Brighter Head lights?

[Blonde126]

I was driving in the dark not too long ago on an unlit dual carriageway which had windy roads and was horrified by how little I could see! I was dropping down to 40mph because the visibility was so poor. Even on the lit roads in urban areas I was struggling to see far ahead (and it's not my eyesight!)

I was wondering if there was an easy way to make the head lights brighter, such as a different bulb? If not I'd be willing to do something more complicated to make driving safer 

Thanks!

[Hazey-n-Marc]

lucas llb416, bulbs are a bit better, and fit straight in, but seem to be hard to find. I have heard of a halogen replacement, but I don't yet know what it is. Will let you know when I suss it out.

Marc

[DEYAN IYI]

Hi! It's funny that the guys fitted on Bis relay for the horn... but they forgot about the lights. In EL/ELX models, because of the H4 bulbs, there is only one relay to unload the main switch of the lights (unsatisfactory also disappointing with the 1 mm2 wiring).

The only way to go is installing relays and thicker wires to avoid the voltage drop and to unload the switches. Read this: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/relays/relays.html The only thing I subjectively don't like is the fuse before the relay. Usually there are 2 fuses after the relay each light (left and right). With one fuse you can badly loose your lights together. Also if they produce cars without a fuse between the battery and the relay, it's OK.

If you wanna make the optimal transformation, you'll need 2 relays, 4 mm2 wire battery-relays, 4 mm2 relay- 2 fuses if they are connected) or 2,5 mm2 relay to each fuse, 2,5 mm2 (fuse-bulb), 2,5 mm2 direct negative wire (bulb-battery).

The cables coming from the low-high beam switch go to relay terminal 86.

The easier way is to use the actual wiring fuse-bulb-ground, adding only new cables for the relays.

After all, find H4 reflectors (easy to buy) and fit nice halogen lamps with "more light" for example Osram.

Do not run halogen lamps with no relays!

Regards!

[Amateb8]

Try using halogen bulbs. When I bought my bis the headlight bulbs were 410/HB12/P45 45/40W. I converted to halogen bulbs with 60w/55w wattage. It is a huge improvement. The Bis have inbuilt relays, so no conversions/modifications needed.

[DEYAN IYI]

Could be in certain models, so better make sure if there are relays.

[DEYAN IYI]

  Sorry, I didn't know that in the UK were different diagrams, because of dim-dip lights. But there's still not a relay for the high beam and maybe still skinny wires.

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Hang on, thread confusion .
Has a UK BIS got suitable wiring and relays for halogen bulbs? 

Marc

[Allan]

Relays are the only way to go. Use the current fron the column switch/headlight switch as a switching source only and run heavy wiring from your power supply through your relay/s to the headlights. Don't forget to use heavier wiring to earth the headlights as well. My air cooled without relays made the ignition switch so hot you couldn't touch it. Some time ago Lucas used to make a relay that had one main terminal for the main power supply, two inputs for switching and four outlets, two for each headlight beam. I don't know if something similar is still available.
Allan

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Cheers, but, there seems to be some suggestion above that an UK BIS already has the relays in place, or, I could have got a touch confused.

Marc

[fightingtorque]

I have found keeping main beam on in some conditions enables you to see and still the oncoming traffic don't consider it too bright!

[DEYAN IYI]

Well, here comes a little extraction of the UK model diagram. It got relays but only to control the dim-dip device.

So, the conclusion is that the BIS has no the classic relays we are talking about.

You can see in yellow the circuit ignition switch-exterior lights switch-low/high beam column control, then the relay but only to "go around" the dim-dip device and finally to the fuses.

In red you see how the exterior light switch activates the relay.

It means that except the dim-dip device, the diagram is absolutely the same as in the others 126s before BIS. Or in other words "bad lights switchmelting wiring" Big shame but it goes the same till the year 2000. (With the little exception that EL/ELX after 1994 got relay to help the exterior lights swithch, but nothing more)...

[Hazey-n-Marc]

 

[Amateb8]

There were loads of threads on this topic and it was concluded that the Bis had the necessary relays. Your diagram is quite interesting. I want to make sure I understand. So the high beam (blue light symbol on the dash) does not have a relay but the normal light does have a relay - is that correct?

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Still not entirely clear  , any  chance of a yes or no answer in regards of using halogen bulbs in a UK BIS?
Sorry to hassle, but us simple folk need simple clarification.

Marc

[DEYAN IYI]

So the high beam (blue light symbol on the dash) does not have a relay...

Yes!

...but the normal light does have a relay - is that correct?

No!

First of all, lets say what the dim-dip light is. When the ignition switch is ON plus the exterior lights switch is ON (side lights) we have the side lights + low beam powered with voltage less than 12V, because of the ballast resistor. The exterior light switch activates the relay to the right and the ballast resistor gets power from fuse #7 powered by the side light's circuit. The current from the ballast resistor goes trough the left relay when not activated then to fuses #8/9. Low beam shines less than usual.

When you turn the exterior light's switch on on normal low beam, it activates the left relay. In the same time the dim-dip is still working, and the relay connects both lines - the one from the ballast resistor and the other from the L/H beam control. The second one gives (adds) the normal amount of voltage, so we got normal low beam.

The relay to the left is simply a connector.

The power goes the whole way from the ignition switch to the fuses like in the normal 126s.

The idea of the relays is that the switches control them, but the relays are direct bridges from the battery to the bulbs trough the fuses. Then turning the switch on, you actually turn the relay on, not the bulb.

Without the relay the bulbs that are big consumer get power trough 3 switches. The current heats them and one day they fail melting. The relay is small consumer, so those 3 switches can die only because of mechanical problems. The relay can carry the big current bulbs need, and if there are nice fat enough wires, there's no voltage drop - lights work on 100%.

That's all, folks!