just received my car back from the local dealership and they are telling me that the auto light leveling system is defective, thus, they recommend getting a brand new headlight housing. I am not under warranty and everything comes out of my pocket. Is there any other solution to my problem?

 

The AFS unit unfortunately is built into the headlight. To change the unit the headlight has to be taken apart and dealerships wont do it, they wont even change the ballast if its gone bad, you have to buy the whole headlight. Not sure if the AFS unit itself can be bought separately. I do know that the 2nd gen IS equipped with factory xenon have the same AFS unit. You have a couple of options, either buy a used GS headlight, buy a used IS headlight which sometimes is a lot cheaper and hope the AFS works, open the IS headlights and the GS headlights and swap the AFS unit over. Both options have their risks or of course you can buy a new GS headlight. Another option if you are not too keen on having the functionality of AFS is to pull the fuse for the AFS and the light from the dash will go away and disable the AFS functionality. You might have to adjust the headlight manually once after the fuse has been pulled. If you have any questions feel free to PM me that would get the fastest response.

 

You might try calling around some junkyards to see if they have a cosmetically challenged headlamp that you can buy for cheap...... We had an IS on the lot last year with a dead AFS in it and we got a cracked headlamp assembly from a junkyard for $50.

 

i have a used drivers side light with AFS. the back of the housing is pretty beat up (ie cracked or broken) but everything is good. I used it for a few weeks while i sourced another headlight

 

This is the part I hate about luxury cars... all of this junk that is of dubious usefulness but costs a fortune and is a pain to fix when it breaks. I swear there are so many things I could do without in my GS but I can't stand it when something is busted.

 

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