I took my car into the dealership to have them raised a tad. I drove it home last night while others had flashed me. Now it seems they're too high. The service advisor suggested I shine them at my garage and measure how many inches I'd like them lowered now. I asked how far back I should be, and he replied about 50 feet or so? This doesn't seem very scientific.

Shouldn't there be a happy medium here? For those that have had them raised or even those whose lights have never been touched, what height is your 'cutoff' of the beam and at what distance did you measure?

 

Hi rrypma,

Hope you are enjoying your car.
As you probably read in my other posts, I asked the dealer to adjust my xenon up "a bit". The mechanic showed me that it was okay to adjust the xenons while they are on, and then proceed to crack it full 3 turns. Yup, my lights were pointing above oncoming traffic.

I ended up spending a couple of hours moving my xenon down to a level that I am comfortable with. I live close to some dark, unlit streets. I drove there with my flashlight and flat-head screwdriver. I turned my xenon on, then raised the bonnet. With the help of the flashlight, I found the adjustment screws, and adjusted the xenons. Close the bonnet to check for aim, then repeat.

Took me a while, but I finally got it to be the way I like it. I found that measuring against a wall is not that accurate. If you can find an unlit street, adjust your xenons there. You can even check for glare by walking a few hundred feet down the street and walk back toward your car. Remember to lower your head to simulate driving height of other drivers. I have not been flashed a single time.

standard disclaimer: look out for traffic, be careful around those high-voltage xenons. Adjust your xenon lights at your own risk.

 

Where are the adjustment screws for the Xenon? Pix?

 

Does your pattern seem slanted when you look at them against a wall? Mine look like the car is up on two wheels sometimes.

 

OK, are you kidding? :smile: The beams are supposed to look like that so you can read signage on the right while not blinding oncoming traffic. These beam patterns are used on all E-spec (European) lamps and are required. In England, your car would be "up on the other wheels". :smile:

Beam pattern (US):

____ / ____ /

Katana, Yes, I'm enjoying my car immensely. I was pleasantly surprised with the service department, as I had to have the NAV screen replaced and other programming. They are very eager to get all '5's' there too. Very refreshing. However, two small scratches somehow managed to find their way to my MINI. They apologized and offered to fix it at my convenience.

So, they definately said it was OK to adjust them yourself? Many posts seem to indicate that by adjusting them manually, the auto-levelers may become a bit discombobulated.

 

You have to adjust them???



-teammini

 

I've seen peeps use a wall at the end of a parking lot to judge the aim height. They pretty much do the following:

1) Measure height of low-beams bulbs from ground.
2) On a vertical wall, with a reasonably flat level parking lot between car and wall, put two bits of electrical tape. One at bulb height, and one 3" below.
3) With the car 25' from the wall, adjust the lights until the top of the low beams just hits the lower piece of tape.

That should keep the lights from blinding oncoming traffic 'cept when you're bouncing. And a 3" drop in 25' should mean that you get good extension down the road.

Remember also that dirt, snow haze, scratches or tint film can cause Xenons to diffuse their light, and can blind traffic as well. The best Xenon implementations I've seen have the light go from bright to almost black in very little vertical distance.

 

>>
>>So, they definately said it was OK to adjust them yourself? Many posts seem to indicate that by adjusting them manually, the auto-levelers may become a bit discombobulated.
>>

Well, that's what the mechanic told me. He said yeah there is the danger of running out of range, but that's if you adjust it way too much. For us, I bet your adjustment wouldn't be more than 1/4 of a turn.
Mine currently sit about 1/8 turn higher than before. No problems yet, knock on wood.

If you don't feel comfortable, then don't do it. Go back to the dealer and have them adjust it. In my case, as my friends put it, KatanaPilot is not afraid to break things on his car....... Since the dealer won't be open during darkness, I figured I'd adjust it myself, when I could verify my adjustments right away.

 

$0.02: I never had to adjust mine, but I have heard of many instances of MINI-xenon's that were aimed too low. Best of luck getting them aligned correctly.

moving to Beneath the Bonnet

 

Where are the adjustment screws for the Xenon?

 

The adjustment screws are on the back side of the headlamp.

One is marked U <---> D (up / down)
the other is marked L <----> R (left / right)

 

I've actually heard a lot of people stating their MINI's Xenons were aimed too low, but that was some time ago, maybe the factory changed that.
Mine were aimed way too low, and I had the dealer adjust them. This they did, and then they were aimed too high (but less 'too high' than the amount by which they were previously 'too low').
The final bit of adjustment I did myself.
One important thing to keep in mind is that the car needs to be loaded for proper aiming and adjusting of the leveling mechanism (per factory manual): the drivers seat needs to be loaded with about 175 lbs of weight (or a mechanic sitting in it), while the adjustment is made with a special tool and the bonnet closed.
A limited amount of adjustment is possible using the screws (WITH LIGHTS OFF), but not too much as otherwise the leveling mechanism may burn out if travel limit is hit.

There have been several posts on how to do this, a search should reveal some of these posts.

M.

_________________
Celeste: 03 EB/W MCS, cold, premium, sports a la carte w. W16"V, Lapis, HK, Forge coolant tank, saddlebags, interior trim in EB, euro shelf

 

My 04 mcs Xenons are a bit low as well. A picture showing the correct adjustment screw would be appreciated.

 

Ditto here too. I'd love to know how to adjust the xenons. Mine don't illuminate the road very far in front of my car at all. The low beams on my old E36 BMW do a much better job and they are only halogen. I know everyone raves about the xenons, so I'm hoping with a bit of adjustment I'll be one of those ravers.

Any pics of how to adjust them would be much appreciated!

 

Guess I should have looked before my earlier post. On back of headlight assembly are two screws, one on left of assembly, the other on the right. Would you believe I can't remember which was which but doesn't matter. One screw has arrows pointing to L & R (left-right) the other arrows pointing to U & D (up & down). Really a no-brainer. I adjusted the U/D screw up 1/4 turn. I know I should check light level now but, I'm beat. I'll do it tomorrow night. If not up enough, I'll crank it up another 1/4 turn.