My headlights are irritating me...

MightyBobo · 05-13-2009, 07:02 AM

So, something is driving me insane. Ever since I bought the car, its looked like the right side is aimed up too far, except that if you try to adjust it down, it never really does down. As if the housing itself, is too high or something. Now, i dont know much about HID's since this is my first car with them. Every other HID-equipped car Ive been in it seems has a perfectly straight line across - could one of my housings be installed/aimed too high?

TheWeatherman · 05-13-2009, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

So, something is driving me insane. Ever since I bought the car, its looked like the right side is aimed up too far, except that if you try to adjust it down, it never really does down. As if the housing itself, is too high or something. Now, i dont know much about HID's since this is my first car with them. Every other HID-equipped car Ive been in it seems has a perfectly straight line across - could one of my housings be installed/aimed too high?

I've had Nissans and Infinitis with HID projector beam headlamps. The right side should be slightly higher than the left. This is to light up the ditch better so you can see any potential hazards, and the left down a bit to make sure you are not blinding oncoming traffic. It's completely normal. Since you've been dealing with halogens most of your time, you never noticed that they are too probably aimed like this, but they don't have as sharp of a cutoff that you'd notice. 2 Infiniti FX's and this 370z. Oh, and both of my parents drive new, supercharged Range Rovers, and they have the same pattern where the right is slightly higher than the left. Oncoming traffic will never even know because they never get a blast of your HIDs. The only people that may notice is when you're passing someone on the left, and if their car is low enough, that right beam might clip their mirror. Don't be mad... It's actually a nicely-lit pattern for you to see better. If you raise your left to match your right, you'll blind the traffic coming toward you.

MightyBobo · 05-13-2009, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWeatherman

I've had Nissans and Infinitis with HID projector beam headlamps. The right side should be slightly higher than the left. This is to light up the ditch better so you can see any potential hazards, and the left down a bit to make sure you are not blinding oncoming traffic. It's completely normal. Since you've been dealing with halogens most of your time, you never noticed that they are too probably aimed like this, but they don't have as sharp of a cutoff that you'd notice. 2 Infiniti FX's and this 370z. Oh, and both of my parents drive new, supercharged Range Rovers, and they have the same pattern where the right is slightly higher than the left. Oncoming traffic will never even know because they never get a blast of your HIDs. The only people that may notice is when you're passing someone on the left, and if their car is low enough, that right beam might clip their mirror. Don't be mad... It's actually a nicely-lit pattern for you to see better. If you raise your left to match your right, you'll blind the traffic coming toward you.

Its hard to explain, but I even tried purposefully to adjust them and get the lines to match up - didn't happen at all. I mean, if I sat on the ground in front of my car you could tell the lights were out of alignment, but it was like the housing that was just reflecting some of the light never moved at all.

TheWeatherman · 05-13-2009, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

Its hard to explain, but I even tried purposefully to adjust them and get the lines to match up - didn't happen at all. I mean, if I sat on the ground in front of my car you could tell the lights were out of alignment, but it was like the housing that was just reflecting some of the light never moved at all.

Exactly. That's what mine have always looked like. That's the Rovers as well. When you get close to the ground, that's really when you notice the difference. Just be careful when you are adjusting these things. There should be one screw that adjusts the lenses/position of the bulb inside. If you're trying to match up the left one to the right, you're going to tick A LOT of other people off. Just trust me, the right should be slightly higher than the left, and you WILL notice this as you go closer to the ground. Your car is totally fine. It's normal for these things. The funny thing is (for any old FX owners you'll know) Infiniti/Nissan used to make lights the way you liked them. You're not going to believe this, but the government recalled our headlight lenses!!! They had to install new lenses that look like the ones we have now. I had the old, (the way you would prefer) and the new designs after being redesigned actually are much brighter and safer. Tilt that right one back up a bit so they're not even. It's the nature of the beast and actually safer for you.

MightyBobo · 05-13-2009, 10:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheWeatherman

Exactly. That's what mine have always looked like. That's the Rovers as well. When you get close to the ground, that's really when you notice the difference. Just be careful when you are adjusting these things. There should be one screw that adjusts the lenses/position of the bulb inside. If you're trying to match up the left one to the right, you're going to tick A LOT of other people off. Just trust me, the right should be slightly higher than the left, and you WILL notice this as you go closer to the ground. Your car is totally fine. It's normal for these things. The funny thing is (for any old FX owners you'll know) Infiniti/Nissan used to make lights the way you liked them. You're not going to believe this, but the government recalled our headlight lenses!!! They had to install new lenses that look like the ones we have now. I had the old, (the way you would prefer) and the new designs after being redesigned actually are much brighter and safer. Tilt that right one back up a bit so they're not even. It's the nature of the beast and actually safer for you.

Nahh, I understand not to adjust the left one, I left that one alone. It was the right one I was trying to match up.

No ****, thats crazy (about the recall). See, I find this all odd because my buddys MS3 looks like a perfectly straight line all the way across, and it looked so nice. And mine has this bump right in the center where you can see the right a bit higher. Not as clean, but I can understand why its there...

xRUSTYx · 05-13-2009, 10:39 AM

I used to own an MS3 as well, lights were flat. My Acura RDX, the same way.

My 370z, has the right light angled slightly higher ... left light angled down. I always figured it was so it wouldn't blind the oncoming traffic! just my lousy $.02 cents :-)

jehamilton_98 · 05-13-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

Nahh, I understand not to adjust the left one, I left that one alone. It was the right one I was trying to match up.

No ****, thats crazy (about the recall). See, I find this all odd because my buddys MS3 looks like a perfectly straight line all the way across, and it looked so nice. And mine has this bump right in the center where you can see the right a bit higher. Not as clean, but I can understand why its there...

Not sure about other brands of cars but this is my 4th Nissan/Infinity car and they have all had that break/uneven projection line. No need to worry.

MightyBobo · 05-13-2009, 10:46 AM

Thanks for the feedback guys, question answered I suppose

NRGSwing · 05-13-2009, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyBobo

Nahh, I understand not to adjust the left one, I left that one alone. It was the right one I was trying to match up.

No ****, thats crazy (about the recall). See, I find this all odd because my buddys MS3 looks like a perfectly straight line all the way across, and it looked so nice. And mine has this bump right in the center where you can see the right a bit higher. Not as clean, but I can understand why its there...

FWIW, my C55 and S4 both have "auto-leveling" HIDs and they adjust to the same right light higher than left pattern.

TheWeatherman · 05-13-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xRUSTYx

I used to own an MS3 as well, lights were flat. My Acura RDX, the same way.

My 370z, has the right light angled slightly higher ... left light angled down. I always figured it was so it wouldn't blind the oncoming traffic! just my lousy $.02 cents :-)

Rusty= Not lousy 2 cents. You're right on! I guess those Mazda/Acura comanies just don't have the fore"sight" to give you better ditch vision. I can vouch for our setup saving me from multiple deer/ditch encounters on those country roads in Wisconsin. Thank God! I've had plenty of near-misses, but thanks to these lights, they give you a little extra sight/time to react. I always feel bad for people driving who don't have these. Oh, by the way, my '09 FX, I purposely didn't get the Deluxe Touring Package, so the headlights would not be auto-leveling. We can dail their heights from right inside the car on the rotary switch. Nissan's setup is perfect. See well and embrace the "uneveness." Ha ha.

AARC51 · 05-13-2009, 11:19 AM

My Mini Cooper S was the same way.

TheWeatherman · 05-13-2009, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AARC51

My Mini Cooper S was the same way.

Hey, AARC51, that's a nice-looking car! I wish I had one! Oh wait... Ha ha!

Lug · 05-13-2009, 12:09 PM

My 350Z has the higher right side setup as well. When I asked the dealer, he said this was normal. I thought he was BSing me.

XBadgerX · 05-13-2009, 04:32 PM

My S2k was the same as well. I believe the right side is higher to give you a better view of the solid white line incase of bad weather. The left side is lower as to not blind on coming traffic. I could be wrong though.

05-13-2009, 07:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
MightyBobo A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 8,465 Drives: No cars; only bikes Rep Power: 52	My headlights are irritating me... So, something is driving me insane. Ever since I bought the car, its looked like the right side is aimed up too far, except that if you try to adjust it down, it never really does down. As if the housing itself, is too high or something. Now, i dont know much about HID's since this is my first car with them. Every other HID-equipped car Ive been in it seems has a perfectly straight line across - could one of my housings be installed/aimed too high? __________________ I don't own a car anymore.

05-13-2009, 10:46 AM	#8 (permalink)
MightyBobo A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Las Vegas, NV Posts: 8,465 Drives: No cars; only bikes Rep Power: 52	Thanks for the feedback guys, question answered I suppose __________________ I don't own a car anymore.

05-13-2009, 12:09 PM	#13 (permalink)
Lug A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 1,926 Drives: 2006 350Z Rep Power: 20	My 350Z has the higher right side setup as well. When I asked the dealer, he said this was normal. I thought he was BSing me. __________________ keep Chubbs in your pocket - Chubbs

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05-13-2009, 10:39 AM	#6 (permalink)
xRUSTYx Base Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 22 Drives: 09-370Z-PW-M6 Rep Power: 16	I used to own an MS3 as well, lights were flat. My Acura RDX, the same way. My 370z, has the right light angled slightly higher ... left light angled down. I always figured it was so it wouldn't blind the oncoming traffic! just my lousy $.02 cents :-)

05-13-2009, 11:19 AM	#11 (permalink)
AARC51 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Redmond Washington Posts: 195 Drives: Red 09 370z Sport Rep Power: 16	My Mini Cooper S was the same way.

05-13-2009, 04:32 PM	#14 (permalink)
XBadgerX Base Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Virginia Posts: 105 Drives: 07 Honda 600RR Rep Power: 16	My S2k was the same as well. I believe the right side is higher to give you a better view of the solid white line incase of bad weather. The left side is lower as to not blind on coming traffic. I could be wrong though.