Bus Depot Cibie Knock-Offs?

[Mos6502]

I ordered a pair because they were on sale, but I'm pretty disappointed with them. I want to know if anybody has had any good experience with these lights.

I only installed one so far to see how it does. Used a standard 55/60 watt H4 bulb. Got it aimed. Looked good on the wall. But out on the road? It's almost totally useless. Worse than the sealed beam it replaced. Basically the beam which looks nice and sharp when pointed on the wall, fades away to nothing down on the road, the sealed beam on the other side projected much further and brighter. I tried aiming the light higher and there was no perceptible improvement when back out on the road. Basically, I can outrun this light at 40mph and that's not good.

The high beam pattern is much better, and an improvement over what the sealed beams can do, but I don't drive with my high beams very often.

The other thing I noticed is that the glass seems to be dirty on the inside of the lens. This becomes very apparent when the lights are on - there's some sort of haze on the glass. Possibly glass bloom? Whatever it is it's not helping these work well.

Looking around on other forums I saw a suggestion that the manufacturer for these changed a few years ago and the new ones just aren't what they used to be. I want to know if anybody else has tried these and liked them. I'm thinking my pair may possibly be defective on account of whatever is hazing up the glass. Bus Depot say they won't refund parts that have been mounted, but they will take back defective items, so I'll see if they'll make any plans to help me.

Here's a picture - knock off cibie H4 on the right, IPCW H4 on the left:

In fact you can kind of see the differences in reflections - those off the IPCW lens are sharp and defined, those off the cibie clone are soft.

[VWCOOL]

did you buy fake and are now moaning about it..? Or...?

[Mos6502]

[Lingwendil]

Send them back and buy these- huge difference between them and sealed beam headlamps, and the bulbs they come with are nice too.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001G72SKQ/ref=sxl1...Mwebp_QL65

Bus depot sells them without bulbs for a buck less-

http://www.busdepot.com/0301600118

I've had a set on my 73 super for a few months now, and had a set on my 71 super too. Very nice quality. I had a set of real z-beams on the 61 Baja I wrecked at the beginning of the year, and I actually like these better.

_________________
73 super beetle thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=649622 Back on the Road!

Modify your Kadrons for SVDA http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8115884#8115884

Cast iron VJU4BR8 SVDA reference thread- https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

Need replacement filters for original Kadron aircleaners? WIX #42087 is a perfect fit, as is Napa Gold #2087!

[Busdepot]

A proper E-code H4 headlight will have a more controlled beam pattern than a sealed beam headlight, and when properly adjusted will focus more light on the road rather than the surroundings. (This may be subjectively confused with having less lighting, as the beam cutoff will be sharper.) However this assumes that your headlight system is working properly to begin with. If you have not noticed any improvement switching to E-code H4's and are outrunning your headlights, you almost certainly have voltage drop at the headlights, probably caused by corroded contacts and/or bad grounds. Simply replacing headlights will not overcome that problem. You will need to go through the entire circuit path and clean up or replace all of the contact points, and/or install relays to shorten the signal path.
_________________
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot
www.busdepot.com

[Mos6502]

Thanks for the responses.

I would be happy to send these back in part exchange for some of those Hella lamps.

The car already has relays for the headlights, and I tested the Cibie-style lamps against both the sealed beams and the cheapo IPCW H4 lamps, and in both cases the cibie-style lamps didn't throw light as far. I know even a little haze on glass can have an adverse effect on the performance of a lens, but unfortunately there's no way to clean the inner surface of the lens on these. They were either put together dirty at the factory or somehow got dirty from sitting in storage.

I wanted to like these because they're rounder and look more appropriate on an old car than other conversion lamps, but I can't sacrifice safety for looks.

[GBert]

G'Day...
After some looking, I purchased a Hella light pkg from CiP.1. The driver's side took a bit of fiddling to aim it but I have been very pleased with the overall improvement in lighting at night (55/60W). The pkg I bought came with the mounting bracket and bulb. This worked for me as my brackets were well on the way out. The two downsides are the adjustment screw quality is a bit weak and the "eyelids" that used to be installed on our 1978 Vert no longer fit. However, as you noted, safety first. Hope this helps. Good luck!
Greg

[hitest]

I'm not sure if this helps much, but... on my '71, I installed a set of Carello H4 swap meet bulbs I found at Pomona over in the V8 section for 10/pair! They had a little clouding in the glass- so I went through the painstaking toothbrush and cotton swap cleanup and installed my new Sylvania 55/60 bulbs from the nearest FLAPS.

I turned them on and POOF! almost instantly I had recoated each bulb with a thin layer of cloudiness- I imagine from some way the new bulbs burn in. After taking the lights completely out and apart, and repeating the cleaning procedure- they've been fine. My long point? Maybe the cloudiness is the result of some testing they do at the knockoff manufacturer?

I hope they get it right- I'd like to try those on my Thing.
_________________

[Mos6502]

Interesting! Unfortunately the bulb shield in theses means there's no real way to clean the inside through the back.

I decided to do a little research and found out that high quality Cibie reproductions are available under the name Valeo, they're about 44 euros each in Europe. Don't buy from the UK because they make RHD versions too. If somebody is looking for a good quality Cibie repro, these seem to be the best option.

I also found that these cheaper copies used to be sold under the brand Neolite, and you can still find some places that have these in stock. They seem to have a good reputation. On one forum I found a rumor that the current knock-offs (no brand on the box) are made with the old machines in the old Neolite factory and the quality such as it was has dropped off a bit.

So if anybody really wants the look of Cibie lamps without forking over a fortune for originals, those are two options to look into.

I also found that the Jeep crowd have a thing for IPF brand H4 conversions, but this is a more modern looking lamp, like the Hellas.

[rockerarm]

Yes as Mr Salmon stated, you must check for a voltage drop. Basically you will have 6 checks to verify. Battery positive terminal to lt low beam, rt low beam, ly hi beam, rt hi beam, battery negative terminal to lt side and battery negative terminal to rt side. This covers all 6 sub-circuits.
I have a daily driver '74 and confronted with dim headlights (over driving the light) upgraded to halogen seal beams to not much improvement and subsequently to cheapo H4's and still not the desired lighting. I performed the voltage drop test and saw I had a drop of 2.5v from the battery positive to the fuse box. The simplest repair at the time (being on calif state active duty) was to source two used relays, wire, and terminals and repair it in the field. Result is now a voltage drop of 1.5v from battery to the back of the H4 bulbs. Have since replaced the cheapo H4's with a used set of flat lens Hella's with the Sylvania ExtraVision 55/60 bulb. Will eventually improve those results. This is an easy DIYer repair that many can do that are cost effective.
Hope this helps, Bill

[Mos6502]

[Lingwendil]

Well, the Hella lamps have a rounded lens too, and a superior beam pattern to the cibie style lamps. I had a real set of cibie z-beams on my 61 for a while and have better visibility with these.
_________________
73 super beetle thread http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=649622 Back on the Road!

Modify your Kadrons for SVDA http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8115884#8115884

Cast iron VJU4BR8 SVDA reference thread- https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

Need replacement filters for original Kadron aircleaners? WIX #42087 is a perfect fit, as is Napa Gold #2087!

[vintagecarleds]

Maybe our LED Headlight kits might work for you?

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=630636
_________________
www.vintagecarleds.com
[email protected]
713-853-9644

[CTBUG]

For me much prefer vintage mid 1970s Marchal auxiliary lamps. My '79 SB is adorned with 2 circa 1975 7" round yellow Marchal fog lamps. Previously had a pair of modern Hella rectangular fog lamps mounted under the bumper but way more prone to damage and honestly the Marchals just look so much better. Did use the Hella wiring and relays hook up the Marchals.

Have owned 5 daily driver Beetles ('56-'74) in the past and a '91 Vanagon Carat Weekender. Fitted all with auxiliary fog lamps... Just so much more side visibility with fog lamps on.

[VWCOOL]

[Mos6502]

[GArBa]

the haze on the inside of the glass may just be deposit from moisture from a poor storage. You can try cleaning that with rubbing alcohol by accessing the lamp from the bulb opening with a glasses cleaning cloth and a chopstick to move it around.
_________________
cars:
'97 type 1 1600i
'14 type AA Seat Mii (sadly dead after 270.000 km)
'22 type C1 T-Cross
'23 type AC3 Hyundai I10 (VW no longer makes small cars!)
-------------------------
moped:
'82 Benelli Magnum 3v

[Mos6502]

[GArBa]

[ldj1002]

Seal beam headlights became law in 1940 thru 1984. Running with a bulb
inside a reflective device technically is unlawfully for cars between those years.