sg530

I complained about the low low beams before and got little support from this group on this important issue. I expected to see farther with these lights than with an old halogen. Not so! I don't see street signs nor stop signs illuminated unless the car bouces up. The level of the lamps is too low and I can't confirm the self leveling functions either. If I would have seen this during a test drive (ha, like that's possible) I would not have ordered it.

sj3

sq530: I can definitely attest that stop signs are lit up from quite a ways off. Actually, driving home last night on the highway, the low beams actually helped light up overhead exit signs from a distance.

I don't think it's a lack of support you're seeing. What you may be seeing is that several people here are suggesting that something is messed up with your lights and to get them fixed, i.e. your description does not sound like normal behavior for this car. Good luck, and I mean that sincerely. Those are great lights and you and others deserve to have them at their best.

Sam

Casper

I haven't noticed but will pay attention and report back.

JDN

Thanks for the tip, DD. Found the white nylon adjustment to be easily adjustable with the either a screw driver or an allen wrench, my choice. I turned them up about 10 mm on the garage wall, less than a half turn counter clockwise each. Will check up the alley the next time I take it out at night.

MaTRiX

Looking back at what Dr D said about switching on the high beam....it was like driving in daylight. I truly admit, its like High Definition in real life with the Xenons at night time.

Ovidiu

As i said earlier, mine as well are to low.
Reading all this posts i think there is someting wrong with our lights. I will bring it up with my dealer at first scheduled maintenance.
However, the self leveling function is hard to miss since it is done every time i start the car at night. That one works for sure. But seeing overhead signs it is just something i wish for...

Rudy

It's interesting to note (and I haven't seen anyone else mention it before) that the Xenon high beams are not additional bulbs but rather a different "spray" of the low beam bulbs.

I other words, there are four round lamps across the front of the car. Two outside lamps and two inside lamps (closer to the grille).

Normally, the inner ones are the high beams and the outer ones are the low beams. On the E60 with "bi-xenon" lights, the outside lamps are actually both the low and high beams. When you activate the high beams, a little shutter inside the assembly slides up to allow the light to shine high. When you turn the high beams back off, the shutter drops down and blocks the beam from shining high thus diffusing it to a more controlled beam that has a clearly defined horizontal line at the upper region of the beam.

What are the inner bulbs used for? They're used for the "flash to pass" function as well as DRL's.

Those of you that are having problems with the aim of the low beams may have an alignment problem as others have suggested. For me, the low and high beams are simply perfect. Sure, there is a defined line between light and dark across the top edge but that's something I've been used to for many years now.

Bottom line? Have things checked by the dealer if you think something isn't working right.

ULtraPLanet

Are these just regular halogen bulbs then?

And while I'm at it can I ask some other light questions? Are the angel eyes activated with the parking lights or do they have a switch of their own? Are there rear fog lights on US models?

Rudy

Are these just regular halogen bulbs then?

And while I'm at it can I ask some other light questions? Are the angel eyes activated with the parking lights or do they have a switch of their own? Are there rear fog lights on US models? [/quote]
Inner bulbs are not xenon -- most likely halogen.

The angels are part of the parking lights -- no switch of their own. The US cars do not get rear fogs although the same area of the rear lights are used for the adaptive brake lights. Under extreme braking conditions, the additional bulbs in the rear fog light sockets illuminate.

billybob2

I would like to thank everyone who kept this string alive, and especially Dr. D for having the answer. There are two nylon adjustment screws (a medium phillips screwdriver works just fine) on top of each headlight assembly. One adjusts the height of the low beam, and the other appears to make a slight adjustment to the left-right angle -- I didn't spend much time with it after I realized that my low beam issue was solved in about 30 seconds of experimentation. In fact, I probably have them aimed a little high now, but will wait to see if I get signs of irritation from oncoming traffic before I adjust them downward.

I can now say this is the best lighting system I driven, and until yesterday it was the worst.