When I drive my 2007 MCS at night, I noticed that the xenon headlight on the drive side is much lower than the passenger side. It is very obvious when I am driving on freeways which one side is higher than the other. I brought the car back to the EB Mini dealership and they claim that the headlights are aligned properly when they test it in their garage and refuse any adjustment. It's really frustrating as they claim that the only way they can try figure it out is let their mechanic to drive my MCS home at night.

Does anyone have similar problem with their R56?

 

The driver's side headlight should be aimed lower than the passenger's. That way approaching traffic isn't blinded.
That being said, I have not seen the offending alignment myself so I can't rule out the possibility that the light is completely whacked out.

 

Thats the way Xenons are aimed, so you dont blind oncoming cars.

 

Are all Xenons in MCS are like this?

I had a BMW 330 before and the zenon headlights are aimed at the same level. That's why i'm confused!!! Is it supposed to have a difference so obvious?

 

All should have a similar pattern, but they do vary. There's some diagrams here that might illustrate

http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/hsis/pubs/04147/methods.htm

And a comparison of a HID (xenon) to Halogen pattern

http://www.carpages.co.uk/news/news-...s_10_11_05.jpg

The driver's side cutoff is more noticable on HID systems.

 

Hey everyone!

I just managed to get a pair of black Xenon headlights and I managed to install it but the passenger side is quite a bit higher than the driver side(pretty much looks like I have my high beam on my passenger side on). Anyone know how to adjust it??

Any info would be great!

 

My 11 MCS has Adaptive Xenon lights and they are self leveling. You can see them move into proper position when the ignition is turned on. Second best feature of my car after the sunroof.

 

@highlander709

That's with steering as well right?

These are 2010 Versions and They don't have that capability. I was thinking it would level off as well up/down but it doesn't =S

 

There is a small hex screw next to each light that you can see when the bonnet is open. It can be turned with a long phillips head screwdriver or hex wrench. One thing you want to keep in mind with the MINI when adjusting headlights for yourself is just how wide each headlight's beam pattern is, relative to how narrow the car is...in other words, sometimes adjusting the light opposite the one you think is low will give you the desired result.

Hope that helps.

 

A factory xenon car has sensors on the A arms that keep the lights level. They work based on the angle of the arm. If your car was originally a halogen car you would not have these sensors.

 

Great info! Thanks! @NJ_Mini would you have a picture off hand at all???

@Spice Orange, I changed all of the necessary parts to obtain what I was wanting but it just seems that in the end that the passenger light is quite higher than the Driver Side.

I will double check to see if I can align them myself and if not in the end I'll bring it to the dealer to adjust it for me.

Thanks everyone!

 

Spice is correct. The xenon lights are leveled off of the sensors on the lower control arms in the front. From my understanding one should not use the leveling screws to adjust the xenons. Most xenon lights do not have any sort of adjustment screws on them.

 

i notice this too but it is so you don't blind on comming cars. mine is an 07 and it has the self aligning lights. when you turn them on the light seems to point down at the road and the beam quickly points up to the right level.

 

I will keep that in mind!

Just a thought though, while looking at the headlights without turning the car on it seems as if the passenger side headlight is pointing higher in comparison to the driver side! So just adjusting the casing that moves lower should do the trick!

Just the fact that I've never done it before scares me =S

 

I'd agree, I wouldn't adjust these unless its necessary. The auto-leveling feature will help level the light, but the light has to have been set to correct specs for it to function properly. Sometimes they are knocked out of spec from an accident, a pothole, or may have never been set properly at the VDC and need to be adjusted. All headlights have a way to adjust the angle of the beam via torx screw, hex screw or otherwise. I've been able to adjust the xenons on prior cars including an VW, Acura, Volvo, Inifniti and this MCS, in addition to other cars with halogens.

To the OP, I'll try and snap a picture if I get a chance tomorrow, provided it's not down-poring here again.

 

Hmmm, interesting. Thanks NJ Mini!

 

Here is the photo. Sorry for the lousy camera phone shot. It's the small grey screw (phillips head) behind the light, not the bolt with red markings. Be very careful when turning it, since even a quarter turn will make a big difference in the headlight angle. What I have done is park on a level driveway facing the garage and slowly adjust the lights from there to make sure they're level.

Hope that helps.

 

That Helps a lot!! Thanks NJ! I will be trying that tomorrow to see if it works!! Thanks for the help everyone!!! Much Appreciated!

 

Hey NJ, it seemed to work for one of my headlights but when I tried it on my passenger side it seemed as if it didn't move at all! =S I will be bringing it into my Service at my location to see if they can do something about it!

Thanks NJ for the pic! Much appreciated!

 

No worries. Just as an FYI, before you bring it in, you might want to look into adjusting the opposite headlight. I know it sounds weird, but since these cars are so narrow, the beam pattern is quite wide. I had the same problem where I was adjust the driver-side light down a bit, and no matter how much I tried, it still pointed way too high. Turned out I hadn't adjusted the passnger side correctly and that was actually the side that was too high. I'd give it a shot, and if that doesn't work, then take it in.

 

Hey NJ,

I actually did try it on the driver side as well and it adjusted fine! I compared it to my dad's mini and made it pretty much level with his! Unfortunately I still have to bring it in as the pass. side is still fairly high =S But thanks again NJ!

 

Thanks for the pic/info, NJ! Much appreciated!

 

Hey there! I know this is an old post, but I thought I'd take a chance and ask one more question. When standing in front of the light, which way do I turn the screw? The light is facing too low to the ground and gives no illumination 20 feet beyond the mini. I want to raise the light just a bit to make it easier to see at night. Thanks for any help. Lynn

 

I believe you turn it to the left to raise the beams. Hope that helps!