It sounds like corroded connections somewhere.

It's been a while since I worked on a Beetle's lights, but I'm thinking that the brights and dim are wired through different fuses.  When I got my Dasher from Rick, about half the lights didn't work.  I started messing with the fuses to see if any were blown and the more I wiggled 'em around, the more lights came on and the brigher they got.  I finally took all the fuses out, brushed the connectors with a small brass brush and istalled new fuses . . . and the radio even came on.

If you do find it's a bad connection somewhere, a little dab of dielectric grease on the connection after you've cleaned it up will give you several extra years of corrosion resistance vs. just plugging the clean connection back together.

Once you've cleaned up all the corrosion, consider an upgrade to H4 housings and bulbs. They are much brighter than the sealed beam halogens.

thanks for the info guys. Alot of what you have said is what was going through my head. I will start looking at the connections.