MacSid

Following on from the discussion at http://forums.e60.net/index.php?showtopic=45443&hl=, I checked my owners handbook and found the Xenon adjustment page:


I checked my lights this morning and expected both levers to be pushed to the outer edges of the car (since we drive on the right here). They were not. My driver's side (left) lever was pushed towards the centre of the car, and my passenger side (right) lever was pushed towards the outside of the car. To be clear: if sitting in the car looking out, both levers appeared to be pushed towards the right.

Based on the manual, I changed the driver's side lever, pushing it towards the outer edge of the car. On the drive into work, I felt that the driver''s side light was not throwing right. Into the dealer I went a little while ago and watched over them while they looked the car over. The mechanic checked the light beam using a device they had there and promptly pushed the driver's side lever back towards the middle of the car. I challenged him on this, showing him the manual above, and he said that the manual was incorrect. He supported his comment by showing me the light pattern on the tester with the lever in each of the two possible positions. Based on that, I'd agree with him that the light throw pattern was correct even though the levers were "wrong" in relation to the manual.

Now here's the question ... is the manual misprinted or should the mechanic have pushed that lever back to the outside of the car and made some other adjustment? Could BMW really have made an error of this sort with the manual?? By the way, I have an English manual and a Dutch one, and the two language versions agree with each other - so they are either both right or both wrong!!!

andy545

I think the manual refers to the general direction the levers would be depending on which side of the road you drive.
If the pattern meter requires that the lever is at the middle and your happy with the light throw during night, I'd say it's no issue.

MacSid

I am indeed happy with the way the light throws on the road but I guess I'm being a little anal with respect to "the manual says it should be this way". Also can't help but wonder if, given my current settings, will the changeover be correct when I slide the levers across from their current positions when I take the car to the UK? Got an extensive Scotland/Northern Englad road trip coming up, hence my concern.