# Hymer Shattering Headlamps



## Topofthepops

last September our 2008 Exsis 562 off-side headlamp shattered whilst driving in Belgium. Believing that a stone was responsible and faced with a £1500 bill I contacted my insurance company and had the lamp replaced at Brownhills Preston. They told me that they had had a couple of other vehicles in with the same problem and that they had refixed the front panel under warranty since it had come loose and dropped. Problem fixed we went away happy. 5 weeks ago whilst parked in a campsite in Stockhome the same lamp shattered spontaneously! Now curious and with Brownhills apparently in denial mode I find that I am indeed not alone.
Would anyone having suffered the same problem with Hymer headlights shattering please get in touch to share their experience.


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## rayc

Topofthepops said:


> last September our 2008 Exsis 562 off-side headlamp shattered whilst driving in Belgium. Believing that a stone was responsible and faced with a £1500 bill I contacted my insurance company and had the lamp replaced at Brownhills Preston. They told me that they had had a couple of other vehicles in with the same problem and that they had refixed the front panel under warranty since it had come loose and dropped. Problem fixed we went away happy. 5 weeks ago whilst parked in a campsite in Stockhome the same lamp shattered spontaneously! Now curious and with Brownhills apparently in denial mode I find that I am indeed not alone.
> Would anyone having suffered the same problem with Hymer headlights shattering please get in touch to share their experience.


Any help?
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopic-110923-days0-orderasc-0.html


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## Topofthepops

Yes, thanks
I've found a couple more since


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## Cris47

*Hymer shattering headlights*

Another one. Ours on a 544SL. £1500 to replace and claimed on insurance. Warranty claim refused by Dealer.


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## Hymie

*Shattered Headlamp*

We had one replaced under warranty 18 months ago - Hymer have replaced loads of these.
Now the new unit has a crack across the plastic body - i am waiting for Hymer to decide on their course of action.

Happy Travels


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## leltel

You are aware of ours...as RayC kindly put the link on and having had communication with you :wink: 
Lel


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## erneboy

Small claims court against the dealer (with whom your contract is, not Hymer because you have no contract with them) citing all the other spontaneous explosions must be worth a try, Alan.


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## Topofthepops

I have now traced 10 Hymer owners who have had a similar experience. Some have been replaced under warranty, some have had the cost covered by Insurance and some have had to pay the £1500 to replace these. These are only the people in the UK who have posted on motorhome forums so the problem is undoubtably many time larger than this. 

It is time that Hymer recognised it's responsibilities and resolved this issue for all owners and I have sent a message via Brownhills (who won't give me the Hymer contact details!) that feelings are such that it would not surprise me if this issue made it into the national media soon. Would you be willing for me to use your names in support of a campaign if it comes to it? please send me a response by PM if you would. Many thanks


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## joedenise

try reporting it to vosa they have the power to investigate and order a recall.
joe 

ps i think it's vosa but someone will come along and correct me if i'm wrong


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## Topofthepops

Many thanks for the VOSA suggestion. I have now sent in a form to them for them to consider. It all depends if they consider that the fault could result in injury or death. I think that a pedestrian coming into contact with a moving serrated piece of glass would almost certainly result in injury but I am waiting for their response.

The legal advice is that the insurance company who paid for the repair last October are liable under the 1982 Supply of Goods and Services Act since they (or their agent) should have repaired the vehicle using fault free components so I'm in conversation with them as well.

This could run for a while and in the meantime the Exsis is off the road. Hymer and Hella are definitely in denial mode. Hopefully VOSA will shake their tree.


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## javea

I read somewhere else that the running light has a 25 watt bulb which causes the headlight to get very warm. It suggested changing to a 15 watt instead which would run cooler.

Have not had a problem with my lights which are protected by Lamin-X film (famous last words) but will probably change my bulbs, just in case.

Mike


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## GEMMY

So which lights are shattering ?

The running lights or headlights ?

tony


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## leltel

Thank you Mike, I will be changing ours too. We now have lamin-x, and have not had another shatter (touch wood), since we put it on.
Tony it would seem that on all of us who have had head lamps shatter, it has only been the running lights that were on previous to it happening and the glass has shattered some time after parking up, in the cooling down process


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## zoro

Anyone know where to get a 12v 15 watt bulb from?
No luck at local Halfords. 
Steve


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## leltel

Steve Halfords suggested local motor factors to me so I was going to look tomorrow
Lesley


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## javea

Would appreciate advice from anyone who has removed the running light bulb - how do you get it out?

Can feel a screw head at top and bottom of the housing - do you need to remove these or is there an easier way to extract the bulb?

Don't make it easy to access, do they?

Mike


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## leltel

At the back of the headlamp, theres a plastic cover over the bulb, turn it quarter of a turn anticlockwise and this comes out with the bulb on. Remove and replace bulb, then put back in.
I have relayed this from my hubby who has had to replace a bulb not long back......he says it's awkward!


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## javea

Thank you leltel, appreciate your help, will give it a go.

Mike


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## zoro

Just to add
It's best to use one arm over the top of the chassis member to turn anti clockwise and pull out the bulb holder. Then use your other arm to twist and remove the bulb while still holding the bulb housing with your arm over the chassis member.
Hope that makes sense  
Steve


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## leltel

Terry has also just said that he had to get his hand in behind it, he couldn't get to it from under the van.
Good luck
Lesley


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## javea

I think I will go on a contortionist course before I start!


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## gijsbert

Headlight has just shattered on my 2008 Hymer 514SL.


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## javea

gijsbert said:


> Headlight has just shattered on my 2008 Hymer 514SL.


Sorry to hear that, could I ask the following questions please:

Did the headlight shatter after using running lights only, or headlights as well.

Is Lamin-X film fitted

Mike


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## 113016

javea said:


> I think I will go on a contortionist course before I start!


You want to try to adjust from RHD setting to LHD seting on the Transit based Exsis.
The O/S driver side on the RHD model is easy, but the near N/S is a pig to get at. I used a stick to reach the switch things.
Anyway, regarding the running lights, I was thinking of removing the bulbs all together?

PS. thanks to Leltel, I also have Lamin x fitted.


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## javea

Grath said:


> javea said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think I will go on a contortionist course before I start!
> 
> 
> 
> You want to try to adjust from RHD setting to LHD seting on the Transit based Exsis.
> The O/S driver side on the RHD model is easy, but the near N/S is a pig to get at. I used a stick to reach the switch things.
> Anyway, regarding the running lights, I was thinking of removing the bulbs all together?
> 
> PS. thanks to Leltel, I also have Lamin x fitted.
Click to expand...

I was toying with the same idea, would that have any effect on the Canbus system or any other part of the electrics?

Mike


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## 113016

javea said:


> Grath said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> javea said:
> 
> 
> 
> I think I will go on a contortionist course before I start!
> 
> 
> 
> You want to try to adjust from RHD setting to LHD seting on the Transit based Exsis.
> The O/S driver side on the RHD model is easy, but the near N/S is a pig to get at. I used a stick to reach the switch things.
> Anyway, regarding the running lights, I was thinking of removing the bulbs all together?
> 
> PS. thanks to Leltel, I also have Lamin x fitted.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I was toying with the same idea, would that have any effect on the Canbus system or any other part of the electrics?
> 
> Mike
Click to expand...

I have no idea  need to try it soon


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## 113016

Grath said:


> Anyway, regarding the running lights, I was thinking of removing the bulbs all together?


Has anybody tried this?


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## gijsbert

Mike
It shattered after about 2 hours with just running lights.
No LaminX used.
I did notice a stress crack in the cast backing plate though.Who knows???.
I have heard that someone took their van to Hymer HQ and said they would not leave until the headlamp was replaced. They replaced it free of charge but would not issue any documents for the work.
I have also heard that it is always the nearside one that goes.
I have contacted Hymer warranty in Bad ??? and await their reply.
I have found them very helpful in the past. We will see.
Will keep you posted.


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## zoro

I have replaced the 21 watt bulbs with 10 watt ones which still give a good bright light. I have now had these 10w bulbs in for the last 6 weeks while touring France,Spain and Portugal with the light being on for up to 4 hours continuously with no problems to date. 
The glass front now only gets warm as opposed to hot when 21w's were fitted.
When I removed the 21w bulbs they were very black on the inside which I assume is from the heat generated.
Looking at the headlight assembly I cannot see how the heat generated by the bulbs is able to escape so it looks like it could be a design fault.
Steve


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## leltel

Zoro, where did you purchase the 10amp bulbs from? We went to our local auto factors after trying Halfords and they were not helpful.
Would like to change ours ASAP!


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## zoro

Hi Leltel
I bought mine from a local car spares but I am sure I saw some at Halfords but didn't purchase them as I was looking for 15 watt bulbs at the time, which I have been unable to source. You could try a motor cycle dealer as motorcycles use 10 watt bulds.
Hope this helps.
Steve


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## leltel

Thanks will look again!


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## 113016

Trust you, leltel, are well and had a good holiday 
Depending on weather, I will look at mine today.


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## 113016

Incidentally and for what it is worth, we have only had our Hymer (with this type of lights) since February this year and have done very little driving with the headlamps on.
However, over our 10 week holiday we did at least a couple of long continuous drives with the daytime running lamps on.
I know for sure that one was for around 6 hours (not a nice day) and one for around 7 hours in hot weather and some direct sunshine.


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## 113016

Just done ours this morning.
Our van has only covered just over 4000miles and the 21 watt driving light bulbs were getting pretty grey and well on the way to black  
I went to our local Smithsons which is a automotive electrical parts dealer for car and commercial vehicles and they had the 12 volt / 10 watt in stock. The glass part of the bulb is smaller than the factory fitted 21 watt and that is to be expected. The metal part is the same as the 21 watt.
It was easy to fit the drivers off side, but the passenger near side has restrictive access and mine is more difficult due to a siren.
Anyway I used a plastic sheaved screw driver between the body and the headlamp glass to turn the bulb holder fitting..
Once I decided on this method it was a quick and easy job. I started to remove the headlight and front grill, but thought better of it as it would have been a bigger job than I first thought. 
Thanks Guys for the tip about using a 10 watt bulb, lets hope it works


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## listerdiesel

Ring do a 12V 10W:

Ebay 110955246981 & others

12V 15W on ebay 170915417281 & others

Peter


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## csmcqueen

You could always replace with cool running LED

http://tinyurl.com/c3j6ygc

I think these are the right size bayonets


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## leltel

Thanks all, now got 5w ones, Ter is yet to fit them!
Went down to see my brother in law, who's an mot inspector and spoke to him, came away with 4 bulbs...should have gone to him in the first place!
Lets hope that between us we have found a solution to the shattering headlamps!


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## 113016

leltel said:


> Thanks all, now got 5w ones, Ter is yet to fit them!
> Went down to see my brother in law, who's an mot inspector and spoke to him, came away with 4 bulbs...should have gone to him in the first place!
> Lets hope that between us we have found a solution to the shattering headlamps!


Hi Leltel
I think you will find that the 5 watt bulbs will not be bright enough to still use as daytime driving lights, meaning that you will need to use dipped beam in Countries that require them.
I think, in that case you might as well remove them all together, unless this would play havoc with the electrical system.


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## leltel

Grath said:


> leltel said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks all, now got 5w ones, Ter is yet to fit them!
> Went down to see my brother in law, who's an mot inspector and spoke to him, came away with 4 bulbs...should have gone to him in the first place!
> Lets hope that between us we have found a solution to the shattering headlamps!
> 
> 
> 
> Hi Leltel
> I think you will find that the 5 watt bulbs will not be bright enough to still use as daytime driving lights, meaning that you will need to use dipped beam in Countries that require them.
> I think, in that case you might as well remove them all together, unless this would play havoc with the electrical system.
Click to expand...

Thank you
I might still let Terry struggle to fit them when he gets in from work before I tell him ;-)


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## Topofthepops

*Eventually - a result!*

Many thanks to everyone who posted on this thread; you may be interested to learn that my problem has been solved by a round-about route.

After failing with Brownhills and Hymer to get a positive response to this issue I took legal advice and was told that the original repair was covered by the 1982 Sales of Goods and Services Act with the Insurance company to whom I paid the premiums. It turns out that they have a responsibility to effect a proper repair with reliable parts and their responsibility cannot be passed on to the repairer. After some weeks of correspondence I said that I would complain to the Insurance Ombudsman and this brought forth some action. An insurance assessor looked at the light and concluded that he couldn't be certain as to the cause of failure but hinted strongly that the construction of the light may have been a factor and quoted the number of Hymer owners who (through posts to this site) had reported similar failures; the Insurer gave in. I am now waiting for the part to come back into stock (no stock anywhere in Hymers network which tells it's own story!) to get back on the road.

Two issues remain:
1. The replacement cost of the headlamp from a different (and new) Hymer dealer, appointed since Brownhills lost the frachise, is a staggering 40% less than Brownhills charged a year ago.
2 Whilst I am naturally pleased that my problem has been resolved, I am really disappointed that Hymer have not been brought to book over this issue and continue to profit from these failures. I am still waiting to hear from VOSA as to how their review will proceed.

I think that we should keep up the pressure on Hymer until they reach a proper resolution to this problem.

In the meantime I will certainly swap out the daytime driving bulbs and fit Lamin-x film to the lights!

Thanks again to everyone who helped


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## 113016

*What have you done*

So, what has everybody done?
Have you fitted 5 watt, 10 watt, 15 watt, taken the bulbs out completely or just left everything as they were?
And what about the guys with the Fiat base, I presume this issue also effects you?
I have replaced the 21 watt bulbs with 10 watt, but I am still considering reducing further or possibly removing the bulbs completely.
If I do remove, will I get warning lights on a Ford telling me I have a fault? I suppose the only way to find out is to do it!
If the driving lights generate so much heat, why not the dipped beam, strange, or is it the small area that the driving light bulbs are fitted into?
What have you done? :?:


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## Jezport

I think Hymer will have lost sales due to this problem. Motorhomes are an expensive bit of kit. Prospective buyers need to feel that if something goes wrong then the manufacturer will be honourable and do the right thing!


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## Hymie

*Headlamps*

We had one l/h unit replaced under warranty by Brownhills a couple of years ago.
The replacement unit has fractured across the plastic body but the glass is intact - so i will leave this till we visit Bad Waldsee in the new year.

At last years Caravan Salon i questioned a Hella chap about the problem, and he blamed Hymer for the way the lamp is mounted which can cause stress fractures.

Interestingly he told me that their answer to the problem was 
actually going to be shown to Hymer that day - it was the same style - BUT with polycarbonate lenses.

Cheers

Dave


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## Vancouver

Hi
I have just bought a 2011 BSL, should I be concearned about the headlamps?


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## 113016

Vancouver said:


> Hi
> I have just bought a 2011 BSL, should I be concearned about the headlamps?


Hi Vancouver,
Sorry to say but it seems yes you should.
Read all the threads and draw your own conclusions!


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## javea

Vancouver said:


> Hi
> I have just bought a 2011 BSL, should I be concearned about the headlamps?


I may have been lucky but have not had a problem with the lights on my 2007 B544SL which has now done around 28,00 miles. Fitted Lamin-X film early on and I wonder if this has helped.


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## 113016

javea said:


> Vancouver said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hi
> I have just bought a 2011 BSL, should I be concearned about the headlamps?
> 
> 
> 
> I may have been lucky but have not had a problem with the lights on my 2007 B544SL which has now done around 28,00 miles. Fitted Lamin-X film early on and I wonder if this has helped.
Click to expand...

Nice to hear this Javea, I hope mine will be as long lasting as I also fitted Lamin-X within weeks of purchasing the van.  
Also reduced the wattage of the driving lamps.


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## Vancouver

Lamin X ordered!

Thanks guys


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## chrisjones18

Jezport said:


> I think Hymer will have lost sales due to this problem. Motorhomes are an expensive bit of kit. Prospective buyers need to feel that if something goes wrong then the manufacturer will be honourable and do the right thing!


First post by me, just sorry it has to be on this subject.
We are/were looking at buying a used Exsis 2009/2011 with the garage, based on a Ford and from reading these posts it has put us off until this is sorted [myself more than the wife]

The high wattage of the bulbs could very well be the problem as this has happened with MAN tractor units with the factory fitted reversing lights. It burns a small hole through the emergency brake suzie [air line] if the air line is not stowed in the correct holder. It only gets close to the light. This then causes the truck to loose all its air and the brakes come on.

If you feel the lens and its still hot with the 10watt bulbs i would be looking at another solution as it is then a major fault. Are the high wattage bulbs fitted of the spot light varity? [high temperature in a small area on the wrong type of lens]
We will just keep watching the outcome of this fault with the Exsis, before we commit to our first purchase of a motorhome as it will be used for 6 months of the year.
£30,000 plus is a lot of money if the manufacturer is not honourable.


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## Topofthepops

Chris - I fully understand your caution. The fact is that nobody knows for certain what the cause of these failures is with the possible exception of Hymer and/or Hella (and they're not saying!).

As long as Hymer continue to pretend that the problem doesn't exist the only thing that owners can do is try to eliminate/reduce the possible causes. Fitting lower wattage bulbs helps the spot heating theory, Fitting Lamin-X helps the stone chip theory (or at least gives owners some leverage to discount this (Hymer's) theory. I have heard that Hella believe that the problem if one of design (the light is put under undue stress by its mounting in the front panel and under some circumstances will be unable to take the stresses). If this last theory is correct, and Hymer still deny responsibility then we are all in trouble!

It's a real shame because the rest of the vehicle is great and deserves better from Hymer.

Just to update the forum, my replacement light has at last arrived for fitment (on Wed 9th) over 3 months from being ordered and nearly 9 months from when my saga started. I have to say that had I known what I know now I would not have bought an Exsis. There are now some good alternatives around.


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## 113016

Guys, I think recent vehicles may have an updated light fitting and the reported problem was not confined to Exsis models, it was allegedly on all Hymers. But you know how it goes, two or three reported problems and thousands with no problems. Luck of the draw!
Is anything perfect nowadays  I doubt it, and I would not let this put you off an Exsis as thet are great vans.


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## Humberto

See my thread on making a replacement for £10.

Summary. There's simply no need to replace the whole (£1500 !!!!!!) Light unit.
The issue is with the external, toughened glass, cover.

It's a scandal that Hella/Hymer aren't selling just the replacement glass.

You'll see why they should in my video.

https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/showthread.php?t=242255


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## Pudsey_Bear

https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/60-hymer-motorhomes/242255-shattered-headlight-cheap-fix.html


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