changing lights for driving in Europe

[isolde29]

Hi everyone, hope you can help!

We are taking my '55 Reg passat (2.0 tdi auto) to France, and I know you have to change you lights so that you don't blind people on the other side, but I've heard that there is a switch I can move to change the headlights (rather than use those horrible sticky things!).

However I have looked in the handbook and can see nothing about this, so any help would be appreciated :-)

Thanks!

[A1Dan75]

Have you tried just persuading the French guys to drive on the correct side of the road, and avoid the problem?

[martin1810]

The dealer will sell you a little kit of sticky plastic to mask the lights. B5 gas discharge headlamps had a little lever to convert them. I don't think B6 has this.

[JSH]

Hi everyone, hope you can help!

We are taking my '55 Reg passat (2.0 tdi auto) to France, and I know you have to change you lights so that you don't blind people on the other side, but I've heard that there is a switch I can move to change the headlights (rather than use those horrible sticky things!).

However I have looked in the handbook and can see nothing about this, so any help would be appreciated :-)

Thanks!

I go to Europe often with work and I also enquired about this mythical switch lever to adjust the headlights, It seems it doesnt exist according to the dealers I spoke to,
The French often target UK cars and impose hefty fines to those who dont use Masks to cover the lights so dont be tempted to drive without them. They also time you between toll booths on the motorways so be carefull

Enjoy you trip ! JSH

[isolde29]

Thanks for your help guys . Have just ordered the AA safety kit (got it from fasteronline only £27 as opposed to AA's rip off £41!) Which includes the light stickers - will however get a spare set, as I've heard that they can come off.

So thanks for all the help x

[Quatrelle]

I go to Europe often with work and I also enquired about this mythical switch lever to adjust the headlights, It seems it doesnt exist according to the dealers I spoke to,
The French often target UK cars and impose hefty fines to those who dont use Masks to cover the lights so dont be tempted to drive without them. They also time you between toll booths on the motorways so be carefull

Enjoy you trip ! JSH

Interesting - can't say I've ever heard of anyone being fined for not masking their lights.

The only time I've known UK drivers to be targeted is when they drive like the clowns who were stopped recently over here in a 'Cannonball' run and think they can ignore the French speed limits. The drivers of a Bentley, a Ferrari and a Porsche, among others, were all doing between 160 and 205kph, so they had their cars confiscated and these will be sold at auction. The drivers had to make their own way home.... and it doesn't do the rest of the Brits that come over here any favours.

Be careful what you stick on your lights - the adhesive can mess up your covers. It won't be much I wouldn't have thought - the Passat's dipped beam has a very flat pattern, with very little kick up on the nearside. It's hardly noticeable on mine, so on the odd occasion I drive in the UK I just set them at their lowest position. There is no switch, unfortunately.

Just in case you don't know, a warning triangle and a high-viz vest are obligatory and it's worth carrying a set of spare bulbs in case you do meet a jobsworth (presumably they're all in the safety kit).

As JSH says, they may time you through an autoroute. Some tollbooths log your time elapsed when you give them your ticket to pay. The police also have Scoobies on some autoroutes.

[JSH]

Interesting - can't say I've ever heard of anyone being fined for not masking their lights.

The only time I've known UK drivers to be targeted is when they drive like the clowns who were stopped recently over here in a 'Cannonball' run and think they can ignore the French speed limits. The drivers of a Bentley, a Ferrari and a Porsche, among others, were all doing between 160 and 205kph, so they had their cars confiscated and these will be sold at auction. The drivers had to make their own way home.... and it doesn't do the rest of the Brits that come over here any favours.

Be careful what you stick on your lights - the adhesive can mess up your covers. It won't be much I wouldn't have thought - the Passat's dipped beam has a very flat pattern, with very little kick up on the nearside. It's hardly noticeable on mine, so on the odd occasion I drive in the UK I just set them at their lowest position. There is no switch, unfortunately.

Just in case you don't know, a warning triangle and a high-viz vest are obligatory and it's worth carrying a set of spare bulbs in case you do meet a jobsworth (presumably they're all in the safety kit).

As JSH says, they may time you through an autoroute. Some tollbooths log your time elapsed when you give them your ticket to pay. The police also have Scoobies on some autoroutes.

Hi

I now drive a BMW (which has headlight adjustment) and have been spoken to by the police twice for driving a UK registered car without headlight masks (Once leaving the Sangatte terminal and again at a toll booth near Paris and both times in daylight! ) both times I have had to open the bonnet and show the adjustment to the police to convince them I was legal.

Good point about the hi-visability vests, relatives in the Dordogne were find for having them in the boot and not in the car with them, apparently its an offence to exit a car on the motorway without wearing one, so if you had you had to go to the boot to get you safety vest you would be committing an offence



JSH

[jimgironde]

A very light film of vaseline/petroleum jelly on the lens, then put your sticky things on. They are then not sticking to the lens and they will not fall off.
I go abroad a lot and only buy the sticky things once, make a template, then for future times make my own with black electrical tape
If you haven't got europlates and need to use a GB sticker, the vaseline trick will also protect your paintwork.

[170diesel]

The latest way of relieving drivers of their cash is to clock you speeding in the reducing speed limits leading up to a toll barrier.

The hi-viz jacket in the car is also a good tip - and make sure you have them for all occupants.

[JSH]

A very light film of vaseline/petroleum jelly on the lens, then put your sticky things on. They are then not sticking to the lens and they will not fall off.
I go abroad a lot and only buy the sticky things once, make a template, then for future times make my own with black electrical tape
If you haven't got europlates and need to use a GB sticker, the vaseline trick will also protect your paintwork.

Good tip, but does'nt the heat from the headlights melt the vaseline ?

JSH