LHD New Beetle - RHD Headlights problem

[Kelli Feltham]

Hi
can you tell me if you managed to change the lights ? If so please tell me? I'm in Spain and changing the plates from
uk to Spanish, I pray I don't need to buy new ones thank you

[Frelon]

Hi Kelli

No you do not need new headlights, but you will need a new rear fog light and reversing light (they are on the wrong side!) to comply with Spanish (and French) laws.

The headlights have a little lever inside, just move it over.

[hedgehog_s]

Hi, Same problem - where is the lever for swapping them LHD to RHD and vice versa please!!

Cheers

[Frelon]

Beetle Headlight Dipped Beam adjustment.jpg

[hedgehog_s]

Thanks but what to do with it and how to access it!!??

[Frelon]

First of all you have to remove the whole headlight unit - look up how to do this.

Then, move the lever (shown in picture) in the opposite direction to the one it is set at!

Then replace headlight unit. Simples!!

[hedgehog_s]

headlights out but access to the lever?? what colour is the lever - i can see white plastic in this location - is it a left/right movement or up/down one??

[Frelon]

If you hold the headlight unit exactly as the picture, the lever is arrowed. Try moving it one way then the other. The end of a screwdriver goes in the slot.

Sadly I cannot remember which way it goes. But you just move it in the opposite way to how it is set at present (if your headlights were set to dip to the left a la UK then moving the lever in the opposite direction will dip them to the right)

UNLESS of course VW have changed the design of the lights (unlikely).

Good luck.

[garryh]

If you hold the headlight unit exactly as the picture, the lever is arrowed. Try moving it one way then the other. The end of a screwdriver goes in the slot.

Sadly I cannot remember which way it goes. But you just move it in the opposite way to how it is set at present (if your headlights were set to dip to the left a la UK then moving the lever in the opposite direction will dip them to the right)

UNLESS of course VW have changed the design of the lights (unlikely).

Good luck.

Hi, Sorry Frelon but the information you have been giving out is wrong. The little levers you are talking about do not convert the headlights from LHD to RHD and vice versa. They allow the headlight to produce a level beam of light (as required in the USA) or by moving the lever allow the headlight to produce a beam of light that for half it's width is inclined upward. So on a UK car the beam would be inclined upward on the left to allow more visibility of traffic signs and pedestrians. The little lever's you mention operate a shutter inside the headlight to achieve this change. I have had my headlights apart and I know that the shutter is not reversible so it cannot produce a beam of light that is inclined upward to the right hand side for driving in the EU
If you want to get a UK spec car through Control Technique in France you need to change the headlights.
On the other hand I did not need to buy new reversing and rear fog lights. I moved them from one side of the car to the other and extended the wiring loom to suit and it passed the CT with no issues.

[Frelon]

Well Garryh, I can only tell forumites of my experience with this challenge - followers of this thread can make their own decisions!

If you re-read my posting from 2012..

"I originally bought an imported LHD New Beetle in the UK (the first ones in the UK were all LHD). I bought it just as the RHD models were being introduced to the UK and it was just 2½ years old. It had headlights dipping to the right and had the rear fog light on the left with reversing light on the right! To get it through the MOT I had to change the headlights (the VW garage did not tell me that there was a lever to change over the dipped beam!) and buy a new rear fog light and reversing light. I got the VW garage to organise the wiring for the rear lights.

A couple of years later I made the decision to move to France with my wife. So when I moved over I just changed the rear lights over (I had kept the original spec lights) put the wiring back as it was and, voila problem solved, and easily through the Contrôle Technique."

I am impressed that you managed to swap the rear fog light and reversing lights over as they are physically different shape units! Well done!