Euro headlights????

[Roger M. Woodbury]

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It amazes me that this thread reappears continually.  It further amazes me =
that people have 5000/200 TQ cars without European headlamps and actually d=
rive them at night.  It is positively amazing to me that there are some who=
 claim no noticeable difference with European headlamps.

I have had an '87 5000 CSTQ and a 200CSQ...both were Avants.  Let me say th=
is only once:  driving in rural Maine, neither car was safe to drive at nig=
ht.  Low beams were adequate for city or in-town driving.  High beams were =
inadequate, and so poorly focussed as to be dangerous at anything approachi=
ng the 45 mile per hour rural speed limit.  The headlight were adjusted to =
get the most light down the road, but the problem was totally unfocussed li=
ght...just a big, DOT mandated blob of light that diffused at much more tha=
n a hundred feet.

I switched the headlights in the 200 to European lights.  Yes:  VERY expens=
ive.  Bought at a famous aftermarket internet retailer and installed by my =
authorized dealer.  The headlights had H-4 bulbs and H3 bulbs...the H4 was =
for "normal" or "low" or "dipped" beams...depending on your nationality.  T=
he beam was very flat on top, and rose 15 degrees on the right side of the =
road which was fine for in-town driving or when meeting on-coming cars, as =
I could still see the right shoulder yet NO ONE ever complained about my he=
adlights.

But when I wanted high beams, both the H4 (main beam filament) and the H3 b=
ulbs lit up.  AND Mr. MAN:  let me tell you:  I could have illuminated the =
area of a football field enough for night practice!  The lights were so int=
ensly bright, that pedestrians walking toward me on the side of the road wo=
uld shield their eyes, and the deer?  Well the deer immediately went down o=
n their knees and prayed for salvation.  (Well, OK:  I made that last part =
up.).

We wired both sides separately, and used the feed for the parking lights fo=
r the "city lights".  Worked like a charm, and I could always see in any we=
ather.  I used this car as my main driver, and that meant going out in all =
weather as I have real estate that I manage and sometimes, in the worst of =
conditions, something breaks.

When I sold that car last year, I was concerned about the "new" Audi's ligh=
ts.  The "new" Audi is a '94 100 Quattro wagon, and it's regular DOT headli=
ghts are bearable...not good...but not worth seven hundred bucks to change.=
.=2E.at least not yet.

I really think that anyone who doesnt' see a dramatic improvement in night =
visibility with European headlights has either an improper installation, or=
 simply doesn't drive where it is REALLY dark enough to need the power of t=
he Euro "main beams".

Incidentally, my headlights used stock bulbs.

Roger
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