172 MKII Headlight Beam Adjustment

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi,

The 172 2002 Xenon headlights are pretty awesome in terms of output when compared to the old halogens. However I feel that the beam adjustment appears to be on the low side, especially when driving down into dips in the road. At higher speeds (normal) I always want to click on the main beam. Im fairly new to this mark: Are the lights electrically self adjusting or manual via adjusters at the rear of the headlamp units? My old dynamic 1.6 16v had a thumbwheel on the dash. Only thumbwheel available is the instrument lighting. Any ideas?

 

[Locky]

Hello Flying Scotsman.... yes Ive found this with my headlights also.They are self adjusting.You can here them adjust if you park in an incline and turn the ignition on.Listen for the whirring of the motors.Ive noticed though that they dont always seem to adjust correctly, sometimes they are a little low.When I noticed my lights looked low I pulled off the road, stopped the car then restarted it and the beam adjusted up an inch or so.When I set out on the journey I had started the car up on an incline.Im not sure if they only adjust when starting up or if they adjust whenever necessary.The thumbwheel adjusts the dashboard brightness.Next time you go to start your car just turn the key to ignition and listen out at the front of the car.

Paul

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi Paul,

I kindo though that they may adjust at startup also. I need to park it with rear wheels on ramps, start up and see if the beams are pointing sky high! Tommorrow morning I will find an incline, stop/start and listen out for that wee whirring noise. I remember the noise the 1.6 16V made when the thumbwheel was adjusted, so will listen for a similar noise.

I also sometimes think when driving along that the beam seems quite long then a few corners and dips later .....think that it is crap. So maybe they are adjusting on the hop. However, cant think what cost-effective mechanism Reno use to calculate/adjust the level whilst in motion!?

Cheers,

Neil

 

[windsor]

My Dealer told me that the lights are supposed to be self levelling, but mine dont seem to move by themselves. There are standard looking adjusters on the back of the lamp units ( White plastic screws with an allen key socket in them. )These adjust the whole light cluster. I was trying to adjust the main beam lights up a bit, as they point down at the road instead of where you are driving to, (not much fun at 90 down country lanes, you really do need to see more than 50 yards ahead!) but you cant do this without raising the HID lamps up as well,so everybody flashes you in town driving.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi Windsor, Found the white allen screws you talked about on the top of each level motor unit. A 6mm allen key turned clockwise adjusts the lights higher. Think Ive managed to find a compromise between dipped beam length without being flashed by on-coming motorists. Not convinced this self-levelling idea is that clever .....Reno...please bring back the old thumbwheel adjuster on the dash! As Locky explained, I can see the beam adjusting slightly up and down when you turn on the ignition. Not sure though if this continues to adjust whilst in motion? Does anybody else know how this "feature" is controlled?

 

[vee6]

i have one light lower than the other .. which white hex screw do you adjust ?? there appears to be one on a motor and the other at the top corner