Who is happy or unhappy with the standard H4 headlights?

[former member]

I'll paste the relevant bit;

The other major oversight (and ‘sight’ being the operative word here) is that the Transporter’s headlights are extremely poor. In fact, I can’t believe they passed ADR compliance. On low-beam the reach and spread of light is completely ineffectual, even in suburban running, while high-beam isn’t much better. You could almost use high-beam all the time and not dazzle other drivers; such is the frailty on the headlight’s performance.

It’s a shame the headlight performance is so poor as it really does detract from what is an otherwise excellent highway cruiser. The Transporter sits comfortably at freeway speeds with excellent sound suppression only adding to the comfort of the cab. We also appreciated the wide sweep of the windscreen wipers and bug-defeating washers.

 

[Pauly]

Link works for me

 

[BIgben]

Yep, good for me now.
Must be my shonky internet connection.

 

[CRD]

It's mentioned on this Aussie review near the bottom...

Volkswagen Transporter 2016 Review - motoring.com.au

It's good to get some corroboration and know that we're not imagining things....

 

[Chriswhit]

Had a T5 with standard shite lights, I thought you guys would of gone for the LED ones . My number one option was the LED lights which are the best I have experienced . This has got to be a no brainier when ordering a new T6 .

 

[former member]

Had a T5 with standard shite lights, I thought you guys would of gone for the LED ones . My number one option was the LED lights which are the best I have experienced . This has got to be a no brainier when ordering a new T6 .

But many don't know how bad the H4s are; standard lights should not be so bad. And £1600 on lights is too much.

 

[DaveyB]

Very significant since it is written by a professional vehicle journalist, who has no need to over hype the issue, but tell it as it is.
It may be worth scanning the world's motoring publications for articles on the T6 that all discuss the headlights to give additional strength and depth to your case.
I really hope that you have success in your quest and support you all the way albeit from the sidelines due to having the LED's.

 

[Chriswhit]

@Polzeylad I feel for the guys who have no previous experience with the terrible transporter lights , but when your spending your cash on a bit more than a van I thought VW should at least include LED lights as standard. But we should all remember that the transporter is different and that is why we are all on this forum.
Just think we could always buy transit custom RS ha ha .

 

[former member]

I'm fine with my H7s as I was with my T5.1 Cali lights but they could still be better.
But it seems that the H4s really are poor which isn't good enough.
The vans are otherwise great though.

 

[surf-report]

Had a T5 with standard shite lights, I thought you guys would of gone for the LED ones . My number one option was the LED lights which are the best I have experienced . This has got to be a no brainier when ordering a new T6 .

The lights on my 2006 T5 were more than adequate and I had no issues at all with them. I think it was quite right to assume VW would not be going backwards with the quality of headlight on the newer T6 and also mine was an ex demo so unfortunately I didn't get the chance to spec mine as I would have wished.

 

[Chriswhit]

Hi @surf-report my last T5 was a 2010 140 highline combi and the standard lights were shocking . I fitted up rated lamps I think they were called night breakers which gave a vast improvement .

 

[Keeff]

If anyone is reading this and thinking of getting t6 don't get put off by what we are saying . I had a transit custom sport for nearly 3 years and the lights are bad compared to the t6 . I had to put aHID kit in them but it would keep showing errors on the dash. If you look at my photos above you can see the roads I drive every day and poor lights show up . The ford give you two light spots in front of the van but nothing to the sides so I would go for the t6 because if this.
I haven't got any photos of the ford or I would post them but don't get the ford because we are complaining.
I saved over £1000 extra over a order van and then would of needed to spend the money to upgrade the lights so to much for my budget .
PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THE FORD. LOOK ON THE FORD TRANSIT FORUMS FIRST.
sorry for this but don't want to put people off buying the van it is much better than my ford.

This is how mine got about

 

[ZipcodeUK]

Well, took the van out in my first evening drive.... well yeah the lights are pretty average.
Yes, switching dogs on helps but I can't help but think the max height adjustment doesn't let the light come up enough. So, tomorrow I'll manually adjust both headlights up somewhat to allyvbetter control on the electronic adjustments.
Then I guess it's a question of what's the best bulb that can be used as a replacement.

 

[surf-report]

It's a pretty grotty drizzly night in my corner of the world so I thought I would pop out with the van and record a couple of clips of the H4 lights in action. Taken with a GoPro mounted on the dashboard. All you owners with LED can now see just what you are missing!

 

[former member]

Oh my word; they are terrible!!

 

[surf-report]

It is no exaggeration as to how bad they are, I am constantly questioning whether they are actually on, and then catch a glimpse of refection in the back of cars etc. Just to point out the lights and windscreen are clean too!

 

[StudleyGlass]

shocking

 

[former member]

Well the H7s are not exactly death beams but they are definitely brighter than that!

There has to be a case for some kind of class action? That looks downright lethal. A couple of mates have Kombis and are both pretty clued up; I'll ask them what they think.

 

[surf-report]

I think a couple of candles would be better!

 

[former member]

I think a couple of candles would be better!

Cool avatar pic BTW!