DS5 Manual Adjustment of Automatic Headlights?

[NotAnInterestingName]

My headlights are the fancy HID/LED ones that look round corners. I also see them tip up and down when first started up, all appears to be working well. I've previously had erratic issues with them but they seem fine now, perhaps there was a bit of muck in a sensor that got ejected.

But people keep flashing at me when I'm driving. I don't think they all fancy me, I think it's likely I'm melting their retinas. Dipped beam lights all along the hedges for a loooong way ahead, there's an extremely slight downward angle on it but it's 0.00buggerall degrees. I'm never a tailgater, but to keep the car in front out of my beam they have to be postage stamp sized in the distance ahead. Full beam is better for looking for approaching helicopters than cars, all the trees light up. I got her highness to follow me in it, and I did get blinding flashes, especially when there was a slight corner left or right.

It appears that all is well, except that the car's idea of horizontal is wrong.

So... what does this all mean? Is there a faulty sensor, can the lights be adjusted manually or does it need shoving through some sort of learning process with Diagbox?

[GiveMeABreak]

The directional lighting is supposed to be self-levelling. It runs through a self-check when first switched on which is why you will see the up down movement when they are switched in.

These are linked to front and rear height correctors on the axles. If there are issues with the height sensors, it will throw a wobbly and an error, causing the headlights to go into backup mode, which means they will only operate in straight ahead mode.

Having said this, the lights will also still have some manual adjustment for setting the correct beam pattern / alignment. So it is possible that the adjustment has been altered accidentally or otherwise.

Probably best to get it checked at your local MOT station who should be able to adjust it slightly for you.

[NotAnInterestingName]

Thanks for the info, that's what I was wondering, whether it could be adjusted using good old spanners - if so I'll just ask them to do it with the MOT that I'm having done in the next couple of days anyway. It did pass an MOT 6 months ago elsewhere, so presumably it's borderline or they're not actually very good at checking them.

Surely it must have a reference for what is level - perhaps some kind of electronic spirit level sensor? But whatever the system, presumably it must need some kind of calibration as mine appears to be out.

If it was a computer job then it's something I could do myself - not in any scientific way, just down a notch or two from the current setting while pointing at a wall would be good enough.

[GiveMeABreak]

There's no calibration except for the internal self-check. The headlamp adjustment motors are pre-configured in operation. There's only the manual adjustment on the actual headlamps - like an adjustment screw. The directional headlamp ECU interprets the ride height data and sends this onto the motors.

[NotAnInterestingName]

Super, that's one less job for me then. Thanks very much.

[hansjauch]

There's no calibration except for the internal self-check. The headlamp adjustment motors are pre-configured in operation. There's only the manual adjustment on the actual headlamps - like an adjustment screw. The directional headlamp ECU interprets the ride height data and sends this onto the motors.

Hey Marc i am new to this French Car Forum how can i PM you?

[myglaren]

Check your email Hans.

[NotAnInterestingName]

To follow up, I'm pleased to inform that the garage aligned the headlights using the screw adjusters while doing the MOT. They didn't even charge extra.

I can see where I'm going, and the reflective roadside signs are not lighting up while on dipped beam any more. So hopefully the world finds me (slightly) less annoying than before.

So all good. Thanks very much for confirming that, surprisingly, it didn't need a computer as almost every other task on these spaceships does.

[GiveMeABreak]

No worries, congrats on the pass.

[Kudakwashe]

Hi, my DS5 2013 is giving me an error for faulty directional headlamps. They are not even switching on, what could be the problem?

[GiveMeABreak]

1) Fuse (Check Engine Fuse Box Fuse F11)
2) Bulbs (Must always be replaced in pairs)
3) Engine Fusebox
4) Wiring / Earths

Ideally you need a diagnostic completed with Lexia / Diagbox and post the fault codes.

[NotAnInterestingName]

Following up the original topic, I've since driven since it was adjusted for the MOT and found that the beam was alarmingly short.

So I found the adjusters (6mm allen key) and incrementally tweaked the beam of each light up a bit until I was happy I could see where I was going without lighting up the other cars, it took about 3 tweak then drive attempts. Obviously I don't have the official alignment equipment, the end result is that it's somewhere between where it was previously (which had passed an MOT), and where it was lowered to for the latest MOT when I requested they were lowered.

This is the first car I've had with posh headlights, HID/LED or whatever they are. The beam is very hard-edged - basically there's a hard line between daylight and midnight, there's no softly lit area in the middle so it's very difficult or probably impossible to find a height that gives you reasonable visibility without causing issues for others. Now I'm understanding why I find driving at night so annoying, headlights are just getting selfish and anti-social!

So I think I've found a reasonable balance between my safety and that of others. There can be as little as 1/6th of a turn of the screw between dazzling and too low. I think I upped them by perhaps just 2/6ths in the end, I tried 3/6ths and it just felt a bit too full-beam-ish.

In summary, adjusting is easy. Accurate adjustment is difficult.

[Hell Razor5543]

The way I adjusted the headlights on my C5 was that I parked it facing a brick wall (a few meters away). With the engine running (to keep the suspension level) I measured the height from the ground to the top edge of the headlight lens and then (on the brick wall) marked off the same height. I then adjusted the headlights so the horizontal part of the beam lined up on the marks. This seems to be right, as when I have approached brick walls since with the headlights on the top edge doesn't deviate.

[NotAnInterestingName]

Thanks, that sounds like a good plan. Will have to find a place that's level with a brick wall where I can go after dark without causing alarm.

I think they're supposed to be very slightly downhill though, not level, with the exception of the "kick up" zone. So the top of the beam needs to be a tiny amount lower than the top of the headlight from the ground, this measurement depending upon the horizontal distance....

https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/th ... -changing/

[Hell Razor5543]

The advantage behind a brick wall is that (if there is plenty of level ground in front of it) you can clearly see what is happening with the top of the headlight beams. I aimed to get them to the point where they did not deviate (in height) as I reversed away from the wall. My feeling is that, if the top edge is at the same point whether you are two or twenty meters away it should be good enough (as well as safe and legal).