Do I have an Adaptive Headlight/AFS Problem?
 

I bought the only remaining new 07 GS350 on the lot without a Nav system that we didn't need and saved $7,000. The car does have the AFS/adaptive headlight system but it doesn't perform the same way as the AFS system on our new 08 RX400h, in fact, I can't tell that it is working at all:

RX: when engine turned on in garage/night, the lights go left to right then down and up and then center; when you drive the lights obviously move with the turn of the wheel in any direction at speeds above 6 mph;

GS: when engine turn on in garage/night, the lights only go down and up then center; above 26 mph (what Lexus told me) the passenger light will turn but the drive light barely turns. I haven't seen either turn with the wheel at all.

Lexus checked it out yesterday and told me the system is "working as it was designed." When asked what that meant, the rep told me the driver's headlight is not designed to turn significantly, only the passenger headlight, and only above 26 mph. He also said the AFS on the GS do not move from left to right, only down and up then center. I haven't seen anything but straight-on light when I turn corners or take curves, even at speeds above 30 mph. This is disappointing when compared to the performance of my RX's system. With the RX, you can move the steering wheel in a rocking motion and see both headlamps moving left to right and right to left . . . it's amazing. So, why not the same system on the GS? No explanation except that it might be because the RX is higher up and the need is greater. Go figure.

Any feedback on your experiences will be helpful. I'm very disappointed with the GS AFS system if this is the way it really is supposed to perform.

Thanks.

^ Sounds normal. My '08 works same as your '07. FWIW, my '06 IS worked the sames as our GS, tho I like the Hid output better on the GS than the IS. . .

Is the AFS button on??

When I got my GS I was wondering why I wouldn't see the headlight turn when i made turns i figured it just didnt have the adaptive headlamps BUT it was mentioned in the owner's manual. Called my service rep he said no it didn't have them only found in RX & ES models so i figured oh well, what are you going to do (I did make sure the adaptive lamp button was on).

When I had an ES or RX as a loaner you could really see the lamps turning with the car, it was very obvious.

Two months later I drive up to the central coast (Calif) up hwy 1 which is very twisty & curvey. I came back home at night so i had the lamps on and sure enough, on that dark hwy with all those curves the adaptive headlights were working just fine bopping left & right with every turn.

Now when driving around here (city) I really don't see them kick in at all but I stopped paying attention to be honest.

Hope my experience helps.

on my 08 the AFS is noticeable, the night i bought my car i kept playing with the steering wheel just to watch the lights move. Granted this is my first AFS vehicle so i dont have any refrence to compare it too.

Thanks, I feel better now
 

All of your feedback is appreciated.

Armand, your experience supports what I was told by Lexus to expect on the GS. When I read about your trip up Hwy 1, I remembered that the tech told me the AFS on the GS is a reactive system, meaning that AFS doesn't kick in unless the car makes the right kind of movement under a set of conditions . . . sounded like there is a logarithm designed into the GS AFS. So, if you are on twisty, winding roads at certain pitch and speeds, that would explain why the AFS worked on your trip up Hwy 1. I'll be interested to see how my system works when I go up and down the twisty roads of Hwys 18 & 38 to Big Bear Lake.

EK9VBOI, I had the same thought and tried the system in both on and off mode AFS just to make certain that the polarity of the switch wasn't reversed. Thanks for that thought.

SOCALJD, totally agree about the IS HID vs. GS. The problem we experienced with our 06 IS was going up to Big Bear at night . . . the driver's headlight was dipped so low that we often times could not see what was ahead of us unless we turned the high beams on all the time. We didn't have AFS on it but I wonder if it would have made any difference.

Again, thanks to all of you for responding.

I definitely notice the AFS working, even when making turns in my development.
But the adaptive headlights on my BMW 530 were much better. The lights seemed to turn more the sharper I turned my steering wheel. But I had the adaptive steering as well :p

I noticed mine working when i first got my GS. I don't notice it anymore. I have raised the headlight vertical aim a bit so I don't know if that just makes it less noticeable now, it doesn't adapt since i made the manual adjustment or my eyes just aren't as sensitive to it now.

Voila!
 

Well, I couldn't wait for a trip up to Big Bear, so I drove up Hwy 74 from Palm Desert to Idlywild and yes! yes! yes! they work! :thumbup:

Well it looks like we both had the same experience, takes the sharp turns to have the adaptive lamps really kick in.

I was just in your area last week, off Ramon & Duvall if you're familiar with the area. Car was just humming at 110 mph down i10, felt like i was doing 75mph.

I noticed that my AFS also now after 7yrs of ownership seem to not kick in like I remember it doing when I first bought the 3GS. I have tried sharp turns to give the car a little body roll and I don't see the light focus moving at all anymore. Has anyone else experienced this lately?

interesting info here, I have 2010 GS350 I notice the driver side turn left on left corner a lot more then the passenger side. I do notice the passenger side move but just slightly.

The passenger side bulb has been replaced by dealer a while ago. I wonder if there is a way to test the system not in motion or if there was a calibration/reset process just to make sure everything is working.

That's what it's supposed to do...left turn drivers side moves the most and the passenger moves a little to the left...right turn passenger moves the most and the drivers side moves a little to the right....and all this is dependent on speed and steering angle input.

Thanks for the response,
Mine does all of these except on right turns passenger side moves slitly right. Dealer replaced bulbs a while ago and I just notice this. The car is stock. I have also taking on some good right turns around 35-40 mph to see how they react. it was still the same moved slitly right on right turns.