Just ordered some Halfords Extreme Brilliance H11's for dipped beam. Thinking of getting main beams as well. Handbook says these are H11,but I believe they are H7. Is that correct?

But we don't know what car or year you got George
If you are talking of a MY11 then H7, the book is/was wrong.

Dohhhhh! MY11 SD4. Handbook says all headlight bulbs are H11.

Yes they didn't correct the manual for a change from H11 to H7, I believe it has been altered now.

Fill in your user profile for the car to appear next to country flag, then a simple 'mouse over' gives us the info.

Can confirm first edition of 2011MY handbook wrong.
All facelift/2011 MY have 2x H7 main and 2x H11 dip.
I fitted Halfords +90%, buy 1 and get 1 free.
A big improvement but still projector lamps are very poor, designed for looks NOT for providing a SAFE light output. All FL2's (3) Gone
2011 Mercedes C180 CGI Gone
FL2 GS Auto SD with heated leather, factory tints, alloy spare and a few other bits.

druand wrote:

A big improvement but still projector lamps are very poor, designed for looks NOT for providing a SAFE light output.

As I've said on a previous post I put in new globes on the high-beam in my MY11 SD4 to get a safer night time driving experience. They were +100% and they didn't seem like much of an improvement at the time but after another nightmare-ish experience driving home on our national highway last night, I'm going to try the dipped beam ones as well. I can't imagine how frightening it would be on dark, windy roads with these things! I paid $88 (55+ pound) so I'm not happy but the dipped driving lights are downright dangerous. I honestly don't know how they passed safety standards - if there is such a thing???
They also forgot to switch our hand controls over when they converted things for right-hand drive. Try driving dark roads and having a coffee (or anything else) when somebody comes the other way! In our case, the left hand has to hold things (like coffee or water) because that's the only hand that can put them down AND dip the lights at the same time before the truckies blast you off the road with their spotlights! I love the FL2 but night driving is a curse down under, unless you are driving on well-lit roads.

Think yourself lucky jaksbak! Over here if the 5-0 catch you drinking/eating on the move you could be liable for "driving without due care & attention" - seriously! 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Over here, a large proportion of road deaths are attributable to fatigue so it's important to eat, drink and listen to aweful talk-back radio! Besides, where else would most Londoners have their breakfast if it wasn't in the car on the way to work?

Fatigue? That's what "services" and lay-bys are for! 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

This is quite right, cars built in the UK do have their wands set up for LHD, despite us driving on the left. Whereas a Japanese car usually has the indicators (and, I presume, the dip) on the right hand side, irrespective of whether it's LHD or RHD.

However, this is meant to be to do with having to change gear and indicate at the same time (which you really shouldn't do anyway - you know the bit about indicating BEFORE starting a maneuver).

Though I haven't got a whole lot of sympathy for someone who is so busy doing something else while they are driving that they can't operate the dim switch at the same time! Are you simply drinking from a bottle, or grinding the beans and boiling a kettle ready to make a cup of fresh coffee?

I finally got round to fitting higher output bulbs to my MY 2011 today after a long drive home from Leeds on Friday evening lit only by the pathetic illumination of the standard projector setup.

The job took a little longer than I expected. Though it was really, really easy to remove the headlamp units which enabled me to work in comfort with them on the kitchen table rather than in a cold and draughty garage.

However, removing and replacing the bulbs was a bit fiddly. The H11 units are quite accessible and easy to remove - once you have figured out that you have to rotate them about 60 degrees to extract them from their holders. But the H7 bulb holders are buried deep in the headlamp unit. Having big hands made it quite hard for me to reach them but I got the old bulbs out without too much trouble. Getting the new ones back in was a real PITA though. I started by mounting the bulbs in the holders and then tried to clip the assembly back into the unit. WRONG!! It's much quicker and easier if you drop the bulb into the light unit and them attach the holder / connector unit.

After that, changing the sidelight units for a couple of LEDs was very easy. Which was just as well, because they refused to work so I found myself removing them and replacing the original bulbs! Another great eBay purchase ..........

The headlamps worked first time though and seem much brighter when aimed at the garage wall. I drove into town (in daylight) this afternoon and although it was fairly bright the headlamps came on and stayed on for the journey - I always leave them switched to the "Auto" setting. I may be paranoid but wondered if I had damaged the light sensing system (or rather the dark sensing system). But I don't know where any of that stuff is mounted on the car. I suppose that I won't know for sure until we next see a bright sunny day here in western Scotland (so maybe June next year).

So if you are thinking of changing all your bulbs over - it is a bit fiddly and easier if you have small hands! The map is not the territory

2011 TD4 GS Manual - Gone
2014 SD4 XS Auto - Gone
2018 Jaguar E-Pace R-Dynamic 180 AWD

You've been no where near the sensor which I think is on the windscreen near the rear view mirror or either side of the windscreen bottom left and right.

The side light bulbs need to be canbus or they will flicker, and LED's are + and - sensitive so before you put them in the bin try rotating them through 180 degs

mcphersonstrut wrote:

You've been no where near the sensor which I think is on the windscreen near the rear view mirror or either side of the windscreen bottom left and right.

mcphersonstrut wrote:

side light bulbs need to be canbus or they will flicker, and LED's are + and - sensitive so before you put them in the bin try rotating them through 180 degs

gDallasK, how do you take out the headlight units apart from removing the top bolts? Are there any bolts/fixings at the bottom? I guessed it would be easier and less fiddly to remove the units for fitting new bulbs. Any advice appreciated.