Ford Mondeo - Bi-Xenons and driving abroad

Havana_UK

Havana_UK

Havana_UK

Soldato
Joined
14 Oct 2004
Posts
5,310
Location
location, location
Hi all,

Maybe someone here knows the answer to this question.

The Land Rover Discovery 3 has a nifty lever behind each headlamp that adjusts the beam for RHD/LHD - cool or what?

I have a new shape Mondeo with Bi-Xenon lamps, and I'm taking it to France on holibobs shortly. Unfortunately the Mondeo doesn't have this funky lever, but there MUST be a way to adjust the dipped beam.

I've taken the headlamps out and there is nothing obvious to do this.

Does anyone here know how it's done?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
I imagine most dealers could hook up their computer and edit the beam (I've heard of a few cars that don't have levers having to take this course of action)?
 
About 15-20 years ago you'd get these stickers to put on your Headlamps for driving on the Continent, do they still exist and would that help? :p
 
You can still get the stickers, online and on the ferry too if you've forgotten.

Technically it's illegal to drive without having adjusted your lights to LHD on the continent though I've never heard of anyone being pulled up over them.
 
The stickers will work with Xenons (I did some research on the same issue a couple of years ago).

They are transparent (not blackout ones like they used to be). They are like lenses and adjust the direction of the beam to a degree.

As all the Xenons I've ever had have been autolevelling they were very unlikely to dazzle other drivers when dipped anyway.
 
Last edited:
Before you do anything check they are LH/RH dipping lights by pointing the car at a wall at night. Some are now flat beams that do not require any adjustment for continental driving.
 
It's been annoying me so much I decided I couldn't wait to speak with the dealer and get a load of guff from them so I spent some more time trawling the web and poking about in the lighting units.

There is a lever to adjust the beam :)

The only problem is that to get at it you have to remove the headlamp unit completely! Brilliant design or what? Also brilliantly, there's no explanation in the owner's handbook about how to do it (only how to remove the headlamp unit).

Takes about 10 minutes all together to take out both headlamps, adjust the lever and replace them, something that the local dealer would no doubt charge me about £50 to do!

This design applies to both the standard "AFS" type headlights that you get on the Titanium X (and the Titanium?) and the bi-xenon upgrade lamps, although the internals are slightly different. The lever was a bit stiff and needed some gentle persuasion to get it to move.

I just wish this was a bit more clearly thought out by Ford and they'd provided an easy means to adjust the beam like Land Rover have.
 
Havana_UK said:
Thanks for your enormously helpful suggestion.
Click to expand...

No problem, my pleasure.

BMW Xenon beam 'adjusters' - naff or what???

3eb0bc0d.jpg


06945d00.jpg
 
Hello, Sorry for dragging up an old thread but I'm just after some input from someone who has actually preformed what I am attempting to do. I am also trying to flat beam my headlights on my Mondeo which has Bi-Xenons but I do not appear to have a lever inside my headlamp unit. I have included a picture to show what I mean.

 
Just been looking at this on my Focus (same or similar headlight iirc?).

Ford told me after a lot of faffing that it would need a sticker over the light to adjust it, and that the dealer could do that for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom