R50 Headlight alignment problems

[SlipMat]

Hi All

I have an issue with my R50 and now the nights are drawing in I need to sort it out...

The nearside headlight mainbeam hits the ground about 4 feet infront of the car. I tried adjusting it up and all that happens is that the low beam pattern ends up pointing in the sky and dazzles oncoming drivers... but the mainbeam still hits the road just in front of the car.

Is there anyway of adjusting the mainbeam alignment seperately from the low beam? I suspect not - in which case is there any way to open the headlight unit to fix whatever has broken. Incidentally the headlamp adjustment motors dont work - in case this is relevant. I have tried the slamming bonnet trick and all that happens is that the drivers side unit works for a few minutes then stops again.

My final thought is to upgrade the headlights - whilst I would like to fit HID units I have read posts which say that retro-fitting HIDs is hard and illegal if you dont fit the self-levelling system. So I was looking at these units on Ebay;

.... Search for 220598102601 on Ebay.co.uk

Does anyone know if these units are any good and hopefully if they're brighter than the OEM units, which are at best poor.

Any thoughts appreciated.

[belbob]

Have you checked the bulb is fitted right.
The adjusters alter the whole light unit in one.
Had an issue with the electric adjustment on mine, it had failed last 2 MOT's before I got it with low aiming lights.
I found the loom at the back of the headlights had rubbed through on the wheel arch.
When I fixed it the lights were plane spotting.