair of continental lenses for future use?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
But to pass an MOT they would need changing back again.
While you're there, why not search out a pair of continental lenses for future use?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
But to pass an MOT they would need changing back again.
Some friends with a Renault Laguna were told that they couldn't fit any sort of universal beam bender. The dealer then sold them what was basically a set of headlamp protectors with a bit blacked out on each one. £45 - ouch! My stick on beam benders cost £5 & I've used them twice so far! I have noticed that a lot of people don't seem to bother at all.