2012 exl headlights ( high beam)

[islandmech]

We just took delivery of our new 2012 CRV. So far love it except the headlights! Low beam with fog lights on is pretty good but high is terrible, no focus and scattered. I lose the side vision ( deer in the ditches etc) and the long range is basically dim. Any others feel the same?
Maybe if I could keep the fogs on with high beam, it would help the close and side lighting, anybody know how to force them to stay on with high beam? Should I try to install HID bulbs?
My 2008 Civic has great headlights, especially the high beam so this is really a disappointment.

Cheers, Gary

[Amazon]

the first thing I did to mine was replace them with Sylvania Ultra's. BIG improvement.

couldn't believe how crappy the stock ones were...

[genep]

I put GE Nighthawk bulbs in the wife's CRV because she complained about the "dim lights on this car!". As a test for me to find out if she was really seeing what she said she was, I replaced one bulb (she didn't know which one) and told her to tell me which was better. She did pick the new GE Nighthawk lamp as being brighter. I then replaced the other one. She likes her CRV better now. Look on Amazon for 9003 bulb.

[EuroCRV]

I feel the same way about the high beams - unusable. They light up the tops of trees but not the road ahead. I thought that maybe the aim was off but maybe it's the bulb. Is there anything that the dealer can do in terms of adjustments?

[HondaMann99]

Just took delivery of a 2013 CRV EX-L, and same problem. High beams light up down the road, but are awful for the first 50 - 100 feet. Is it just a matter of buying the expensive bulbs to fix the problem, or is the Honda headlight system designed so poorly? Do the low beam filaments stay on when the high beams are turned on? I don't think so. If they did, I don't think there would be a problem.

I have a BMW (the CRV is my wife's car), and on the BMW when I switch on the high beams, the low beam illumination close up doesn't change but you get additional distance illumination. On the CRV, you are forced to give up the close illumination for more distant illumination. Very bizarre. I've never seen anything like that before on any car. How could Honda do something so dumb and annoying?

[SeaR-V]

the high beams suck on gen 4.

buying a different bulb will not change the beam pattern. it will still suck.

we need a group buy of euro spec lights.

[HondaMann99]

Amazon & Genep,

Both you guys put in the expensive bulbs, which probably made things brighter. But as SeaR-V said, and I agree with him, even though it's brighter, it doesn't change the beam pattern. You are still forced to give up your low beam illumination if you want the high beams. So how are you seeing such a big improvement? It seems that all the expensive bulbs do is brighten up, but not alter, a very poor beam pattern.

I've never seen a lighting system so poorly designed in my entire life. So how do we resolve this?

[islandmech]

Well, if Honda actually does read this feedback, then maybe there will be a fix? I am going to the dealership this week and talk with the service manager about the fog lights. Maybe there is a way to bypass the high beam cutoff. This would help the close vision. As the previous post said, the design of the reflector is the culprit, although different bulbs can change color spectrum , they wont help the scatter.
Is the Euro headlight different?

Cheers, Gary

[jcm]

I put in 130 watt over 80's and now have much better lights. The low beams don't bother anybody, the high beams will melt snow off of their bumpers. Has helped to avoid many deer running across the road.

[HondaMann99]

I put in 130 watt over 80's

Can you please explain in a bit more detail what that is?

Thanks.