08-27-2022, 11:22 AM | #1 |
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Poor dip beam headlights shape on F36 with LED
I like the full beam headlights on my Gran Coupe (pre-LCI, LED) - plenty of light, throws far, and good spread. The only downside is how much it reflects back off traffic signs (UK reflective ones), making everything else in the distance difficult to see.
The dipped beams however are poor. On any road that's twisty and not overly wide, I feel I'm having to slow down every time there's oncoming traffic because I can't see far enough with the dipped beams. Every one of my last few cars seems to have headlights that are worse in some way (although better in others) than the one before it, so fortunately I have some photos from my E90 I could compare with. The reach of the dipped beam is the same, but the key difference is that on the old car the beam kicks up away from the centreline up to the left (pavement side). Presumably this means it throws further on that side, lighting up the roadside so you can see where the road is going. On the F36 however there's no such kick-up and both sides are pretty much in symmetry. Further, I noticed in the manual: "Light distribution of the headlights prevents the dipped-beam headlights from dazzling other road users even when driving in a country where vehicles drive on the other side of the road to your vehicle's country of registration". So it appears that the headlight distribution is compromised for driving in my own country, but has the benefit (which I'll never use) of not needing any adjustment when driving on the right in continental Europe. To add insult to the situation, I was once followed by an Audi A5, and its dipped headlights from a reasonable following position was giving me improved visibility up the side of the road. |
10-25-2022, 07:54 PM | #2 |
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Its not your country, it seems to be universal. My highbeams are amazing, the low beams feels like I'm riding a bicycle with a flashlight at night.
I've read other threads that if you turn the vertical alignment screws 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 turns clockwise (raise them) then it should be fine. Here is a video that shows what screw you need to turn: And this Kies video shows which hole to use (~8:25 seconds): |
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10-27-2022, 11:10 PM | #3 |
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Are the LEDs OEM, or LEDs fitted to bixenon lights? My 2015 F30 has the swiveling bixenon lights and I have no complaints about the dip beam. The high beams are way better than the bixenons on the Jags I used to own.
All that said, I'm still not sure some of the modern lights have the same spread and penetration of the halogen equipped cars I drove in the UK circa mid 1980s. One car I owned I fitted out with 55/60W Cibie Z-beams and a pair of 55W Hella 140 driving lights. With it all adjusted properly, I never got flashed on low beam and the full beam set up (230W) was stellar. I tweaked the main beam lights on my E30 to give more spread and fitted 100W bulbs, those really punched through the rain. Could not put 100W bulbs in the projector low beams or bad things happened. |
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10-28-2022, 08:44 PM | #4 |
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The LED's aren't great. My E90 had bixenon and they were fine.
I turned my height up 1.5 turns and it seemed a lot better. Need more than 1 trip to confirm though. |
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