[wensleydaleb]

On my old Vauxhall there was a lever on each headlamp to alter them for ~European use. I now have the new 3008 is there such a device if not what options are there?

 

[Brilec]

Very few cars have that. But what headlights do you have? The LED ones don't kick up on the left as the older halogen ones did, so they need no conversion to use in Europe.

 

[Dautres]

The LED ones don't kick up on the left as the older halogen ones did, so they need no conversion to use in Europe.

This subject has been discussed previously and I think the same conclusion was reached, however, in driving to my house in France over the past 15 years I speak from experience.

I previously drove cars with halogen headlamps and never fitted headlamp converters. I always set the headlamps to the lowest setting and only had the occasional headlamp flash from a disgruntled driver in the on-coming traffic.

Driving down this time in my 3008 GT with LED headlamps I was probably flashed more times in one journey than the whole of my previous journeys. I’m not sure whether the bright white lights made the difference or whether the automatic headlamp levelling doesn’t dip the light enough but this certainly needs looking in to before I make the trip again.

If you read this post perhaps you could comment Yorky.

 

[Agmuns]

@Dautres: I think I read in the user manual that it is possible to adjust LED-headlamps for LHD and RHD somewhere in the car settings.

 

[yorky52]

This subject has been discussed previously and I think the same conclusion was reached, however, in driving to my house in France over the past 15 years I speak from experience.

If you read this post perhaps you could comment Yorky.

I had an X Type with the levers to adjust the headlights and it worked well. Then I had a 2014 3008 and even with converters I was constantly flashed.

Having just carried out my first trip to France in the new 3008, which has full LED lights that I didn't put converters on, I can say I wasn't flashed once....however this may be because of the time of year. I had midnight sailings both way and by the time I got off the ferry it was just about dawn. Once at my destination I didn't do any night driving either.

I will be travelling again in the autumn when the nights are longer and I always take night crossings so I'll get a better test then.

As for the manual it only states that you must have the headlights adjusted by your dealer if travelling abroad. There isn't any self adjusting lever unfortunately.

 

[Dautres]

There isn't any self adjusting lever unfortunately.

Agmuns thinks it is a setting under menu but I have not found this so he may be mistaken.

The day I travelled was the one night there was no midnight sailing so my journey was the other end of the day, plus it was dark and rainy so my lights were on earlier than normal. I was also fully laden so this may have had some impact on the level of my lights.

At some point after ordering the car I sent an e-mail to Peugeot Customer Care to ask the question whether converters are necessary and I had the usual response “we recommend you contact your dealership” which I did and didn’t get an answer. I was pestering them at the time for information about build and delivery times so maybe they chose to ignore me on that occasion.

The light evenings mean I don’t need to use my headlamps and I shall be travelling home during the day, so unless I can sort something out in the mean-time, I shall have to wait until September to see whether I annoy the on-coming drivers as much as this time.

 

[Agmuns]

As for the manual it only states that you must have the headlights adjusted by your dealer if travelling abroad. There isn't any self adjusting lever unfortunately.

Agmuns thinks it is a setting under menu but I have not found this so he may be mistaken.

I'm possibly wrong, since Yorky said the manual states you have to visit a dealer. Maybe it was one of the other cars I tried before I bought the 3008. I tried several cars before I made up my mind, and I read a lot about them before testing them. It's confusing me from time to time :lol:

 

[Dautres]

This subject has been discussed previously and I think the same conclusion was reached, however, in driving to my house in France over the past 15 years I speak from experience.

I previously drove cars with halogen headlamps and never fitted headlamp converters. I always set the headlamps to the lowest setting and only had the occasional headlamp flash from a disgruntled driver in the on-coming traffic.

Driving down this time in my 3008 GT with LED headlamps I was probably flashed more times in one journey than the whole of my previous journeys. I’m not sure whether the bright white lights made the difference or whether the automatic headlamp levelling doesn’t dip the light enough but this certainly needs looking in to before I make the trip again.

If you read this post perhaps you could comment Yorky.

I have received a belated response to my enquiry at my dealership about headlamp deflectors and have been informed they are required when driving on the Continent in the 3008. It seems different people have different opinions and I think I know what a Police Officer's attitude will be if I'm stopped!

 

[lee789]

Poor not having a menu setting to switch them over. A lot of cheaper cars have this, so for a car coming from mainland Europe it's a bit of a bummer.

 

[JupiterMan]

Poor not having a menu setting to switch them over. A lot of cheaper cars have this, so for a car coming from mainland Europe it's a bit of a bummer.

agreed - it should also be easy to fix this with a software upgrade for LED models.

but of a miss for Peugeot, that one.

 

[Dautres]

Reading the recent thread about adding different lights has reminded me I still have no real idea whether I should be fitting headlamp deflectors to my LED lights to comply with the law when travelling in France. If the deflectors will not fit properly and are affected by the heat so they do not adhere very well, as experienced by I think it was Nick, there seems little point.

Now the nights are beginning to draw in, I have parked my car with dipped lights in front of the garage doors a couple of times and have noticed there does not appear to be a kick up to the near side. To really test, I suppose I need to go somewhere where I can shine the lights on a wider wall so perhaps that’s a job for the near future.

I thought the purpose of the deflectors is to remove the kick up which would dazzle oncoming motorists when driving on the right. If there is no kick up is there a real need to adjust the headlamps?

I have found an MOT test document that describes the proper settings for headlamps with kick up to the near side, now all I have to do is find a similar document for France.

One potential problem is the fact that there does not appear to be a manual adjustment for LED headlamps and it might be necessary to adjust them down to fall within the legal parameters.

All this is of course hypothetical unless I can get Peugeot UK to confirm and in any event, may mean nothing to a keen Gendarme. Ho-hum!

 

[yorky52]

I'm driving over to France early September and would also like clarification as to the reflectors. I didn't put any on last time but all my driving was during daylight hours. This time I'll be driving through the night. It seems the only ones you can buy are for standard headlamps or halogen. I think the LED headlights get a little too warm and the reflectors fall off.

I think I'll probably risk not fitting them but have them in the car and plead forgetfulness if stopped..........if I find I'm getting flashed a lot I'll fit a set and see what happens from there.

 

[mtempsch]

I'm driving over to France early September and would also like clarification as to the reflectors. I didn't put any on last time but all my driving was during daylight hours. This time I'll be driving through the night. It seems the only ones you can buy are for standard headlamps or halogen. I think the LED headlights get a little too warm and the reflectors fall off.

I think I'll probably risk not fitting them but have them in the car and plead forgetfulness if stopped..........if I find I'm getting flashed a lot I'll fit a set and see what happens from there.

What does the beam pattern look like if you park in front of a wall? All flat or with a kick-up to the nearside? _____ vs. \____

 

[yorky52]

What does the beam pattern look like if you park in front of a wall? All flat or with a kick-up to the nearside? _____ vs. \____

Not really looked at that. I'll find a wall next time I'm out in the dark and check.

 

[Brilec]

On my 308 with LED headlights there is a manual up/down adjustment on the top of each light unit.
The beam pattern is flat, so there is no need to make any change for Europe. I have been there twice since I got this car with no problems either from the law or oncoming drivers.

However I did manually tweak the LH headlight down a tad.

 

[Dautres]

On my 308 with LED headlights there is a manual up/down adjustment on the top of each light unit.
The beam pattern is flat, so there is no need to make any change for Europe. I have been there twice since I got this car with no problems either from the law or oncoming drivers.

However I did manually tweak the LH headlight down a tad.

I am almost certain the beam is flat but I'll find a suitable wall to test and confirm. I found the attached on the pistonheads forum and I'm assuming if the light pattern of my LED lights falls within the detailed parameters for the flat section I should be okay. I don't particularly want to mess around adjusting the height of the headlamps mechanically.

I have driven many 1000s miles in France without fitting headlamp converters and have never been stopped. All my previous cars had switched headlamp height adjustment and I always made sure this was at the lowest setting. This option has been taken away from me in the 3008.

 

[Dautres]

Just been to check again and I cannot see any sign of a kick up on the dipped beam to the near side.

One thing I did find that I would never have found if I had needed them in a hurry, the switches for the front and rear fog lamps - on the lights control stalk. What's wrong with two ordinary switches on the right hand side of the dash like all my previous cars?

 

[Bluehdi]

Your posts made me go out and look at my 3008 headlamp units.

I noticed when you lift the bonnet, at the top/rear of each of the LED headlamp units, there is a white torx screw that has 'Site/Vertical Adjustment' embossed adjacent to it. I certainly wouldn't want to be fiddling with this, but clearly this is made available for some sort of vertical adjustment for garages to carry out.

My previous C4 Grand Picasso, had factory fit xenons, but also had manual height headlamp adjustment, but as you say the 3008 is supposed to do it all automatically.

 

[Dautres]

there is a white torx screw that has 'Site/Vertical Adjustment' embossed adjacent to it.

As mentioned by Brilec earlier but I hadn’t got round to checking mine. Not sure how adjustment would affect the automatic levelling and there could be a seal on the screw so Peugeot would be able to tell if it's been tampered with.

 

[mtempsch]

Your posts made me go out and look at my 3008 headlamp units.

I noticed when you lift the bonnet, at the top/rear of each of the LED headlamp units, there is a white torx screw that has 'Site/Vertical Adjustment' embossed adjacent to it. I certainly wouldn't want to be fiddling with this, but clearly this is made available for some sort of vertical adjustment for garages to carry out.

My previous C4 Grand Picasso, had factory fit xenons, but also had manual height headlamp adjustment, but as you say the 3008 is supposed to do it all automatically.

I would assume that the manual screw(adjuster sets the 'zero' position for the system. Same as for a car with plain halogens and in-cabin load-adjuster switch/knob. In a Swedish equivalent to an MOT, the lights must be able to be correctly set using the screws on the housings with the in-cabin adjuster set to 0. If you need to use the in-cabin adjuster (I'm assuming unless the car is actually loaded while tested) to ge the lights down to a correct position, it's a fail.