Yashicamat

isnt that disturbing after traditional headlights, there is little spill off to light road signs on dip, and there is a blackness between the xenon light and the full beam, its like peering into a dark zone, although obviously its no less bright than the traditional headlights that we were all happy with.

Not sure whether I prefer this to a good halogen (or is it tungsten) headlight???

I did a trip at the weekend in my wife's FIAT Doblo which has uprated but ordinary H7 bulbs and gives excellent light (noticeably better than my Fabia ever was) BUT it was poor compared to the xenons on my Octy.

Give me Xenons every time; they are 500 times better for light output, beam pattern & spread etc.

hmmm.. are you sure? I thought if the car goes over a speed hump, the xenons dip down and go up. if they don't dip down, they are going to dazzle the people in the front.

hmmm.. are you sure? I thought if the car goes over a speed hump, the xenons dip down and go up. if they don't dip down, they are going to dazzle the people in the front.

Like any other car the beam is fixed, when the car is moving. So the beams will go up/down with the car over bumps etc.

They are self-levelling to the load of the car at the start of a journey; they are not activly self-levelling whilst moving.

AFAIK they only level on start-up and not every time. It depends on any change to the loading of the car e.g. just given it a full tank of fuel or with passengers as opposed to driver only.

They are NOT designed to move during a journey, so if you are going up a steep incline they will naturally point up a bit more as the weight distribution of the car move rearward and squashes the rear suspension down a bit.

Mmmmm.......

I thought this question had been answered but I don't know now!

My xenons will bounce a bit when bumping up and down a speed table. So on the bump up the lights will be a millisecond behind where the nose of the car is and the same on the way down. Difficult to explain but there is movement.

There is on mine too. If I drive towards a gentle, but big speed hump, the beam cutoff is a height X, on a reference wall (ok, neighbours house). When I go up the bump, the beam cutoff remains at height X, or near enough, and does so for the entire speed hump. It was a bit wierd at first, as the car goes over bumps, but the lights remain level. My conclusion.............MY lights DO adjust whilst in motion.

Phil

I agree with storm monkey. There are sensors on the front and rear axles, and stepper motors in the headlamp units are designed to keep the headlamp angle/range constant whilst driving. If there is a fault with the system, the lamp failure indicator on the dash should light.

Incidently, I don't think this system levels the main (halogen) beams, only the (zenon) dip.

There is on mine too. If I drive towards a gentle, but big speed hump, the beam cutoff is a height X, on a reference wall (ok, neighbours house). When I go up the bump, the beam cutoff remains at height X, or near enough, and does so for the entire speed hump. It was a bit wierd at first, as the car goes over bumps, but the lights remain level. My conclusion.............MY lights DO adjust whilst in motion.

Phil

If this is what they do then I must have a 'fault' as mine level on startup but then stay fixed during my journey. I think I might read the handbook.

I've read the handbook which says;-

"Headlights fitted with Xenon bulbs adapt automatically to the load and driving state of the vehicle (e.g. accelerating, braking) when the ignition is switched on and when driving."

This I take to mean that they are 'active' and that the beam position will stay level regardless of the position of the car. Mine seem to be 'fixed' (although they will dip/raise/dip to level-up when switching them on) so I guess I have a problem.

Seems I have a case of DFPS (dealer failed pdi sydrome)! :(

I've read the handbook which says;-

"Headlights fitted with Xenon bulbs adapt automatically to the load and driving state of the vehicle (e.g. accelerating, braking) when the ignition is switched on and when driving."

This I take to mean that they are 'active' and that the beam position will stay level regardless of the position of the car. Mine seem to be 'fixed' (although they will dip/raise/dip to level-up when switching them on) so I guess I have a problem.

Seems I have a case of DFPS (dealer failed pdi sydrome)! :(

I wouldn't be so sure, my vRS Xenons don't seem to move up and down automatically, it may be cause of the firmer suspension setup. Mind you, if the Xenons aren't right then I'm seriously going to be pi$$ed with the dealer as I took my car back to them to check the Xenon aim and they assured me everything was correct after checking it all out.

I've read the handbook which says;-

"Headlights fitted with Xenon bulbs adapt automatically to the load and driving state of the vehicle (e.g. accelerating, braking) when the ignition is switched on and when driving."

This I take to mean that they are 'active' and that the beam position will stay level regardless of the position of the car. Mine seem to be 'fixed' (although they will dip/raise/dip to level-up when switching them on) so I guess I have a problem.

Seems I have a case of DFPS (dealer failed pdi sydrome)! :(

Mine are the same. Yet another trip back to the dealer:mad: :mad:

any DIY solution for this? I have the VAGCOM cable and a hammer :-) xenons auto-level on start up, but stay put while driving.

Double check them first, so you don't make a wasted trip to the dealer. I rekon this should tell you if they are working:-

• Park car facing wall.
  
• Turn lights on and let them self adjust.
  
• Note height of beam.
  
• load up the boot (sand bags, gold bullion, bodies, anything heavy:eek: )
  

Do the lights re-adjust to somewhere near the original level?

If they do, then the lack of movement whilst driving is due to a slower response from the lights than from the suspension, so no need to worry:thumbup: . If they don't, then visit the dealer.:thumbdwn:

Phil

Thanks Phil. Will try what you suggested.

I've read the handbook which says;-

"Headlights fitted with Xenon bulbs adapt automatically to the load and driving state of the vehicle (e.g. accelerating, braking) when the ignition is switched on and when driving."

This I take to mean that they are 'active' and that the beam position will stay level regardless of the position of the car. Mine seem to be 'fixed' (although they will dip/raise/dip to level-up when switching them on) so I guess I have a problem.

Seems I have a case of DFPS (dealer failed pdi sydrome)! :(

Hi,

I had mine raised slightly by the dealer because of short range illumination - because of the slight raise I now notice more predominately the constant active adjustment the lights make when driving over bumps/pot holes & all the other usual poor surfaces on our roads, I notice the ballast automatically keeping the position after accelerating/braking too which seems to be quite effective. However, one thing I should add is that because I have a Scout it may be more noticeable for me because of the higher ride height/longer suspension travel etc... than those of you who have VRS's etc....?

W.

If you have VAG-COM then you can do the Basic Setting -

VW Touran (1T) Headlight Aim Control (Xenon) - Ross-Tech Wiki

There is on mine too. If I drive towards a gentle, but big speed hump, the beam cutoff is a height X, on a reference wall (ok, neighbours house). When I go up the bump, the beam cutoff remains at height X, or near enough, and does so for the entire speed hump. It was a bit wierd at first, as the car goes over bumps, but the lights remain level. My conclusion.............MY lights DO adjust whilst in motion.

Phil

My previous car was old body Octavia with factory xenons, and they only adjusted while stationary. And the auto adjustment range was not enough if you drove with boot absolutely full/completely empty. No amount of VAGCom calibration nor sensor adjustment could change that. I had to resort to retrofitting headlight levelling rheostat and hook it up on front sensor signal. this is one of few cars around with factory xenons that you can adjust . Minor side effect is that they adjust opposite way to normal (3 is highest on this one)

With rheostat, it is obvious that headlights only adjust when stopped, as you can turn adjustment all the way down and the beam does not drop until you stop.

Perhaps the new Octavia (which for sure has different xenons as they use D1S and not D2S like old ones), has better levelling system.

Double check them first, so you don't make a wasted trip to the dealer. I rekon this should tell you if they are working:-

• Park car facing wall.
  
• Turn lights on and let them self adjust.
  
• Note height of beam.
  
• load up the boot (sand bags, gold bullion, bodies, anything heavy:eek: )

Do the lights re-adjust to somewhere near the original level?

If they do, then the lack of movement whilst driving is due to a slower response from the lights than from the suspension, so no need to worry:thumbup: . If they don't, then visit the dealer.:thumbdwn:

Phil

My dealer had a look at mine on Saturday morning and said he had adjusted the beam height (one beam had been higher than the other) but that otherwise he couldn't trace a fault BUT he was a bit unsure about what is correct and what isn't; said he would call Skoda UK on Monday to check.

Did the above test last night and got the back of the car moving up and down (by having the hatch open and me getting in and out) and found the beam moves up/down against the wall. The beam did not readjust to the original level when I got in, and vice versa.

Guess I still have a problem. Oh well; talk to my dealer tomorrow, and fix a return visit.

Yashicamat

isnt that disturbing after traditional headlights, there is little spill off to light road signs on dip, and there is a blackness between the xenon light and the full beam, its like peering into a dark zone, although obviously its no less bright than the traditional headlights that we were all happy with.

Not sure whether I prefer this to a good halogen (or is it tungsten) headlight???

I'm finding this very disturbing in my Octy (only had it a week) - it is totally different to my previous cars (volvo/saab) which a) had a 'uk' setting which was effectively a triangle on the left that lit up road signs and offered a little more diffused light 'above the line' so that the light drop-off and demarcation between the xenon and halogen zones was un-noticeable. When i'm driving the octy briskly along a dark twisty lane, I find my eyes are drawn to the band of darkness between the xenon and halogen zones and IMHO it's a real problem... I've ordered Philips +50% bulbs to go in the main beam in the hope it will help and would like to set my xenons to UK setting if I feel brave...

any other solutions or tips?

as for the behaviour of the xenon position when driving - i haven't noticed much movement and wouldn't really expect to. I would expect any sensor inputs to be very much 'smoothed' before being used to calculate movement in the lights - if it wasn't you could end up with a very nasty effect of the lights playing 'catch up' when driving over a bumpy road, with the levelling function doing more harm than good (i.e. providing less light on the road rather than more). Likewise, driving of the crest of a hill would result in the lights being pointed into the eyes of oncoming traffic for a much longer proportion of the time..

Although the handbook does indeed say:

"Headlights fitted with Xenon bulbs adapt automatically to the load and driving state of the vehicle (e.g. accelerating, braking) when the ignition is switched on and when driving."

I would tend to interpret as follows:

Load is not something that tends to change during the journey (OK, so you could argue you pull up outside the bank, keep the engine running, load up with a massive stash of diamonds and then drive off...) - so I would not be surprised if the car only did its load 'calculation' when the lights/engine are turned on. This effectively is a fixed offset between front and rear suspension that can be applied for the duration of the journey.

The 'driving state' of the vehicle, however, is something that occurs while it is running/moving - so I would not expect to be able to simulate this feature by testing in front of a wall. What's more - if the 'inputs' are indeed smoothed/damped, then this smoothing factor could well be (indeed might need to be) speed dependent (is this why speed bumps have a more visible effect?) - e.g. adjusting to a bump in the road at 70mph is pointless as the lights will simply not move there-and-back again quick enough - such bumps should be smoothed out... This would also explain why the examples given (sustained braking/acceleration) would be the most obvious.

This theory is pure speculation, but I think as a hypothesis it explains all the behaviours described.

Thoughts welcome

My dealer had a look at mine on Saturday morning and said he had adjusted the beam height (one beam had been higher than the other) but that otherwise he couldn't trace a fault BUT he was a bit unsure about what is correct and what isn't; said he would call Skoda UK on Monday to check.

Did the above test last night and got the back of the car moving up and down (by having the hatch open and me getting in and out) and found the beam moves up/down against the wall. The beam did not readjust to the original level when I got in, and vice versa.

Guess I still have a problem. Oh well; talk to my dealer tomorrow, and fix a return visit.

Did some more analysis on this last night and found that (using the above test) my light DO ADJUST, its just a case that the change is not hugely noticeable and there is a degree of 'damping' to the movement. I also looked more closesly at the position of the beams when accelerating and braking and again they DO MOVE but it is all quite subtle.

Guess I need to talk to my dealer with a portion of 'humble pie'.

I'm finding this very disturbing in my Octy (only had it a week) - it is totally different to my previous cars (volvo/saab) which a) had a 'uk' setting which was effectively a triangle on the left that lit up road signs and offered a little more diffused light 'above the line' so that the light drop-off and demarcation between the xenon and halogen zones was un-noticeable. When i'm driving the octy briskly along a dark twisty lane, I find my eyes are drawn to the band of darkness between the xenon and halogen zones and IMHO it's a real problem... I've ordered Philips +50% bulbs to go in the main beam in the hope it will help and would like to set my xenons to UK setting if I feel brave...

any other solutions or tips?

I noticed the same with mine. There is a distinct gap between Xenon and Halogen illumination. I am hoping the mains an be adjusted independently of the xenons.

Phil

I noticed the same with mine. There is a distinct gap between Xenon and Halogen illumination.

I don't get to use my main beam often enough to notice this. :(

I am hoping the mains can be adjusted independently of the xenons.

Phil

I think they can be.

I have got PIAA Extreme White Plus in my main beams and they look yellow compared to the xenon beam; such is the whiteness of the xenons!

Just out of interest... (I don;t have xenons)... does the levelling also include the main beam? I ask because the levelling rheostat on the standard car only appears to adjust the Dipped Beam and not the Mian Beam which in my mind is a stupid design and potential safety issue for a large car (in my case and estate) that is often loaded up. The other day whilst driving back over the snake pass with a full load the main beams were useless as all they did was light up the tops of the trees, although the dipped were fine once adjusted from the dash.

Just out of interest... (I don;t have xenons)... does the levelling also include the main beam? I ask because the levelling rheostat on the standard car only appears to adjust the Dipped Beam and not the Mian Beam which in my mind is a stupid design and potential safety issue for a large car (in my case and estate) that is often loaded up. The other day whilst driving back over the snake pass with a full load the main beams were useless as all they did was light up the tops of the trees, although the dipped were fine once adjusted from the dash.

Dip beam only; main beam is definitely 'fixed' so treetop illumination is still possible.

just for note ive had my lights adjusted twice since getting the car. first off they were too high so they were adjusted but they pointed them at the floor. second try and they got it just right. i dont however have a gap between my xenon dipped and headlight. its one continuous light with the bottom being white and the top yellow

I noticed the same with mine. There is a distinct gap between Xenon and Halogen illumination. I am hoping the mains can be adjusted independently of the xenons.

Phil

Yes; you can adjust the mains independent of the xenons.

Obviously get your xenons set-up correctly first. Then on each headlamp unit if you look at the bottom inner corner (toward the engine) on each lamp unit there is a dark grey vertical hex-key socket, 8mm, that is connected to a small white plastic toothed gear wheel.

This controls the up/down alignment of the main beam. Adjust to your satisfaction.