Need help with the most ridiculous problem...

[Peter-E36]

So a ton of work was done to the car and everything is perfect EXCEPT... headlight alignment.

Car failed the NCT over headlight alignment, went and got it done, went back, failed again over HEADLIGHT ALIGNMENT... Went back to the same place, they fiddled with it as much as they could and in the end they couldn't do it. Basically it seems the driver's side headlight has 2 lines rather than one and you can only get one line to be in the correct tolerance.

Car has xenon lights...

Any thoughts?

Need to sort this and bring it for a retest before the 15th April or I'll have to do a full test again. This is wrecking my head!!

Any NCT testers on here that want to make some money? jokes... not really... I'm dead serious actually... take my money and give me a f*cking cert!!!!

[alan b]

What car is it?

[JohnH]

What car is it?

Z4 I assume

[Peter-E36]

Apologies, yes 2003 E85 Z4 3.0i

[318 iS Cosmos]

Did you just recently replace the headlight level sensor? Maybe that’s broken?


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[Peter-E36]

Did you just recently replace the headlight level sensor? Maybe that’s broken?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Valdas changed it with a brand new BMW part. It works perfectly as in the level adjusts as it should. The problem is those 2 lines that are projected from the driver's side headlight (rather than 1), so if you adjust one of the lines, the other will be outside the correct tolerance. I wonder is there any chance it could be the bulb? Do Xenon bulbs behave this way when they're about to go? I understand Xenon bulbs are bloody expensive so don't want to replace it if it's not going to make a difference...

[doyleeoin]

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say the drivers side light has two lines. Like the cut off line will be stepped so it's higher on the left than it is on the right. So there will be lines at two levels. Maybe if you posted some pics of the lights aimed up against a wall at night and we could see the cut off profile.
It's hardly anything to do with the drivers side being set for driving in Europe or anything?

[Peter-E36]

I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say the drivers side light has two lines. Like the cut off line will be stepped so it's higher on the left than it is on the right. So there will be lines at two levels. Maybe if you posted some pics of the lights aimed up against a wall at night and we could see the cut off profile.
It's hardly anything to do with the drivers side being set for driving in Europe or anything?

That's what the first NCT tester asked (he thought it may have been set up for europe), but it's not as far as I know, and I also mentioned it to the place that did the alignment.

The step you're referring to in the driver's side projected light is higher on the right than the left. So I guess that's the problem?

I'll take a photo asap and post it.

[doyleeoin]

That's what the first NCT tester asked (he thought it may have been set up for europe), but it's not as far as I know, and I also mentioned it to the place that did the alignment.

The step you're referring to in the driver's side projected light is higher on the right than the left. So I guess that's the problem?

I'll take a photo asap and post it.

It's hard to know what you mean by left and right. Can get confusing with no definite reference. But ya post up some pics and I'll have a look.
The step should be higher on the left side of the road to illuminate the road verges/ditches. The step will be lower on the right so as not to blind oncoming traffic in the other lane. That would be the opposite if it's set for European driving obviously.

[Peter-E36]

It's hard to know what you mean by left and right. Can get confusing with no definite reference. But ya post up some pics and I'll have a look.
The step should be higher on the left side of the road to illuminate the road verges/ditches. The step will be lower on the right so as not to blind oncoming traffic in the other lane. That would be the opposite if it's set for European driving obviously.

Yep what I saw this morning was definitely the opposite of what you're saying. So that's the problem right there.

I think I watched a video not long ago about how to switch between standard and european headlight aim so will give it a go this evening.

Thanks for the info so far, appreciate it