...when you turn the steering wheel like on a lexus? just wondering.

 

no, but when you go up hill or down hill they adjust so you still see in front of you. only up or down depending on slope.

 

I thought they only adjusted according to the level you are at when you turn on your HIDs for the first time?!

 

the extra $$$. Light up the dark in a great way.

 

they do but they will also adjust when going up/ down hills and you can even notcie them adjust when you get on it of brake really hard.

 

yeah you can tell, becuase they adjust really fast and twitchy that it catches your eye

 

On my '06 they don't auto-adjust on hills, the adjustment is tied to a sensor measuring the sag of the rear suspension. Anything that compresses the rear suspension will cause the lights to adjust up and down, even while driving. If you're going down a steep hill that unloads the rear suspension I suppose they'd adjust a little. On bumps, however, the bobbing lights are often out-of-phase with the bumps. There's a particular set of stutter bumps near my house that set the lights all to bobbing...

Lights that steer with the wheels are toys, an almost useless feature. By the time I've turned the wheels I would have wanted the lights to have ALREADY turned to illuminate the turn I'm ABOUT to make. Pivoting after I turn the wheel is likely too late, unless I'm almost stopped and turning into a driveway. OK, I can see that... but it's a lot of sensors and moving parts to do what a cornering lamp or fog lamp can do SO much better.

 

Which car have you tried it on? My friends have it on their 5 series and they like the feature. BTW, the light only turns towards the right (avoid shining at oncoming traffic).

 

On my 06 MCS the lights don't turn, they level themselves like other have said on hills but they do not turn. You will notice that the lights level when you turn them on at night or either facing a wall.

 

Lexus. Found the feature of some, but somewhat limited, usefulness. A high tech gimmick more than anything. I like cornering or fog lamps better, but then again I'm kind of a minimalist by nature... in everything but words, I suppose...

 

I kinda wish the mini xenons turned. I drove an X5 down the 18 from big bear in the dark, and I must say it is a really nice feature. It just made taking the turns in the dark a little easier and they turned in both directions. You didn't even realize they were turning unless you were looking for it.

 

I too wish the MINI xenons were "dynamic", thats the phrasing BMW uses for its xenons that turn with the steering wheel. I have driven many of the newer BMWs with the dynamic feature and it really is great. There is really no "lag". For example, on the highway they will light up long sweepers where if they hadn't turned would be pointing off the road.

Also they do in fact turn both to the right and left, just a very miniscule amount to the left to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. And of course you can turn the feature off and they will stay straight ahead and just auto level.

 

There are 2 sensors, one on the front suspension, and one on the rear. They don't measure the sag of the suspension, but are more like digital levels, and are affected by hills.

Mark

 

I liked the feature on my Grandma's Grand Marquies where when you put on the turn signal a small flood lamp illuminated the road to the left or right of the vehicle. It was very convenient for taking unknown turns or driveways at night. The headlights that pivot with the steering wheel are nice for winding roads but the Xenon's illuminate so well everywhere I don't see a pivot feature doing much good for the cost, wieght, and complexity it would add to the car.

 

The new X5 has both the turning xenons AND the side lamp feature which turns on with the turn signal and while turning the wheel over far enough.

 

I agree

Xenons rule

Mark