[AWBimmer]

Hey-

Need some help por favor...

Since lowering the car on coil overs, I keep getting flashed by oncoming cars at night as my lights are aimed too high so to the it seems im drivng like amaniac with my headlights on. Can imagine how annoying it becomes for those drivers but moreso very frustrating for myself

So in an effort to reduce the flashing by oncomers I took the car to Dips at The Custom Cars and had it raised it to two finger gap at the front and 1 finger gap at the rears... This is a bit better than before but still hasn't resolved my problem so...

Can anyone suggest what I can do to get The lights Adjusted correctly ?I've spoken to a few coding people but have gotten mixed answers so very confused and frustrated. I'm driving with my angels on wherever I can to avoid being flashed... Plus got my MOT next week so ideally need to find somewhere to go this weekend in the Surrey / Hampshire / greater London area.

Cheers.

[Subzero2003]

Turn the little knobs on top of the lights. You'll need a screwdriver (the bmw one in the tool kit works fine).

Just turn your lights on, get your car to face a wall, open the bonnet and screw the knobs around on top of the headlight until you reach the desired level.

[Subzero2003]

Look here for pictures:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=407422

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by Subzero2003

Turn the little knobs on top of the lights. You'll need a screwdriver (the bmw one in the tool kit works fine).

Just turn your lights on, get your car to face a wall, open the bonnet and screw the knobs around on top of the headlight until you reach the desired level.

Hey man,

That's excellent - I'll give this a shot tomorrow evening... :-) Thanks! Luckily I don't do much driving at night but its ticked me off so much this! So if I adjust the screws manually, they level automatically from there on in your opinion?!

Ta,

[Subzero2003]

Yep, they'll auto adjust as normal from now on, but they need a "base" setting to know where "normal" level is.

They self level very quickly after you put the key in the slot, you can sometimes just catch it if you press engine start quick enough.

[AWBimmer]

SUBZERO2003:

Thanks ever so much for that - piece of cake and best done at night! I've been tinkering around for the past hour as I figured I couldn't wait another day for this and managed to get it to a much better level all thanks to the above link.

I can hear the self levelling and just about see it by starting the car promptly once the fob is in the ignition..

RE: "Base" setting... that's just what I was about to ask you in fact... how would I go about doing this as this is my one and only reservation now. I'm almost there abouts with the light level but not sure how to get this "base" setting.

Lastly, where I've adjust both sides to try to get an equal output of light, I feel one side light may be hitting further than the other side - is there any way to try and get both lights along the same sort of balance so that both are equal in their output?

[Subzero2003]

To tell if they are level you'll need to park the car a bit further from the wall - about 10m or so and go from there. If you do it too close to the wall, it'll be impossible to tell the slight differences which you need to be able to see to adjust properly. After this, you'll probably have to tweak it ever so slightly once you start driving with the lights on at night - you'll soon notice if they're too low/high/mismatched.

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by Subzero2003

To tell if they are level you'll need to park the car a bit further from the wall - about 10m or so and go from there. If you do it too close to the wall, it'll be impossible to tell the slight differences which you need to be able to see to adjust properly. After this, you'll probably have to tweak it ever so slightly once you start driving with the lights on at night - you'll soon notice if they're too low/high/mismatched.

Thanks a tonne buddy! Amazing the things one can learn off this forum! Not all a time waste hehehe.

Re: the "base" setting, how would recommend doing this as per your previous post?

[xenon]

The lights, left to right, give a different light pattern so you'll never get them to match exactly, and this is by design. If you set your base level as described the auto-levelling should take care of the rest provided the very fragile level sensors were not disturbed or damaged when the coilovers were fitted. There is one on the o/s/r lower suspension arm and one on the o/s/f lower wishbone.

[yeti racing]

Great Info chaps!

[Subzero2003]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Thanks a tonne buddy! Amazing the things one can learn off this forum! Not all a time waste hehehe.

Re: the "base" setting, how would recommend doing this as per your previous post?

No probs. As mentioned, once you have set this base setting, when you start loading the boot up, the auto levellers will take care of the rest, to ensure your lights are always at this level.

With regards to setting the base level correctly - this just took a bit of trial and error. I set mine a bit low to begin with, so i had to raise it a couple of times before it was perfect. It's just common sense when you start playing with it really - if you can see it your lights may potentially be dazzling other drivers, set it lower. It's easy to see when you drive at night if it's too low or too high - i'd recommend setting it on the lower side if you're unsure as xenons can be very dazzling indeed.

I'm sure there is a 100% proper, government standard level for dipped lights, but you can get within 5-10% of this level by trial and error.

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by Subzero2003

I'm sure there is a 100% proper, government standard level for dipped lights, but you can get within 5-10% of this level by trial and error.

I'm amazed nobody has said this yet.

Forget messing about in the dark on your driveway. Take it to any MOT place and get it done right. It only takes minutes and they usually ask for a couple of quid which goes straight in their tea fund.

Trying to line them up against a wall is like sweeping leaves in autumn, you have no idea how high or low to aim them so the best you'll ever get is both lights at the same height. Really not worth the time IMO.

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by parapaul

I'm amazed nobody has said this yet.

Forget messing about in the dark on your driveway. Take it to any MOT place and get it done right. It only takes minutes and they usually ask for a couple of quid which goes straight in their tea fund.

Trying to line them up against a wall is like sweeping leaves in autumn, you have no idea how high or low to aim them so the best you'll ever get is both lights at the same height. Really not worth the time IMO.

Cheers Paul, I'll do this in that case over the weekend. My MOT is next week so ideally want to walk way passing it but unsure as my pads could be reaching its limits so who knows LOL.

Done a lot of research on brake pads and discs and have ruled out EBC Yellow stuff due to overheating issues... that said, can you guys recommend where is best to get from and which brand?

So far I've shortlisted between GSF and ECP .. Pagid or Textar... The only thing is that I notice is that on Pagid offer front discs at both £40 odd and £70 ish ... but I don’t know which ones to go for... the same applies to rear discs too and even pads!

Any experience on this folks?

[parapaul]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Cheers Paul, I'll do this in that case over the weekend. My MOT is next week so ideally want to walk way passing it but unsure as my pads could be reaching its limits so who knows LOL.

Done a lot of research on brake pads and discs and have ruled out EBC Yellow stuff due to overheating issues... that said, can you guys recommend where is best to get from and which brand?

So far I've shortlisted between GSF and ECP .. Pagid or Textar... The only thing is that I notice is that on Pagid offer front discs at both £40 odd and £70 ish ... but I don’t know which ones to go for... the same applies to rear discs too and even pads!

Any experience on this folks?

I've not seen or heard anything about EBC Yellows overheating, the current compunds are supposed to be utterly brilliant. Off the top of my head m1bjr runs Yellows with standard discs, and Doughboy runs Yellows with MTec discs. They both know what they're talking about, why not shoot them a PM and ask for their opinion?

For your discs, a few other people recently have said that the ECP website shows a few possibilities. Best bet is to call them, their computer system is way better than the website and I've never had a wrong product from them yet.

[Subzero2003]

Are you wanting to stay OEM? If so, Jurid are the OEM supplier of the E92 brake discs and pads. Buy them here for 335d (double check OEM parts numbers, on Realoem.com, with those listed in the eBay ad):

Rear discs: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3904100416...ht_3435wt_1177

You can also get fronts from the same supplier. But make sure the discs you buy are the right diameter and thickness, as they supplied me with a totally incorrect Jurid part no. (which corresponded with rear discs from a 116i!!) before i questioned it and then they corrected themselves. BMWmotormec also do Jurid pads, but again, you'll need to make inquiries to find out about these.

MUCH cheaper than everywhere else (inc ECP with 30% discount code) though and fully OEM.

[AWBimmer]

Cheers for the above folks. I've not heard of Jurid before, that explains how much I know lol. I'm happy with Pagid's performance although they become very dusty. I want something that performs well and doesn't give off mental amount of dust etc, keeping to known brands..

Will look into Pagi and Jurid :-)

[AdrianSi]

100% what parapaul said. You'll be missing in wind trying to set them on a wall or garage door. To start with the wall that you are projecting on to needs to be perpendicular to the area that car is positioned on. 10 or 15min job for an MOT station. Many MOT stations will align the headlights as part of the MOT (rightly or wrongly so). Don't take it to a BMW unless you enjoy paying through the nose!!

[AWBimmer]

So I could just turn up on the day of the MOT and kindly request them to align the lights as part of the MOT or will they fail me? I've tried to get it to a decent level where it doesn't dazzle... problem is as I don't drive at night I can't tell but tonight I'll be on the roads so good test to check the levels!!

[xenon]

An MOT test shouldn't fail for mis-alignment unless they're absolute wankers, they should just twiddle the adjusters.

It's still suspicious that this occured after fitting coilovers which should just lower the car, not affect alignment. I reckon one of your level sensors has come off the ball joint. Used to happen on my e46 all the bloody time.

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by xenon

An MOT test shouldn't fail for mis-alignment unless they're absolute wankers, they should just twiddle the adjusters.

It's still suspicious that this occured after fitting coilovers which should just lower the car, not affect alignment. I reckon one of your level sensors has come off the ball joint. Used to happen on my e46 all the bloody time.

Well the 1st half of this is a relief lol! They’re def not that bad but for best practice and for my peace of mind, could do with twiddling!

I’m no mechanic but from what I figured, the car was relatively lower to beyond 0 finger gap on all four corners so the light / sensors did not take to it too well and ended up shining quite high! When you lower the car significantly, the geo / dynamics change and therefore affecting the light alignment. Some people get shorter rods or so but there is another way and adjusting it using this method seems pretty easy and cost-effective to me. As someone above has said, they wouldn’t be there if they weren’t mean to be adjusted but again, I stress I am no mechanic!

Since raising the car up a few CMs on all four corners over the wknd, the light output was much better than before however, still not below eye-level of oncoming drivers. As mentioned above, I took the liberty of adjusting them using the method posted in the initial link and have now got them to a much better height which in no way adversely affecting on comers.

If it is the level sensors on the ball joint, do I simply tell the mechanic at my local garage what I did and the result of that?

Guess that sounds about right.

[xenon]

Just take off the offside wheels and check they're both still attached and then get them adjusted as before. If one has popped off you may find re-attaching it solves your problem.

[AWBimmer]

Sorry you'll have to explain what they look like or perhaps if you have a link handy for noobs like myself! I'm happy to get my hands dirty but not sure what I'd be actually looking for.