Continental headlight adjustment - "symetrical"?

[Mark Elder]

Hi,
When you switch the headlights over to "drive on right" mode, does it literally swap the beam around so it's high on the right, or does it just "flatten" the beam?

Manual says it makes it "symetrical". Which could be taken to read it makes it no higher at left than it is at right, or could be taken to mean it symetrically swaps it around.

Asking because I'd prefer to do this job at home before I set off given the (sometimes) fiddly job of getting the headlight units back in to the car. If all it does is flatten the beam I'm going to do this. But I don't want to find myself dazzling UK drivers with my HIDs on my 400 odd mile drive from Glasgow to Plymouth to get the ferry!

 

[MarcBC]

According to an OPC guy I spoke to before I changed mine, it just "flattens" the beam. Certainly on my recent Germany excursion, that is also what it looked like.

 

[RichardLW]

It just flattens the beam and should take about ten minutes in all. The adjusters work in a strange way too and it took me a couple of goes to figure them out- basically, I pushed them with a small screwdriver in the end. I never bothered re-adjusting them either as it didn't seem to cause a great deal of loss with aftermarket xenons fitted.

 

[pse_SC]

fiddly job of getting the headlight units back in to the car.

Getting the headlight units in and out is simple - it's moving the adjuster that can take your fingers off, but I found it's much easier to do it on the shuttle on the way over[].

 

[hanhams81]

I found moving the adjuster tabs within each headlight difficult (very stiff). I put this down to having a retro Xenon system installed. I eventually made the required adjustment of the tabs. The lights were perfectly aligned for European driving and the beams seemed normal other than pointing differently. This was experienced through many tunnels en route to Austria. No complaints from approaching vehicles i.e. light flashing .The real problem arose on my return to UK when reverting to UK alignment. Again the tabs were very difficult to move but after some brut force they assumed their appropriate position. The same cannot be said for the headlight beams. They were all over the shop. I made provisional correction using my garage door as an aiming point. Subsequently, at time of service the lights were properly adjusted. I still do not know whether the difficulties relate to the aftermarket Xenon system or stiffness through age, of which I have direct experience! Good luck and enjoy those wonderful European roads.
Hanhams81

 

[Mark Elder]

ORIGINAL: hanhams81

...the tabs were very difficult to move but after some brut force they assumed their appropriate position. The same cannot be said for the headlight beams.

I agree - had my MOT test 2 days after returning and the tester said "your headlights were well-off, I had to adjust them"

(I've also got after-market HIDs, although I can't see what difference that would make because the tab should just go back in original position. Maybe it's just one of those features that needs to be used more often! - right, when can I go to Spain again)