[BartMack]

I've ordered the xenon headlights, and I understand they have a very neat self-leveling routine when first turned on. Today, though, it ocurred to me that my driveway is on a slope-- so if I turn the lights on while parked on a slope will they be 'unlevel' when I drive away? Or are they engineered to continually level while you are driving?
Thanks...

[MiniMan7]

Apparently they're engineered to level while you are driving, this means, if you go up a hill, then they level. I'm still very unsure how they work. All I know are that my headlights are screwed up, they don't level anymore, they insist on just sitting where they are. I'm too tired, and mad about getting them fixed again, I'd rather just leave them the way they are.

Adam

[BartMack]

Adam, I'm guessing you've had your car in the service center a lot.... Just to test a theory from the off-topic section, does it have a guy's name or a girl's name?

[MiniMan7]

Quote:

Originally posted by BartMack
Adam, I'm guessing you've had your car in the service center a lot.... Just to test a theory from the off-topic section, does it have a guy's name or a girl's name?

Girl, her name is Roxanne, or Roxy for short.

Whats this theory all about?

Adam

[ScooterMan]

MINI Pearl (PW/red interior) has Xenon self leveling and they do self level as you drive. Really neat lights!

[jmusicman]

Quote:

Originally posted by MiniMan7
Girl, her name is Roxanne, or Roxy for short.

Whats this theory all about?

Adam

I believe the theory (although you'll have to ask others too) is that a girl's name will denote a fun, but bit**y? manner. And that the men's name will be reliable, dependable, so forth...

Unfortunately for you, that Roxy is not a Unisex name so that you can "all the sudden" claim it is a guy (like Pat )

J

[BartMack]

Quote:

Originally posted by MiniMan7

Whats this theory all about?

I've spent a ridiculous amount of time searching for the thread, but sorry I've lost track of it. Essentially someone suggested there could be a correlation between female names and troublesome MINIs... ie MINIs named after girls require more attention than MINIs named after guys... .. Hey I'm just relaying what I read......

Thanks Scooterman, I'm glad to know they continue to level as you drive.

Hey I was just reading down as I was posting... PAT!!!! LOLOLOL

[vespa]

Not to get back on topic or anything, but the leveling mechanism does not adjust for hills and does not do any earth-oriented leveling of any sort. The system merely adjusts according to suspension displacement and likely only monitors the rear suspension.

[BartMack]

That's really intresting, so if I startup in my sloped driveway the lights are able to level themselves regardless, and if I then drive and pick up 3 people (or 5 clowns) the xenons re-adjust to compensate for the lower back end of the car?

[ipartridge]

us people with 'ordinary' lights get what seems to be a self levelling whiring noise and the lights move up and down when we first put the headlights on. Is this the same 'self levelling' you are talking about with the xenons ?

[Shamster]

in all fairness whilst the self-levelling thing is a great idea there is no way that it can continually compensate quickly enough for the crappy road surfaces we have here in the UK.

Maybe this is why people say they find xenons 'dazzle'.

[s_and_m]

Quote:

Originally posted by shamster
in all fairness whilst the self-levelling thing is a great idea there is no way that it can continually compensate quickly enough for the crappy road surfaces we have here in the UK.

Maybe this is why people say they find xenons 'dazzle'.

Thats me switching form xenon dips to my Halogen main beams to flash you to get out of the way!

S

[KlausR]

In some countries such as Germany an automatic leveling system for the headlights is mandatory if the car is equipped with Xenon light. In difference to older systems that only compensate level effects caused by heavy load the MINI has a dynamic auto-leveling system that adjusts the headlights according to dynamic movements of the car - to some amount at least. That doesn´t mean the system can compensate the disturbance caused by hitting a bump, but the system will adjust the headlights quickly enough for pitching and diving while braking or accelerating. When you floor the throttle (and the "S" drivers know what that means ), you can see the beam go up, but after half a second or so you can see the lights move down again, matching the original beam distance pretty well.

IMHO the system works quite well. But car light technology is one of the branches developing very fast and maybe in some years we will see systems that can do much more for constant and situation-dependend light supply.

Klaus

[GTmini]

The auto-levelling on the 5-series with Xenons seems pretty quick...not perfectly realtime, but pretty quick. I'm guessing the new 7 probably also has the higher-frequency adjusting systems. Although, I still think the coolest part is turning them on and watching as they initialize...often catches nearby owners of non-xenon/HID cars by surprise...I love it when they have a perplexed look, probably wondering as if they were seeing imaginary things.

[Shamster]

I agree - switching them on and off is great. On and watching them slowly warm up - and off when the lamp goes off instantly - not fade away!

[BRGreenie]

As I live on a hill I regularly freek pedestrians when I start up and put the lights on - they think the lights are following them!

[DanBrady]

Back off topic....

The wife and I call our car MinMin; not sure why, maybe we've had too much Chinese food. But the male/female thing got me thinking, "Is MinMin a boy or girl name?".

So I read this thread to her, and asked her if MinMin was a boy or girl name. She says "Well, if you want a boy's name you can start calling it ManlyMin!". After uttering such, she breaks out laughing, rolling around on the floor about to bust a gut.

"ManlyMin"! That's just great, now I've got a gay MINI!

PS. No offense meant to anyone; I'll laugh at anything!

[UNeeUn_Jack]

I have a problem. My 2003 Mini Cooper has Xenons, but they point skywards. The cut-off level for the lights is much too high and dazzles oncoming traffic as well as anyone I'm following.

I spoke to the dealership, but they said there's nothing they can do to correct this and it's just "the way they are made". Is this true? Or can I stop dazzling the world as I drive along?

[NEMINI]

Xenons can be releveled but its best done by the dealer ... your fails the brainless test

[UNeeUn_Jack]

Thanks Gmini. I will have a word with the lad when I take my car in next week (I suspect he may actually be a BMW dealer in disguise...)

By the way - the rearmost mini in your photo looks eerily like my own - white lights and all.