Halogen low beam headlights / cut off misaligned?

[sashah666]

Hi,

Can people comment on this, generally those who own the variant which has Halogen headlights as my halogen headlight cutoff seems misaligned. I have been to the dealers twice already to ask them to fix it but they said this is how it is supposed to be. BTW its a right hand car driving on the left side of the road hence the driver's side issue should nullify as the light on the driver's side (right side) is supposed to be a little lower however this has messed up my entire headlight beam cutoff.

My headlights on the rear of the SUV are posted. The right headlight looks weird when reflecting off a car in a little distance. I want it to be a completely straight line without it breaking somewhat in the middle. Is this normal?

 

[TimberWolf]

That's normal. That is simply the shape of the cutoff shield, which is the same pattern in both headlights.

 

[sashah666]

That's normal. That is simply the shape of the cutoff shield, which is the same pattern in both headlights.

Oh no. That is so sad. I guess i'll have to change the headlights then. HIDs here I come

 

[TimberWolf]

HIDs are the same, so you won't notice a difference in pattern.

 

[inv4zn]

They're designed like that to avoid light going into oncoming traffic driver's eyes. HID's won't change anything, except make the cutoff even more noticeable.

Also, I was like wtf why are his cutoffs directed right into oncoming traffic until I saw it was RHD...lol

 

[choo]

That would bother me too. You can always adjust both lights a little opposite directions until the two cut-offs align.

My hatch's headlights have a much more straight across cut-off, you cant even really discern the two separate patterns...I would say that yours may be off, but it could just be the RHD projectors are different.

 

[sashah666]

HIDs are the same, so you won't notice a difference in pattern.

So even if i install HIDs the pattern will remain the same. What about changing the entire projector with a much better cutoff? Will that help? I guess cutoff is from the projector housing and not the bulb itself right bet it LED, HID, or Halogen.

 

[sashah666]

They're designed like that to avoid light going into oncoming traffic driver's eyes. HID's won't change anything, except make the cutoff even more noticeable.

Also, I was like wtf why are his cutoffs directed right into oncoming traffic until I saw it was RHD...lol

Haha yes its a RHD Poorly designed projectors I suppose.

 

[sashah666]

That would bother me too. You can always adjust both lights a little opposite directions until the two cut-offs align.

My hatch's headlights have a much more straight across cut-off, you cant even really discern the two separate patterns...I would say that yours may be off, but it could just be the RHD projectors are different.

Yes exactly right. Mine has some issue I suppose. Maybe its coz of the RHD. I might as well take it to the dealership and ask them to turn the right side projector a little to align the lights and then see what happens. Don't want to bother oncoming traffic on the right side of the road but oh well I need to do something about this, it looks ugly. My 9th gen had a solid straight halogen light which was pretty good. This X bothers me every time I drive at night with the huge gap in between. Pics don't do justice to the amount of gap the different cutoff leaves as its pretty bright and very noticeable even to others.

 

[inv4zn]

You should have vertical aiming on your headlights. I can't tell which one is too high or too low but you can adjuts them so that the overlap is smaller.
You still want to maintain a -_ -_ shape, just on the same level.

 

[sashah666]

You should have vertical aiming on your headlights. I can't tell which one is too high or too low but you can adjuts them so that the overlap is smaller.
You still want to maintain a -_ -_ shape, just on the same level.

Yes exactly, that's what I will try and get done so they don't bother the oncoming traffic and also satisfy my need of having a good straight cutoff.

 

[82801BA]

That looks normal for E-code halogen headlight. DOT/SAE headlights have different cutoff style. E-code headlamp looks more like DOT VOL headlamps. Usually only DOT VOR headlamps have straight cutoff across.

E-code projector has hot spot sitting right below the LEFT cutoff line (or RIGHT if RHD) and the RIGHT cutoff (or LEFT if RHD) is much dimmer and can rise without limit. If the shield has no top cutoff on the rising side, the beam will look like __/ without a cutoff on the rising side. Most HID E-code projectors have rising side cutoff and they will look flat across, but hotspot is still sitting below the LEFT (or RIGHT if RHD) cutoff.

Take a wall shot then it will show whether the beam pattern is good.

Beside vertical adjustment, E-code headlight also has horizontal adjustment (left/right)...

 

[sashah666]

That looks normal for E-code halogen headlight. DOT/SAE headlights have different cutoff style. E-code headlamp looks more like DOT VOL headlamps. Usually only DOT VOR headlamps have straight cutoff across.

E-code projector has hot spot sitting right below the LEFT cutoff line (or RIGHT if RHD) and the RIGHT cutoff (or LEFT if RHD) is much dimmer and can rise without limit. If the shield has no top cutoff on the rising side, the beam will look like __/ without a cutoff on the rising side. Most HID E-code projectors have rising side cutoff and they will look flat across, but hotspot is still sitting below the LEFT (or RIGHT if RHD) cutoff.

Take a wall shot then it will show whether the beam pattern is good.

Beside vertical adjustment, E-code headlight also has horizontal adjustment (left/right)...

Oh wow. Thank you for the detailed reply and apologies for the delayed response. I wasn't in the country.

Here's my wall shots, actually main house gate shots of the lights as I cannot seem to be near a straight white wall whenever I remember to take a snap of the cutoff but these snaps are much better than the ones I've posted earlier.

 

[82801BA]

It looks normal to me, just like 99% of ece beam pattern online. However it seems like the right side is higher than the left...

 

[sashah666]

It looks normal to me, just like 99% of ece beam pattern online. However it seems like the right side is higher than the left...

Yes this sucks actually. I love the DOT (American) beam pattern, the completely flat cutoff. This is ECE pattern is such a turnoff for me. I guess its time for a projectors change. Morimoto projectors is something I'm going to choose for the HID job.

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