Exploding headlamp (1 Viewer)

[100kilo]

My 17 month old Hymer b544 experienced a catastrophic headlamp failure.
In common terms it exploded. Not whilst on the road but after sitting patiently on a campsite for over 30 hours.

Neither Brownhills or Hymer have even had the decency to respond to my appeals for a replacement on the basis that the product was not fit for purpose. A number of variations on my theme have cropped up on diferent forums and their claims for replacement have been dismissed out of hand.

Does anyone out there have news of a happy ending to a similar case? I am dragging the problem around as, after paying £65,000 for this van the idea of paying the asking price for a new unit £1475 has left me feeling rather quesy - magnified when one considers that this breakage may only be the first of many duff headlamp units!!!!

Warm regards and happy touring to all,

Janet and John

 

[aba]

what is it made of solid gold ???
£1475they're extracting the urine

 

[yorkshirepudding]

I doubt these headlamp units are specific to Hymer. Surely a commercial vehicle motor factor could advise on a suitable replacement. Good luck with your search.

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[spannermanwigan]

Extracting the urine from lots of people as this is apparently a
common problem on Hymers,
Has happened to a friend of mine on his. purchashed in Germany,
new 3 yrs ago.

Same reaction from Hymer.

regards
Steve:Angry:

 

[jhorsf]

Google and you will see its been happening for several years and some people have replaced more than one inside 12 months, Hella have made a plastic lense to cure the problem I have read Hymer have been aware of the problem for a number of years

 

[hilldweller]

Neither Brownhills or Hymer have even had the decency to respond to my appeals for a replacement
Janet and John

A sure sign there are so many they dare not.

Remember FIAT lost juddergate.

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[Heyupluv]

My 17 month old Hymer b544 experienced a catastrophic headlamp failure.
In common terms it exploded. Not whilst on the road but after sitting patiently on a campsite for over 30 hours.

Neither Brownhills or Hymer have even had the decency to respond to my appeals for a replacement on the basis that the product was not fit for purpose. A number of variations on my theme have cropped up on diferent forums and their claims for replacement have been dismissed out of hand.

Does anyone out there have news of a happy ending to a similar case? I am dragging the problem around as, after paying £65,000 for this van the idea of paying the asking price for a new unit £1475 has left me feeling rather quesy - magnified when one considers that this breakage may only be the first of many duff headlamp units!!!!

Warm regards and happy touring to all,

Janet and John

John sorry to hear of your troubles... if its the glass part of the tear drop headlamp...I think this is a common fault ....somebody told me the glass is under some tension and the type glass fitted.is the same as the front windscreen ...shatter type.......I was also speaking to a man from Birmingham who was coming back through France having to come home because he had two headlamps go........and it cost him a very very large sum of money...1. for the two replacements headlamps and 2. the cost of carriage, also the large deposit he had to put down before they would send them out to him, one in Spain and one in southern France.....He had spent all his money what they needed to stay over winter in Spain....he vowed he would sell the motorhome as soon as he got back to the UK ....he was spitting blood I can tell you:Angry:

I am sure it was the same side that shattered both times..

I am not sure what part of the motorhome puts the headlamp unit under pressure....The unit may not have fitted correctly from the factory...thus putting it under some pressure on the body of the motorhome !!!oh: Just a thought

 

[hilldweller]

John sorry to hear of your troubles... if its the glass part of the tear drop headlamp.

I had a BMW bike with the same problem.

 

[Heyupluv]

what is it made of solid gold ???
£1475they're extracting the urine

Aba.... you better believe it £1475 was Wankel the word you was looking for.. I know that was some kind of German itemJust think, paying for two and postage to Spain and France...WOW....oh:

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[Heyupluv]

John this info was taken from the Darkside.


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.

Some more info
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.

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

And another one
We have an exploded headlamp. Took our van to Brownhills Swindon last week, about an hour before they were all given the bad news that they were closing. Since then have been waiting for Newark to get back to me regarding replacement under warranty. Today, an email arrives, Sorry but Hymer will not authorise a replacement under warranty, replacement cost is £1475.05, please contact us to arrange the works.
I emailed this particular person straight back and asked for a copy of the correspondence between Newark and Hymer, no response. Am I entitled to this information? I am just a bit concerned, especially as I had to forward the pictures Swindon sent to me because they couldn't find the file, although when I spoke to her Monday, she was reading the information sent to her from Swindon regarding our case!
We have an Exsis-i 522

Another one...this one mentions a funster name...Standup
Hi,

It is a fairly common problem unfortunately on the B-SL.

Is the lamp the same on the Exsis? - it looks very similar from pictures.

When ours failed, Hymer UK were efficient - but not so happy when i informed them i would like it done at Newark instead of Preston - but it was done ok under warranty.

We did have to supply a photo of the label showing serial number.

I have read of one chap who has had 3 x replacements i believe? - his
MHF membership is under Standup it might be worth contacting him.

I believe he had similar issues with Hymer Uk, but as he was travelling to Germany anyway he called into Bad Waldsee and they changed it very promptly - his van was also out of warranty like ours.
If you end up with no option but to replace yourself - buy one from Germany - im sure you will find a dealer to supply to the uk ok.

If you speak to the service centre in Germany - ask for Guntram Kibele - he speaks perfect english and is very helpful.

There are more.....

 

[Heyupluv]

Try these Hella

somebody put this on a forum...check it out

Hella lamps
a person following the Hymer headlamp saga lifted the following information from the Hymer Club website

HELLA :-Tel 01295 272233
Replacement for the external lamps can be obtained from Hella dealerships. The number above will give the nearest dealer and the price and availability of the lamp or lens you may require.


http://www.hella.com/MicroSite/soe/.../modularised_customer-specific_headlamps.html

http://www.hella.com/hella-com/index.html?rdeLocaleAttr=en#

Its worth a tryoh:

 

[Welsh girl]

Wouldn't this be fiats problem or whichever is the base vehicle, rather than hymer?. Not an expert just interested?

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[buttons]

My 17 month old Hymer b544 experienced a catastrophic headlamp failure.
In common terms it exploded. Not whilst on the road but after sitting patiently on a campsite for over 30 hours.

Neither Brownhills or Hymer have even had the decency to respond to my appeals for a replacement on the basis that the product was not fit for purpose. A number of variations on my theme have cropped up on diferent forums and their claims for replacement have been dismissed out of hand.

Does anyone out there have news of a happy ending to a similar case? I am dragging the problem around as, after paying £65,000 for this van the idea of paying the asking price for a new unit £1475 has left me feeling rather quesy - magnified when one considers that this breakage may only be the first of many duff headlamp units!!!!

Warm regards and happy touring to all,

Janet and John

Are you sure this is not another one of those Terry Wogan stories.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8U612YLjHQ[/ame]

 

[JeanLuc]

Nothing to do with Fiat - these are A-Class headlights. They are custom built by Hella for Hymer and, so far as I know, only available from a Hymer dealer. I don't think Hella will sell this OEM equipment to the general public.
Also, referring to an earlier post, Hella shut their factory in Banbury a few years ago and now have only a sales and distribution point in the town. I think it deals with the trade rather than the public.

 

[aba]

kinda makes me glad i didn't buy an A-class motorhome and just got a standard fiat ducato front end.

what would they charge for a windscreen i wonder

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[Heyupluv]

kinda makes me glad i didn't buy an A-class motorhome and just got a standard fiat ducato front end.

what would they charge for a windscreen i wonder

A lot of money I have been told...as they are not a standard fit ...main dealer...oh:

 

[aba]

when choosing the motorhome i did weigh up the pros and cons of A-class v Coachbuilt and came up with the reasoning that because of the roads we have in the dales with just loose chippin's on tar if i got my windscreen broken, if it was a standard van window just nip to autoglass or some other windscreen outfit and get one within 24 hours thats if they didn't have one in stock or with the A-class ring the [STRIKE]Stealers[/STRIKE] dealers, wait for one to be made then imported then fitted ( provided they sent the correct one first time ) it would be at least a week before getting one and thats if someone had one on a shelf somewhere and at least double the price.

also with a standard van part there are greater possibilities of second hand parts.

 

[Chris]

Our new windscreen was flown in from Germany last year. I think the glass excluding transport and fitting was over £2k.

Fortunately we had cover.

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[Chris]

By the way I will always believe our screen was cracked because of bits falling off the Rapido in front:Sad:

 

[hilldweller]

what would they charge for a windscreen i wonder

I've seen £3000 to £4000 mentioned and sometimes not covered by your insurance.

 

[100kilo]

My 17 month old Hymer b544 experienced a catastrophic headlamp failure.
In common terms it exploded. Not whilst on the road but after sitting patiently on a campsite for over 30 hours.

Neither Brownhills or Hymer have even had the decency to respond to my appeals for a replacement on the basis that the product was not fit for purpose. A number of variations on my theme have cropped up on diferent forums and their claims for replacement have been dismissed out of hand.

Does anyone out there have news of a happy ending to a similar case? I am dragging the problem around as, after paying £65,000 for this van the idea of paying the asking price for a new unit £1475 has left me feeling rather quesy - magnified when one considers that this breakage may only be the first of many duff headlamp units!!!!

Warm regards and happy touring to all,

Janet and John

If you are concerned about the growing number of reports about exploding headlamps on Hymers or, like myself have already experienced the expense of replacing one – in my case £1010, you may be relieved to hear of the supplier of headlamp protectors.
They cost £75 plus p+p and are available from the maker, Trevor Smith, who has now given me permission to pass his details on. He can be contacted via MOB 07712472250 or email at s.jordansmith@btinternet.com
Have just fitted a pair (a really simple process) and now my 2011 B544 is protected against stone chips etc which is what Hymer claimed had smashed my lamp which strangely waited until I had been parked up for 30 hours before mysteriously exploding!!!!
Happy touring,
Janet and John

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