|
Bosch Euro Headlights By: Ray Calvo Email: porsray@sgi.net (Nov-99) Make & model of car the product was used on: 98.5 A4 Avant Product Description:These are the Euro equivalent of the headlights and parking/turn signal lights that come on the pre-99.5 A4 models. Same H7/H7/H1 bulbs.
My night vision has never been great, and age has not improved things. The headlights on my old US Coupe Quattro were atrocious; I replaced them with Bosch Euro headlights and was greatly impressed by the vast improvement. I found the US A4 headlights to be a big improvement over the US headlights on the old Coupe but still wanted better. I decided against the white/blue/green/chartreuse bulbs other listers had used, sinc I would still be stuck with the poor lighting pattern of the US headlight unit, which to me is the main cause of the inferior lighting of all US cars.
Lights were ordered from Blaufergnugen; good price ($215 ea.), but several problems with order. Blau straightened all these out with no problems (excellent company to deal with).
Reading the archives, universal opinion was lights were plug-&-play; no major problems. You need a Torx T-30 fitting; I used one with a hex-end like that which fits into a power screwdriver. Other had warned about the outer lower headlight screw; this is in an area with very limited clearance. I used a small ratchet wrench that takes these hex-end screwdriver fittings ($5 at Sears) - had no problems. Would have been done with entire job if I hadn't decided try to play around with the little City lights. After an hour, I gave up and left them out of the circuit (these are not in the US wiring circuit/harness, so if you don't want to play with them, you will not screw anything up). Also,the Euro parking lihgts have single-filament bulbs/holders, while the US has dual filament. You will have to use your US original bulbs/holders. No problem, just unscrew them from the parking light assembly and screw them into their US equivalents.
Basically, just follow the directions in your owner's manual for removing the parking lights them unbolt the headlights using the T-30 Torx wrench.
With the new lights in, at night I drove to an empty parking lot and shined the lights on a blank wall about 100 ft away, and screwed around with the alignment bulbs until I got a pattern that looked good on lo & hi beam (check your owner's manual for what screw affects what). Screws take a Phillips screwdriver, but a long-handled hex wrench fits better (think it was a 4mm).
Was it worth it? Definitely yes. Lo beams have a flatter, more even distribution, better side and long-distance lighting. Highs have brighter, deeper penetration. This is on stock bulbs. Only downside is that the cutoffs are sharper - especially noticeable is the horizontal cutoff. If you travel in hilly terrain, might have problems as you approach the bottom of a hill and can't see ANYTHING of the uphill section. Also, I am not too happy with the alignment compromise between lo and high beam. With lows aligned decently, highs seem to be aimed too high. Align for good highs, then lows seem aimed too low.
Would I recommend them? So far, YES! However, recommend you hang onto your OE in case you sell the car or if have problems with state inspection.
|
| Copyright (c) 1999 AudiWorld |