Just had my car fail its MOT for 'Headlamp levelling device inoperative' and in turn failed both sides for pointing too low.

It's a 2002 Cooper S, with standard lights (not xenon)... anyone know how to fix this issue ?

Thanks

 

Do you have an adjusting wheel on the dashboard?
The ball & socket link behind one of the lamps may have popped off.
If you don't have the wheel, there are left-right & up-down alignment adjusters on both lamps.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I do have the adjusting wheel on the dashboard, if I move this then I see the lights move up or down based on what I do. If I turn the lights off and then turn the lights on, I see the lights go from a downward position up to whatever was set on the adjustment wheel, which I thought was what it should be doing (ie... the 'headlamp levelling device' is working), however the low beam position is very low (It also failed mot 'Headlamp aim projected beam is obviously incorrect' for both nearside and offside).

So my thinking is that the headlamp levelling IS working (based on it moving from downward to upwards when I turn lights on) but MOT tester failed it because the lights are projecting too low... if I am correct how do I go about adjusting the lights so they are not pointing so low ?

Thanks.

 

t sounds as though everything is working correctly except the static beam adjustment.
There are left/right & up/down adjustment screws behind each light.
Just find a brick wall about 30' away, turn the low beams on & adjust the screws up a bit.
( A kindly MOT inspector could have let you do this in about 30 seconds!).Mike

 

Yeah I think the guy might of been having a bad day... he failed it on loads of things like Position lamp not working (as soon as I gave it the gentlest of taps it came on) and a bunch of other little stupid things...

Anyway, thanks for the advice. Am I right in saying this is more of a hassle with the mini than other cars? Most cars you could line up with a wall, open the bonnet and adjust accordingly, but because the lights are part of the bonnet on the MINI it means ive got to open the bonnet, adjust a screw, fully close the bonnet to check, and then if not correct, reopen the bonnet and repeat until correct... I dont see any other way of doing it?

Thanks again.

 

I did mine on the garage ceiling!
You shouldn't need to adjust it much.

 

Repeatedly closing and going back in the car to release the hood can be a hassle. You can try to measure the starting height against a wall with the hood closed and figure out how much the lights need to come up then pop the hood to the first latch, note the new light position on the wall and make and check the adjustments while closing the hood only back to the safety latch position.

The ball and sockets tend to separate from slamming the hood or from really bad potholes or bumps. Not sure if the regular halogens or pre-facelift xenons have the same problem with the ball and sockets popping loose like the projector xenons, but to avoid this and reduce the shock to the bulbs and other electronics I always close the hood by lowering it to the first safety position then gently pressing over each headlight until it’s latched.