(G) HID Headlights poor illumination [protectors left on?]

I hope someone can shed some light (pardon the pun! ) on an issue I've got with my 52 plate Stilo MW.
Its the first time I've driven the car in the dark since buying it, and I've noticed that the HID headlights are very poor in illuminating the road compared to my old Megane Sport Tourer with halogen lights.
Has anyone else suffered a similar problem, as Im wondering if replacing the bulbs might cure the issue?
If this is the case, which replacement bulbs are recommended, and which is the cheapest place to get them? Im a little "in the dark" so to speak........

could need beam adjusted, are the lights clean? i find you can loose half your light in 2 days in this weather

Hi Dave, yep, the lights were clean and the beam adjuster did its merry little dance of getting the height right etc, but the output was really poor, especially on the dark country roads.
Do HID bulbs reduce in performance over the years?

is there not a manual adjuster as well as a self leveler?

Aren't Xenons supposed to be auto-levelling?

Are we talking about factory-fitted units here?

yeah they got self leaveler but i am thinking that that would only be slight adjustment, an there being also a manual adjuster to get them in the general area first! i only guessing btw, cant find the pics of the ones some posted

Hi Rasti! The JTD has them fitted as standard and tend to find that I stick them on auto and leave lights to sort themselves out, rarely use the main beam at all... after supplying dealer replaced N/S/Inner sidelight must have disturbed the lamp unit as even with the auto leveling it was out compared with the O/S dipped beam so if in doubt would get the alignment checked & adjusted.

BTW previous car, a 1.6 Stilo had Halfords Brilliance plus 50's in for dipped and main and still nowhere near as good as the factory fit HID units of the JTD. The light of the HID units is more subtle and tends to look dim but picks out distant detail much better than the ordinary halogen units.

They are factory fitted as far as Im aware, and the automatic adjustment has a pretty good adjustment range (from when I've been parked against a wall) The car has just had an MOT, so Im hoping the garage would have picked up if the alignment was out............ but then again!

Hey,

yeah Gas Discharge system dims over time but even when they do it would still be much brighter than normal halogens anyway. And you say the beam pattern looks ok against the wall. hmm, thats really strange. Do you have or can you get pictures of your beam pattern? I have xenon in my car and boy are they great, but i know xenons wont do what they are suppose to if they are not aimed correct.

If your considering replacing you bulbs try here, used before really good prices and all bulbs get 12 months warranty:

Stilo uses HID D2R bulbs (only if factory fitted hids)

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/product_details.asp?id=393


CarCazY

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Eureka!
I (or rather the wife ) found the problem with my headlights - it was the headlight protectors I fitted when I got the car!!
Somehow it was interfering with light output, and after slinging them in the boot in the pouring rain tonight on the way home I could finally see the road again!!!
This is a new one on me, as Ive had protectors fitted on other cars (albeit not fitted with HID lights) and never had any problems before!!
So there we go, mystery solved and a warning to others thinking of buying fiat headlight protectors for their HID's!!

Hey,
Glad to hear you've solve your problem. I would have thought Fiat would have alterded the Headlamp covers for Stilos with HID I got HID them in mine, I was also going to buy headlamp protectors, but i'll have to research more into this before go out and buy them


CarCzy


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HOW MUCH THUD (Falls off chair) RM Glad you got it sorted now...

Thank goodness I didnt need new bulbs - the price is a bit painful!

A big thanks to everyone who replied with their thoughts, its very much appreciated!

Happy New Year guys!

Can you add some before/after photo of the protectors, please?
I've noticed the same(?) problem on my 3d Stilo (the high/flasher illuminates the road well as expected; but on the dimmed headlight it is safe to cruise at speed below 60km/h only ). I bought it used, so I'm not sure what was factory fitted and what the last owner has added. I've suspected the auto-leveling too, but against the wall it clearly moves up/down.

Hi Myszak, sorry to hear you're having similar problems I must admit even though I've taken the protectors off, the dipped headlight beam dosent illuminate very far in front of the car, and I need to find out how to raise the beam up slightly to give me a slightly better view of the road ahead.
I dont think taking a photo of the light pattern will help - but I can try the weekend.
Have you tried your local Fiat dealer??