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      04-02-2016, 11:00 PM   #1
Pastor Passum
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Headlight Adjustment on startup

Please excuse me if this is a stupid question but...every time I start my X5 at night the headlights seem to go through an adjustment cycle. They pan from level to high, back down to low and back to level. Not like switching from low to high beam but rather smoothly like there is a movable reflector in the unit. I'm guessing there is a auto leveling system for the lights and it cycles through the extremes on startup. Anyone?
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      04-02-2016, 11:14 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Passum View Post
Please excuse me if this is a stupid question but...every time I start my X5 at night the headlights seem to go through an adjustment cycle. They pan from level to high, back down to low and back to level. Not like switching from low to high beam but rather smoothly like there is a movable reflector in the unit. I'm guessing there is a auto leveling system for the lights and it cycles through the extremes on startup. Anyone?

all is fine.
Every Xenon headlights do this regardless the car make/brand.
Imagine the lights do swivell like this while you drive as well. that is so they do not blind the cars coming towards you.

there are kind of "gyroscope" control units on the front axle that do this. to ensure the light hight level illumination is constantly at the same level/angle towards the road

fo example if you are coming up a hill top /horizont it lowers the light patter down the road sonyou dont shine way too up blinding the car coming towards

you should see Volkswagen xenons, they put up bigger show on startup
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      04-02-2016, 11:16 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Passum View Post
Please excuse me if this is a stupid question but...every time I start my X5 at night the headlights seem to go through an adjustment cycle. They pan from level to high, back down to low and back to level. Not like switching from low to high beam but rather smoothly like there is a movable reflector in the unit. I'm guessing there is a auto leveling system for the lights and it cycles through the extremes on startup. Anyone?
It's normal. Nothing to worry about. Wait til you remove the 8S4 from your FA.
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      04-03-2016, 03:11 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by Neuera09 View Post
It's normal. Nothing to worry about. Wait til you remove the 8S4 from your FA.
What removing 8S4 does to the light?
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      04-03-2016, 08:03 AM   #5
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Yep, the lights swivel at start up to show that everything is working fine.. Once they stop swiveling at startup thats when you should worry.
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      04-03-2016, 11:41 AM   #6
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What removing 8S4 does to the light?
You activate the Variable Light Distribution. Lay man's term, your headlamps move with your steering wheel.
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      04-03-2016, 01:03 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Neuera09
Quote:
Originally Posted by abhiku View Post
What removing 8S4 does to the light?
You activate the Variable Light Distribution. Lay man's term, your headlamps move with your steering wheel.
Not true. VLD changes the light spread depending on city vs rural conditions, etc.
Adaptive lighting, i.e. lights move when turning, etc., is standard.
The master coding thread has the clear description of VLD.
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      04-03-2016, 04:15 PM   #8
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Thanks for all the replies. My first time with xenon headlights and my search turned up nothing. Here's hoping they continue working as intended. Much appreciated.
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      04-04-2016, 03:58 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pragueX5 View Post
all is fine.

you should see Volkswagen xenons, they put up bigger show on startup
Indeed! My touareg's startup procedure for the xenons was kind of cool. They'd go from down to up, then side to side.
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      04-04-2016, 08:04 PM   #10
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Originally Posted by ano0oj View Post
Indeed! My touareg's startup procedure for the xenons was kind of cool. They'd go from down to up, then side to side.
I think all the VWs do that.
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      04-04-2016, 08:10 PM   #11
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My 2007 & 2013 E60 also went up/down and side to side at start up.
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      02-10-2018, 09:22 PM   #12
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Headlight adjustment

Hello community. this is my very first time ever creating a post. So please excuse if I am doing something incorrectly. In my case I had perfectly working and bright low beam.......until I took car to dealer for alignment.....after they done alignment, they forgot to reconnect leveling sensors by rear wheels....so they connected them back and now lights do level themselves, however low beam seem not being as fas as it used to be. Before I didn't even have to turn high beam, except when on very dark highways....I also remember, that before, when I turn lights on, they would level until certain point, and then go 2 more steps up. Now they just level to certain point (I couldn't see them doing those 2 steps up). Please advice, if there is any way I could raise them manually, or adjust that zero point (Idk how it is called)....Thanks everybody in advance....and I look forward for your reply people....
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      02-12-2018, 12:11 PM   #13
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You can manually raise the beam, but please do it carefully so that you don't blind people driving at night. A good reference point is to raise the beam so that you still cannot see the heads of people sitting in another sedan (not SUV) about 100-200 feet from your car on a leveled surface. There is a white plastic screw hidden on top of the headlight on each side for manual adjustments. Just google it for the picture if the screw location.
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