BCM Community

I finally got my Cibie 165mm H4 headlights from Daniel Stern.  (They were backordered for a month and a half.)  I'm wondering if anyone here can answer two questions about them?

1. They are advertised on Daniel Stern's website as being ECE and and SAE M compliant.  The lights also have a DOT marking on them which surprised me.  Is the lighting performance compromised if they meet DOT standards?

2.  The lights came with a stupid little wiring adapter thy say is required to use.  I bought a Made in the USA wiring harness with ceramic H4 sockets and 12 gauge wire.  Any reason I should need this cheesy adapter?  I don't want another place to corrode.

I would install the lights today, but my bus has been in the shop two weeks getting a windshield replaced and still isn't back home.

On my Hella's the adaptor was a cross-over cable to change the pin-out of the stock cable to match the pin-out of the new bulbs.  Your is probably the same.

Brian

Brian,

We may be talking about different things, but when Stern sent me all the parts, I misunderstood how he imagined wiring it. If you have connectors that match the existing light connections, he intends to use those existing connections to trigger relays. That way you don't have to break into the existing circuits. You simply plug the male into the female and use what would normally be the voltage to the light to trigger a relay. Of course you need relays and to run power to the relays to make this work.

My apologies if I misread your post.

If I had realized this in the beginning it would have made the job much quicker.

I don't think Daniel Stern sent the adapter himself.  It came in the Valeo/Cibie box and there is a note with Cibie's name on it that the adapter must be used for safety reasons.

It appears Brian Evans is right on the money that the pinout is different.  I looked at the adapter closer and it does indeed change the pinout.  I think I'll just wire things up so the wiring is correct on my socket and I don't need the adapter.

Brian,

Good for you.  Cibie makes great products and I have never heard of any of their headlights that were a disappointment in any way.  Except SAE and they were good performers in comp with other SAE junk.  The spec "was" truly written to blind the oncoming traffic.

Adapter?  Never heard of any such thing and I respect your judgement.  Remove any connection you can.  Less is more.

12 gauge sounds good.  I use 10 but that's me and my penchant for over kill.  

The voltage drops are in the connections and switch contacts and relay contacts.  Improve the connectors connection by squirting "silicone spark-plug boot release" into the crimp on lug before you crimp.  Put it in the already made connectors before connecting them.  Switches in high end cars from Japan have "grease" inside the switches and the little nubs of contacts swim in it.  My headlight connectors are packed with a thicker version that improves the contact and prevents air/water from reaching the contact pins and oxidizing them.

I can't get into the relay but I choose the ones rated for 30 amps so any sparking will be much less than their max rating would cause and they should last longer.  I have seen the little cube relays rated for 15 amps if memory serves and I would certainly avoid them.  They looked identical to the 30 amp versions but weren't made by Bosch.

I can't do this as I don't know what lights you bought:  Look up the Cibie sight and see what lights you can buy for your application.  If there are two options and one is SAE and the other is Euro or "E" Spec do not purchase the SAE.  I think times are changing as I see ever more imports with E spec sharp cutoff lights and I can't imagine that E Spec is still illegal.  Maybe you could post on that.

Squirt that silicone grease into the light socket before you put it together and if there is a big waterproofing boot like on some then grease the edges of the rubber.

What is the application of your lights and what Cibie model number did you purchase?

John

Quote from: RichardEntrekin on May 07, 2011, 03:18:39 PM
Brian,

We may be talking about different things, but when Stern sent me all the parts, I misunderstood how he imagined wiring it. If you have connectors that match the existing light connections, he intends to use those existing connections to trigger relays. That way you don't have to break into the existing circuits. You simply plug the male into the female and use what would normally be the voltage to the light to trigger a relay. Of course you need relays and to run power to the relays to make this work.

My apologies if I misread your post.

If I had realized this in the beginning it would have made the job much quicker.

YES!

Daniel Stern's website lists the 165mm H4 headlight as having ECE compliance.  I was pretty clear I wanted an ECE headlight when I ordered.

The headlight came in a Valeo box, but the light itself says Cibie on the lense.  Valeo owns Cibie.  The part number is 082395.  The light has a sticker on it that shows the part number and also says HCR E2.  I am having difficulty finding any english website with information about this light.  The Valeo USA website doesn't list lighting.

I still think it will be superior to what I have now.