[Biggles]

Does anyone know if the Ampera headlight is a single unit or an outer shell with an insert ?

By insert, I mean something that looks like this-

HELLA 1BL 008 193-011 Halogen Scheinwerfereinsatz, Hauptscheinwerfer, Links oder Rechts

Hella 1BL008193-011 Abblendscheinwerfer / Hauptscheinwerfer Anzahl der Leuchtefunktionen: 1 Nennspannung V: 24 V Montageart: Einbau Ergänzungsartikel / Ergänzende Info: mit Glühlampe Leuchtefunktion: mit Abblendlicht...

www.centralbestellung.de

The Ampera headlight is an outer casing and then inside is a part which is a bit like a separate spotlight which I believe is a projector beam. In the advert above ( which appears not to be an Ampera ) the projector beam part is being offered as a separate assembly.

The reason is I have moved house from England to Germany and am required to convert my headlights for driving on the right. For a short visit no alteration is necessary but as I am moving here permanently I must change my headlights.

So far I have only been offered complete headlight units from the Opel dealer for 1500 Euros. If the light is built in two parts then I wont need the outer glass, only the inner projector beam and if its anything like the advert posted above I would be budgeting just a couple of hundred pounds.

 

[HandyAndy]

I think it's a single moulding, and I don't think you can simply replace the central projector bit to do what you want. I don't know how that item above dips, but Ampera has a mechanical shutter that clonks up & down. So it might be possible to take the unit out, and modify the blade, which presumably has a slight zig-zag to match the dip pattern. Alternatively, see if you can find light units at a breaker somewhere. Or, depending how permanent you move is, sell the Uk car & buy a German one?

 

[Biggles]

Yes, after much research I am coming to the conclusion that I can only buy a complete unit.

I considered selling and buying one already registered here, logically that's the sensible thing to do, however I spent a year looking for a good late model Ampera with full service history , not too much mileage and a valid 8 year guarantee. Now the cars are older its almost impossible to find such a car and if you do see a good one they cost a lot more in Germany than the UK..

Having the steering wheel on the wrong side is not so much of a problem because I still have a second home in England and do half my driving in the UK. If that was not the case I would sell and buy a lhd one as having the steering wheel on the wrong side makes overtaking difficult.

The daft thing is to sell the car when I am done I will probably be best to swap the lights back and bring it to the UK to sell !

Its surprising that Amperas cost more in Germany because they make less economic sense here. Electricity in Germany costs 30 cents per kwh and the UK average is nearly half that at 15p per kwh. I am one of the lucky few who can charge at home and thus I drive mainly on electricity but it does not work out much less than driving on petrol ... about a 25% saving whereas in England EV driving is less than half the cost petrol.

 

[Dethleffs]

...what about buying second-hand Volt units from America?

 

[Biggles]

...what about buying second-hand Volt units from America?

Volt has a different light unit, its has an orange section. it would probably fit physically but would not be suitable for Europe.