IanF

My dealer has quoted me five hours labour to put a set of PIAA driving lamps on my UK MY99 car.

I can't believe it would take that long. Does anyone have any first hand expereince?

Regards
IanF

PS Are they any good?

Steve Prockter

Ian....I had my PIAA's replaced under warranty (misted up) and it took the dealer about 1/2 hour to swap, but I guess the wiring is in place already. Having said that I have seen Pete Croney fit his lights in about 10/15 minutes or so with new wiring loom etc.

PIAA's are very good, but seem to be non adjusteable inwards or outwards, just up and down. The curved contour of the front bumper seems to angle the lights outwards further than is ideal.

Hope that helps

Steve

ransj

Ian,

I think the garage is taking the p**s. If you want them wired up with main beam the fitting should take no more than an hour.

Simon.

PS They are very good - although the bulbs are a little expensive, PIAA uk want £45 for a 120W bulb, Graham Goode do them for £30ish including p&p.

Nick

Hi Ian

Was that Atkins?

BTW I thought that the Scoobysports were better..

Aksan

I have 'em fitted to my RB5. Problem is they seem to point slightly upwards.

Doesn't seem right to me. What's the point in highlighting something 20-30ft off the ground? May need to get that adjusted at the next service....

Giles.Guthrie

Aksan: You should be able to move the lights fore and aft (i.e. altering the angle of the beam) yourself with a small amount of force.

Steve: Do you know of any way around the outward direction problem? I was going to have a detailed look over Christmas, as my father has a covered garage and lots of tools.

Steve Prockter

Giles.....the straight answer is no. I need to have my front bumper resprayed owing to the considerate nature of todays motorists, not! and I will seek to have them adjusted then. I am sure there must be room for spacers somewhere to change the angle slightly.

Aksan....As Giles says just force them a bit and they will move, but there is no lateral movement available so they will still point outwards a bit. I too have an RB5, and my lights were replaced under warranty because they misted up. The mounting brackes used to squeek, but since replacement they are fine. Does yours squeek (if that's not a rude question).

Steve

firefox

Hi guys..

that time does seem a little excessive...

but remember each dealer installs them slightly differently.... some just wire them into the main beam....some use the PIAA on/off switch too.... some dealers wire them into the existing Fog light circuit...so that they can use the fog switch as a master on and off switch

Each of the above methods will take different amounts of time...

You could be different like I was.... I didnt like the white cabling... or the big PIAA relay box, etc.... I also didnt like the plugs/sockets at the lamps.... So...

I bought just the lamps and brackets.... saved quite a bit over the "impreza kit". I made my own loom.... I used waterproof sealed plugs and socket... fused relay... I ran all the cabling in conduit that matches the existing cabling...so there isnt any crappy "standout a mile" PIAA stuff anywhere...

Thats just me.... The loom is dead simply..

J.

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

Ian,

Don't have any experience with PIAA but I did fit the Scoobysport kit myself and saved a large amount. This was fitted easily within an hour without any problems. Five hours to me sounds excessive.

Re the adjustment, I've found that with some 1mm washers behind the brackets you are able to adjust as you want from side to side or upwards. With only three mounting points you cannot adjust any more downwards, but mine are o.k.

Steve

GaryC

SteveB

Have you been satisfied with your SS driving lights? Since my thread earlier this week I have and dozens of emails telling of untold problems. Don't want to have to lay out £400 for PIAA, can get some better Cibies, but still £320 - DIY, £200 for SS Cibies is good value, but not if it causes more problems than it solves, costs mage-bucks in replacement bulbs, and the lights only work one week in four while replacement bulbs arrive

RichardP

Ian

I fitted the PIAA lights myself in approx two and a half hours.I've wired them to the existing front fog light switch, which took a little bit longer.The trickiest bit was running the loom so it looked neat.It's well worth having a go yourself to save the cost of 5 hrs labour, cos it's not difficult.

regards
Richard

RichardP

Oh, I missed off that they are brilliant!!

Pete Croney

Gary C

If the bulbs fail in your Scoobysport Cibies, within 12 months, we replace them free of charge.

Whilst there are some people with bulb life problems (less than 20 people), This represents less than 2% of all Cibie kit users. We are working with Osram to find a solution for cars that are running higher than spec voltage and will have this sorted soon. For the other 98% of owners, the bulbs last 12-18 months and are then £7.60 each to replace.

You say there is another Cibie kit that doesn't have any problems with bulb life, perhaps you could explain.

Ian

It does take a long time to fit PIAA's on a 99, because you have to remove the plastic guards under the wheel arches and then drill holes through the bumper and steel light support plates. Not most owners idea of an easy DIY job, but not 5 hours either.

The PIAA's can be steered left and right, but this again involves removing the wheel arch guards, to get access to the locating bolt.

SteveB

iTrader: (1)

GaryC,

I've had one problem and that was with a relay, PeteC posted a replacement the same day i phoned and told him of the fault. This to me is what you call customer service.
Since then the lights have been superb, no bulbs changed in 12 months with fairly regular use.

Steve.

firefox

Howdy..

I can compare.. I used to have ScoobySport driving lights on my previous scoob.

They were brill.... worked a treat... and I never suffered from any bulb problems...

The only reason I went for PIAA's (well two reasons), was that I got a discount on them... and I like variety.. I like to test and use different products..

As far as I know the new owner of my old scob, still has the SS lamps...has enver had a problem with them... and thinks they are great..

Anyways...

I'm happy with my PIAA's.... and I was happy with the SS Driving lights.. As long as they light up the road.. thats all that counts..

As for pattern spread... You can get driving lamps or spot lamps.. in both PIAA and Cibie.

You have to deicide what you are after... you could always get a pod...and run both.. lol

J.

Shark

Here’s my thoughts on PIAA Lights………

Official fitting time – 2 hours

Driving Light Kit SACC2123 275.00 + VAT
Driving Light Lens SACC2357 60.00 + VAT
120 Watt Bulb SACC2414 16.50 + VAT
Lamp Relay SACC2123R 68.04 + VAT

So at £50 per hour that’s a fitted cost of £440.63 inc VAT, tho labour rates vary greatly by area. They can be wired through the existing front fog switch, or the PIAA switch mounted just below the front/rear switches. The kit comes with full fitting instructions – so you could always dig the tools out if you don’t want to pay labour.

To adjust up and down just use hands and move the lamp. Left to right is fairly easy. Remove lamp complete with bracket using 10mm socket on the three bolts around the light unit at the front. Undo the pinch bolt (17mm) and adjust left or right, then retighten. Refit the lamp/bracket assembly.

In my opinion the lights are fantastic, it’s like someone just switched the daylight back on!! I can’t wait to drive the lanes at night, I just get annoyed when someone comes the other way and I have to go back to dip.

I have no experience of other lamps, so I can’t comment on those.

Hope this helps, David

firefox

Hi Dave..

Thanks for the reply...

We actually have two driving light threads running.... and I already typed all that sort of info in the other one... but its good to know what I typed is correct (according to a dealer).

As always, I am trying to save Scoob owners (and myself) money, as such.. I have one query.. those prices.

What do the following parts consist of:

Driving Light Kit SACC2123 275.00 + VAT
Driving Light Lens SACC2357 60.00 + VAT
120 Watt Bulb SACC2414 16.50 + VAT
Lamp Relay SACC2123R 68.04 + VAT

I bought both lamps (lense, reflector and 120W bulbs) for 160 quid... and I used a 6 quid fused relay with them...works a treat

J.

TJ

Ian,

Whatever you do make sure they are attatched well. Try and find some sort of security fixing as I had the PIAA ones nicked from my RB5 during the Myherin stage at the rally. It must have taken them about 30 seconds to remove them.

When I replace mine I will be devising some good security measures.

Be warned!

Cheers Tony.

GaryC

Pete

Have no proof that other Cibies have better bulb life, but of the 12 people who emailed me that have them, no-one has had problems.

What is the situation with your lights? I would rather get SS as £200 is attractive against £320 and £440, but I have had over 20 people email me with problems both in supply of lights in first place (overnight delivery taking 4 weeks), bulbs blowing, and although they all said you had replaced the bulbs for free, some had been waiting thre weeks for replacement bulbs!

If you can guarantee that lights will arrive in time, and that replacement bulbs will be sent out to arrive next day, then I'll send a cheque straight away for a pair! Incidentally I have been emailing you/Scoobysport for 4 weeks, and phoned twice, to enquire about the supply, and no-one has got back to me!

Sincerely hope you can help - the dark lanes of lancashire are more than a match for standard lights!!

ransj

TJ,

What you need to get is some tamper-proof (M5?) bolts to attach the lamps.

This will stop most low-lifes getting them off.

Simon

firefox

Howdy

You will find that if a theif cant nick them..

They have a good play and kick the crap out of them..and your bumper...and your car...

You might just get away with a new lense....worst case a new bumper...

J.

Shark

firefox

The kit speaks for it's self, the whole lot including lamps, brackets, wiring, relay, switch, instructions.

The lamps are just the replacments for broken/stolen ones.

The relay is I guess expensive, but it does have PIAA on it

If you break it down using the prices for the replacement parts, your paying 53.96 for the loom/brackets/switch/instrucions.

Dave

firefox

Dave/Shark..

I know there isnt much in it..

But for myself.. I wasnt going to use their switch, loom or relay... hence the instructions were useless (who needs instructions for driving lights anyway).

I can get the brackets seperately.. cheaply

In my case it worked out cheaper to get just the lamps and brackets

J.

Paul L

Just a thought...

So, why is it that Prodrive supply PIAA lamps for us road users, yet stick Hella lamps on the Rally cars?

... or am I missing something?

Paul L

Paul Frank

Hmmm . . .

OR are they PIAA ones with Hella covers (like they do with the oil they use??)

firefox

Nope...

they are hella discharge lamps... each with there own power transformer/pack.. I think they cost 400 quid each..

J.

GaryC

How easy are driving lamps in general to fit for an 'electrical ludite'?

I don't even know what a loom or a relay is, let alone how to make one!!!

ransj

David,

You wrote....

'120 Watt Bulb SACC2414 16.50 + VAT'

Do you have the actual bulb code for this?

I payed getting on for 40 pounds for an H3X120 bulb!!

....and guess what? another went pop over the weekend!!

Simon