Headlights - Discussion and Questions

[Brew69]

No matter how bad they are nothing could justify spending 2k on Bi-xenons.

[tonymy01]

I think they are brilliant. Auto level, steering/cornering, washers, I think they are worth it. When I get into a halogen car now, it seems like it uses candles for lighting

[Brew69]

2k could give you lightforce HID's x 6 which would light up Sydney from Melbourne.

[pologti18t]

Are your lights aligned correctly and the manual level switch set on 0?
Otherwise... get some Philips Visionplus main beams

[nat225]

In that case nothing can justify spending more than $20k on a new car given that greatwall, hyunday and kia are available at $12999-$19999 driveaway. Should be good enough to get u from A to B in style

And nothing should justify spending more than $5 for a meal.

No matter how bad they are nothing could justify spending 2k on Bi-xenons.

[Alex31]

2k could give you lightforce HID's x 6 which would light up Sydney from Melbourne.

Are we talking about golfs or have I gone on a hilux forum?

[nat225]

The high beam in mk6 H15 bulb is weak. Plus there is no other option besides the only one from Osram itself.

Dunno what high beam bulbs they use in the mk7... but if they are drl / high beam combo, it is likely to be H15.

The mk5 and prefacelift Tiguan use H7 in both low and high beam; and H7 halogen is designed to give more luminance (1700 lumens) compared to other halogen bulbs (1300-1500 lumens). H7 osram rally gives more than 2000lumens.

HID gives 3500 lumens i think.

[Diesel_vert]

The high beam in mk6 H15 bulb is weak. Plus there is no other option besides the only one from Osram itself.

Dunno what high beam bulbs they use in the mk7... but if they are drl / high beam combo, it is likely to be H15.

The mk5 and prefacelift Tiguan use H7 in both low and high beam; and H7 halogen is designed to give more luminance (1700 lumens) compared to other halogen bulbs (1300-1500 lumens). H7 osram rally gives more than 2000lumens.

HID gives 3500 lumens i think.

The Golf Mk6 & Mk7 both use a H7 bulb for the dipped beam and a H15 bulb for the main beam.


H15 halogen bulbs have a dual filament; 1350 lumen (55W) for the main beam and 260 lumen (15W) for the DRL.

H7 halogen bulbs have a luminous flux of 1500.

The Osram Rallye [#64217] bulb uses the filament from a typical H9 bulb (2100 lumen) attached to a base of a H7 bulb, thus giving it a luminous flux of 2100.


D*R (reflector) gas-discharge bulbs have a luminous flux of 2800.

D*S (projector) gas-discharge bulbs have a luminous flux of 3200. The Golf Mk6 uses a D1S bulb & the Golf Mk7 uses a D3S bulb.


Unlike the older D1 and D2 bulbs, the newer D3 and D4 bulbs are mercury-free.

All luminous flux figures have a tolerance of +/-10%.

Have the headlights been improved on the Mk7? They are woeful on my GTD. They have a shadow between high and low beam, as well as just generally weak and poor performance.

Are your lights aligned correctly and the manual level switch set on 0?

I would also double-check. Else, consider getting them re-aligned.

Otherwise... get some Philips Visionplus main beams

No can do for the Golf Mk6 & Mk7, but there are plenty of options for the dipped beam.

[Mountainman]

There are plenty of cars around that have halogen lights that are far superior to those on the Golf 7. The standard set up on my brother's 16 year old Camry for example. Or any Commodore or Falcon from the past 20 years. It's hard to understand how VW could get it so wrong. From memory the lights of my Mk1 Golf (I replaced the standard bulbs with H4's) from 35 years ago were better than the ones on my Mk7. In fact every car I've owned since has had better lights. High beam is worse than low beam.

[REGS12]

Thanks everyone for backing up my opinion of the headlights.
Where will it go from here? Does VW ever note what is said on these forums or do we just grizzle among ourselves.
I believe there is a roadworthiness issue here, but I'm not sure where to take it. Any suggestions?