DS5 headlights

[dersteirer]

Hello,

from the very first day I am annoyed about the poor light of my DS5. I have tried different bulbs, with little improvement. I even had some LEDs which were pretty good, as long as it was not raining. Compared to the C4 of my wife, with the same new brand-name bulbs, the light is worse. I had the headlights adjusted in the shop 2-3 times.
The last time when the car was at a DS5 repair shop (usually go to a regular shop) they said something that the headlights aren't new anymore, and probably not clean. So I was thinking of washing the headlight bodies, I am a car detailling guy so I think I can get it done without damage. How difficult is it to get them out? So far, I have seen one plastic fitting in the back, and a screw in the front. In case the front bumper has to get off I think I won't do that...

many thanks
Florian

[GiveMeABreak]

These are sealed units (the light housing part excluding the small aperture for the bulb on the inside), so you will likely compromise the sealing integrity if attempting to dismantle the casing which will inevitably lead to water ingress.

The headlamp inner surfaces may have been damaged if you have fitted incorrect bulbs like LEDs or higher output bulbs than those recommended. They are designed and made for specific bulb types (halogen / Xenon, LED or a combination of both, depending on model and year. You should never replace one type of bulb like halogen with LEDs for example, as this is not road legal and can cause damage to them. Each design in manufactured for a particular lighting technology.

[Mihael_M]

Cleaning the inside doesn't make sense. It's certainly not dirty inside, but if bulbs that don't have UV protection were used, there could be damage that results in a decrease in the efficiency of the headlights. Have you tried the Osram Night Breaker Laser 12V H7 55W? If that doesn't help, then the problem is with the headlights. Unfortunately, they last less than others.

[dersteirer]

Thank you for your replies. The bad light existed from day one, currently I have (expensive) regular brand name bulbs (dunno which). I have checked the headlights for debris, dirt or scratches, and they look OK to me. Not new of course, but no visible damage or problem. The LED bulbs did not do any damage to the headlights, everything is like before.

I think I will check the voltage at the bulbs, maybe it's a bit low. Is there a way to increase the voltage a little bit? what I have noticed as well is that the start/stop acts only every now and then. I replaced the battery half a year ago, so in the beginning the start/stop worked at least often. Now, not at all. So that makes me wonder if something is not state of the art with the electric system.

In case I want to remove the headlight, I guess I need to remove the bumper, right? I would not open the headlighs, I know that the coatings inside are very delicate.

[Mihael_M]

I would go back to led lights. If they light up well except when it's raining, I wonder which lights are good then. When the start stop won't work, it's usually the first sign that something is wrong, mostly with the battery . It won't hurt if you try to top up the battery with an external charger. The voltage on the bulbs can't be increased. Of course, you can measure them with a multimeter and it will be 12-13 V when the engine is running . LED lights consume much less power . For information on disassembling the headlights, the front bumper must be removed. There is a video on Youtube.

[Djandree]

Hi. Had similar thing on my Megane cc. I was trying to change bulbs etc like you. It didn't help. Fiddling with the voltage/wattage in ds may damage bsi, as they are very sensitive for that. So I did replace headlight projector. (coating on projector was non existent). Here you got some link to have a look:

It's rather big job). You will be better off to buy a new headlight unit, or good used one.

[eliezedeck]

Hi. Had similar thing on my Megane cc. I was trying to change bulbs etc like you. It didn't help. Fiddling with the voltage/wattage in ds may damage bsi, as they are very sensitive for that. So I did replace headlight projector. (coating on projector was non existent). Here you got some link to have a look:

It's rather big job). You will be better off to buy a new headlight unit, or good used one.

Hey, I'd like to open-up the headlight and replace the projector lens too. It appears there are some kind of cloud in front it, I tried to dip some stick with Isopropyl in it but it wouldn't go away. Was it doable for you? I'm not sure it will be worth it to buy a new one, and I certainly going to have lots of wasted time after not finding a use one.

[Djandree]

Hello. In my case isopropyl didn't work. after some time flakes of ''chrome'' coating started to peeling off. I put my headlight into the oven for 5 min. 80 C deg. on wooden plank. Later on took a heat gun and started to dismantle cover glass bit. Took a lot of time to do that..... and couple blisters))) But at the end it was worth it. I know that some lamps got a hard glue/sealant and it is impossible to dismantle cover glass using a heat gun. You have to try to see if heat softening sealant or not

[eliezedeck]

Hello. In my case isopropyl didn't work. after some time flakes of ''chrome'' coating started to peeling off. I put my headlight into the oven for 5 min. 80 C deg. on wooden plank. Later on took a heat gun and started to dismantle cover glass bit. Took a lot of time to do that..... and couple blisters))) But at the end it was worth it. I know that some lamps got a hard glue/sealant and it is impossible to dismantle cover glass using a heat gun. You have to try to see if heat softening sealant or not

Thanks for sharing your experience. I've already tried to look around the headlight, but my biggest question is: how do you pry this open? Like you said, it appears to be hard glued together, and I fear it would be very hard to unglue it, and the another story to put it back together. Did you take some photo or vidéos when you opened the headlight?

[Djandree]

Hi. My headlight had some metal clips all around it. I took them off. then heating bath in the oven, then heat gun and some plastic pry tools:
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/amtech-7 ... HQQAvD_BwE

I didn't do any video or photos, but there is plenty on youtube

[eliezedeck]

Much appreciated. I think this should be doable, just got to find a huge oven.

[yason]

My DS5 is showing signs of reflector bowl fading and I'm looking to replace the reflector/projector unit with a quality aftermarket package. I'll have to inspect the headlights a bit closer to see what should I be getting but first, a question:

Did DS5 ever have bi-xenon lights with additional halogen high beams? Because mine has and I'm not entirely sure if that's OEM or if someone already did upgrade the xenon low beams to bi-xenon low+high beams.