My xenons clearly re-level after start-up while driving. Can't say whether jacking would make them move, but I see them move all the time after stopping at a light behind another car.

Oh, the slots in the xenon headlamp assembly is purely cosmetic. I read that that otherwise blank space was to be the turn signal, but varying regulations around the world forced BMW to move the turn signals to the bumper. If the hood is up, the front parking lights (same as the turn signals) would be invisible to oncoming traffic.

Oh, and unless you've got US halogens, the lights should *always* level when you turn the ignition on.

Hi SleeperService, do you know why the US halogens don't move at start up? I have halogens (Australia)and mine "level" when I start the car and I'm intrigued why they don't do this in the US. I presume that the levelling in the halogens when you turn the ignition on is a one off adjustment to a preset position (unrelated to any other input) until you turn off and they dip again??

Thanks

Andrew

In some markets the halogens have a levelling dial that the driver can adjust. I assume that the one time level of halogens is testing this mechanism. In the US the halogens are fixed, but the xenons have the continuous adjustment.

Hi SleeperService, do you know why the US halogens don't move at start up? I have halogens (Australia)and mine "level" when I start the car and I'm intrigued why they don't do this in the US. I presume that the levelling in the halogens when you turn the ignition on is a one off adjustment to a preset position (unrelated to any other input) until you turn off and they dip again??

Sorry for the delay in replying - I've been a little occupied :)

The levelling in halogen headlights is, like you say, to a preset position, that you can fiddle with to a certain degree with the thumbwheel on the dashboard. As far as the US halogens go, they don't have the motor or the wires in the harness. I presume that was done for regulatory reasons, but I couldn't say for sure.

Hope this helps...

Is the self levelling supposed to happen everytime the lights are turned on?
Mine seems to only do it intermittently... don't know if anything is wrong with them.
The lights will do their initial levelling either when you turn the engine on, or when you turn them on with the ignition on and engine off. If you turn the engine on first, you won't see the levelling happen, but the position will be correct.

If you're seeing something different, it might be worth getting it checked out.

Sorry for the delay in replying - I've been a little occupied :)

The levelling in halogen headlights is, like you say, to a preset position, that you can fiddle with to a certain degree with the thumbwheel on the dashboard. As far as the US halogens go, they don't have the motor or the wires in the harness. I presume that was done for regulatory reasons, but I couldn't say for sure.

Hope this helps...

Here in the US, we don't have any cars that offer any sort of manual headlight adjustment. All of them are fixed, save for some Xenons...

hi there, can any one tell me what type of headlamps my 53 plate mini one has? xenon or halogen.