Do US cars have the same headlights as Euros?

Arde

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No, US used sealed beams that with their circular surface look odd. As their are vacuum sealed the internal reflector is always clean and never deteriorates from humidity. On the other hand they put out very little light.

Euros used the flat Hella's which have much brighter halogen bulbs and the shape of the lens is nice and period correct along with what you see in Porsche's and other BMWs like E12 and even E24s. There are Cibie's that also fit the Euro shape and even better illumination.

In addition to this there are differences in the circuit, where Euro parking lights use small bulbs inside the headlight while US uses the front markers instead. It is possible to upgrade to Hella or Cibie yet keep the US wiring.

If you stay with 55W bulbs the circuit and fuses are the same for US and Euro. Going higher Watts probably deserves a relay for the low lights and maybe
a fuse change. People keep warning me against using higher watts on old wiring, it may be an issue if there is some series resistance somewhere in the path, but I believe it cannot by itself cause fuses to blow or ground leaks to do any more harm.
 
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HB Chris

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And euro low beam is an H1, not H4 and dip switch is different to accommodate. I converted mine to euro and really like it. The euro H1 lens is larger than the the US H4 face which doesn't fill the grille opening. Terry C told me how to jump the wires so that low stays on with hi beam which the US switch doesn't do.
 

HB Chris

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Buckets are the same. If you use the euro lo beam with city light a minor wiring change is needed but very easy to do.
 

m_thompson

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If you convert to Euro headlights, don't forget to put a spare bulb in the empty location in the toolbox.
 

Lotuss7

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It is possible to replace the sealed beam headlights with H1/H4 types without rewiring. Simply replace the units and use an adaptor to convert connection from US to Euro.

I went with Cibie which IMO have better lens profiles. Contact Daniel Stern. He is very helpful and has everything to needed for a "plug and play" installation. Link below.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html

John
 

Markos

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I'm confused. My outer beams have H4 lenses. I wonder if I have two sets of highs when the brights are engaged.
 

HB Chris

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US uses H4 Low beam and H1 High beam, when High beam is on a filament in each is illuminated. Euro coupes use H1 Low (with city light) and H1 High and have a different stalk to activate. If you want to use H1 for Low beam you need to modify the US stalk, very simple to do. Otherwise your H1 Low will go out when the H1 High is selected.
 

sfdon

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H1 and H4 are terms for Bulbs.
Bulbs go in Lamps
h4 bulbs are for low beams because they have Graves Shields and two filaments.
H1 bulbs go in hi beams and in euro lo beams with city lights
 

Markos

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Thanks Chris. Also thanks Don for the kindergarten lesson. :). I've run H4's in every non-projector car that I have owned. I was confused because as you know, H4's are dual filament. Chris's explanation makes sense

I have only driven one BMW. It was a '71 e9, about two blocks back in march (during the day).
 

sfdon

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Sometimes I write stuff like that to keep the facts straight in my mind.
I think it's the sometimers disease kicking in.
It's interesting reading on the Graves shield if you get a chance!
 

3.0CS

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Hi guys:

Following on this topic, I have a question:

What about the profile or shape of the lense? I have seen cars with convex or curved glass but also some others with flat glass. My 1974 US version car came to me with flat lenses, but since I broke one accidentally I had to change to whatever I coudl find... which was a convex. Now I want to get a full set and to make it look correct for a European version as I am converting my car to European.

So, in a few words, question is: what type of headlight units did European cars and what brand?

Thanks,
victor
 

HB Chris

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US cars all got sealed beam convex lamps due to antiquated lighting regulations. Owners here could find Cibie convex or Hella flat lenses among possibly others. Euro coupes I believe had the flat lenses, Hella being fairly common.
 

lloyd

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Typical halogen non-sealed globes with separate removable bulb assemblies. Probably Cibie brand.
83c45a3b9ac07ac06ae9bb114331bf3f.jpg



French. Bosch lens pattern (?)
6cf47744eefc779b2ff63f51f826afed.jpg



Something that wasn't mentioned in previous discussion is that the sealed beam design was standardized as mandated by the US Department of Transportation or "DOT" in 1940. In fact, the rules provided for two 7" sealed tunsten-element beams. In the late '50s ('57?), the rules were amended to permit the use of four 5 3/4" sealed beams, followed by another amendment in '75 to allow for rectangular sealed beam units. Replaceable halogen bulbs did not enter the European markets until the early '60s.

Enforcement of the DOT rules was often overlooked by traffic police; however, there was a time when many US states required yearly inspections. Part of the inspection process involved testing that the headlights were properly aimed. Testing equipment measured the beam and illumination pattern found in the uniform design of the sealed beams. European lenses produced a different illumination pattern/spread and vehicles fitted with them failed inspection. During the late '70s the rules were relaxed to permit the introduction of brighter halogen lighting, and by that time inspections seemed to be on the decline, allowing some OEM Euro-lighting to "infiltrate" the US markets.

US auto lamp manufacturers offered some sealed headlamp improvements that incorporated halogen enclosed bulbs. This, did not provide the same illumination as the OEM European market lighting, but it was a step in the right direction.


Typical North American sealed beam, with upgraded "halogen" element, available since the late '70s.
799502_x800.jpg


815102_x800.jpg





2000cs fitted with US Dot approved sealed beams
1965-BMW-2000CS-ROAD-TEST-01.jpg


Euro version
images


A third, less-effective lighting alternative. Stealth illumination
IMG_3586_zpsufpezdzc.jpg


Britain, Australia, and some other Commonwealth countries, as well as Japan and Sweden, also made extensive use of 7-inch sealed beams, though they were not mandated as they were in the United States. This headlamp format was not widely accepted in continental Europe, which found replaceable bulbs and variations in the size and shape of headlamps useful in car design. This led to different front-end designs for each side of the Atlantic for decades.[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp





Tthe accuracy of the following is unconfirmed:
The first dual-filament halogen bulb to produce both a low and a high beam, the H4 (60/55 W @ 12 V, 1650/1000 lm ±15% @ 13.2 V), was released in 1971 and quickly became the predominant headlamp bulb throughout the world except in the United States, where the H4 is still not legal for automotive use. In 1992, Americans created their own standard for a bulb called HB2: almost identical to H4 except with more stringent constraints on filament geometry and positional variance, and power consumption and light output expressed at the US test voltage of 12.8V. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headlamp




H1
H1-Lampe-12V-55W_20050302_1950_2247.jpg




H1 lamp assemblies
IMG_3690_zpsm8q24auu.jpg



H4 bulb
800px-H4_Philips_Premium_used.JPG



Sealed beams treated with respect.
tumblr_nto46oeSka1r37rcwo1_1280.jpg




Auto bulb "types": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_automotive_light_bulb_types
 
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Markos

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And euro low beam is an H1, not H4 and dip switch is different to accommodate. I converted mine to euro and really like it. The euro H1 lens is larger than the the US H4 face which doesn't fill the grille opening. Terry C told me how to jump the wires so that low stays on with hi beam which the US switch doesn't do.

This is still confusing to me. I assume that the US cars got sealed beams, but you refer to them as H4's. Am I missing something? I have always been under the impression that H4 stood for the removeable bulb found in european cars and US motorcycles with integrated hi/low filaments (not the socket pattern). My car has H4's. The lense says H4 as they usually do, and the bulb is replaceable. The lense is also flat, as all of my H4 lenses have been.

My donor car has sealed beams low and high. The high beams are made by Toshiba and are actually pretty cool.

24771073432_300b6c32fe_b.jpg


This is an H4 bulb. It slides into the back of a housing and rubber boot fits over the back:

3100271_A.jpg
 
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lloyd

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Many electric companies made/sold/sell sealed halogen beam headlamps. Phillips, GE, Sylvania, Wagner, Bosch spring to mind. May have seen Hitachi brand too.

Chris mentioned low light emissions, from sealed beam tunsgten lamps. This was not always the case. I vaguely recall a neighborhood Jeep and Plymouth that were easily identified at night - because they were fitted with "sealed beam" aircraft landing lamps, in place of standard headlights. I suspect those lamps made greater demands on a typical automotive electrical system and probably had a very limited life span as compared to specific DOT compliant lighting. Probably made night landings on driveway and garage safer - at the expense of family pet eyesight. :cool:
 

Markos

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This is still confusing to me. I assume that the US cars got sealed beams, but you refer to them as H4's. Am I missing something? I have always been under the impression that H4 stood for the removeable bulb found in european cars and US motorcycles with integrated hi/low filaments (not the socket pattern). My car has H4's. The lense says H4 as they usually do, and the bulb is replaceable. The lense is also flat, as all of my H4 lenses have been.

I stand corrected. They are DOT approved H4 sealed beams. I've never seen such a thing. My apologies for doubting you Chris!

FYI - They also have a very slight curve to them. Nothing like the bulbous sealed beams on my donor car.

IMG_0209.JPG
 

MatthewCervi

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I stand corrected. They are DOT approved H4 sealed beams. I've never seen such a thing. My apologies for doubting you Chris!

FYI - They also have a very slight curve to them. Nothing like the bulbous sealed beams on my donor car.

View attachment 24911
Isn't SAE M a motorcycle light? I think technically they aren't approved for automotive use (but I sure see them marketed that way a lot).
 
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