Our additional lighting on the van

In our blog entry about the van ( To the blog entry ) we have already told you how our van is equipped and what adjustments we plan to make for our road trip through North America. We looked at the lighting and have now updated it in collaboration with OSRAM *.

But again briefly for the background: In 2020 we were traveling through Norway in winter and there was no light on the van. The short days, the dirt and snow on the road markings and the lack of street lighting made orientation tiring and we quickly tired. In the north, most traffic accidents involving wild animals occur, which is why almost every car in Scandinavia is equipped with additional headlights. It was clear to us that we couldn't avoid it for future adventures! With our dream road trip to North America it became more concrete, because the deserted paths had to be properly lit. In remote areas with a lot of wild animals and possibly game crossings, we want to keep a clear view of the road, even at night. But we also want to have the option of proper lighting off the road.

We thought about which setup was right for us for a long time. We don't have a 4x4 and therefore don't travel in difficult terrain at night. Nevertheless, on the one hand we want to have perfect light for driving in the dark (on non-public roads), and on the other hand we want to illuminate and explore our unknown camp spot well at night, because you simply sleep with a better feeling if you have at least seen something of the surroundings. Even if you hear a scary noise at night, you can still keep an eye on your surroundings. Anyone who doesn't want to be seen then runs away.

Now the question came: what suits us best and our area of ​​application. Unfortunately, good light bars are often not available in enough width for the Sprinter, so we chose our own concept. This means that what is probably the most visually striking change to our Sprinter is now complete and we think it looks great.

With the support of OSRAM, we now have four additional headlights for the front and two headlights for the rear, as well as a more powerful low beam . The four spotlights at the front are mounted on a support specially made for our Sprinter and with a total of 14,000 lumens, the night literally turns into day. The ECE-certified LED additional headlights do not require entry in the vehicle documents. The rear-mounted lighting provides plenty of light with 2,500 lumens and can be optimally switched in combination with our reversing camera. We mounted the rear headlights in such a way that we still have some of the light on the sides. All installed lights are mounted as work lights, they can be switched separately and must not be switched on in the STVO area. The headlights would also be certified as high-beam headlights, but you would then have to install them according to the standard and pay attention to the total number of reference numbers of all high-beam headlights (including headlight bulbs) and other points.

The additional headlights now provide really good light off public roads. In order to be able to see better on the normal road, we also installed more powerful low beam headlights . Unfortunately, our Sprinter is a little too old to install the LED version, but the halogen bulbs also perform very well.

Conclusion:

The new lighting really turns night into day, we were almost overwhelmed by the performance of the headlights. We could hardly detect any additional wind noise, which could of course also be due to the large, already loud tires. Nevertheless, the decision was absolutely the right one and we are happy to have made this update to the van.

List of installed products:

Front headlight OSRAM Round MX260-CB

Rear headlight OSRAM Cube MX85-SP

Low beam OSRAM NIGHT BREAKER 200

*Advertising: All OSRAM articles mentioned were provided to us free of charge.