Is it me or is there a growing epidemic of people who seem reluctant to dip their headlights?
I've just come back down the M40 and if it's not people on the other side of the carriageway who leave their car's headlights on high beam, its people approaching from behind who also do the same.
It was the same along the A34, and with a couple of cars on a single carriageway as well.
Now I'm tolerant to a point, I'll give them a quick flash of my high beam to prompt them to dip, and if they don't I'll just put mine on high beam too. I do miss the nightbreaker bulbs that I had in my Vectra though. No one hardly ever argued with those. I must source some brighter bulbs for the Astra sometime.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 31 May 15 at 04:33
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In some parts of the world when driving at night you put main beams on and leave them on. You need to when unmarked boulders are used as traffic cones in roadworks.
Night driving is not part of the UK test therefore some of the finer details to UK driving are missed.
I'm not suggesting it is correct maybe a different approach is required to the test rather a quick whizz around the block.
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>> In some parts of the world when driving
>>
In some parts of the world when driving it is dangerous to leave your window down and to give hand signals because a huge snake could seize your arm and swallow it.
However that is not relevant in the UK.
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Are you sure they are not just Eastern Europeans with LHD cars?
Their headlights dip towards oncoming traffic here what's more they drive round with main beam on all the time in most eastern countries (not just Europe).
Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Sun 31 May 15 at 08:17
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>> Are you sure they are not just Eastern Europeans with LHD cars?
>> Their headlights dip towards oncoming traffic here what's more they drive round with main beam
>> on all the time in most eastern countries (not just Europe).
>>
Also it is the start of the tourist season, there is a noticeable increase in foreign registered cars and camper trucks up here. Many of them will transit the uninteresting bits down there. :-)
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Its just modern cars with HID lights. Who the hell can tell if they are dipped or not anyway.
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>> Its just modern cars with HID lights. Who the hell can tell if they are dipped or not anyway.
>>
And don't forget auto-dipping.The sensors don't always pick up light from other carriageways.
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Can't say I've noticed any significant change. There's always the odd one but I tend to put that down to occasional absent-mindedness rather than anything habitual. Retaliating with your own lights is like shouting for silence, only more dangerous.
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Me neither round here it's lack of lighting not too much. Loads of cars with headlights, rear brake etc not working.
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Meant to add, looking at the time of VF's post, I'm not often out in the middle of the night, when you're more likely to click the main beam on and leave it - and possibly forget it - as you might not pass anyone else for miles. Even then it seems unnecessary to use it on a motorway, where the lane markings show you the way.
My hours-of-darkness driving tends to be on busy roads where I seldom get to use main beam at all. When I do, it's often just by pulling back the lever against the flasher spring to light the way to the next corner, knowing someone's probably about to appear around it.
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You won't have to worry about that with your new car WDB, BMWs don't have die ticken tocken flashing orange lights stalk ;-)
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 31 May 15 at 10:00
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}:---)
I've not had any darkness to drive it in yet. Meanwhile I'm trying to be the model of automotive courtesy - generous following distances, leaving junctions clear, getting out to help old ladies across...
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>> }:---)
>> I've not had any darkness to drive it in yet. Meanwhile I'm trying to be
>> the model of automotive courtesy - generous following distances, leaving junctions clear, getting out to
>> help old ladies across...
"You vill cross ze road old voman vezzer or not you vant to!"
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"You vill cross ze road old voman vezzer or not you vant to!"
You were in the Cubs too?
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>>Even then it seems unnecessary to use it on a motorway, where the lane markings show you the way. <<
Positively dangerous at 70mph! Main beam at least gives you a chance to see the pile of bricks or railway sleeper that has been shed from a travellers tipper whilst making room for the church roof lead.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 31 May 15 at 19:10
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>> >>Even then it seems unnecessary to use it on a motorway, where the lane
>> markings show you the way. <<
>>
>> Positively dangerous at 70mph!
I'm wary of this "streaming", taking direction from cat's-eyes, lane markings etc., it's what people are doing in fog just before they hit something. Very easy to do, and to get away with most of the time. A classic example of experience increasing confidence rather than competence.
I'm sure WdB doesn't mean that level of stupidity.
Last edited by: Manatee on Sun 31 May 15 at 11:20
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>>
>> I'm sure WdB doesn't mean that level of stupidity.
>>
He's a BMW driver now, he has a lot to live down to.
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Indeed, Z. But what I meant was more that motorways offer more in the way of visual assistance and ambient lighting and less of the stuff that causes problems; sight lines are long, studs and white lines are usually present and correct, and even where there's no overhead lighting you get the benefit of light from other vehicles and, because there are no overhanging trees, from the sky as well. Yes, there'll be nights and places when enough of these things are missing to make main beam beneficial but they're the exceptions.
Fog is another matter entirely. There isn't a light on any vehicle that can actually give you a good view ahead, so the only way is much reduced speed and extreme watchfulness; that or get off the road altogether.
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When travelling at motorway speeds in the dark I try to ensure there is a vehicle in front of me in the lane I am using to prove that it is free of obstructions. Dipped headlights are of little use at 70ish mph. Stopping distance?
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 31 May 15 at 13:02
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> Dipped headlights are of little use at 70ish mph. Stopping distance?
>>
That's a point I have sometimes tried to raise in the past.
You are driving along a main road at night, say at 60 mph, and a car approaches. You dip,
You are now driving at 60 mph with dipped headlights. All you can really see is the light from the approaching car, so you just cross your fingers, aim a bit to the left of it, and hope there is nothing in your lane until you can soon put your lights back on again.
Is this safe? Is this the approved procedure? Are you meant to slow so that your stopping distance is within the range you can see?
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>>Are you meant to slow so that your stopping distance is within the range you can see?
>>
Yes. But usually not a practical solution. My theory is if you leave a good gap to the car in front they make a indicator of the road ahead, just don't get suckered into a layby !
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Check your own lights. My car has automatic main beam and won't dip for oncoming traffic with a headlight bulb out. It does dip for motorbikes, and no, I don't know why it does this.
I've got to be honest that I don't tend to intervene manually because it will dip if they flash their lights.
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>> My car has automatic main beam and won't dip for oncoming
>> traffic with a headlight bulb out. It does dip for motorbikes, and no, I don't
>> know why it does this.
By the sounds of it, it also senses the size of the vehicle too.
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I've never forgotten being tailed in fog - far too closely by others who thought because I could see (old car - folded windscreen) that it was then safe to follow me too close.
So the next clearer patch, I accelerated hard and when I slowed because of reduced visibility, the followers were too far away to follow any more.
Last edited by: Slidingpillar on Sun 31 May 15 at 17:12
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>> And don't forget auto-dipping.The sensors don't always pick up light from other carriageways.
That would explain why some cars didn't dip their headlights until prompted by me flashing mine at them.
I forgot too many people rely on technology these days rather than thinking for themselves. God help us when self parking cars become as common as electric windows.
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Perhaps they'll sell cars that have accidents on their own and then ring the insurance company for you....
Grabs hat and coat and wanders off in the direction of the door whistling "My way".
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>> Perhaps they'll sell cars that have accidents on their own and then ring the insurance
>> company for you....
>>
tinyurl.com/p2krrlo
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Already in hand.
tinyurl.com/p587hs4
Really helpful in rural areas with no phone signal.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 31 May 15 at 21:01
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Well they'd be no worse off than if alert enough to use their mobile.
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And if you are somewhere busy there are a dozen or more calls to the emergency services anyway. If the natives are not too busy taking photos for Twitface.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 31 May 15 at 21:10
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And if in a rural area with a mobile signal?
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Phone the plods yourself.
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Mainly for people ko'd in a ditch. Not sure they'll be ringing the plod.
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If you park it upside down in a ditch the cars phone probably won't work anyway.
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I'm going to guess you think the whole idea is pointless? Or you keeping the conversation flowing?
;)
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2. Or at least I was. Enything is better than enforced BGT animal cruelty. :-)
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 31 May 15 at 21:59
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I think the novel spelling of anything was the auto correct, I will have one of whatever it is on. :-)
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The auto-dipping on my car is pants, to put it mildly. It's completely ineffective on any dual carriageway/motorway with a central barrier, refusing to dip for oncoming traffic at least 70% of the time, and it's not much better on two-way roads. It ignores car tail lights in front but dips for porch lanterns on houses several hundred yards away. I switch the lights from "auto" to "dip" on night-time drives and operate the main beams the traditional way.
It is clever enough not to react to its own reflection in road signs though, which is pretty neat.
Last edited by: Dave_C220CDI on Mon 1 Jun 15 at 16:51
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>> The auto-dipping on my car is pants, to put it mildly.
What car do you have, a MB?
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If a car comes with unnecessary features like auto-dipping and self-parking that can't be turned off (at a pinch by taking the fuse out), then I swear I won't buy the car.
People boast about this Scheisse in the pub and get messed up by it on the road.
Keep cars simple and effective. People who want toys can get an IPlayer or a Grand Theft Auto disc. A big coarse tool with little toys stuck all over it, damn silly and ugly too.
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Putting gizmos in modern cars is a sinister plot.
More gizmo = more chance of something going wrong = more revenue for manufacturer/dealer
Some gizmos appear as fancy toys and suddenly they become part of MOT - so you must fix them if they fail.
A friend of mine is learning to fly in a 40-yr old light aircraft. He said it was built in 1970s. Everything is mechanical and still works.
Most cars nowadays expire electronically rather than mechanically.
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Do they?
I've always found electronic stuff pretty reliable compared with mechanical. What electrical issues cause cars to be scrapped?
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Electrical and electronic are two different things, of course, but neither was a problem in the 2002 Volvo I recently moved on. On the contrary, it was the old story of stressed moving parts - gearbox, suspension and particularly turbo - that took it beyond what I was prepared to remedy.
Even notorious items such as Renault dashboards seem to malfunction electrically (due to poor installation, we suppose) rather than in their actual electronics. It would help if 'technology' (a hammer is technology too, of course) were packaged in a more accessible, modular way so that units could be easily replaced or upgraded - that is probably driven by the marketing department - but we're a long way from the nightmare of unserviceable cyber-cars predicted by those who panicked at the advent of electronic ignition.
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I suspect that most cars becom uneconomic to repair for the same mechanical reasons they always did, engine, transmission, corrosion.
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Snippet taken from HJ's "what's bad" section about the Volvo S60 (though admittedly there's a contradiction re the inclusion of the phrase "1995 build cars") :
"Sudden cutting out/total lack of response on 1995 build cars seems to be the result of a wiring fault. Electronic Throttle Module on early petrol models can pack up leaving the engine in limp home mode. ECU upgrade available that may cure it. If not, car needs a new £650 Electronic Throttle Module."
£650 eh? THAT is an example of a failed electronic component likely rendering a 'mechanically-sound-but-at-this-age-low-value' car uneconomic to repair.
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Not sure I'd take HJ as anything but anecdotage. He gets his data from people who write to him to say things have gone wrong. And, as you say, a 1995 S60?
Not that electronics can't go wrong, of course, especially when subjected to heat and vibration in an engine bay. Just that, as CGN says, it still tends to be the old mechanical killers that finish cars off.
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>> Not sure I'd take HJ as anything but anecdotage. He gets his data from people
>> who write to him to say things have gone wrong.
>>
After he recently published a comment about the difficulty of changing headlamp bulbs on Mk II Mondeo., I emailed saying I did not agree and it was pretty easy and quick to remove the whole headlamp unit in just a few minutes. Just a screwdriver required and I have done it several times.
I was not impressed with the tone of the reply ..."he" owned the same model so he knew what he was talking about.
I wonder how many bulbs he changed.
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Electronic parts can be expensive but they can often be easily replaced and tend not to require the sort of labour costs involve in stripping down an engine or gearbox
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>> Electronic parts can be expensive but they can often be easily replaced
Often being the operative word in my Laguna. Sob.
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Another thing: a two-litre petrol car in the fix-it-with-a-hammer days, for which some here seem to be nostalgic, might have achieved 25mpg in mixed normal use. My two-litre NA Saab, with 1990s electronics, averaged about 32mpg. Extrapolate that to 100,000 miles and even at a 1990s £0.75 a litre, it's a saving of £3,000 thanks, in large part, to those electronics. (That's assuming your 1970s car even made it to 100,000, of course.). So that £650 ECU, even supposing it was necessary to replace it, has covered its own cost four times over.
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Getting back to the original three subject their is a n interesting corollary to this. Those drivers who never use full beam. I suspect they are mainly city drivers who are not used to the lack of streetlights on country roads but they are quite common.
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Lost your glasses, CG?
};---)
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My lack of typing skills combined with autocorrect leads to an interesting variation of English.
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It looked like auto correctitis. My auto correct didn't like correctitis. :-)
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>> a two-litre petrol car in the fix-it-with-a-hammer days, for which some here seem to be nostalgic
It isn't nostalgia exactly. It's just dislike of the typically sudden and catastrophic failure of electronic components, when mechanical and ordinary electrical systems typically deteriorate gradually through wear and can be maintained through adjustment.
I don't deny that in virtually all practical ways modern cars are better than less modern ones, quieter, faster, more long-lasting and more frugal. It's just that when they do go wrong they are more likely to strand you. You can't get them going again with a bent pin and a cigarette paper, so to speak.
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When I bought the vintage car, the headlight were one on main beam, the other on dip. Operating the dip switch merely swapped the side of the main and dip.
MOT tester said it was not an uncommon thing to do with old cars, but didn't say why. As it was day light and matter was only short wiring job, I still came away with a new MOT.
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I understand what you are saying but to be honest I have never been stranded by an electronic failure and when I think about it I don't know anyone who has. Have had all sort of mechanical breakdowns from tyre blow outs to clutch failures, exhausts falling off and and burnt out valves none of which were fixable roadside with a decent tool kit let alone a bent pin and a cigarette paper.
Has anyone here ever been stranded by an electronic failure or is this just a myth that is perpetuated by old school car tinkerers?
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Thu 4 Jun 15 at 15:50
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>> Has anyone here ever been stranded by an electronic failure or is this just a
>> myth that is perpetuated by old school car tinkerers?
No.
Electrical failures (battery, alternator, starterwiring loom et al) but never had more than a spurious warning light from an electronic cause.
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>> Has anyone here ever been stranded by an electronic failure or is this just a
>> myth that is perpetuated by old school car tinkerers?
I think I have, but can't remember for sure. Anyway the principle stands: an electronic device can go pop like a lightbulb. There are wizards who can repair the things or cobble them. But most o us can't.
I take the point that main electrical components getting hot amid showers of sparks are far more likely to give trouble than those demure little semiconductors.
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Don't be so sure that fix it with hammer car couldn't break down. A MK2 Corrina snapped its points on me at 70ish in lane 2 of a busy dual carriageway. Stopped the engine, and my heart for a few seconds.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 4 Jun 15 at 16:42
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Yes. The DI cartridge on my Saab failed with no warning a couple of years ago. But perhaps this is electrical rather than electron ic failure?
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>> £650 eh? THAT is an example of a failed electronic component likely rendering a 'mechanically-sound-but-at-this-age-low-value'
>> car uneconomic to repair.
As these electronically complex(ish) cars filter down to the high age/low value repairers and re-conditioners will move into the market. I'm sure i read somewhere of modules of one sort or another being sent to India for fettling and fettled stuff returned to UK.
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So maybe not engine electronics but how about xenon lights? Don't know if they have a design life but if and when they reach it a new unit costs a bit more than £6.50 for an H4 (or is it H7?) bulb.
HIDs damaged in accidents can be replaced under insurance, of course - which may have its own effect on write-off decisions for older cars - but those that simply wear out are a different matter. And if I'm going to make a habit of buying three-year-old cars and running them into middle age, it's one I ought to take some notice of. Has anyone here had to replace an HID unit yet?
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>> a bit more than £6.50 for an H4 (or is it H7?) bulb.
You're being stitched up in that there posh WDH of yours. I bought a full set of spare bulbs for my car, including the H7, for 2 quid off of that ebay a few weeks ago (free postage too).
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It's been a while since I bought one at all, and that was in the rather different broken-glass-chic surroundings of UB3. But now that there are two sets of xenons on the drive, it'll be a while before I need one again.
Come to think of it, I've had the LEC for three years now. It has some LEDs as well as the xenon main lights but there must be bulbs somewhere too; it's just that I haven't had to replace a single one so far. (Probably their cue to go all at once.)
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Thinking seriously about getting an E Class estate myself next year (320 cdi auto seems favourite, probably around a 2008/9 car). Must be getting soft in my old age.
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...E320 CDI...
Why not? Although even the last of them are getting on now. Shouldn't be a problem - our 220 seems to be wearing well at six years, three of them with us - but it's a big and complex thing, especially in six-cylinder, seven-gear form, to be buying at that age. The sixes don't have the same reputation for longevity as the fours, either; as a guide, compare owner satisfaction figures for the E (mostly four-cylinder) and the CLS (same base but all six-cylinder.)
Still pleased with ours and I'd choose a four again. It's fast enough for most purposes, and the limitation on rapid progress (if you are still familiar with the concept, living where you and I do) is usually the mattressy suspension more than the power available. It does sound like a four-cylinder diesel at the traffic lights, but once it's moving the engine is barely audible (in contrast to the C220 with the same engine, which sounds like a misfiring Ukrainian tractor) and we've covered huge distances in ours, especially across France, in relaxed comfort.
Only downside I can find to the 5G box is that second and third are too high, which sometimes leaves the engine labouring in town. Otherwise it's a very pleasant way to travel.
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Interesting thoughts, WdB. Cheers. Hadn't realised the 320 was discontinued. Is the 270 a 4 or 6 cylinder? There's a good Merc indie less than mile from home, which is a reassuring thought and one of the things swaying me.
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The 270 is even more discontinued than the 320. It had five-sixths of the old straight-six 3.2 engine before the sixes went V - in 2006, was it? The 3.0 V6 is still available in the S212 but is now badged E350.
Tell me more about Mr Indy. Our LEC is still getting the main dealer treatment once a year, but I balked at £800 for brake parts and had them done independently, although at a Bosch specialist rather than an MB one. Might be good to know about as it gets older.
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This is the fella. Been going for as long as I've been in Caversham (20+ years). 2 websites for some reason:
www.johngriffithsmercedes.co.uk/
www.jgriffiths.co.uk/
The other one is Star Motors, as discussed in this thread:
www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/49818-john-griffiths-caversham.html
Last edited by: Alanović on Mon 8 Jun 15 at 11:07
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Thanks. Will investigate.
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>> Has anyone here had to replace an HID unit yet?
Cheaper just to buy and fit an aftermarket HID kit if the factory fit one fails. The rest of the system, i.e. washers and auto beam height adjust will still be in place.
In fact aftermarket HID kits are just as cheap as performance halogen bulbs these days.
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Reluctance to dip headlights - ....
