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[Paul M]

The headlights on my car are definitely aimed too low, compared to any other car I've driven recently (including my BMW with HIDs) their range stops much closer to the car meaning you can't actually see anything on the road until it's really close to the car. As most of you will know, there's no interior adjuster with HIDs as it's done automatically to compensate for load etc. So I reckon the actual baseline adjusters on the lights themselves have been incorrectly set. There is no warning on the MID so I expect all the sensors and motors etc are working OK.

Does anyone have a diagram of which screw does what? I guess it may be in the owners' manual but I don't have one. I have a copy of the facelift manual but those have different headlights.

Cheers
Paul.

[TheBoy]

Officially, they are set by Tech2 only (so only garages with proper aim equipment can adjust)

[Paul M]

Bugger... forget that idea then. Guess I'll just get used to being limited to seeing no more than 10m in front of the car when it's dark

[Robin Hood]

Unofficially, anyone with a hammer or just someone with a Tech2 ?

This was an MOT failure on my car before I bought it (came with both pass and fail certs).

[ThirdMan]

Do you mean Main or Dipped beam?       When I got my '99 Elite, I was embarrassed by how high the headlight aim was, both on main & dipped beam. No fault messages, but I know how annoying these Xenon headlights are from being constantly dazzled by other w***kers dipped beams.       I physically moved the headlamps position by elongating the top mounting screw holes into slots, and the dipped beam is now a bit low, but non-dazzling to other drivers.   The main beam (non-xenon?) is still a bit high, but useable!   Wonder if it's worth paying a Vx garage to check them?

[Paul M]

Dipped beam. My BMW (which also has HIDs) illuminates much further down the road making night driving much easier.

[ThirdMan]

You could always try like I did, and physically move the lights, but then I suppose your main beams would be up in the trees!!   So many of these Xenon lights are just too high, but it seems to be accepted now.    I wonder if there's a way of adjusting dip & main beams seperately?..................Doubt it!!
If you find the answer let me know.
Cheers.

[TheBoy]

As said, Tech2 is the proper way. Its done this way to stop people manually setting to high, as many pillocks do with halogens.

Many independent garage should be able to set, as they will have something similar to Tech2.

[Paul M]

I love how Vauxhall are so thoughtful on our behalf, a very community spirited company. Of course, they'd do this adjustment for free seeing as it's probably been off since the day the car left the factory      

Coincidentally (or not), the only other car I've driven with such a short range on the headlights was a Vectra CDX my dad owned a few years back... spot the trend: yep it's a Vauxhall, yep it's got HIDs, yep it'll cost you whatever the dealer feels like to adjust the lights. Although that was the least of the worries with that car, one of the HIDs completely conked out requiring complete headlight replacement (£800 under warranty) and sometimes it randomly required a minute of cranking before it started. He got rid of it by the time it reached two years old, a wise decision I'd say! Not to mention it handled like a boat with a hole in the hull

[TheBoy]

AFAIK, any car with HIDs shouldn't have the usual screws to adjust - it makes it too easy for tossers to adjust too high (we've all had one follow us with one of the dipped lights set to be like a headlight, and the driver thinks he's clever), and high HIDs are very dangerous.

The manufacturer will adjust the lights to be within the tolerances set by DoT (which is conservative, as the highest limit is still plenty low enough not to cause any dazzle).

[TheBoy]

Anything outside of these tolerences set by DoT should be an MOT failure...

[sounds2k]

manual adjustment is with a 5mm hex or allen key - on the top of the casing, accessed from the front of the headlight. One does the horizontal alignment, the other the vertical - but it should really be done by a garage for the reasons stated. There was a "how-2" on the "other" site written by Ronnie for fixing broken headlight adjusters which would show where these are located, but it doesn't seem to have re-appeared on here yet?  

[Paul M]

AFAIK, any car with HIDs shouldn't have the usual screws to adjust - it makes it too easy for tossers to adjust too high (we've all had one follow us with one of the dipped lights set to be like a headlight, and the driver thinks he's clever), and high HIDs are very dangerous.

The manufacturer will adjust the lights to be within the tolerances set by DoT (which is conservative, as the highest limit is still plenty low enough not to cause any dazzle).

Seems VX set them to the lowest permitted then, as it's plenty low enough to be near dangerous when driving quickly at night. Especially when you're getting an onslaught of SUVs with their stupidly high mounted lights glaring - they should ban HIDs on those damn things, or preferably ban the damn tractors completely unless you can prove full-time employment as a farmer!

[TheBoy]

Your location isn't in your profile, are you near me? I seem to recall that you're way up north though

[Paul M]

Your location isn't in your profile, are you near me? I seem to recall that you're way up north though

Nah mate, scotland I'm afraid!