I ended up getting a set of the euro smiley headlights, as they supposedly have much better light output, look cool, etc... Ordered them from Germany (used, of course!) and this is what they look like:
(For the other unit, hold your monitor up to a mirror.)
Fantastic! I looked up some installation write-ups, and went out to improve the old daily driver. Installation was a breeze, and I thought the car looked rather sharp with the new lights. Then I waited for darkness to fall, and went for a drive. After hitting nearly every pothole within several miles, I came to the conclusion that the lowbeams were aimed much too low, although the highs seemed to be pretty good.
The following day, I went out to the local hardware store and picked up a couple packs of washers, and stacked approximately four or five washers under the lower two mounting screws of each unit. That allowed me to at least see the potholes with enough time to brace for the impact when driving in the dark, but they were still aimed too low. The high beams were now very high beams, and were lighting up street signs a mile away! Fortunately the pattern is large enough that the bottom of the beam lit up the road in an acceptable manner.
Several weeks later, when I grew tired of betting my oil pan, control arms, and whatever other suspension components against the diligence of the road construction crews, I removed the euro units and re-installed the US spec units. I really like the euro units, so I got all the adjusters working on them, except for the vertical low beam adjustments, shown in the bottom of this picture:
I know that these were supposed to hook up to the interior adjuster knob, but is there a way to get them to raise the beam a little without having to hook up hydraulic lines to them?
(For the other unit, hold your monitor up to a mirror.)
Fantastic! I looked up some installation write-ups, and went out to improve the old daily driver. Installation was a breeze, and I thought the car looked rather sharp with the new lights. Then I waited for darkness to fall, and went for a drive. After hitting nearly every pothole within several miles, I came to the conclusion that the lowbeams were aimed much too low, although the highs seemed to be pretty good.
The following day, I went out to the local hardware store and picked up a couple packs of washers, and stacked approximately four or five washers under the lower two mounting screws of each unit. That allowed me to at least see the potholes with enough time to brace for the impact when driving in the dark, but they were still aimed too low. The high beams were now very high beams, and were lighting up street signs a mile away! Fortunately the pattern is large enough that the bottom of the beam lit up the road in an acceptable manner.
Several weeks later, when I grew tired of betting my oil pan, control arms, and whatever other suspension components against the diligence of the road construction crews, I removed the euro units and re-installed the US spec units. I really like the euro units, so I got all the adjusters working on them, except for the vertical low beam adjustments, shown in the bottom of this picture:
I know that these were supposed to hook up to the interior adjuster knob, but is there a way to get them to raise the beam a little without having to hook up hydraulic lines to them?
Comment