Having just bought an BMW X3 with xenon lights, contrary to what I was told, I find it nearly impossible to adjust the beam on the drivers side for driving in France. The other side is difficult but possible. Apparently it is not possible to use sticky bits on the headlight lenses with xenon lights.
My question is would it be alright to divert only the dipped beam on passenger side as this is the one that would dazzle a driver driving on the right in France. The drivers side light unadapted would presumably just be pointing straight ahead of the car or towards the passengers side but not over the other side of the road to dazzle oncoming cars
Many thanks for replies
Keith
If you are having difficulty in adjusting your headlamps, then it sounds as if either you're doing it incorrectly or there's a problem with the actual units. I'd suggest you ask your friendly BMW dealer to have a look at them.
Of course, for short term visits here, you could always do what I do when going over to the UK - use the little thumbwheel on the dashboard to lower the beams....
It seems to be a problem with German cars I have a Mercedes with xenon lights and there are dire warnings in the handbook about adjusting the lights yourself . The book says only a dealer should do it.
I went to the dealers who then showed me how to do it myself its a real fiddle but can be done, I think they would rather I did it than go before and after each trip. There is a small lever on each headlamp unit.
My car is a Skoda Octavia and it is possible to tilt the lights by twiddling something on the dashboard - but only for when you have a full boot so that it doesn't glare at people when you are driving in England. This seems bizarre to me. You would have thought that if the headlight can just be twiddled, it would be possible to make all headlights twiddleable so that you can tilt them for use in England or in Europe- especially given that surely there are more of most types of car on mainland Europe than Britain. Why don't manufacturers think of such obvious things? Oh, of course, it would mean that sales of deflectors would go down!
I suspect that the manufacturers have figured out that continental Europe is left hand drive and the vast majority of cars never go across to that offshore island where the headlamps need to shine the other way. So, why go to the expense of fitting adjustable headlamp mechanisms as standard across Europe when they'll never likely to be used. Temporary beam deflectors are a practical and inexpensive solution for occasional visits.
It's not just a case of tilting or lowering the lights though is it Jill ?
The whole profile of the beam, especially on dip, is tailored for whichever side of the road you're normally driving on and is designed to enhance your range of visibility and thus your safety, as well as to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers.
Using the tilt is very much a compromise and should be used as a very temporary measure and not as a long term substitute for having the lights correctly set.
I drive an Octavia also BTW (1.9TDi Estate) and an excellent car it is too
Many of the manufacturers use it as an excuse to get you to go into the dealer and give them some money to change it over and then more money when you get home to change them back again.
Go to the dealer and ask them to show you how - if they say it is not a DIY task ask them if they will pay any fines you incur through driving a car with illegal headlights between the dealership and the port. If you drive away from a dealer in the UK with headlights set to dip for driving on the right your car does not meet construction and use regulations so they would be liable for letting it go in that state!
andyps wrote:If you drive away from a dealer in the UK with headlights set to dip for driving on the right your car does not meet construction and use regulations so they would be liable for letting it go in that state!
If you drive away from a dealer in the UK with headlights set to dip for driving on the right your car does not meet construction and use regulations so they would be liable for letting it go in that state!
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