I’ve seen a couple of posts on here about this but they’re over 10 years old now so I’m wondering if a new solution has been found for this…
We’re taking our NA MX-5 to France in a few weeks.
I used to use beam deflectors but these were a pain because they’d reliably blow at least one bulb by reflecting heat back into the unit regardless of what model of car we went in (they blew the sealed unit headlamp on my Eunos, blew a bulb on this MX-5 then on my Saab 9-5 and then on a Volvo).
Is there a brand/type of deflector that does not cause bulbs to blow? Or is there another method? I’m not convinced about the gaffer tape option because it doesn’t defelct the beam…
Any thoughts welcome.
I want to avoid gaffer taping over the lens as I’m not sure that’s legal as it doesn’t actually deflect the beam.
my solution used for many trips to the continent over last 10-15 years is do nothing. The rule as I understand it is that you should not dazzle oncoming traffic. Its not that you have to stick nasty things to your lights.
To dazzle you have to be driving in the dark, with lights on, and on my trips that’s something I have seldom actually done. The beam reflectors have been in the glove box that whole time, just in case. On those occasions you do drive at night or say in an unlit tunnel just beware of oncoming traffic, but again I’ve never been flashed by someone who I have dazzled.
I’m talking about an NB and not an NA so I can wind down the lights a bit from the cabin, but similarly in an NA you could get your lights adjusted down a bit to help if you wanted a bit more comfort.
Just my experience, hope it helps.
+1 for doing nothing. Never used them and never had a problem in 20+ years of driving all over Europe
This time of year it’s light early and doesn’t get dark til late so just do a Cinderella, you have to be back at your accommodation before dark.
As Martin says the deflectors are not compulsory but not dazzling oncoming drivers is and your NA lights will be nowhere near as bright as modern LEDs so unlikely to upset anybody.
Just keep a set of deflectors in the glovebox to keep French plod happy and tell him you forgot to fit them in the very unlikely event that he pulls you.
Enjoy your trip 
Never used beam deflectors in over 30 years of driving on the continent. Do you ever see cars from the continent use them on UK roads? I rest my case…
Incidentally, more modern cars tend to have a flat rather than an asymmetric dip, and of course those with adaptive headlights don’t have this issue at all…
