Hi all,

My wife has been complaining about the headlights on her new RX330, saying they don't shine far enough down the road. Sure enough, the HID's are fine for low speed driving, but they don't project far enough for highway driving.

Today I set out to adjust the aim of the headlights and I wanted to share what I learned to make it easier for those who do the same in the future.

The owner's manual shows the picture of the adjustment screw and bolt on the driver's side - and I ASSUMED that the adjustment for both lamps was to be done (electronically) via just those two things on the driver side. That was wrong - there is another adjustment mechanism on the passenger side, hidden under the plastic cowling.

Removing the cowling involves pushing down the button on each of the four fasteners and lifting the fasteners out. To replace the fasteners when you are done, you need to gently spread the two "legs" on each fastener and push the legs upward. The button will extend fully upward. Insert each fastener into its hole and push the button half-way back down (to the initial position). These fasteners look very fragile.

To adjust the driver's headlight upward, turn the screw and bolt clockwise. Upward adjustment for thepassenger headlight is COUNTERclockwise - evidently the mechanisms are mirror images of one another. Don't forget to turn the screwdriver 25% more turns for the bolt than for the screw - that is, for each turn of the screw, you should go through 5 gear teeth on the adjustment bolt. (1 screwdriver turn x 4 splines per screwdriver x 1 gear tooth per spline x 1.25 multiplier = 5 gear teeth per turn). It helps to mark the screwdriver on one side so you can count how many turns you make with it.

I hope this helps someone. Please feel free to add any clarifications or other information that may be useful.

 

Very informative post - thanks for sharing this. I'm going to give ours a slight bump, as they seem just a shade too low.

 

Thanks for the post.

 

kinda funny......

 

I like that the HID lights are low and flat so not to blind on coming traffic. As I go down the street the lights provide great illumination. I love the automatic leveling.

If you adjust the lights this will affect the automatic leveling feature and cause your lights to flash the oncoming driver.

FYI

 

Thanks for the great tip. I believe this is one area where Lexus truly miscalculated actual driving conditions. At highway speeds and quickly changing terrain, the autoleveling cannot keep up. It is so dangerous, I would actually expect an accident to occur from this condition. There have been many times when driving at night, if I did not flash my highs to see the road ahead I would have driven off the road. My previous vehicle was a 530 with HID and I never had this sort of problem with them. I think Lexus should quickly revise this system.

 

I totally agree.. I recently adjusted my lights witht he help of LexRex's post.. lights are getting better.. but not too sure if I over did it...

 

For anyone whose adjusted the headlights, how many turns did you have to make. My left is lower than the right. The left is easily adjusted .............I did three turns at the phillips head and 4 at the nut and saw very little difference. Level ground, full tank of gas. Just curious. I'll have the dealer look at it at 1K or 5K. The plastic around the nut seems fragile when you've got the phillips in there. I figured it would be quick and easy - not.

 

I had exactly the same problem when ours was new. On a trip to Oregon we drove winding back roads through Northern California at night. Redwood forests are dark. It was difficult. So, I brought it to my dealer and he raised them, safely, using the proper measuring equipment.

Doing this on your own could be very dangerous. Our lights have the ability to blind oncoming traffic much worse than ordinary lights. For example, the left side is supposed to be lower for that reason. Please let professionals do this.

 

I had the dealer adjust the HID's at my 5K service. No charge. I complained that the wife complained it was too low. I still think its low, but much better than before.

JL

 

The lights are easy to adjust, I did mine with no problem. Park your car in front of a wall about 5 feet away, like in your garage. Turn on the lights and do the adjustment at night so you can see them, I used a flashlight to help see the lower bolt. Turn the top screw first. On the left headlight, clockwise will make it go up. It takes about 5-10 full turns to notice a change. Then change the bolt, the manual says 1.25 screwdriver turns for each full turn of the upper screw. This adjustment changes the horizontal adjustment, not the vertical, but you need to change it or the adjustment will change when you change the vertical. I found that if you use the 1.25 to 1 that the manual recommends, the light gets rotated to far to the middle. 1 to 1 worked just right on mine to keep them straight. Just remember how many total turns you do to each so you can undo them if you want. I'm sure you can do a better job yourself than a tech in the shop in the middle of the day.

 

I agree that the RX330 headlights are aimed too low...especially when driving fast at night on a dark road. Thus, I re-aimed them a bit higher...about 4" up from it's original position. That surely made a big difference. The road is lit further down but yet not enough to blind oncoming drivers. Here's a pic; the black tapes are where the original position was:

 

If the bolt is for horizontal adjustment, do they have to be changed? What happen you only screw the upper one?

 

I just brought my headlights up about an inch, Not to hard to do. I had to turn mine about 12 turns(phillips screw)

One thing that threw me was as I was adjusting the the bolt (step 2) I noticed the phillips head bolt turning too----I sure hope thats what its supposed to do, is that correct??

 

Well, anybody ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^