Poor headlight aim.

[Triplesuperhet]

Very disappointed and alarmed about headlights' performance on my Superb Mk111 Sportline Plus. Registered in Nov. 2019.

Poor grade lighting limits dipped speeds to 30 mph max. lights losing clarity to and beyond  dipped headlights' range and failing to pick out other vehicles' rear reflectors. Did not realise lights were so bad until close encounter with rear  stationary vehicles parked in poorly lit main road

Really missing the inherent benefits of my previous car (2010 Mk 11 Superb Elegance).

No! My eye sight has been checked (recently) and well within "speck" : which more than can be said for the car's head lights.

[boydeee]

Have you taken it back to a Skoda dealer for them to look at?

 

I'm not sure if you've LED headlamps or bi-xenon, but I tweaked my bi-xenons up slightly as they were quite poor from factory.

 

Also, is the subject supposed to be "Doug"? I thought "Poor headlight aim" might have been more apt!

[BriskodaJeff]

Surprised by this. I agree that the lights on the Mk3 aren't brilliant, but they are massively better than those on my previous 2013 Mk2. I'd try having them checked out at the dealer. There was an issue with early models sometimes not levelling high enough which was fixed by a software update, but that shouldn't be a problem on yours. I'd be interested to hear the outcome. 

[john999boy]

47 minutes ago, boydeee said:

Also, is the subject supposed to be "Doug"? I thought "Poor headlight aim" might have been more apt!

Sorted.

[penguin17]

I was unimpressed with mk3 xenons. I had the alignment checked and it was fine. I swapped the OE Osrams with Osram Cool Blue Intense, a significant improvement. Beam pattern and length are much better.  

[Triplesuperhet]

When "changing" the bulbs. was this simply a bulb swop or change of the whole unit as would have been in my previous superb  which was an elegance?

[penguin17]

1 hour ago, Triplesuperhet said:

When "changing" the bulbs. was this simply a bulb swop or change of the whole unit as would have been in my previous superb  which was an elegance?

Just the bulbs. A PITA of a job especially in the TDI’s but there’s a little bit more room in the TSI’s.  

[JR RS]

Sounds like ur headlights r badly aligned. 

Get the dealer to fix this.

 

If aimed properly, the lights r great, lighting up the road very well.

 

With regards to changing the xenon bulbs in the Superb mk3 - it's a pain.

 

 

Edited 15 February, 2020 by JR RS

[ope126]

 

 

I will be replacing my HID D3S Bulbs with Osram Night Breaker Laser over the coming months.

I have seen a few reviews online and they appear to be the best all-rounder.

 

Thanks for the link to "How to replace" as that has come in handy already.

 

I actually had a quick look and mine appear to be Philips Bulbs that are the original fitment bulbs.

 

I have nothing wrong with mine and the aim is spot on, but as the car is nearing its 3yr service in May, I just thought I would get this done as I am looking to keep the car long-term...

 

[TransportPlanner]

My dad's 2016 with xenons has been poor since getting it, with the low beams always pointing way too low to be safe on a dark road... they only point far enough for safe driving up to maybe 25-30mph. Skoda Swindon are absolutely clueless technically, saying the aim is fine. They also said that a warped brake rotor was a suspension issue on 3 different occasions despite my insistence otherwise, before admitting that it was in fact a warped brake rotor. Hopefully I can take it to another Skoda dealer at some point that knows what they're doing...

 

On another note, shame on VAG for putting cars on the road that haven't been correctly adjusted and tested at the factory - headlight aim with projectors is extremely important not just for the safety of the car's occupants, but also those around them.

[boydeee]

3 hours ago, TransportPlanner said:

My dad's 2016 with xenons has been poor since getting it, with the low beams always pointing way too low to be safe on a dark road... they only point far enough for safe driving up to maybe 25-30mph. Skoda Swindon are absolutely clueless technically, saying the aim is fine. They also said that a warped brake rotor was a suspension issue on 3 different occasions despite my insistence otherwise, before admitting that it was in fact a warped brake rotor. Hopefully I can take it to another Skoda dealer at some point that knows what they're doing...

 

On another note, shame on VAG for putting cars on the road that haven't been correctly adjusted and tested at the factory - headlight aim with projectors is extremely important not just for the safety of the car's occupants, but also those around them.

Sorry to hear this. If you fancy it, you can make adjustments yourself to the lamps (even if your dealer are adamant they are right...)

 

I parked on flat ground in front of my garage door for an alignment reference. The adjustment screws are clearly marked with the Up/Down and the Left/Right screws.

 

I haven't been flashed by anyone and they are fantastic now.

[TransportPlanner]

10 minutes ago, boydeee said:

Sorry to hear this. If you fancy it, you can make adjustments yourself to the lamps (even if your dealer are adamant they are right...)

 

I parked on flat ground in front of my garage door for an alignment reference. The adjustment screws are clearly marked with the Up/Down and the Left/Right screws.

 

I haven't been flashed by anyone and they are fantastic now.

 

I thought I read on another thread here though, that in order to make the change permanent, you need the Skoda OBD2 code reader (or whatever the newer version is called), so that the self-adjusting feature acts correctly?

[boydeee]

2 minutes ago, TransportPlanner said:

 

I thought I read on another thread here though, that in order to make the change permanent, you need the Skoda OBD2 code reader (or whatever the newer version is called), so that the self-adjusting feature acts correctly?

Whilst I do own the VCDS cable, I 100% did not use it. I can't recall if I had just the ignition on whilst adjusting or if I had the engine running, sorry. I have a feeling it was just the ignition but I can't say for certain.

[TransportPlanner]

Great, sounds good, thanks! I'll give it a try next time I'm down (providing the car is still there... it got flooded last night as per my other thread)

 

[JR RS]

12 hours ago, boydeee said:

Whilst I do own the VCDS cable, I 100% did not use it. I can't recall if I had just the ignition on whilst adjusting or if I had the engine running, sorry. I have a feeling it was just the ignition but I can't say for certain.

 

+1

i've made minor adjustments using the adjusters in the engine bay, above the headlight itself.

 

i've always done my with the ignition on, so the headlights have already done its startup "dance".

 

for major adjustments, yes, it is recommended to use vcds/obd11 and put the lights into learning mode to make the adjustments.

Edited 20 February, 2020 by JR RS

[IJWS15]

The way you describe it sounds like the issue I had intermittently.  On start up the headlights do a "dance" and at the end move up to operating position.  There is a thread about it.

 

Sometimes they didn't.

 

There is a fix and having had mine done 2 years ago it has only happened once. 

 

 

Edited 20 February, 2020 by IJWS15

[Mayoboat]

Had my car in to main dealer for annual service DSG gearbox oil change and MOT

When doing the MOT they said that the car had failed its MOT due to the headlamp aim being to low. 

 

The car is a a 2016 L&K that has Smart light assist and does the dance with the lights when you switch on. Last MOT was OK.

any one else had this as I thought the headlamps were self leveling. seems strange to me. dealer reset lights for a fee!!!

 

Mayoboat 

[mandp]

Would you not have expected them to do the Annual Service first and picked up the problem with the lights, asked for your permission to fix them...thereby avoiding the MOT failure?

I always have a service and MOT together for that very eventuality.

[TransportPlanner]

2 hours ago, IJWS15 said:

The way you describe it sounds like the issue I had intermittently.  On start up the headlights do a "dance" and at the end move up to operating position.  There is a thread about it.

 

Sometimes they didn't.

 

There is a fix and having had mine done 2 years ago it has only happened once. 

 

 

 

I think the auto-levelling is still working, but the default is just too low. At a rough guess, 10-15m on low beam, perhaps a little higher at motorway speeds. Clearly, this is not enough:

 

 

 

 

 

Interestingly, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)  in the US has added headlight ratings to its crash test ratings for the past few years, and it's almost surprising just how much variation there is between car models, even those from Europe.

https://www.iihs.org/topics/headlights#overview

[Mayoboat]

3 hours ago, mandp said:

Would you not have expected them to do the Annual Service first and picked up the problem with the lights, asked for your permission to fix them...thereby avoiding the MOT failure?

I always have a service and MOT together for that very eventuality.

 

They did not charge for a retest, they had done the service then took the car over to VW for MOT with the Master tech, that's when they found the problem

I think they must have a beam setting instrument that is put in front of head lamps? Only had to pay for resetting lamps.

 

I will see if there is an improvement when I go out to-night.

 

Mayoboat

[Ttr]

10 hours ago, JR RS said:

 

+1

i've made minor adjustments using the adjusters in the engine bay, above the headlight itself.

 

i've always done my with the ignition on, so the headlights have already done its startup "dance".

 

for major adjustments, yes, it is recommended to use vcds/obd11 and put the lights into learning mode to make the adjustments.

Does this change the high beam as well as the low beam?

[TransportPlanner]

11 minutes ago, Ttr said:

Does this change the high beam as well as the low beam?

 

I would have thought so, since high-beam on most bi-xenons is operated by the moving of a shutter... everything should be relatively moved upward. Not that it makes much difference moving high-beam up usually...

[JR RS]

6 hours ago, Ttr said:

Does this change the high beam as well as the low beam?

 

Yes, given the Superb has Bi-xenon, it's the same lens for both low and high beam.

As explained by @TransportPlanner above.

[Donweather]

So I’m a little confused reading all of the above. Can you manually adjust the bi xenon’s up on a Sportline?  If so anyone have links to instructions on how do to this please?

 

Edit: Found it. White knob on top of each full led matrix headlight in engine bay. All good now. 

Edited 23 December, 2022 by Donweather

[Danoid]

9 hours ago, Donweather said:

So I’m a little confused reading all of the above. Can you manually adjust the bi xenon’s up on a Sportline?  If so anyone have links to instructions on how do to this please?

 

Edit: Found it. White knob on top of each full led matrix headlight in engine bay. All good now. 

How much did you turn it by?