[Miniman]

I'm getting repeatedly flashed by on-comimg motorists and it's clearly annoying for them and irritating for me. I appreciate these lights are supposed to be self-levelling but...!

Has anyone else encountered this with their HIDs?

 

[jeremybingham]

No no one. Much better than my r56 s with xenons.

 

[Sunster]

Not from me I have to say. However, when you start the car make sure the lights are shining onto something closely and preferably flat facing (like a garage door for example) - the lights should rise to their top height and then lower to the correct position (ie. they do a levelling test or some such) - you can see this very noticeably.

Does this happen with you or do they remain fixed?

 

[uke]

I've noticed that my lights don't seem to move as much as they did on my R56. I'm hoping that's a design feature (they have tweaked the software to the point where the system only moves the lights as much as it needs to).

On the R56 the leveling activity while starting and driving was very noticeable. On my F56 the startup leveling is small or nonexistent, and the driving leveling is barely detectable.

Of course, I'm still driving like Granny Going To Church. Post break-in we'll see if the lights are working harder...

 

[Sunster]

I've noticed that my lights don't seem to move as much as they did on my R56. I'm hoping that's a design feature (they have tweaked the software to the point where the system only moves the lights as much as it needs to).

On the R56 the leveling activity while starting and driving was very noticeable. On my F56 the startup leveling is small or nonexistent, and the driving leveling is barely detectable.

Of course, I'm still driving like Granny Going To Church. Post break-in we'll see if the lights are working harder...

Now that is interesting as the levelling is VERY noticeable on my F56 Cooper Auto. Tell me - do you have the regular ones or the ones with the additional cornering lights? I have the cornering lights variant BTW.

Next time I'm downstairs I'll let you know just how noticeable.

 

[uke]

do you have the regular ones or the ones with the additional cornering lights? I have the cornering lights variant BTW.

Regular, non-cornering LED lights. I'm still not 100% certain that the basic LED lights have auto leveling... Can anyone confirm that for USA cars?

 

[caveman dave]

Get your dealer to check the alignment.

 

[lawrothegreat]

I have the cornering LED lights and I can sense the auto-levelling continually. The fact that they are called cornering lights is slightly misleading; the cornering function at low speeds is almost pointless in my opinion, however the lights also extend their range automatically with speed, which is much more useful.


I do get flashed, but more often than not I am aware that they annoy other motorists. When driving up behind others on a motorway, I've noticed that some motorists get out of the way well in advance (and sometimes quite hurriedly) as the top of the projected light (with its blue tinge) hovers over the back of cars. In contrast the odd motorist seems to refuse to move over, and when I pass they will flash me, despite the fact I have not tailgated them.


I do love their illumination of road signs, traffic cones etc. though.

 

[Sunster]

So I checked last night and I park about two car lengths away from our garage. When I start the car I can see that the lights move from where they were previously to their highest position and then level off. The space between the highest position and the 'level' position is about 1/2 to 1 foot at that distance... someone else can do the trig on that, but definitely very noticeable.

When driving, like lawnofthegreat, I do notice a difference in motion and when changing speed. Ironically, I always felt the illumination was just right and in fact it's slightly less than my wife's 2013 R56 ONE which has standard everything. So far no one has flashed me. Well, not because of the car anyway

 

[caveman dave]

A good measure of whether the alignment is OK is when you are following other cars do you light up the back of the car in front below window level. If you are lighting up the back of the drivers head they are set up incorrectly.

Up to now I have not been flashed by anyone.

 

[Tethias]

I get flashed quote often in my MCS with LED, non-cornering lights. They self level as they should, but i think a lot of drivers still aren't used to the brightness of the newer generation headlights.

By all means get you dealer to check the alignment and self leveling but it may just be people seeing them on an off level bit of road and and think you've got the high beam on!

Give them a quick flash back to prove you don't

 

[uke]

Okay, so I have been driving an MCS loaner with LED headlights. Previously in the thread I wondered if I actually had the auto-leveling lights, because compared to my R56 I didn't see the lights moving much or at all in response to conditions. Driving the loaner MCS, I saw the lights leveling just like they did on my R56.

I think I figured it out. I have the Sports Suspension, which means the car doesn't squat or dive as much as the non-SS loaner. In a different thread I wax eloquent over my impressions of the SS versus non-SS; the SS car is definitely stiffer. As a result, the LED lights work hardly at all to keep level compared to a normal suspension.

That, and my MA assured me that yes, the LED lights auto level by default. Call me convinced.

 

[Miniman]

Thanks for all your responses. I've now taken the vehicle in to Sytner Mini Leicester for testing and diagnostics confirmed that the low beam was "above parameters" and therefore was re-adjusted accordingly.

Having checked the alignment myself by chalking marks on the garage door both before and after adjustment, the beams are now approximately 2" or 5 cms lower.

Hopefully, this will resolve the issue.

Thanks again.

 

[Sunster]

Glad you got it sorted!