Legal Fitting of Xenon Headlights to a GTI Pirelli

[benough]

The blanks are removable from what I know but don't bother fitting them. You need a bigger washer tank and a second pump, it's silly.

In reality, they just dirty your clean car.

[benough]

Plus if you have an illegal setup and have an accident, should the insurance assessor discover them you may void your insurance, that would be very bad.

Have there been any reported cases of this though? Where an OEM retrofit has been installed without washers and they've denied a whole claim?

[arcadelt]

You need a bigger washer tank and a second pump

Hmmm, hadn't thought about the water supply. Thanks for that extra detail.

[tigger73]

My understanding of the reason for putting in a washer system is that in countries where they salt the roads you can end up with a salt coating on the headlight lens which can diffuse the light (up into eyes of oncoming traffic).

As others have said to be legal you have to have it fitted but the reason for having it fitted really doesn't apply here as we don't use salt.

So really the only thing that is important (if you're going to load up your car) is the auto-levellers.

[arcadelt]

My understanding of the reason for putting in a washer system is that in countries where they salt the roads you can end up with a salt coating on the headlight lens which can diffuse the light (up into eyes of oncoming traffic).

As others have said to be legal you have to have it fitted but the reason for having it fitted really doesn't apply here as we don't use salt.

So really the only thing that is important (if you're going to load up your car) is the auto-levellers.

My understanding is that washers are required to counter the light dispersion effect caused by any dirt, not just salt, and in this country we have plenty of dust and insects that can cause that. To quote from an Osram blog:

So why do headlamps need a washer system at all? Most people think it is so that dirt cannot dim the light. This is only partly true, and in fact, this wouldn’t be a particularly crucial concern with xenon lights, which have such a very high light output. The main reason for the requirement is that dirt can impair the optical features of the headlamp and cause glare. Incidentally, headlamps which are only slightly soiled cause a stronger glare, and of course the brighter the headlamp, the stronger the glare.

Personally, I think trying to determine what's mechanically important is really an academic exercise, because the law is the law, and no matter what we personally think or feel about its validity, we should comply (BTW, not ruling out proper challenges to the legal system by saying this). In the end, I'm still trying to make a choice between two cars, and from what I have read so far, I'd have to factor between $800 to >$3000 into the equation, plus the time and effort involved, in favour of the car with factory Xenons. That said, your original advice of "going with the car that has been looked after" is sage, and currently factoring high in my considerations.