Light conversion - UK to Continental beam direction

[welshwizard]

on a Xenon equipped car....

I have been driving around for the past 18 months in europe with a car set up for RHD...

not been flashed once

Has anyone tried changing the beam direction? It looks a little tight in the engine bay for someone with big clumsy hands....

Also... fog lamps are on the wrong side... has anyone swapped sides? Is this as simple as I think?

Only when I had the car tested by the RDW in Holland was I told this was a problem... so the car has to be retested.

Any advice useful thanks

[sgould]

Handbook on some models shows a switch to change them, but I don't think anyone has found it. It's supposed to be inside the lamp unit under the big round plastic cover. You may have to remove some rubber pipes and the battery cover to get the covers off!! When I removed the covers recently to change a bulb, I put elastoplast on my knuckles in advance!!

For foreign driving I have adjusted the lights down a turn using the white plastic hex drive adjusters. About 1 turn is enough. If you park against a wall you can see the beam steps up a small amount to the left. I just lowered the beam until the high bit on the left came down to the same level as the RHS was. Although you may be OK as I found that the 9-3SS came from the factory with the beams set very low anyway and I had to turn them up for normal driving in UK.

[welshwizard]

Cheers Wil,
The beam on the left side was higher than the right so I have no option to change them... need to have this done by Friday

[troll]

The 93 ss with Xenons need no adjustment, this topic was covered in the "driving on the continent" topic - link here

http://www.saabscene.co.uk/ubb/ultimatebb....ic/19/2013.html

check the second page if you're in a hurry.
Hope this helps

[welshwizard]

It's a little bit inconclusive on that thread. I also thought there was a section about adjustment but once I looked again could not see it

If I have no luck tonight then I will have to annoy the guys in my new garage in the Hague.

I have been told 'officially' to adjust them so I have no option unfortunately... I have to 'import' my car from Germany to the Netherlands and the car was set up for RHD

[troll]

well, I guess this is getting a bit confusing! I have been told 'officially' that they need no adjustment on the 93ss. (maybe this explains why you haven't been flashed?) I've asked my dealer service dept 3 times now and they've checked with Sweden and the answer is the same, so basically I'm leaving mine alone when I go abroad. Report back when you get it sorted, it'll be interesting to see how this pans out .

[welshwizard]

Ok!
Apparently sorted! will check tonight to see when it's dark and Sabine's against a wall

On mine (June 2003 build) there are two tiny switches next to the lamp unit as soon as you have peeled off the rubber cover... On UK cars in GB the switch should be in the 'down' position. In continental europe the switch should be moved upwards - and it's onlt a small movement (about 10 degrees).

This was done with the help of an Opel technician at the Opel/Chevrolet/Saab dealer in Leiden where you can guess that there are only 3 old shape 9-3s lurking around and that's it but job done F.O.C.