BMW X3 Forum
BMW X3 Forum
Welcome to the ultimate BMW X3 community.
BMW Garage BMW Meets Register Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read
Post Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
      08-18-2015, 10:44 AM   #1
BrokerBMR
New Member
4
Rep
5
Posts

Drives: 2016 X3 xDrive 35i
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SC

iTrader: (0)

2016 X3 35i LED Driver's Side Headlight Bulb Higher/Brighter

Hi, This is my first BMW, and I'm trying to find out if anyone with LED headlights on their X3 has noticed what my wife noticed first. In the dark, we can easily see on our garage wall that the left (driver's side) LED headlight is brighter/"higher" than the right side. You can look directly and closely at the left side headlight LED bulb, and see that the bulb appears positioned a little higher in the unit than the left. We thought something was wrong with the car, or that it just needed a simple adjustment. So, we took the car to our dealer, and was told that their tests proved we were correct in our opinion. However, we were then told that BMW deems this "quirk" as "operating as designed"!. While not really too "blinding" to oncoming drivers, it is noticable, and it annoys me, as I never had a car with one headlight more bright than the other? I searched this forum and another BMW forum, and years ago, with another kind of headlight beam, someone said that BMW does this on purpose for some reason I can't remember. Is my car's left hedlight situation unusual, or has anyone else noticed the same thing on their X3? If it is done on purpose, can anyone give my wife and I a logical reason for it? Thanks for any help, as we go through a long learning curve with our enjoyable new "sports car/suv = sav"
Appreciate 0
      08-18-2015, 12:06 PM   #2
The X Men
Colonel
99
Rep
2,323
Posts

Drives: 2013 X3 35i
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: MA

iTrader: (0)

Its not a quirk, but by design. The passenger side beam is aimed higher so you can see the road signs and the driver side is aimed lower so you don't blind on-coming traffic. If your X3 was build for England, the right side beam will be lower.

Last edited by The X Men; 08-18-2015 at 01:27 PM..
Appreciate 0
      08-18-2015, 01:12 PM   #3
BrokerBMR
New Member
4
Rep
5
Posts

Drives: 2016 X3 xDrive 35i
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SC

iTrader: (0)

Thanks for the response. MY X3 was built and delivered in Spartanburg SC. I found the 2012 forum post I mentioned previously here under "headlight alignment" (#3) by snowboardjoe. He said "They tend to aim the drivers side headlight (the one more likely to shine on oncoming traffic) down a bit more than the other." He is from the state of WA in the USA, so can I assume that my driver's side LED headlight is aiming down a bit more than the other? If that is so, is it a logical assumption then that the new for 2016 LED headlights, have a vertical LED bulb that shows more of itself on the driver's side, because the headlamp unit is facing down a bit, thereby exposing more of the LED bulb to oncoming drivers eyes? This situation may be unique to the 2016 new LED headlights due to the vertical nature of the LED bulb? I saw the resulting increased brightness myself when my wife followed me at night, and I looked back in the rearview mirror. I wasn't blinded, but it was definitely noticeable. All opinions welcome, but if anyone here has a 2016 X3 with the new LED's, would you please check your's, and let me know. Many thanks, as I'm curious if my observation is unique.
Appreciate 0
      08-18-2015, 01:26 PM   #4
The X Men
Colonel
99
Rep
2,323
Posts

Drives: 2013 X3 35i
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: MA

iTrader: (0)

I am sorry, I had that backward. You are correct, the driver side should be lower. I would ask the dealer to re-aim the headlights.
Not sure if the LED headlights are the same, but the metric hex adjustment is on top of the headlight. Its a pretty simple adjustment, probably can do it yourself or a mechanic from a garage can do it.
Appreciate 0
      08-18-2015, 01:48 PM   #5
BrokerBMR
New Member
4
Rep
5
Posts

Drives: 2016 X3 xDrive 35i
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SC

iTrader: (0)

No problem with your understandable mistake. The problem is that I've taken my car to my local BMW dealer to have it adjusted already, and they said that my LED headlights are "operating as designed", and refused to adjust them. Should I try another dealer further away from me? Is it possible that one dealer would have a different response than another? With a different brand car, I have noticed in the past that the car mfr. sometimes doesn't like recorded (for reliability/recall statistics reasons) what they consider to be a small problem, or no problem, in their opinion. I'm hoping that this is not the situation with BMW.
Appreciate 0
      08-18-2015, 02:58 PM   #6
The X Men
Colonel
99
Rep
2,323
Posts

Drives: 2013 X3 35i
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: MA

iTrader: (0)

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrokerBMR View Post
No problem with your understandable mistake. The problem is that I've taken my car to my local BMW dealer to have it adjusted already, and they said that my LED headlights are "operating as designed", and refused to adjust them. Should I try another dealer further away from me? Is it possible that one dealer would have a different response than another? With a different brand car, I have noticed in the past that the car mfr. sometimes doesn't like recorded (for reliability/recall statistics reasons) what they consider to be a small problem, or no problem, in their opinion. I'm hoping that this is not the situation with BMW.
Your X3 is brand new, I would talk to the general manager or the sales manager of the dealer you brought the car from. Tell him it a 15 minute job and if they value your business, they will make the adjustment.
Appreciate 0
      08-23-2015, 05:01 PM   #7
BrokerBMR
New Member
4
Rep
5
Posts

Drives: 2016 X3 xDrive 35i
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: SC

iTrader: (0)

Got My LED's Adjusted So The Beams Are Level On A Wall

Thanks for your suggestion, "The X Men", I went back and got them to adjust my left (driver's side) LED headlight slightly downward by a small tool turning the adjustment spot that is above the LED light unit. MY mechanic pulled my car about 20 feet from the wall of the middle of the service area and we checked both highbeams and normal lights. You could easily see that while the top of my left headlight beam was now even with the top of the left headlight, the total area of brighter coverage was now down lower on the left than on the right. The mechanic, I think, said these brand new LED's use "mirrors" or "reflectors" to adjust the beam of light. The "unusual to me" light beam pattern on the wall "reflected" that. The LED headlights on my other car look totally different, and seem to have a different light beam pattern, but I"m not 100% sure of that.

I'm happy now even though we set the left LED beam a little lower than BMW does right from the factory. I may loose a little distance lighting effect on the left now, but the LED's are so bright and white that I prefer that situation over a small glare appearing to the eyes of oncoming traffic, as my wife and I had seen previously for ourselves. Thanks again for the good advice!

Last edited by BrokerBMR; 08-23-2015 at 05:03 PM.. Reason: got my left and right confused in one spot
Appreciate 0
      08-24-2015, 03:16 AM   #8
JohnAG
Private
Germany
12
Rep
55
Posts

Drives: 2016 X3 28i M Sport
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Kaiserslautern, Germany

iTrader: (0)

Mine also looks like the driver's side headlight is higher and I also have the LED head lights. I wonder why this is done at the factory. This makes me question their QA/QC process if it is done by mistake or if it is also backwards to cars delivered to left lane driving countries. Are there anyone from those countries have similar issues? Maybe it is operating as designed but only to those countries. It does make sense if the passenger side is set higher than the drivers side.
Appreciate 0
Post Reply

Bookmarks

Tags
driver side led bulb higher?, led headlights

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:50 AM.




xbimmers
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
1Addicts.com, BIMMERPOST.com, E90Post.com, F30Post.com, M3Post.com, ZPost.com, 5Post.com, 6Post.com, 7Post.com, XBimmers.com logo and trademark are properties of BIMMERPOST