[adamkpl]

Hi everyone. I love our Crosstour and with a potential upcoming move to Europe (Poland specifically) I've been contemplating selling or bringing it with us. Personally I like the North American Crosstour compared to the Accord Tourer they have over there. Unlike in the US many individuals bring cars over from the North American market into Europe, however, some mods are necessary. Aside from some small things like bulb colors and sidemarkers which can be an easy weekend project the big issue is headlights. In the USA and Canada we use symmetric lighting whereas in Europe the regulations require asymmetric lights. Our other car is a prius and its as easy as getting new headlamps at a junk yard and swapping. No such luck with the crosstour which a company quotes almost $1000usd to "glue in" bi-halogen reflectors into the headlight.

Anyone have experience with this and/or have any ideas. I was also considering possibly purchasing a European/UK version of accord headlamps and doing some body work to have them fit. Any ideas about this?

Thanks all in advance,

 

[RyansQuick6]

What exactly is the difference as far as design goes?

 

[adamkpl]

What exactly is the difference as far as design goes?

I believe that by the actual look there is no difference, however, how the light shines onto the road/other objects is the key difference.

I believe this is asymmetrical:

and symmetrical

 

[iggibar]

So, what you basically are saying is that your lights need to be "adaptive?" If that's the case, that's the first time I've ever heard of such a thing, and I've traveled all over europe, including Poland. I know their "older" cars need to have modified light(usually to point down, and to have daytime running lights on cars that don't have them standard), but I never noticed such a weird light setup based off continuous driving. We did rent a range rover sport that had that setup, but the audi a4 didn't. How can that be? My uncle bought an old chrysler from the US, that he imported to Canada. Changing the lights to run as day-time running lights cost him $600c. $1000 euro doesn't seem much for the crosstour's setup, especially if they are projector beams.

 

[adamkpl]

Thanks for the replies.

@Iggibar - Poland only requires daytime running lights on specific roads and in the winter time so DRLs are not an issue.

Asymmetrical lights are different than adaptive headlights. I just found this online to shed some additional information:


"Asymmetrical headlights are the standard in Europe bc they are not the same. The right light lights slightly to the right on the the shoulder, and the left slightly left towards the middle on the road, that way no one get blindend by your headlights as your driving along."
So it seems to me like a matter of horizontal alignment - any ideas on how to proceed?

 

[RyansQuick6]

Most late model domestic headlights are asymmetrical anyway. It's an international standard, not a US standard.

You should be perfectly fine in your current setup.

 

[adamkpl]

Most late model domestic headlights are asymmetrical anyway. It's an international standard, not a US standard.

You should be perfectly fine in your current setup.

Sorry I think you are mistaken. North American vehicles are built to US DOT standards. In Europe the vehicles are built to ECE standards. Essentially a picture with the difference is attached.

Even a quick wikipedia search will tell you:

"Low beam (dipped beam, passing beam, meeting beam) headlamps provide a distribution of light designed to provide adequate forward and lateral illumination with limits on light directed towards the eyes of other road users, to control glare. This beam is intended for use whenever other vehicles are present ahead. The international ECE Regulations for filament headlamps[4] and for high-intensity discharge headlamps[5] specify a beam with a sharp, asymmetric cutoff preventing significant amounts of light from being cast into the eyes of drivers of preceding or oncoming cars. Control of glare is less strict in the North American SAE beam standard contained in FMVSS / CMVSS 108.[6]"

US/Canadian market cars are quite common in Poland and as such there are numerous company's that specialize in conversions (as I mentioned in my original post this is expensive)...At the same time the police watch out for this and regularly pull over non-European market cars and check the lighting (apparently they just make you shine your lights onto a building and can tell if they are setup appropriately). However you will notice in Europe low beams are pointed lower compared to North American cars. I don't think its as easy as reaiming the lights, however.

Here is a couple links link explaining some more ECE (Europe) vs US DOT standards: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

http://newbeetle.org/forums/technical-modifications/17095-e-code-headlamps-vs-us-spec-headlamps.html

Unfortunately with the CT I cant just go to a European honda dealership and ask for European headlamps and swap.

 

[FredCl]

I am from Europe and we used to import a lot of US cars and motorcycles. When we went in for inspection we would temporarily put in a headlight that would "fit" and met the standards. after the inspection..... put the original back. If the Accord light fits (at least almost!) barrow them from someone for this purpose. I do NOT know if this still works but it is worth the try! Good luck out there and take care!

 

[adamkpl]

I am from Europe and we used to import a lot of US cars and motorcycles. When we went in for inspection we would temporarily put in a headlight that would "fit" and met the standards. after the inspection..... put the original back. If the Accord light fits (at least almost!) barrow them from someone for this purpose. I do NOT know if this still works but it is worth the try! Good luck out there and take care!

Thanks Fred - that is absolutely what someone else told me! Right on. The CT will be my daily driver and I plan to travel around as much as I can so I wouldn't want to get pulled over in another country and have to tow my car back. No idea how that works over there. Thanks!

 

[FredCl]

They do NOT tow your car away for something like this! they will give you what we call a "Fix-it" ticket, except for the fact that you DO get a higher fine then here in the USA it works virtually the same. Again we did this a LOT and I never heard of any problems.

 

[adamkpl]

Ok so assuming Im set with the headlights and the blinkers in back are ok - What would you recommend for the rear fog lights in the crosstour which are required over there as well?

 

[iggibar]

Do you think its possible to find spare Acura lights, and just replace the bulb/housing?
Not only would that be a fit for yours, but I wouldn't mind doing it on my CT

 

[RyansQuick6]

Wouldn't you also have to add side markers?

I misread the wiki, didn't realize what they meant by glare, figured it had more to do with widespread light output

 

[adamkpl]

@iggibar: Are you referring to the Acura ZDX or TSX? You probably already know but in Poland there is no Acura - only Honda. For example the Accord over there is like our TSX. I don't think those lights would fit into the CT "nicely".

@RyansQuick6: No worries but you are right that sidemarkers would be required. Honestly, I don't think this is too big of an issue seeing as you can just buy any on ebay and wire them to the blinkers.