GR86 Headlight aim too low

Yotayoda

Yotayoda

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I have always found the headlight aim in dipped beam too low which is prevalent on many new cars with precise optical LED beam. The cut off is extremely precise which means that along country roads you can only see a few yards in front of you.

I have been finding that you can drive a good pace on dark country roads then have to drop your speed significantly with oncoming traffic only due to reaction time to avoid any unseen objects such as potholes in the road. Rightly or wrongly I have now adjust both headlights so they are at least providing double the distance in front of me before hitting the road. The difference and safety in driving has been incredible. My only concern is that the aim might be illegally too high but have not had any drivers flashing me coming the other way.
 
The headlights aren't the brightest either which doesn't help, though contrary to you, mine look like they're set too high from the factory. Presume there's an adjuster somewhere?
 
I did a beam comparison with a OEM xenon fitted MINI and they have similar patterns but I think the LED's have a sharper cutoff with no spill whereas I think the xenons/halogens have some spill beyond the cuttoff. The MINI was better overall though as it had a couple of additional spots :cool: On unlit roads they were brilliant.

GR86 on left, MINI on the right

GR86 - GR86 Confessions

My confession of the day is - I like the pipped in sound! There I said it.. go on.. troll me!
www.gr-zoo.com www.gr-zoo.com
 
Yotayoda said:
I have always found the headlight aim in dipped beam too low which is prevalent on many new cars with precise optical LED beam. The cut off is extremely precise which means that along country roads you can only see a few yards in front of you.

I have been finding that you can drive a good pace on dark country roads then have to drop your speed significantly with oncoming traffic only due to reaction time to avoid any unseen objects such as potholes in the road. Rightly or wrongly I have now adjust both headlights so they are at least providing double the distance in front of me before hitting the road. The difference and safety in driving has been incredible. My only concern is that the aim might be illegally too high but have not had any drivers flashing me coming the other way.
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Good to know that I'm not the only one who has experienced difficulty occasionally when driving on 'country' roads in the dark. I think I'll try a slight adjustment to see if it makes much difference.
 
Definitely one of this car's bad points - It really holds you back on country roads, low and high beam. A few years ago (last century) you could pop down to Halfords and have a pair of rally lamps working in no time, but to put something on this car that really works and looks good / OEM would be challenging.
 
Are the units self-levelling in these cars? If so, anyone noticed it working? My previous had self-levelling and it was obvious on hills, but the GR doesn't seem to do any/enough. Maybe it's only load based rather than gradient?
 
kalniel said:
Are the units self-levelling in these cars? If so, anyone noticed it working? My previous had self-levelling and it was obvious on hills, but the GR doesn't seem to do any/enough. Maybe it's only load based rather than gradient?
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I believe they are auto levelling. HID headlamps were / are required to be self levelling by law and LED is just as bright.
 
They don’t appear to be self levelling. They just point up in the air going up over a hill. The start up process moves the lights from left to right but not up and down as I would see on my Volvo XC60 or Porsche 911 which both have Xenons (not LED). Even though I have adjusted them up slightly there are instances where they do bounce up into oncoming traffic depending on the undulation of the road mainly due to the stiff suspension.

Lighting is my day job and the curse of LED headlights is that the optical control virtually eliminates any spill light which means that above the cutoff of the beam you are in complete darkness. I’m sure the lighting standards allow for a maximum intensity in this area however most LED headlights are well below this limit.
 
Yotayoda said:
They don’t appear to be self levelling. They just point up in the air going up over a hill. The start up process moves the lights from left to right but not up and down as I would see on my Volvo XC60 or Porsche 911 which both have Xenons (not LED). Even though I have adjusted them up slightly there are instances where they do bounce up into oncoming traffic depending on the undulation of the road mainly due to the stiff suspension.

Lighting is my day job and the curse of LED headlights is that the optical control virtually eliminates any spill light which means that above the cutoff of the beam you are in complete darkness. I’m sure the lighting standards allow for a maximum intensity in this area however most LED headlights are well below this limit.
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Agreed, they don't move up and down on startup which is odd, since they do the left/right sweep. Perhaps they don't react quickly to small changes so not noticeable when driving. The UK manual refers to it:
1707819002461.webp
 
midlife_sportscar said:
Self levelling is mainly to compensate for the load in the car, rather than the road conditions or inclination.
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^^This

There is a headlight auto leveller module that lives in the footwell by the clutch pedal.
 
Had a look for the adjusters while I was checking the oil earlier. Found them but they don't look very accessible. The passenger side you could probably manage, but the drivers side, I can't see you being able to adjust them without removing the fuse box sitting in front of them. I couldn't be bothered with doing all that right now, was hoping it would be a 2-minute job.

Also the manual said you need a Philips head screwdriver but they are actually bolts (perhaps 8mm?). No bit deal though as space is so tight you wouldn't get a screwdriver in there, so a small spanner is probably your best bet.
 
Conscript said:
Had a look for the adjusters while I was checking the oil earlier. Found them but they don't look very accessible. The passenger side you could probably manage, but the drivers side, I can't see you being able to adjust them without removing the fuse box sitting in front of them. I couldn't be bothered with doing all that right now, was hoping it would be a 2-minute job.

Also the manual said you need a Philips head screwdriver but they are actually bolts (perhaps 8mm?). No bit deal though as space is so tight you wouldn't get a screwdriver in there, so a small spanner is probably your best bet.
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Agree, passenger side is easier which can be adjusted using a socket however on drivers side the fuse box is in the way.

I used a small spanner (yes could be 8mm) and easier access by removing the fuse box lid.
 
Which direction do you have to turn them to raise the beam height? I might have a go.
 
Yotayoda said:
Agree, passenger side is easier which can be adjusted using a socket however on drivers side the fuse box is in the way.

I used a small spanner (yes could be 8mm) and easier access by removing the fuse box lid.
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Did you have to adjust it a lot to make any improvement?
I feel like it might be something where you could end up messing up the alignment if you weren't careful, so as I had a sharpie in my hand when I looked, I did lean in and mark the bolts current position in case I went back and adjusted later.
 
ZN8 said:
Which direction do you have to turn them to raise the beam height? I might have a go.
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I think clockwise would will raise them, but you will see the beam move. Would be worth making a note of how many turns you move them should you need to set them back. The plastic adjusting nuts have an indentation on one edge. Unfortunately I forgot to do this, so will be guess work to get the aim back to factory setting.

Currently my setting is similar to my Volvo XC60 although understand the Volvo being SUV that the headlights are already mounted much higher.
 
Did you do all of them or just the dipped beam? I feel like main beam probably doesn't need any adjustment.
 
Conscript said:
Did you have to adjust it a lot to make any improvement?
I feel like it might be something where you could end up messing up the alignment if you weren't careful, so as I had a sharpie in my hand when I looked, I did lean in and mark the bolts current position in case I went back and adjusted later.
Click to expand...
Initially I made too many turns, was aiming at a wall and trying to match up with my Volvo which was the wrong thing to do, initially aim was too high and had to adjust back down (so not sure, perhaps try one full rotation and try driving up the road to check). All I can say is that the illumination distance in front of my car is now at least double if not more than it was before. Have not had any problems of dazzling other drivers, and carefully checking this to make sure that the beam doesn’t bounce up in the air too much on a bumpy road.
 
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