xenon headache

[DSGMAn]

Just tell the mrs that the police ordered you to lower your car 30mm to avoid another fine

[golf2nv]

like i said they are adjusted fine i do live in an area with very hilly roads and coming down a hill towards a bombadore coming the other way it would seem as if i had my high beams on so i can understand where the cops are coming from but all is well they are fine and set correctly

[dgd1600]

Flasher

Yeh - Ditto - I do a lot of night driving and get lots of ppl thinking lights are on H beam. I went to the trouble to use a metalic windscreen tint ( not easy to do due to shape of lense ) onto the head lamps - reduced the brightness by about 20%. A Bit like p*ssing on the wind though - pay all that money and have to negate the value by reducing the intensity.

I did ask the dealer where I bought the car from and he said they would charge me to change is since the car met ADR's as shipped. Me thinks from this thread and all the ppl with the same problem that Mr VW needs to do a little customer damage control rather than throwing in an ADR ruling to mitigate their responsibility.

[karmen]

Flash them back when they do, they're just stupid people that think you have your lights on high beam because they are bright. They meet Australian standards and those throughout the world, have you VW dealer check them as well if you want to make sure.

well me drive lots on hwys and almost all the lites outa control is;
stupid , dangerous ignorant or at least uninformed ppl who tow a trailer or boat etc and have poor consideration....when hitching or loading the lot.

also Mavver my dear friend, as we get older our eyes become more sensitive ?? You would know...especially at night.

Drive safely now, Volks! adjust emm so only boot area of the cars in front is lit up.

[MultiplexMan]

Flash them back when they do, they're just stupid people that think you have your lights on high beam because they are bright. They meet Australian standards and those throughout the world, have you VW dealer check them as well if you want to make sure.

Mate,

That will be small satisfaction when the "stupid person" blinded by your "ADR compliant" xenons crosses the median and has a head on with you.

I've been in a new MB SL and the auto levelling was so bad on an undulating road, "I" couldn't see the fr'kn road because the lights were taking turns at pointing to the sky and then a couple meters in front of the bumper. Not only was I and my passenger p'd, so was every driver in front of me!

If people are flashing, check your lights. I wouldn't care what the dealer says when the car is sitting flat in the workshop. Check the response rate of the auto levelling and the limit stops - not just the rest position. The rest position (driver only) should be the upper range limit BTW.

Xenons are great when adjusted properly. Drive safe

Cheers, MM

PS I get mighty p'd when blinded by lights (halogen and xenon) that are not adjusted correctly. It is no fun driving through a gorge road with no room for error - blind.

[JustCruisn]

SCNRT

[Maverick]

That will be small satisfaction when the "stupid person" blinded by your "ADR compliant" xenons crosses the median and has a head on with you.

Yeah that's real likely to occur.

The reason why these stupid people flash is because they are stupid and can't understand that a car can have lights that bright on low beam. If they had two brain cells to process they would realise that the lights are new technology.

It's the same "problem" with projector lights with have the same sharp cutoff, stupid people think that they are on high beam when they go over a bump.

I've been in a new MB SL and the auto levelling was so bad on an undulating road, "I" couldn't see the fr'kn road because the lights were taking turns at pointing to the sky and then a couple meters in front of the bumper. Not only was I and my passenger p'd, so was every driver in front of me!

And it's the fault of the headlights because you were on a crappy road? Perhaps you should direct you attention to the local incompetent main roads department. The adjustment range is tiny so for it to "point at the sky and a few meters in front of the bumper" you must have been on a hell of a bumpy road.

If people are flashing, check your lights. I wouldn't care what the dealer says when the car is sitting flat in the workshop. Check the response rate of the auto levelling and the limit stops - not just the rest position. The rest position (driver only) should be the upper range limit BTW.

If the dealer tests them and they are correctly aligned then that is that. There is nothing more that he can do, they meet the ADR's and they're not going to adjust them outside the parameters for liability reasons.

Xenons are great when adjusted properly. Drive safe

PS I get mighty p'd when blinded by lights (halogen and xenon) that are not adjusted correctly. It is no fun driving through a gorge road with no room for error - blind.

If you can't handle some stray light from a car without getting pissed off perhaps you should reconsider driving at night.

[golf2nv]

well said if the dealer says they are fine and adjusted right thats good for me

[GTom]

well said if the dealer says they are fine and adjusted right thats good for me

You walk a fine line in saying that..... if you pointed out a rattle that happens in the car and your dealer says it has nothing to do with the car would that be good enough for you?

I think there is a common misconception with these lights and doesn't help much when you have wankers in their excel with an improper xenon setup on their car.

Even halogen globes on a 4x4 are worst then a properly setup Xenon assembly

[MultiplexMan]

Oh dear.

The reason why these stupid people flash is because they are stupid and can't understand that a car can have lights that bright on low beam. If they had two brain cells to process they would realise that the lights are new technology.

If a person flashes you do you naturally assume they are stupid and that is the ONLY reason they are flashing? Perhaps, god forbid, your you beaut headlights are that bright they are actually blinding? Hence the flash?

And it's the fault of the headlights because you were on a crappy road? Perhaps you should direct you attention to the local incompetent main roads department. The adjustment range is tiny so for it to "point at the sky and a few meters in front of the bumper" you must have been on a hell of a bumpy road.

Well if the headlight auto levelling could not cope with an undulating (rolling hills, ocean side drive South Australia, For Sydney siders think of the road to Wisemans Ferry from Galston) - it is a fault in the headlight levelling system.

For your information I swapped vehicles and drove the return trip in a Touareg fitted with factory xenons WITHOUT a "problem". The "problem" was the MB auto leveller.

I use Xenons on service trucks on mine pit roads that are FIXED. The bounce I get is from the vehicle (Toyota Landcruiser dual cab) on the "crappy road". There is no auto levelling and we manage to aim our lights so not to blind other light vehicle users.

The adjustment range is tiny so for it to "point at the sky and a few meters in front of the bumper" you must have been on a hell of a bumpy road.

Oh really? I suggest you plug your VAG-COM in and adjust the Xenon sensor blocks to full range and then tell me how small the adjustment range is. Add a possibly damaged pivot/lever and you will see how easy it is for the headlight leveller to give the wrong adjustment WHEN it hits a bump or goes over a rise.

If the dealer tests them and they are correctly aligned then that is that. There is nothing more that he can do, they meet the ADR's and they're not going to adjust them outside the parameters (?) for liability reasons.

And in case you think new technology cannot go wrong - have a read. It is simple to miss and I wonder if the dealer actually went under the car to check the leveller pivot?

http://www.swankmonkey.com/vw/jetta/2006/xenon_adjustment/

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/xenonalignment.html

Oh did you notice the "new technology" plastic arm that actually provides the input for the headlight leveller? Reckon a twig or a bit of road debris could not pop that out?

Even better the "new technology" instruction from Ross Tech:
"If the vehicle height sensor(s) are bottomed out, it may be necessary to bend the sensor bracket to allow normal adjustment to occur. "

As I said earlier, check your vehicle out yourself. Just because the light projection is OK when the vehicle is level does not mean the leveller is OK.

And how many of you really trust the dealer?

I'm only bothered to reply because there are so much misinformation. I drive VW because I believe VW can cope with "Australian" conditions - crappy roads and all. When I see or hear of a VW that may not be set up correctly - it is in everyone's interest that it get sorted properly.

golf2nv - If you live in an area where there are undulating hills (or corrugated roads), the response rate of the auto leveller can be adjusted so your headlights do not "overshoot". For the engineers out there, think PID control.

Safe driving, MM

[Maverick]

If a person flashes you do you naturally assume they are stupid and that is the ONLY reason they are flashing? Perhaps, god forbid, your you beaut headlights are that bright they are actually blinding? Hence the flash?

As was said if the lights meet ADR's and are legal and people are flashing you because for some reason they think you have your lights on high beam then yes they are stupid. There are plenty of these stupid people on the roads.

Well if the headlight auto levelling could not cope with an undulating (rolling hills, ocean side drive South Australia, For Sydney siders think of the road to Wisemans Ferry from Galston) - it is a fault in the headlight levelling system.

Or maybe a fault with the system, not a fault in the system design. It may have been a specific issue with that area and the road.

For your information I swapped vehicles and drove the return trip in a Touareg fitted with factory xenons WITHOUT a "problem". The "problem" was the MB auto leveller.

Or there was a problem with the MB auto leveller system, there may have been a fault.

I use Xenons on service trucks on mine pit roads that are FIXED. The bounce I get is from the vehicle (Toyota Landcruiser dual cab) on the "crappy road". There is no auto levelling and we manage to aim our lights so not to blind other light vehicle users.

And the other people on this mine pit road will be aware of the type of headlights and won't be flashing because they think you have high beam on. Comparing lights that are illegal on the road to lights that meet ADR's and are legal is kind of pointless.

Oh really? I suggest you plug your VAG-COM in and adjust the Xenon sensor blocks to full range and then tell me how small the adjustment range is. Add a possibly damaged pivot/lever and you will see how easy it is for the headlight leveller to give the wrong adjustment WHEN it hits a bump or goes over a rise.

So we're now only talking about damaged systems? The owner had his car checked by a dealer who said that the system was aimed correctly and working.

And in case you think new technology cannot go wrong - have a read. It is simple to miss and I wonder if the dealer actually went under the car to check the leveller pivot?

And this is a problem that mainly affects lowered cars or where they have had work done to the suspension outside the dealership.

Oh did you notice the "new technology" plastic arm that actually provides the input for the headlight leveller? Reckon a twig or a bit of road debris could not pop that out?

Just like many things on the car that could be damaged, just because it's plastic doesn't mean that it's prone to failure.

Even better the "new technology" instruction from Ross Tech:
"If the vehicle height sensor(s) are bottomed out, it may be necessary to bend the sensor bracket to allow normal adjustment to occur. "

If the car is lowered, why are you continuing to talk about lowered cars?

As I said earlier, check your vehicle out yourself. Just because the light projection is OK when the vehicle is level does not mean the leveller is OK.

And how many of you really trust the dealer?

The dealer checked it and said that it's within spec and meets the ADR's. The lights are not operating abnormally so why should he don overalls and put the car up on a hoist to check himself?

[golf2nv]

guys look they were checked by a dealer and were fine i got a second opinion and again they are adjusted fine. What i think it comes down to is people are not used to this technology and these lights i get flashed by mostly commodores and falcons and lets face it they have some pretty crappy headlights even on new ones. Yet when im driving towards another car with xenons i never get a flash. I think in the area i live it is a new thing as they dont even come in the clubsport or r8 which is what my area is full of. They have been checked twice and are fine and legal such is life

[MultiplexMan]

Ok, last time really SLOW.

Reference 1

http://www.swankmonkey.com/vw/jetta/2006/xenon_adjustment/

Lowered cars do not need to have the adjustment done.

The fault was with the orientation of the pivot. This can occur from NEW from the factory.

Reference 2

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/xenonalignment.html

If the vehicle height sensor(s) are bottomed out, it may be necessary to bend the sensor bracket to allow normal adjustment to occur. Also, check to make sure that the sensor arms do not have their pivots facing the wrong direction...

This does not occur exclusively to lowered vehicles.


The pivot could "pop" into the incorrect orientation when on the hoist at your dealership or when rotating tyres or anytime the rear axle is unloaded (maximum extension of the linkage). This is how "swankmonkey" found the problem. You could bounce over a curb, hit a pot hole...etc and end up with the pivot in the incorrect orientation.

The fault is not related to lowered cars per se. A lowered car with reduced suspension travel would be less likely to develop this fault in normal use as the pivot would be less likely to travel into hyper extension and go over centre.

I would not be suprised if an "update" is issued to secure the orientation of the linkage.

[MultiplexMan]

golf2nv;

No worries.

It never hurts to know how systems work on your car so YOU can be sure.

Cheers, MM

[Maverick]

Ok, last time really SLOW.

There are no widespread issues of VW or other cars leaving the factories with damaged leveling systems, take a look through the forums here and at golfmkv forums and the only people who have had problems are those that have lowered their car and come into clearance problems.

Of which none is relevant to this discussion. All cars and all parts of cars have faults, the headlights were working correctly and he took them to the dealer to have them checked. The dealer checked them and the operation was correct and meets ADR's. As such the headlights are LEGAL to use on the road.

Unfortunately there is no requirement to have a reasonable IQ before you drive so we have roads full or morons deciding that lights are on high beam when they are in fact being operated correctly.

It's the same morons who fit the $120 xenon light kits to their Falcondores in the belief that more light is better.