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MG MGF Technical - cack lights on mgf which bulbs??

Appologies as i know this has been covered many times but i thought an update on any bulbs you guy/gals have used may help me out.
Past the mot 4 months ago ,not a mention on the poor light output on the head lights.
I drive a corsa van for work and also my wifes Astra.
The lights on these (not new cars) really show how cack the mgf ones are.
Mine suffer the milky lense,s (not sure what the chrome is like behind)
My question is what bulbs has anyone fitted that has improved the output??? I used Ring xenon plus 30% more light on the road .Did not make a difference at all.
Has anyone used or can recommend some better ones.
Out of interesr what bulbs do the mgtf have in the light units ,the mgf,s are h 1.
I know they would not fit ,but do the light output go up on h4 h7 etc...?
Thanks
Mel
m e johnson

Mel,
This has next to nothing to do with the bulbs. It is all to do with the style of headlight which reflects the bulbs' light output into a coherent pattern - in theory.
Two things militate against this theory. In their seat of pants design budget they scoured all Europe for for the cheapest manufacturer of the lousey rottenest, units and found Valeo in Belgium who were prepared to play ball. For the sake of business, they were prepared throw something together for the rock bottom commission price that would not put themselves out of business. In turn to do this they used the flimsiest most wretchedly inadequate and short lived materials and manufacturing techniques. You now reap the whirlwind.
Your headlights even from the early cars will not pass a proper MOT after ten years and many far less long than this - meantime you can't see at night - a definite handicap.
Your options are principally to replace the headlamp units or to recoat the reflector. The lens milkiness does not help but is incidental rather than the prime cause.
If you upgrade to modern 'superbrilliance'(eg Halfords) bulbs it will make a big difference to new units, reflecting as they were designed to do. This translates to a slight but noticeable difference in old units. This is not significant compared to the other budget cars you mention whose lighting at night is adequate after years(but the Ford Mondeo from the start of the F era is just as bad. I know because I have one! both lamps replaced for MOT failure last year).
You could try the HID headlamp modification which is illegal - doesn't stop me trying it though. The problem with that(apart from illegality) is that without reflectors which help throw light forward, you will get very little practical benefit from all the extra light. I will find out this week how much better the pattern is, and the change to HID is reversible quite easily. The power consumption is nearly halved with a much cooler temperature inside the headlamp itself which in turn causes the 'gassing' degradation of the reflector surface to be reduced. This should help preserve my 'new' headlights for some years extra life - more theory!
I bit the bullet shortly after buying my now 11 year old car and gave it two new headlamps. Wow I couldn't believe the difference. Superbrilliance H1 bulbs also made a big difference with NEW reflectors.
There was a movement afoot to have an exchange scheme where old reflectors could be resilvered but via an exchange bank of donated parts. This was tragically disrupted by the untimely passing, last year, of the self employed fellow who could do the job for a reasonable price . It takes time to do it properly.
Well I hope you weren't too bored; in a phrase " new headlamps" is the only answer. Or buy a TF. Neither is perfect and/or cheap!
C.R.B. Simeon

hi guys i bought some h1 bulbs off ebay and side lamps £8.00 nice price look great 2 i will dig out the guys email for you
Darren Jeffery

C.R.B
Many thanks, thats in a nutshell!!!
I,ll budjet for new headlamps when the mot is next due i,m sure it can,t pass again.
Cheers Mel.
m e johnson

I'm curious then which of the 'new' lights should be fitted to a car??. Mines a 2k1 steptronic?
The lighting is like driving with a candle compared with my other car which is a Subaru Forester.

This issue is further compounded by the fact that the Isle of Man government see fit to prioritise bikes/TT over lighting and hence good road lighting and even cats eyes are in short supply.

So I'm thinking a replacement is a must, can you recommend a set
M V Rodman

This thread was discussed between 10/02/2007 and 13/02/2007

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