On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:44:40 +0100, "Ross" <ross.lyall@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>
>>> Please can anyone point me in the direction of some article/Offer
advice
>>> on how to adjust the self leveler on an 03 cooper s with xenon
>>> headlights. The lights auto level far too low in front of the car
>>> making it near enough impossible to see anything more than about 30
>>> yards infront of the car on unlit roads. The auto leveller works fine
>>> when driving the lights are just too low.
>>
>> The mechanical adjustment is usually tamper proof. Seems strange both
>> beams are low. What is the main beam like?
>
>Hi Dave,
>
>Thanks for the reply, the main full beam is fine, interestingly you can
fool
>the car into setting them correctly by turning the lights on pointing up
a
>steep hill with the handbrake on, this has the effect of lifting the car
up
>on its rear suspension. doesnt work all the time but sometimes works.
>
>I spoke to my mate again he recons as the leveler works fine during
normal
>driving that one of the sensors on the rear axle or front axle may have
been
>knocked out of alignment thus causing the car to calibrate the level
>incorectly effectively fooling the car into thinking it is squatting down
on
>the rear axle during the calibration process. He suggested finding the
>sensor, probably on the suspension strut somewhere and moving it in the
>direction that would suggest that the suspension is extending.
>
>He said a smilar thing about the adjuster being tamper proof, he said
>adjustment would prolly be done electroncally by plugging a computer in
>somewhere.
>
>Acht well... Looks like a trip to the dealer!
>
>Ross
>
I would think that the "tamper proof" aspect is in place because
if people started to adjust those headlights up any higher than
they're supposed to be, accidents would result from all the blinded
drivers.
I'm waiting to see this happen anyway, since those "blue"
headlights are too bright and should be banned. Once lawsuits start
to fly, you'll see those headlights disappear.
As you can tell, I'm not a fan of those "blue" headlights, and
there is no benefit from having them. The reason I say that is that,
by law, the center focus of a headlight has to hit the road, a given
number of feet in front of the vehicle.(I'm forgot what that distance
is, but let's just say it's 40 feet.) As long as the center focus or
brightest part of the beam has to hit 40 feet in front of the car, you
will never see any better, no matter how bright you make the light.
The only thing you will accomplish is to blind opposing drivers,
because if your car hits a bump, crests a hill, or you don't lower
your high beams, your headlights will momentarily blind opposing
drivers, or the driver in front of you.
We've all experienced this.....if you've ever been in front of,
or on the opposite side of the road of a car with these blue
headlights, you would have had intermittant blinding flashes from
those headlights. That happens because the vehicle is bouncing up and
down with the bumps in the road, or because the vehicle is cresting a
hill. Either of these things cause the blue headlight to momentarily
rise above the center focus point of 40 feet.
The best headlight system there ever was is the four tungsten
filament headlights of older cars. With those systems, the two outer
lights were your driving lights, and turning on your high beams turned
on the two inner headlights, as well as turning on a brighter, second
filament in the driving light. With 4 high beamed lights lighting the
road, you could see practically everything. Plus those bulbs were
only 2 bucks. How much does it cost for one of the "blue" bulbs?
What happens when those leveling motors stop working, as all
electrical devices eventually do in cars? Do you think that some guy
driving a 20 year old, dented door, bumper loose, cracked wind****eld,
oil burning Cooper, is going to be worried that his headlights are
blinding people?
The number one mechanical problem with cars is a misaligned
headlight, and I have never seen a cop stop someone for it.
Anyway, the rant stops here. Oh, the correct, and most effective
way to stop trolls is to ignore them, no matter how badly you want to
reply to their trolling, don't. If they don't have an audience, they
will stop posting.(it might take a while, but it does work.)
Jacob
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