Misaligned Headlights

[15Pony]

Took it into my dealer to get the lights adjusted but they look the same as before. Here's a picture I took. What do you think? I would think the top of the pattern should be straight; am I expecting too much? Is this normal for these headlights?

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[Nitro]

They look correct. The drivers side is supposed to be lower so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic.

 

[TorkN8R]

They look correct. The drivers side is supposed to be lower so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic.

Nitro is absolutely correct 15Pony. The head lights are not supposed to be symmetrical. The left or driver side is a bit lower for the reasons Nitro stated and the right or passenger side is supposed the to reach out a bit further down the road to show the side of the road along the fog line.

 

[Nemesys]

They look correct. The drivers side is supposed to be lower so it doesn't blind oncoming traffic.

I never even thought of that.


And OP, mine are the same, yep normal it seems

 

[15Pony]

I never thought of that either! On these cars isn't the light drop-off line more pronounced than other cars or older cars? This could be a reason it looked weird to me. I'm not used to looking at such a sharp line so the uneven stood out.

 

[stoli]

I never thought of that either! On these cars isn't the light drop-off line more pronounced than other cars or older cars? This could be a reason it looked weird to me. I'm not used to looking at such a sharp line so the uneven stood out.

The cutoff is a function of the hid projectors. Getting a sharp, stepped cutoff is a sign of a quality lens and light setup and is something to be envied (and some of us have been known to pursue at legnth). ;)

It's created by a metal 'shield' that drops down between the hid bulb and the lens inside the projector. When you turn on your high beams, this 'shield' actually lifts out of the way, allowing the light out the top portion of the lens.

 

[15Pony]

Oh....thanks for the explanation, that's interesting. On other cars where the light field is larger and falls off more gradually it can be harder to notice the difference between left and right from the driver's seat.

 

[15Pony]

I'm going to tell them not to do any more adjusting on it... (the picture above is after adjustment) Does my pattern look correct? I don't know if they tweaked it off of factory spec.

 

[stoli]

You're good. It should be a three step cutoff. I'll post some pics from mine tonight so you have a reference point; I've only adjusted mine up after adding lowering springs.

 

[Mizzle51]

Nitro is absolutely correct 15Pony. The head lights are not supposed to be symmetrical. The left or driver side is a bit lower for the reasons Nitro stated and the right or passenger side is supposed the to reach out a bit further down the road to show the side of the road along the fog line.

Today I learned. Makes sense since I noticed that as well with my headlights. Thanks!

 

[Asharus]

there's no mention in the manual that the driver's side is lower than the passenger side.

my headlights are aimed evenly from the plant. same as my last 2 cars with factory HIDs.

like this

 

[15Pony]

Section 4 mentions a drop off, 2 inches below the reference line. You've got a nice straight pattern!

 

[Asharus]

yeah the dropoff they're mentioning is the left part of the beam. that's not my pattern, i just grabbed that off of google image search.

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