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      04-11-2009, 04:41 PM   #1
amsfoto
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DIY: Headlight Level Adjustment

After installing my KW V2's I needed to realign my lights, and although I found information on how to do this on the e90's and e92's, there were no pics of the e82 lights and where to adjust them.

Location of the adjustment screw:



Using a 6mm allen hex (the one in the tool kit works perfectly) turn the screw counterclockwise to raise the lights, and turn it clockwise to lower them. I recommend parking the car 20 or so feet from a wall and adjusting them that way, any closer and it's hard to tell how high the lights are actually hitting.

I had to turn mine about 5 turns each, but unless you are as low as I am I doubt that's necessary for most people.
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      04-11-2009, 05:19 PM   #2
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I was reading your DIY until PedoBear creeped up on me....
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      04-11-2009, 05:24 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jzhang View Post
I was reading your DIY until PedoBear creeped up on me....
True... true... so what is the story behind that sticker being under your hood amsfoto?
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      04-12-2009, 01:13 AM   #4
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I thought they were auto-leveling.
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      04-12-2009, 03:00 AM   #5
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wait is this the same on the e90 335?
cuz my headlights are too low that i have to ride with my highbeams all the time
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      04-12-2009, 04:04 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SlickShift View Post
I thought they were auto-leveling.
They are, but you need to be able to set the default height that the lights are at when the car is on level ground...the auto leveling is just +/- degrees from the default based on suspension travel.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 335i82108 View Post
wait is this the same on the e90 335?
cuz my headlights are too low that i have to ride with my highbeams all the time
The e90's adjustment screws are in a different place on the top of the housing. It's a black adjustment screw...search on e90post and there are some write ups with pics of where the screw is.
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      04-12-2009, 04:02 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amsfoto View Post
They are, but you need to be able to set the default height that the lights are at when the car is on level ground...the auto leveling is just +/- degrees from the default based on suspension travel.
Oh, ok. Yeah, I remember seeing the headlight leveler on the passenger side suspension when I saw installing my sways.
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      04-14-2009, 06:39 PM   #8
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I used a 6 mm hex to adjust mine. It is fairly obvious where the adjusters are.
Fran
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      04-14-2009, 06:41 PM   #9
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I was having this issue and I knew the screw was somewhere. I gave up looking and gave it my dealer during a service call. They made them a bit to high tho. So its good to know where they are.

Thanks for the DIY!
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      06-03-2009, 09:29 PM   #10
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Thanks for the info. I noticed the same problem for the first time last night, I guess it was the first time I had drove after dark since installing KW V1's a couple of weeks ago. I only lowered around 20mm but for sure the lights were aiming substantially lower than before. I figured with such an automated car that adjustment might be complex.
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      06-14-2009, 10:16 PM   #11
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I adjusted my headlights a few days ago and I seem to have gotten them about right. I just guesstimated. I parked about 30 ft from a block wall and raised each light about one block height higher. I'm still amazed that lowering only 20 mm threw off the lights this much. I guess I turned around 4-5 full turns also. About the only funny thing was that it might have just been the angle of approach, but I had to use different devices on each adjuster, almost like they were different sizes.
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      06-28-2009, 12:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TT1351 View Post
I used a 6 mm hex to adjust mine. It is fairly obvious where the adjusters are.
Fran
Yea, I just used that size allen to turn mine four turns ccw (to raise them). I'll see how it looks later tonight.
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      09-18-2009, 10:47 PM   #13
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Awesome! It was downright embarrassing to have one headlight blazing into a fellow driver's eyes, and I have no idea how it happened. At first I thought the DIY meant that that adjustment screw adjusted both headlights, but I said F it and went to my car and checked to see if they were headlight specific, and it was! My headlights are now perfectly aligned and I won't lose sleep at night thinking about all the people I was blinding with one of my headlights blinding the driver in front of me!
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      10-27-2009, 04:53 PM   #14
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Just raised mine one full turn. I'll check tonight how much difference it makes. I made a little tick mark with Sharpie on the screw and the surrounding area just for reference. Makes it so much easier to adjust, no guessing.
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      10-27-2009, 05:00 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MadMan77 View Post
True... true... so what is the story behind that sticker being under your hood amsfoto?
^ +1
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      06-07-2010, 12:35 AM   #16
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I installed BMW Performance suspension do you think I have to adjust my headlights?
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      06-07-2010, 09:43 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m7ammed View Post
I installed BMW Performance suspension do you think I have to adjust my headlights?
Might be worth taking a look - a lot of the lights are adjusted too low from factory. I gave mine a couple of turns cos I live in a rural area but some cars still occasionally pass in the opposite direction. There are no streelights and the low beams were absolute shit.

Now they actually illuminate the road properly and don't dazzle oncoming drivers.
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      09-07-2010, 06:41 PM   #18
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Thanks for this. Great info! I found the adjusters and raised my lights quite a bit. Now need to go for a drive and see how Huey are working, they were pointing much too far down from the factory. I think it is a DOT thing... In order to meet DOT requirements, the lights end up being dipped. Here in Nortthern VA, the state inspection guys don't even bother to check headlight alignment anymore because they assume xenons do that by themselves.

Can't wait to see the difference! FYI, yes, setting the light switch to auto turns on adaptive headlights. It is a cool feature, more useful than I had expected.
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      05-15-2012, 04:12 PM   #19
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Does anybody have an updated photo of where the adjustment is? The OP's picture isn't showing up anymore.
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      05-15-2012, 10:23 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ALesserMan View Post
Does anybody have an updated photo of where the adjustment is? The OP's picture isn't showing up anymore.
Here you go

Both look like this, each one is tucked a little behind your headlight Good luck
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Last edited by Venom; 05-15-2012 at 10:31 PM..
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      05-15-2012, 10:33 PM   #21
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I'll try and snap one if I remember. It's a white little circle. Make sure you count the rotations. I did this myself and was driving around for weeks with one light pointing up and one down without knowing.. failing hard.
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      05-15-2012, 11:20 PM   #22
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I love this mod, too many people drive slow in the fast lane, so its my way of saying GTFO my lane! hahaha (one can always dream of driving on the Autobahn, where the left is a passing lane)
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