2001 Clio Headlight Search.. or angel eyes?

[Bex88]

Heya all, Had my MOT today and my clio failed on headlights being too scuffed up and not letting enough light through, (also a brake imbalance at the front.)

I need to get some headlights within 10 days for the free retest. I realise I could probably buff them up but they are pretty bad (2 previous years on advisory) and I'd like to get some new ones for it.

I have the Twin beams and they seem hard to come by. I would prefer a new pair or good 2nd hand pair and ideally don't wanna spend more than £30-40 each. The garage's supplier quoted £69 each!

Does anyone know where I can find some, found a few on ebay but Ideally wanted to see if I could find a new pair anywhere.

Eurocarparts sell the Hella ones for 80 odd quid, too much.

I have also come across the angel eyes. Found a pair of black ones for £117 free delivery on ebay brand new. Makes them £58.50 each, lil on the expensive side but might be willing to pay that for them, does anyone know if they will be ok, easy to fit and look alright on my silver clio? I'm not too worrid about the look of my car but not sure if black would look silly against the silver.

Any help really appreciated.

(Old pic where headlights wern't bad)

 

[McGherkin]

Angel eyes look horrid. Look for someone breaking a 172, usually 60-80 a pair. Or buff 'em up, it's not too hard.

 

[Bex88]

Angel eyes look horrid. Look for someone breaking a 172, usually 60-80 a pair. Or buff 'em up, it's not too hard.

Ok, I have seen some pics, I think they look alright, but maybe that's just me. I went to local scrapyard but they had none. Might try phoning/email around tomorrow. The original plan was to buff them, but the bloke at the mot station said if I did that in a few months they'll be back bad again. (?)

 

[McGherkin]

Seal them up with wax or sealant (Gtechniq C4 I believe- gally will surely correct me if I'm wrong) and they should be OK for a lot longer.

 

[ben lee]

Give it a go at cleaning them up first did mine they where nearly yellow very bad with some wet and dry g3 and some polish they look like new only cost a few quid and some time by hand.

Make sure the garage orderd the correct ones they prob used ur reg to get a quote if its a 1.2 then will be single reflectors and be wrong.

 

[Bex88]

Yea I may try and clean them up, they are very hazy and yellow though. I would just buy them though if I found them fairly cheap somewhere. When they quoted me the headlights the woman said twin beam on the phone so think it was the right ones they asked for.

 

[Zeitgeist0190]

Might as well try giving them a buff up, the 3m kit is about £15 and comes with everything you need, you just supply the drill.

 

[wilyoldave]

3M kit mate - did mine loads better has'nt gone hazy again.

 

[Bex88]

You know what, I think I'm gonna just try buffing it. I didn't realise you can get little kits for it which is handy. If it doesn't work well enough, I've found 2 sets of headlights on ebay one on bid for £26 for both currently, and the other pair for £70 make an offer (Look cleaner). So I've got a backup.

I want to give it a go tomorrow since I'll have nothing better to do, but my local halfords only sell this one: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_922499_langId_-1_categoryId_255233#tab8, ehat you reckon? Seems to have good reviews and I can borrow my stepdad's Drill.

 

[Bex88]

Seal them up with wax or sealant (Gtechniq C4 I believe- @gally will surely correct me if I'm wrong) and they should be OK for a lot longer.

I will need a sealant afterwards, but I can't believe how hard it is to find in the UK. Found a few sellers on ebay that sell the C4 stuff buts it's like £45, that combined with the kit and it's the same as buying decent 2nd hand headlights. Any other suggestions? The car is kept outside all the time which doesn't help.

Edit: Ah found some selling it at £25 which is better. lasts 2 years apparently. Do you use all of it per treatment or can you get multiple use out of it?

 

[ben lee]

Just use your normal wax/sealent.


Gtechniq go direct to there website. Also c2v3 would work well

 

[Bex88]

This is what I've done today:

Driver side light before

Passenger side light before

After 10 mins buffing on driver side

After buffing Passenger side for a while

After further Sanding & Buffing

Some marks still that show with lights on that I can't get to go (Maybe Inside?)

End result.

Definitely a ton better than they were, and hopefully they should pass the MOT this time. There still is some scuffs that show when the lights are one but I'm not sure if they are on the inside or just really stubborn.

I will probably give them a quick rebuff before the retest and then i need to order some sealant for them. I want to get a long lasting one like the C4 that claims up to 2 years or I also found Opti-seal which is cheaper too, is this stuff any good?

 

[Adamm.]

Much better, the Clio headlights are terrible for hazing.

What did you buff with? If they're really bad usually some wet and dry sand paper followed by polish will get the really nasty marks.

 

[Bex88]

Much better, the Clio headlights are terrible for hazing.

What did you buff with? If they're really bad usually some wet and dry sand paper followed by polish will get the really nasty marks.

I got the Meguiars headlight kit and sanded with the 4 different grit pads they give you and buffed with PlastX and a buffer on a drill.

 

[Adamm.]

Sounds about right then, just have to use more persistence to get every single mark out sometimes.

I can't imagine there will be marks on the inside, if it's on the outside though you should be able to feel it by running your fingers or finger nail over the specific mark. If it feels rough then its on the outside.

 

[Bex88]

I've noticed that the driver side side light or whatever it's properly called isn't working so I'll need to get a new bulb for it. How do I find what the right bulb is for it to tap online, or I could go down the local Wilcos car parts place and ask them. I typed it in google & ebay and it comes up with a lot of Xenon bulbs and Xenon upgrades, are these any good or should I stick with the originals?

 

[Adamm.]

The Osram nightbreaker bulbs are plenty good enough for the original units. Also depends what bulb. It could be side light, dipped beam or full beam. Dipped beam I'm guessing is what you're referring too and those are HB3 fitment on the ph1 iirc.

 

[Bex88]

Thanks for the fast reply, If you look on the 6th & 7th pics down of the lights on, its the 7th pic driver side inner little light that's not on. (2 turn clicks on the lights switch lever thing) hehe Such a noob with this stuff

If I was to remove the bulb will it say on it which one it is? Guessing its probably easy to change myself.

 

[ben lee]

Side light bulb 501.

 

[Bex88]

Side light bulb 501.

Brill, Thank you. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/W5W-501-5...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item43c03b85f4 Ordering these.

 

[Bex88]

Just a quick update, Car passed MOT retest with no advisories Thanks all for the help and encouragement. x