Poor performance s3 dipped headlights

[Gareth Kelly]

Hi All,

I have an s3 saloon with standard headlights (non led -collected aug 15) The full beam performance is fine but the dipped beam is dangerously short. On country roads with rolling hills and no street lights corners appear out of the darkness without enough warning. There is no way to set the height of the beams from inside the car as they are self levelling. My a1 black edition lights were much better on dip. I have booked into Audi to check my lights - has anyone else had similar problems?

 

[veeeight]

I think you can set the beam height with VCDS

But if under warranty, get the dealer to check and set.

 

[markn1689]

you can use a screwdriver to raise the headlights

pop the hood and find the adjustment screw. its near the back of the lamp, deep and hidden. should be a white screw adjustment piece
if i recall correctly.
might be able to in vcds too

 

[Steph67]

Can't post a link from my phone, but if you type "adjusting headlights" into the search function, it'll take you to a thread that'll show you a photo of where the adjusting screw is located.

Cheers

 

[Jassyo06]

you can use a screwdriver to raise the headlights

pop the hood and find the adjustment screw. its near the back of the lamp, deep and hidden. should be a white screw adjustment piece
if i recall correctly.
might be able to in vcds too

Yeah l done this with my ST it had a white nylon recessed nut,used a flat head driver,make sure you do it with headlights on lol with a wall or fence in front,you will clearly see ny looking at the wall which way to turn,to raise the beam,Ps best use a torch to help locate this adjustable screw gets pretty dark in the engine bay

 

[SJ43]

Definitely need to do this.

 

[cuke2u]

Personally I woukd get them checked by audi...

 

[Simon L]

Totally agree, they're fine round town but out in the sticks the other week it scared the begeezers out of me, woefully inadequate.

Been meaning to take mine back in so thanks for the reminder

 

[Bobwas4]

id just park " night facing a flat surface and manually adjust with a screw driver to make them a little higher.

 

[Gareth Kelly]

Thanks for all the replies guys - I am booked in for Wednesday and I will see what the dealership says. Definitely inadequate in current state!

 

[Jassyo06]

Only had 2 cars with xenon lights,the ST/S3 even after i had altered the ST's headlights they where still not great on the other hand,i keep on getting flashed by oncoming traffic as if to say,my full beam is on...lol..with the S3...they are far more effective than the ST's ever where

 

[simonali]

Doesn't look any different to mine...

 

[Jassyo06]

Tis a little short looking...baring in mind, its a totally unlit road,first look at that photo!!!!

 

[Simon L]

Tis a little short looking...baring in mind, its a totally unlit road,first look at that photo!!!!

......exactly what mine are like mate, and trust me it ain't funny!! You wouldn't want to be doing anything much over 40 with that kind of visibility

 

[Don76]

Same here. Borderline dangerous. Think having H&R supersport hasn't helped.

 

[simonali]

I think they're fine, but maybe I'm just glad I don't have Leon LEDs any more!

Would a dealer have the proper kit for doing beam alignments, or do they just line up every car's lights to some marks on a wall during the PDI?

Might be better off going to an MOT centre and bunging them some beer tokens to set the aim at its max distance?

 

[Gareth Kelly]

Hi guys just an update. My car was with Audi all day and they discovered that the headlights were set too low from the factory. They do not check this at handover! Anyone who says my picture matched their set up should take their car to Audi. It was fixed to the correct level using their diagnostic software and it is literally night and day difference from before. Excellent service and my car was washed and valeted!

 

[RJC1980]

Hmm, might get mine checked, as they look like yours do and when driving in dark for the first time having the car thought the cut off was a little low.

 

[Simon L]

Hi guys just an update. My car was with Audi all day and they discovered that the headlights were set too low from the factory. They do not check this at handover! Anyone who says my picture matched their set up should take their car to Audi. It was fixed to the correct level using their diagnostic software and it is literally night and day difference from before. Excellent service and my car was washed and valeted!

Cheers Gareth, I'll get mine booked in

 

[G-S3]

Think I might need this looked at.

 

[G-S3]

Booked in for Audi to check, waiting for Sales guy to call me back so I can book a text drive in the RS3 while they look at it.

 

[G-S3]

If Audi plug the car in to adjust the lights will they notice the stage 1 map?!?!

 

[4K]

Gareth,

Could you post a photo of what yours look like now so I can compare the difference and see if mine need doing too?

Cheers

 

[mr gee]

When I did a manual adjustment on my 2013 VW Beetle, I got a malfunction code in the VCDS scan
"
2 Faults Found:
5275220 - Headlight
C107E 54 [137] - Missing Calibration / Basic Setting
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 1
Fault Frequency: 1
Reset counter: 40
Mileage: 1268 km
Date: 2006.14.10
Time: 11:26:25

5256213 - Front Vehicle Height/Level Sensor
C114D 15 [137] - Open or Short to Plus
MIL ON - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 14
Reset counter: 42
Mileage: 1268 km
Date: 2006.14.10
Time: 11:26:25

It would seem that I should have opened up a recalibration page via VCDS, make the adjustment, then set it to learn
having said this, It seems that when I left it alone long enough, the fault code disappeared. Probably self learnt.

 

[4K]

Can anyone post pics of what theirs looks like (dipped) - i.e. how they're supposed to be?

Cheers

 

[Gareth Kelly]

I'll get a photo up tomorrow - in my original photo I could see 1-1.5 white lines in front of me and my lights did not even hit the reg plate of a car 2 lengths in front of me. I have twice the range now based on the standard audi setting for s3 non led lights.

 

[RJC1980]

I did a highly technical check on my Garage door on Saturday night, My A3 vs my Dad's A6. (Both are 2015 models and xenon)

My A3, this is the highest I could get the lights:

My Dads A6, as you can see they are higher:

 

[G-S3]

Just had mine adjusted by Audi, apparently was set a little too low, have to wait until its dark to test.

 

[A3_Rider]

Mine were uselessly low, waited a year for service and got them put on the highest possible, much better now

 

[sbarker]

Could this also be true on the LED lights, might seem low too ... my wife has Mini with LED lights and they are much higher up on cars infront ... has anyone with LED's had them checked ?

 

[4K]

I did a highly technical check on my Garage door on Saturday night, My A3 vs my Dad's A6. (Both are 2015 models and xenon)

My A3, this is the highest I could get the lights:

My Dads A6, as you can see they are higher:

Doesn't look that different if I'm honest. Can the OP post a pic of his now?

 

[G-S3]

Report Back. Lights are miles better after having the default level adjusted.

 

[gamegenie]

speaking of these xenon headlights.

would it have killed Audi to have made the adaptive xenons standard on the 8V instead of these static xenons?


I agree with the OP, the corners do come out of nowhere with these xenons and there's nothing to address that since there's is no cornering light function since these are not Adaptive Bi-Xenons.

 

[SJ43]

Need to make a trip to the dealers about this then as I'm not happy with mine ATM.

I don't want them to reset my VCDS mods (non of them are headlight related to be honest), so I just tell them not to do any software updates on my car?

 

[JohnM100]

Quick comment on this as a previous poster mention adaptive xenons.

The light switch needs to be in the Auto position for the adaptive function to work. If set to 'on' then they don't move and the beam pattern is lower.

 

[G-S3]

I have adaptive plus xenon lights. They are loads better since I took to the garage and had the default level or whatever it is adjusted.

 

[Gareth Kelly]

Sorry guys - finally got a photo up of my headlights after Audi adjustment to proper level. Much better!

 

[Jassyo06]

Believe or not this happens to all makes of car's everyone,so it's not poor performance it's just a forgetful sub contractor,Hella l think it is who's not calibrated the unit correctly

 

[Simon L]

Sorry guys - finally got a photo up of my headlights after Audi adjustment to proper level. Much better!

Thanks mate, exactly what I thought.............reckon mine are doing half that!! Just haven't had time to take it in yet, missus has been running me ragged with chores lol

 

[veeeight]

Believe or not this happens to all makes of car's everyone,so it's not poor performance it's just a forgetful sub contractor,Hella l think it is who's not calibrated the unit correctly

Oi! It's not Hella/Valeo's fault, they supply the units in, but the beam height etc. is all done at the End of Line in the Assembly process! Same with wheel tracking. geometry adjustments! Audi's responsibility!


Sloppy Audi factory!