Is anyone else having problems with the headlights on low beam? I do a lot of country driving on windy, up and down roads and the headlights seem very unsafe under these conditions. It is most apparent when going downhill. There is a black sheet that seems to appear and you cannot see more than a few feet in front of the car. It is very disconcerting to say the least! I am not the only one who notices this as several passengers have remarked about the lack of light. It is not always possible to use the high beams. I will go out on a limb and call this a serious safety issue. I have talked with the dealership and they said it is part and parcel of the AFS headlights. I am now dealing with LEXUS customer service.

 

many drivers have noted this. this has nothing to do with the AFS, nothing. it has to do with the height and direction of the beam. lexus keeps it low so that you cant blind anyone but you can definately go to a lexus dealer to shift it up more. if your lexus dealer isnt willing to, others will.

or if you dont want to take that path and deal with that, you can do it yourself at home. the manual teaches you how to do it, and all you need is a flat head screw driver.

 

"Consumer Reports" consistently rates the RX headlights as poor. Yours is the first post to mention a specific "condition" where they might be considered a safety hazard.

I thought they were self-leveling. You'd think they would adjust appropriately "on-the-fly" for steep hills.

 

Mine drove me crazy. I had them adjusted by the dealer and they still meet state regulations.

 

I checked the distance straight ahead on my 2006 RX400h tonight. They send a great beam approx. 500 foot ahead with no problem at all. I turned the fog lights off and noticed a dimmer spot about the first 10 foot in front of the vehicle. State law fogs must be on with low beam here.

 

I, too, have found the "black sheet" effect downright dangerous on New England's hills and curves. There is neither forward nor peripheral illumination adequate enough to drive safely. Last night I nearly hit a dogwalker and her black lab..on an incline to my right. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen, in my opinion.

I'm currently driving a 2007, waiting for my 2008 to arrive. Has this problem been corrected in the 2008 model? And, for those of you who've had the lights adjusted, is the problem really solved? If it's just an adjustment, it's not really a problem.

But for that, it's an awesome car. Maybe it's worth never being able to drive at night?

 

Have them adjusted--Mine are super beautiful bright on low beams

 

You guys are complaining about something that is normal for all vehicles equipped with HID projector headlights. The cutoff is very sharp compared to reflector HID and halogen headlights, thus when going up or down a hill, the area above the cutoff will be completely dark. There is no way to correct this problem....unless you're willing to convert back to halogen headlights. Another idea to lessen this problem is adjust the beams higher. I adjusted my beams about 3 inches higher (facing a flat wall 25' away) than what it came from the factory and it helped alot. I love HID headligths and would not consider buying any other cars without it. They are so much brighter and spread so much wider than any halogen headlights.

 

I gave my RX400h six (6) full turns with a Phillips head screw driver. Clockwise driver side and Counter clockwise on passenger side as a starting point.
You only need to remove front left and right cover from each side. Cover is held on with two black connectors on each side (about the size of a dime). Push down center pin on connector and connector can be lifted and reused.
Be careful when resetting connector. Spread legs slightly while touching center pin with finger or something small, it will slide back up. DO NOT SPREAD LEGS VERY FAR OR PUSH THE PIN HARD, Pin will pop up and connector can be reused.
I also have called Lexus customer service, said they would take a note on problem.
Big difference will wait a week or two and see what happens. Nobody has flashed lights at me for last week of night driving

 

The DOT has very specific instructions to setting the height of HID lights. Like some mentioned they have a very sharp cut off, sorta like you see when you have a slide projector with no slide, their is a distinct line of white and black. The DOT provides a range of min and max height of the lights, Lexus being a conservitive company sets all of their HID lights towards the min range of the height adjustment. The lights are set at 25 feet and 9.84 feet, at that distance their is a 4 inch range above and below what is called the "H" line that the lights can be adjusted and still be in specs. Most Lexus liights are at the bottom of the range from the factory. The big concern is blinding on coming traffic, I would first try having them set approx 4" inches higher then test the lights on a dark 2 lane road and see if you get people flashing brights at you. The dealers and Lexus are scared of doing this because of the Lawyer stuff, they set your lights up higher, you blind someone cause an accident, or someone gets mad and causes a road rage incident. Next thing in our Sue happy country they get a case filed, sad. I have set my 400h lights approx 4" higher, this gave me much improved road illumination and I have not been high beam flashed or shot at so far.

Google SAE J599, it covers the headlight adjustment.

http://www.tfhrc.gov/safety/hsis/pubs/04148/aiming.htm

 

When adjusting the HIDS, dont you have 2 adjustments to do on Each side because of the AFS??
1 to adj height and 1 to adj turn in? Or do we need to just adjust the height only