Hello - I was just reading this thread about adjusting headlights, but my headlights look different than the ones pictured, and I simply cannot find anything anywhere on the internet about how to adjust these damn things. (Why do they all point at the road 10' in front of the car!?!?!?)

I'll send pics later this evening, but in the meantime, is there any other thread relating to this specific adjustment? From looking closely I believe MAY be able to see where the adjusters are, but the vertical adjuster first of all looks to have a tiny cover I wouldn't know how to remove, and also it just doesn't seem accessible without removing the headlight, and that seems like a job and a half.

Help!?

IMPORTANT EDIT: this is for a 2012. I don't know what the deal is, but it seems like something may have changed after 2011???

 

These are the spots where it seems adjustment would need to be made. BUT HOW? Anyone have a how-to handy?

 

It looks like your adjuster may have a plastic cover on it that "takes some digging" to get out, according to that post. At least that's how I am reading it. The OP on that post seems to also have a 2013 with the halogens. I would help with pics, but my 2011 S has the adjusters exposed, and my wife's 2013 has the Xenons. I would say that "cover" on yours can be removed, but not sure how difficult that may be. Good luck, and post a reply with your findings, please.

 

Thanks mate - I guess my confusion is really that, based on the markings, the first pic seems to be the vertical adjustment, while the second pic with the little cover looks like the horizontal adjustment. What I need to do is adjust vertically, but I can't see how to do that.

 

Ah, I see. Sorry, I misunderstood. Hopefully someone else can help and maybe even post up some pics.

 

Position 1 is for vertical adjustment, position 2 is for horizontal adjustment

 

Yeah, see Nik's diagram. In your first photo you're looking in the wrong place for the vertical adjuster. In your second photo the horizontal adjustment is under that cover, but you generally don't need to adjust that.

The vertical adjuster should be pointing straight up, it's a white plastic screw that accepts a Phillips driver. For some reason R56 halogens come set stupid low from the factory: they work better if you aim them up a bit. Just make sure they still angle below horizontal with a full tank of gas so you don't blind oncoming traffic.

Even with proper aiming my experience is that the stock R56 halogens are terrible, and the best thing you can do for nighttime driving is upgrade them to halogen or xenon projectors.

 

Philips X-treme +120% or +150% bulbs are a cost-effective upgrade, along with correct alignment.

 

Thanks everybody - turns out I had myself convinced that photo was so much different than my headlight setup. I don't know why I thought that. I was able to turn those height adjustment screws and I had to turn them AT LEAST 2 full turns to get to the point where they were actually useful. And no, they're not blinding any oncoming traffic. They were seriously pointing 10' in front of the car AT BEST. So, YAY, now I can finally see [a little better anyway] while driving at night!

I'll consider new bulbs and maybe new headlights, but I don't know that I want to put that much money into it. Just wanted it to be a little more functional.

 

I am aware this is pretty bads news but the truth is:
Actually there's not much to gain from the Halogens. I have tried several better bulbs on my former Mini
but the light performance remained abysmal. If you want a real improvement don't waste your time with
bulbs and get the OE Mini Bi-Xenon retrofit kit as long as it's available. Sadly BMW/Mini stopped making
them while ECS and other vendors seem to have still some kits available. Still much cheaper compared
to retrofitting factory 35 W Bi-Xenons as the 25 W Retrofit kit doesn't require headlight washers and auto
leveling. Still VASTLY improved light output!