Kell

I've sort of asked this before, but wondered if anyone had any idea if this can be done...

Essentially the headlights on our car are (IMHO) rubbish. They're standard lights, so I don't expect them to be super bright, but they're actually appalling. So much so that I think they're dangerous. The dealer says they're adjusted correctly, but I can't believe other people are driving around with lights as bad as these. They just don't sem to throw light far enough forward. Now, I've tried the manual adjustment inside the car and they're adjusted so that they're pointing up as much as possible, but even my passengeres have commented on how poor they are.

My questions, therefore, are simple.

Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, what did you do about it?

Has anyone upgraded the bulbs? Maybe 'bluer' lights would help, but I doubt it.

Could it be the rear suspension is sitting too high and therefore pushing the lights down?

Any comments are welcome as while I don't drive on unlit roads that often, whenever I do, it's not a pleasant experience.

SteveD518

I have an '06 which came with the self adjusting adaptive zenon headlights. They do a great job of throwing light well down the road. With the high beams it's like daytime. Perhaps you could upgrade to HID bulbs. I did this on my K1200RS and it worked great. Check out DDM.
Steve

mmitev

Kell, I have the bi-xenon active headlights, and was still quite unhappy with road visibility at night.
After a front bumper respray I looked into adjusting the lights a little and WOW! what a difference!
It turns out my headlights were just not properly adjusted although the car came from a dealer who claims this has been done.

So my advice to you is first take a 6-mm hexagon key, get out in the evening and play a bit with the two white screws on top of the lights (attaching the instructions). After that, if still not happy, you can look into bulbs upgrade.

Adjusting_headlights.pdf

Sluis530

Nice thread.. is this attached instruction for adaptive zenon pre-lci? I have a possible adjustment needed, just wanted to make sure this is for those type as well.

Kell

Brilliant. I'll have a look at that tonight or over the weekend.

Vista

On a similar subject, can anyone advise how to alter the throw of the beam from driving on the left (UK style) to driving on the right? I understand that there's a lever for doing it (similar to the E39's) but am damned if I can see it!

Kell

Well, I can confirm that the above hint definitely works. But I think I may have overdone it.

@ Vista, not sure how much the throw would need to be adjusted, or how you'd measure its accuracy, but if the lateral movement can be as much aqs the vertical, you could probably do it by adjusting the hex screws as indicated on the PDF.

mmitev

And if you need a good indy shop for something else, I have been quite happy with TCS in High Wycombe before.

Kell

Used them when my car suffered from the Droopy bum syndrome. BMW wanted £3,500. Cost at TCS = £350. Although I'm sure I still owe Tim some money.

Vista

Thanks. I was hoping there was a lever mechanism to alter them like there is on the E39's............But looking down at the back of the headlight, even if there is it'd be a headlight out job to access it!