HID manual levelling

[WHT_SPD3]

Hey everyone,
Just curious what level your HID's are set at. I set mine at "1", but I'd like to set them at "0" since the light beams are directed further. I'm just concerned that "0" will direct the beams too high, and just annoy the other drivers around me as I drive. Have any of you experimented with this? Or do you have any suggestions? Thanks for your thoughts!

[clos561]

mine are at the highest point so i can see further, when i get behind someone i turn them down, sometimes i do it in plazas. i know how annoying the huge blue fuckin hids are in the rear view so i show a little courtesy when i can(shocked)

[Sacrilicious]

i just watch where my light lines are sitting on the car in front of me. if it's up into the windshield, then i take it down a notch. for me, 0 does not seem to be a problem.

[Zak8022]

So far i've left mine on the highest setting... HIDs are new to me... and adjustable ones are even more crazy. I figure that if people start flashing their lights at me, i'll turn it down.

[numbnuts22715]

Mine are set at 0 too.. it doesn't seemto be a problem for other drivers.

[WHT_SPD3]

mine are at the highest point so i can see further, when i get behind someone i turn them down, sometimes i do it in plazas. i know how annoying the huge blue fuckin hids are in the rear view so i show a little courtesy when i can(shocked)


Yea I sometimes find SUVs with HID's annoying especially if one is on my tail. I understand SUV headlamps are placed higher just cuz SUVs have higher ride heights or higher ground clearance, but it gets to me sometimes.
But good to know people so far don't have a prob with setting them at the highest setting.

[Fritch]

I leave mine on 0 all the time

[Nomad]

0 is where they are supposed to be I think.
It's a leveling feature so that if you load down the car with people and luggage, you can adjust them.

The 0 is like 0 weight, then with weight, the rear will drop, changin the angle of the headlights so they will blind people, so you change it to 1, 2, 3 etc.

I leave it at 0 and the lines don;t seem to get too high.

[BoostedSpd6]

well i have an ms6 and i live in the woods so mine are set to 3 all the time but i do put them down to 1 if i go to providence or anything not in the woods.

[WHT_SPD3]

Cool cool thanks for the replies (2thumbs)

[Rivman]

The '08 M3 Sport owners manual recommends '0' for normal driving, and adjusting higher if you increase the load. The zero position seems to work OK for normal driving conditions ! (thumb)

[Talbot]

I leave mine at 0.

[GoFast]

mine are always at 0 and nomad is right. read the manual it explains it all

[dkswim]

i run at a -1 setting normaly iv driven around behind my friends and they only notice anything diffrent when i have highs on. speaking of i have to turn down to 0 when i turn the highs on otherwise it aimes too high.

[WHT_SPD3]

The '08 M3 Sport owners manual recommends '0' for normal driving, and adjusting higher if you increase the load. The zero position seems to work OK for normal driving conditions ! (thumb)

Great thanks dude (drive)

[guy_incognito]

Mine have been set at '0', and haven't had anyone flash me.

[pmeilakjr]

After reading the manual - I figured a good rule of thumb is: Set it to how many passengers you have in the back seat - full cargo counting as one.

Example -
driver and one side passenger = 0
driver and full cargo = 1
driver, one side passenger and one rear passenger (no cargo) = 1
driver and two rear passengers and cargo = 3

or keep it at zero and don't worry about it.

Cheers!

Peter

[WHT_SPD3]

After reading the manual - I figured a good rule of thumb is: Set it to how many passengers you have in the back seat - full cargo counting as one.

Example -
driver and one side passenger = 0
driver and full cargo = 1
driver, one side passenger and one rear passenger (no cargo) = 1
driver and two rear passengers and cargo = 3

or keep it at zero and don't worry about it.

Cheers!

Peter

Cool thanks Peter I'll keep that in mind :)

[Nomad]

yeah, look at what the lights do when you use the numbers. Essentially 0 is the HIGHEST they point up, 3 is the LOWEST they point down.
A bunch of you posted that you turn it UP to 3 when you want more light, that's the opposite of what you need to do...

[Ryz]

I adjusted mine so the stock "0" setting is now at "1", I use this for city driving. When I'm on the backroads I go back to "0" which kicks them up a little bit but not enough to blind the heck out of people.

[gr3y]

0 is too low for some areas where i drive.. The beam just cuts too low, too close to be able to see well w/o turning on my highs. And with cars oncoming i can't keep my highs on very long.

dkswim, how did you adjust your beams higher?

[dkswim]

parked next to a wall, with lights at 0 put tape at top of light on wall, moved the knob to one and then adjusted the lights back to the tape line. that way when on 0 its the equivalent of -1. Ive drivven behind friends and they dont notice anything, i havnt had people flash there lights at me so i dont think there too high. tho only downside is now my highs are aimed high but that helps when im flying down the highway and i flash my highs to get people to move out of the way. so bacicly i drive on 1 when usind highs and 0 when regular.

If you need pic of how to do it i can post them up whenever im at home.

well if you want to adjust the level it is the screw behind the orange electrical connector you end up turning it clockwise about 3-4 full rotations if i recall correctly.

[gr3y]

parked next to a wall, with lights at 0 put tape at top of light on wall, moved the knob to one and then adjusted the lights back to the tape line. that way when on 0 its the equivalent of -1. Ive drivven behind friends and they dont notice anything, i havnt had people flash there lights at me so i dont think there too high. tho only downside is now my highs are aimed high but that helps when im flying down the highway and i flash my highs to get people to move out of the way. so bacicly i drive on 1 when usind highs and 0 when regular.

If you need pic of how to do it i can post them up whenever im at home.

How do you adjust them back up like that.. is there some magical screw or something?

edit: yeah, a pic would be nice.

[BlackJack]

I always leave it on the highest setting. Whenever I am following someone on a hilly road, I tone it down.

[Jays07MS3]

parked next to a wall, with lights at 0 put tape at top of light on wall, moved the knob to one and then adjusted the lights back to the tape line. that way when on 0 its the equivalent of -1. Ive drivven behind friends and they dont notice anything, i havnt had people flash there lights at me so i dont think there too high. tho only downside is now my highs are aimed high but that helps when im flying down the highway and i flash my highs to get people to move out of the way. so bacicly i drive on 1 when usind highs and 0 when regular.

If you need pic of how to do it i can post them up whenever im at home.

Very nice! I think I might do this to mine. I use 0 right now and think its too low.

[Haltech]

I raised all of mine up +1 from their next level adjustment. I now have more light. I also raised the fogs up +1. Works better for me. MY SVT had better light from its HIDS than these did until i did the adjustment mod under the hood.

[gr3y]

parked next to a wall, with lights at 0 put tape at top of light on wall, moved the knob to one and then adjusted the lights back to the tape line. that way when on 0 its the equivalent of -1. Ive drivven behind friends and they dont notice anything, i havnt had people flash there lights at me so i dont think there too high. tho only downside is now my highs are aimed high but that helps when im flying down the highway and i flash my highs to get people to move out of the way. so bacicly i drive on 1 when usind highs and 0 when regular.

If you need pic of how to do it i can post them up whenever im at home.

well if you want to adjust the level it is the screw behind the orange electrical connector you end up turning it clockwise about 3-4 full rotations if i recall correctly.

Thanks.. I adjusted it to a little more than -1, and now i keep it on 1. That way I can flip it up to 0, and still see on dark roads w/o blinding ppl with my highbeams.

[redspeed3tk]

awesome thread should be in the how too.. ive seen a lot of threads askin how to do this