I have a problem with the headlights on my ES350. The left low beam is noticeably lower than the right one. This is very annoying especially when the lights swing back and fourth as in making quick left/right turns on dark back roads. My Lexus Service can’t adjust just one light without the other one being affected. They said it had something to do with the lights automatic leveling system. I’m considering escalating this problem above my dealership. I can’t believe this is a normal situation. I would appreciate any feedback.

 

if they knew you woudn't get any replies. no one likes to help others here it seems. never been part of an online community where its like this. most of the time the forums are here to help!

 

I have the same problem. I had the dealer adjust the headlights at my 5k sevice. It's still the same,a large black area at the top of the beam on the driver's side. The dealer just told me to bring it back in. How many times have you been back to the dealer?

 

Thats odd....I had a slight misalignment on our UL but the dealer was able to resolve it on the 5K service. Maybe I just got lucky.

 

I noticed the same thing. However, my reaction was to be impressed with the Lexus engineers. Think about it...

It's okay to throw the right low beam farther, it doesn't impact oncoming traffic.

I like it this way. Lower left beam is safe for cars approaching me (don't want to blind them and have them cross the line). And higher right beam means I can see stuff on the shoulder, upcoming intersections, etc. on the right much farther away.

(I do agree, on long twisty roads the approach has issues.)

 

I have the same issue with mine. At my 5K service I complained about it. They claimed they raised them one notch to the max level "allowed by Virginia". WTF? I noticed no real improvement. It is true this is intentional to not blind oncoming traffic, but it bugs the heck outa me! But the lights are so bright it does mostly offset the low throw.

I thought I saw a thread here about someone doing their own adjustment. Anyone else remember seeing this thread?

 

Now that we're driving so much more during night time hours as the daylight hours get shorter, my wife and I noticed the same thing. The left beam is lower than the right. On the one hand, I too thought it might be an engineering marvel and on the other it bugs us. Where you really notice this is in the country where you've got no background city lights. In these conditions, the low beams seem to throw light exactly so far and then that' it. At 55 mph on a country road, one isn't getting much "throw ahead" light in my opinion. It doesn't sound like we'll likely have it much better. We're now due for 10K check up and will find out if any adjustment is possible.

 

But don't you see that it's not just about you? (No offense). If you throw the light farther, then you are going to blind oncoming drivers--at some point the longer throw just becomes high beams.

You are right, at 55+ mph in the middle of nowhere the light is thrown less than a safe reaction distance (I do a fair amount of this kind of driving too). You have two options, 1) slow down (not a bad strategy at night), or 2) use the high beams (and if someone is approaching use some of their scattered light to help when you switch to low beams...oh, and slow down).

The really nice thing about modern headlights (such as those on the ES350) is the very fact that the cutoff is so sharp. For the oncoming driver, there is NO light in his eyes. When I'm driving on a dark road and an older car approaches, even with low beams on, I get dazzled for quite a distance. Not so for modern/better equipped cars.

 

WOW?

N-E way... HID lights are not the same as halogen lights, they have specific optics and can be very dangerous to oncoming traffic if not properly adjusted. I agree, the "steps" are a little annoying at first but there is a specific reason for this... HID lights are brighter than anything on the road right now, they throw more light more efficiently, your tradeoff is to not blind everyone else on the road. The left is intentionally misdirected to not blind oncoming traffic, service technicians must adhere to these guidelines... Maybe your projector lense is out of whack and not concentrating light, does it look cracked or otherwise chipped?

Here's a classic HID cutoff... Note the "step" if this were England, it would be the opposite direction.

 

Rh26 and onskht - thanks for your helpful comments. I think we all see both sides of this issue. For right now, I'm learning things are as designed so go with it. The light throw pattern is exactly as above. Car is great overall so easy to go with it. As well, I'm mostly a city driver. Take care.

 

HID projectors are designed to be aimed slightly higher on the right side for sake of illuminating road signs. The left side will be lower so as not to blind oncoming traffic.(as mentioned before) That is the intention. However, your HID's do not light up the country roads any less than halogens do at 55mph. Just use your high beams if you have trouble seeing. Or slow down. Or avoid night driving.

 

One thing I note with the HID projectors on country roads or anywhere it is really dark and somewhat hilly.... The sharp cutoff at the top of the HID light pattern provides a clear distinction between lit/unlit, going down small hills this can be a little unnerving... It's as if you turn the lights off sometimes. I'm not talking big hills, I'm talking about "rollers" the kind where you can still see a mile down the road but there's 10-15 foot "dips." It's as if I can see down the road, then the car points down and the lights go off.

I find the halogen fog lights and their wide dispersing beam break this up a little... The same type of thing with the little hills happens with non-HID headlights, just not as extreme because the light cutoff isn't as sharp... It can actually make me feel kinda sick if I concentrate too much on the beam cutoff, it's weird to have such rigidity outside of the car in my field of vision.

 

I've noticed when reading Consumer Reports car reviews, they evaluate the high and low beam effectiveness of the car. They also frequently mention, in their opinion, if the cutoff is too sharp or not. For the ES350 they said, "optional HID low beam headlights had good intensity, and the halogen high beams had impressive reach and intensity". No mention of the cutoff.

 

It seams that some of our members feel the need to besmirch anyone that feels that they have the right to get their “paid for” vehicle tweaked to their (within the law where they live) specifications. The audacity of the replier stating that the original post here was a person that needed driving instructions or has any other type of driving deficiently of any type is absurd.

 

My SE Camry had halogen projectors and they were in my opinion very-good when combined with the lower mounted fog/driving lamps. The HIDs on my TL are a world different though, no need to add supplimental driving fog/driving lights... Which on my car are "integrated," so most oncoming traffic thinks I have the brights on because the fogs are mounted where high-beams traditionally are located.