I don’t know about existence being pain I’ve got a headache
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The Fresnel lens works differently to other optic lenses. It straightens the light rather than curving it so it’s placement is not as critical as say a pair of glasses designed to focus an image
So true Stella, some can’t hang a picture! I am sure I have also witnessed at Dover people fitting the expensive obscuring tape to the wrong side of their headlamps so anything is possible, after all 52% voted for Brexit 
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In the long run, it’s safer to change the headlights, I for one hate beam benders/deflectors or what ever other method of changing/obscuring the lights beam.
A one off cost and about the same as a couple of years “road tax” in the U.K.
Worth the expense for what value my comment is
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I’m with you 100% there. I had a RHD car that that switchable Xenon headlights that were perfectly legal and passed the German TüV but the dip beam was awful to drive with and the contrast between the brilliant main beam and the dip was huge. I changed them for LHD units and they were so much better.
Yep, that’s the problem with compromise.
Scoop news folks!!! The black tape type ‘beam benders’ do not bend the beam at all and neither do the fresnall type - all they do is flatten the top of the beam when on dipped beam. You will need more than a piece of plastic to bend the light beams emitted from the headlight of a car.
Another scoop - having these devices fitted permanently to your UK car is not an offence nor an MOT failure. I have had the fresnel type fitted to our motorhome for 10 years and it has passed every UK MOT it has had. The only downside - as I have mentioned - is that the top of the beam, when on dipped beam, is cut off. The only way the tester can fail your car at the MOT on lights is if the beam is outside the prescribed limits or the brightness is markedly diminished (or you have HID bulbs when you shouldnt - but that is another story).
Well if you had read the thread from the start Carl we already covered the black/silver tape jobbies.
The familiar glass headlamps of old have a fresnel pattern molded into them to bend the beam, same with Lighthouses and overtaking lenses on the side windows of trucks, they do not just cut off.
Ha ha!! You got me there John! Correct, I skimmed most of the posts because they descended into bickering…
That will teach me not to try catching up late at night when tired 
Fascinating comments from many of you.
Stella & John are correct that stickers or the use of beam flattening devices are now acceptable for use on RHD headlights. They do not have to be bought, sticky tape cut to size & correctly placed will do just as well.
Problem is there are quite a few CT stations who have not read fully the new regulations & still refuse to pass vehicles so modified.
A town near me has refused to pass quite a few UK imports but fortunately my local CT station is on the ball.
I have now equipped myself with a Reglophare machine from a CT station which enables me to measure & fit the necessary stickers in the right place - much more accurate than the old “park in front of a wall” method. I get green lights to tell me when the lights are good & even a readout in degrees (most headlights should be about 1.5 degrees below horizontal).
Done this on various types of headlight for customers & no failures yet. Be careful though, one potential customer arrived to have stickers put on for a type of car that usually has an internal device. The owner had been in touch with the UK importer & had been informed that his model would need stickers. A quick read of the handbook in the glove box told a different story & a quick flick of the internal levers as instructed resulted in a CT pass & no stickers.
Read the handbook first!
One more thing - if your car has only one rear fog light & it is on the right then that will need changing too - to the centre or left hand side.
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We’ve all done it Carl 
That’s good to know Mark, in terms of safety, never worked out why they allowed manufacturers to go to only one, bulbs fail.
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Thank you Mark for setting this out clearly and with real expertise behind you
I am in the process of putting my 5 year old VW Touran through the process of becoming a French registered car. I have ordered my ‘Certificate of Conformity’ on-line. VW France quoted me €150 but I contacted VW Germany and lo and behold, they only wanted €71.40. ( I read above that my UK reg document - the V5 - may actually have the required info on it and therefore I may not have needed to pay for a CoC. ) I will go and get a ‘Quitus Fiscal’ from the local Tax / Impots office soon. Then I will have the car put through a Control Technique CT test.
So … do I attempt to put some kind of beam deflector on the headlights or do I pay to change them ? I don’t have too much spare cash at the moment so I’d like to try the former. Perhaps I’ll ask at a local garage if they have a ‘reglophare’ machine as you mentioned you have Mark and see if they’ll do the work for me or perhaps I’ll try and follow the instructions as precisely as possible and do it myself. Hmmmm …
And interestingly, VW only fit one rear fog light to the Touran, so … as you’ve said … I’ll need to try and have another fitted on the other side. It may have to be a 3rd party one because I’m not sure VW can / will do this !
If you are buying European headlights German eBay is a good bet. We bought them for the old Zafira we came over with and fitted them ourselves and it worked out less than half the costand free delivery.
On a slightly different note - can you buy beam deflectors the other way, i.e. for driving aFrench car in England?
What is the equivalent name for Beambenders in French? I am at my garage early March and I will ask about them. (U.K. Mini Clubman, 3 years old french registered). My headlights apparently adjust automatically but I do get ‘flashed’ by on-coming motorists occasionally. May be time to get them sorted before the need for the control technique.
Yes.
As others have said you can DIY with tape anyway.
If you get the clear ones with prisms just turn upside down
Convertisseurs de Phares peut-être?
Amazon.fr shows them as beambenders… so stick with that (no pun)
beambenders & Convertisseurs & européenne d’instructions pour Continental et UK Conduite - Convient pour tous les véhicules
but using either word will work… 
Déflecteur de faisceau seems to be a common description as well.
As with so many little things… a word trascends language… beambender sounds wonderful when said with a thick rolling accent…
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Thanks all.