Headlight mod?

[Courageous]

I am in need of LHD headlamps for my roadster and am struggling a bit. They are just so damned expensive. It's got me wondering what the difference is between RH and LH. In the old days of glass lenses there was all manner of prismatic shapes but now they seem to be simple plastic shields. Is the direction of the dipping performed by the orientation of the lamp inside? If so could I take a set of RHD ones and modify them?

Hope someone here is clever enough to know!

[Z4 COUPSTER]

I thought you could switch them over? On the e46 I believe there was a way to switch the lights to bend to lhd/rhd.I assumed ours were the same.
D

[Courageous]

Good God I hope you're right Coupster! Anyone confirm please?

[Ducklakeview]

Yes you can, in a fashion there is a lever inside that alters the beam to remove the kick up on the nearside (rhd) and so make the beam flat. But you also won't get the kick up on the side you now need it on.

Mike

[Courageous]

Thanks for confirming Mike. That's another job for you on Sunday then

[rally-chris]

Just to be clear - using the internal lever to flatten the beam allows for RHD headlights to not dazzle oncoming cars when driving in Europe; it doesn’t make the headlights the same as LHD and you won’t pass any sort of roadworthiness test (like a UK MOT) that you might have to allow you to register the car abroad.

If you are moving the car permanently abroad then you’ll still need to look for some LHD headlights, however they may be easier to source where you are going than here in UK?

Chris

[Courageous]

Thanks Chris and good point. My plan is to leave the car on UK plates until pressed to do otherwise so this "fix" will help enormously. I am looking at pattern Z4 lamps and they seem to be all around the 400 euro mark! Even second hand ones here are that price. It's insane.

Going to keep my eyes sharp and as and when a good value set arrives I will make the move.