Headlights

[Musky99]

Hi there!!

I recently picked up my new ES350 and now have about 600 miles on it.

My prior seven vechicles have been Lincoln Town Cars and Cadillac Devilles and Fleetwoods so I'm very unfamiliar with Lexus products as of this point.

Last week-end we were driving back to our cottage from a dinner party and had occasion to use the headlights for the first time. I found the low beam range to be extremely low and could certainly see that they could present a significant danger on a two lane paved rural highway. The high beams were fine as well as the side range which was quite remarkable.

I thought that this was just a warranty issue and the local dealer would correct this problem when I took the car in for it's first visit.

The service manager told me when I called that he was aware of this problem and although he didn't understand why ALL Lexus products he has seen, as well as his own " Lexus sport utility " had this same characteristic Transport Canada had not ever investigated it, to his knowledge, and I assume that this means this condition is normal.

So far I like the car and was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this problem and if so has had it corrected by their dealer?

One other point being that the driver side of the low beam is noticeably dimmer even than the passenger side and the service manager told me that this was intentional and designed for oncoming traffic.

Thanking you in advance for your response to this post.

[jayready]

I have about 2000 miles on my ES and I just noticed the difference in the driver and passenger beams. I didn't think of them as being different in brightness but in the level of the beam. When I go in for my first oil change I will ask them and get back to you.

[DArustik]

Most Lexus' have the HID headlamps but yes youre right, they shine down producing dangerous situations. You either just have to use your highbeams when you can or just drive slower. I have the same problem on my GS, I wouldn't necessarily say its a problem but I know some poeple do.

[SW03ES]

I this your first car with HIDs? The issue is that manufacturers are over-cautious when it comes to aiming the headlamps on vehicles with HID lights for fear of blinding oncomming passengers. HID lights also have a much sharper cutoff at the top of their beam than halogens which is another part of the issue.

They CAN be aimed upwards a few ticks and that will help. The dealer should do it, if they won't find someone else who will, its not that difficult.

[bkings]

I just bought a 2008 ES350 with the HID AFS headlights for my wife. She refuses to drive it at night because of the poor visibility from the headlights. They do not illuminate the road in front properly and are very unsafe. We have already had several near misses with roadside barriers and parked cars that we couldn't see properly. I own 3 Lexus and one other with HID lights. No problems with those, I love them. What in the world did the Lexus designers do to screw up a good thing with these newly designed headlights? It's a good daytime car, but drive it SLOWLY at night.

The dealer says they are within spec and so they can not make adjustments. This is a lawsuit for Lexus waiting to happen, because these are DANGEROUS. We will sell the car before we accept these headlights. We are filing a complaint with Lexus over it.

[BrianP]

I had the same experience. I went back to the dealer and they did adjust them. They are somewhat better, but still marginal at best. I will try for a few more ticks when I go back in for my 5K service. This is my first Lexus after several Acuras. If I had test driven the car at night, I probably would not have bought it.

[AZ08LexusES]

As SW03ES and Darustik are alluding to, these are the brightest headlights ever made on a vehicle. That is what makes the contrast between light and dark so noticeable. With the old headlights, the light dissipated much more and you couldn't notice such a severe contrast. They are pointed downward, and more so on the driver's side. That is to prevent from blinding on coming traffic, for the same reason you do not keep your high beams on when another car is coming. Also, there are regulations, normally local, as to how far up they can be pointed. There used to be a time (in the 70's) in Florida that car inspections would actually check if the headlamp alingment was "legal", if it was not, you would fail the inspection and would have to get them re-aligned. If you drive around blinding people, and one of these people happens to be a police officer, there is a good possibility that you will get cited for being unsafe.

Here's an experiment you can try at home. Buy yourself a 2 Million Candlelight power spot light and a better than average flashlight. At night, with no other lights on, point your flashlight at a wall from about 20 feet away. Note how wide the beam is and how in the outer portions of the beam things are not as bright. The light is greatly diffused. Now, take your spotlight, go back 40 feet away and shine it at the same spot (the difference in distance is just to illustrate the difference in power). Note how the beam is much tighter, and the illuminated spot on the wall is much smaller. Also note the contrast and how sharp it is from the lighted portion to the dark. But, what is lit is very clearly seen, even at this distance as opposed to the flashlight. So, the question is, with which of these two do you see better? Then, if the spotlight is better, would you like to have it pointed at your eyes while driving? Of course, with this experiment, the difference in light sources is extreme which is not as in the case with the automobiles.

One last thing, these roads that are being driven, if they have unexpected obstacles, wouldn't you drive slow, or at the very least with high beams on? The only time to drive these unsafe roads without the high beams would be when there was a car in front or one coming in the opposite direction, at which time, they would reach the obstacles first, and hopefully their cars' headlights will have lit them up to make them visible. I drive very dark roads in Arizona to get to my house through some very hilly terrain with plenty of wildlife and these headlights have not been an issue at all. Is it the headlights that are unsafe or the roads? Oh, and BTW, the new Acura TL also has HID, and the Cadillac CTS has "Projector Beam Tungsten-Halogen" headlamps. Projector beam is the key of how they work. It's the way of the future, get used to it. Now or later, it will not make a difference.

[sharpcolorado]

I am quite comfortable driving in the city and mountains here in Colorado, USA. I like my headlamps and wonder if I have a different setup on my 2007 ES 350 than those with complaints.

[GMoney749]

FWIW, I don't think I've ever driven a rural road with only the low beams in any car I've ever owned. I don't have an issues with low beam intensity either, but then, my last several cars have all had HID headlights.

[BrianP]

The lighting seems to be particularly bad when going downhill. Perhaps that has to do with the auto-levelling? Unfortunately there's no way to turn that off to find out.

It just doesn't seem logical to make the brightest lights ever and then point them downward ... I'm not sure what that accomplished.

Anyway, that's just one person's opinion ....

[SW03ES]

It just doesn't seem logical to make the brightest lights ever and then point them downward ... I'm not sure what that accomplished.

We told you, its to avoid blinding oncoming drivers. Just have them adjusted up.

[aske]

Great thread - I discovered the same issue recently. My first service is coming up - I plan to take this up with my dealership too and see if they can adjust it.

[AZ08LexusES]

BTW - I was driving my '99 Navigator with Halogen beams the other night and boy, although there was a lot of light dispersed all over the place, I could not see any further down the road than the Lexus with the HID pointed downward. Luckily all the obstacles on the road had been cleared, who knows what I would have hit!

Quick poll, who here does not think that the auto-leveling is the coolest thing ever?

[sharpcolorado]

Quick poll, who here does not think that the auto-leveling is the coolest thing ever?

The auto-leveling and steering-following headlamps really work well for me on dark and curvy roads up and down foothills here in Colorado.

[aske]

My dealer fixed the HID lights - they pointed it a little up and that's all that was needed :-)

[Rickanns]

We just got our first Lexus last week. I am a HID (Xenon) fan having had them on a 2004 and 2007 VW Touareg. The HID's on my ES seem to be aimed fine. I particularly like the halogen high beams. My 04 Touareg had a similar set up, but the halogens were only flash to pass. They did not illuminate when the high beams were engaged. The Xenon units had a shutter in them that opened more for the high beams. Many re-programmed the system to include the halogens in the high beam as well as the fog lights (a six light salute) . My 2007 has done away with the halogens all together. The high beams suffer to a degree as a result.

The Lexus is a much better set up. I like those halogens piercing through the night.

Rick

[Elan]

Hi there!!

I recently picked up my new ES350 and now have about 600 miles on it.

My prior seven vechicles have been Lincoln Town Cars and Cadillac Devilles and Fleetwoods so I'm very unfamiliar with Lexus products as of this point.

Last week-end we were driving back to our cottage from a dinner party and had occasion to use the headlights for the first time. I found the low beam range to be extremely low and could certainly see that they could present a significant danger on a two lane paved rural highway. The high beams were fine as well as the side range which was quite remarkable.

I thought that this was just a warranty issue and the local dealer would correct this problem when I took the car in for it's first visit.

The service manager told me when I called that he was aware of this problem and although he didn't understand why ALL Lexus products he has seen, as well as his own " Lexus sport utility " had this same characteristic Transport Canada had not ever investigated it, to his knowledge, and I assume that this means this condition is normal.

So far I like the car and was just wondering if anyone else has noticed this problem and if so has had it corrected by their dealer?

One other point being that the driver side of the low beam is noticeably dimmer even than the passenger side and the service manager told me that this was intentional and designed for oncoming traffic.

Thanking you in advance for your response to this post.

My wife drives an 06 BMW 3 series with HID high and low beams that are leveling and articulated. It is certainly more pleasant to drive than the Lexus ES350. However, I have not found the Lexus to be unsafe.

[detaildoc]

My dealer also fixed mine today, the whole process was so easy, only took about 6 minutes. All you need is a screwdriver. The lights are now perfect. One of the best headlights in the industry.

[Chuy]

Page 324 of the 07 owner's manual describes how to adjust the headlights.

I had two issues with the procedure. Apparently, there are two screws per headlight, but I could not, for the life of me, find the outside screws. I'm going to have to take out the assembly to find them. However, the Mrs is satisfied with the adjustment I was able to make with the inside screws.

The other issue is which direction to turn the screws. It took some trail and error to figure it out: clockwise raises the headlight. I don't understand why this info is not included in the manual; there is plenty of space for the four words.

[firstone]

Page 324 of the 07 owner's manual describes how to adjust the headlights.

I had two issues with the procedure. Apparently, there are two screws per headlight, but I could not, for the life of me, find the outside screws. I'm going to have to take out the assembly to find them. However, the Mrs is satisfied with the adjustment I was able to make with the inside screws.

The other issue is which direction to turn the screws. It took some trail and error to figure it out: clockwise raises the headlight. I don't understand why this info is not included in the manual; there is plenty of space for the four words.

Chuy

I also have not found the second set of screws. The ES-350 manual shows that the outside screws are adjusted through stamped holes in the same beam as the inside screws. My car only has the one set of adjustment screws and one set of stamped holes above the 2 visible adjustment screws!!!

Note: Many times a lot of documentation is not updated when a change is made to the product. I wonder if newer released ES-350 don't have the second set of screws.

Do you have the HID auto-leveling lights and the the AFS cornering movement? I ask this because I wonder if some of the posts here apply to the standard headlights and others apply to the HID/AFS headlights.

Someone in a similar post on this issue claim the auto leveling HID lights will keep adjusting the light height level as the screws are turned. I have turned these screws counterclockwise and counterclockwise 50 turns and yet see no movement from a mark on my garage wall.

I I sure hope someone out there will have the real scoop on adjustment of these HID headlights with the AFS feature.

Tom

[stcedar]

I do not have the AFS feature, so does that mean I can't adjust my headlights up? I looked uner the hood and I cannot find any screws to turn. Help! It looks different than in the manual. It is very dangerous to drive at night! The lights are pointed freakishly low! The dealer keeps saying it meets Lexus standards.. ugh!

[firstone]

I do not have the AFS feature, so does that mean I can't adjust my headlights up? I looked uner the hood and I cannot find any screws to turn. Help! It looks different than in the manual. It is very dangerous to drive at night! The lights are pointed freakishly low! The dealer keeps saying it meets Lexus standards.. ugh!

I don't have an answer for you because I have both the HID & the AFS.

Sorry

[gordonw]

Halogen bulb headlamps only have one screw for adjustment, as the lo beam and hi beam move as one unit. HID setups have two screws becuase the lo and hi beam reflectors are separate.

[firstone]

Halogen bulb headlamps only have one screw for adjustment, as the lo beam and hi beam move as one unit. HID setups have two screws becuase the lo and hi beam reflectors are separate.

[firstone]

Halogen bulb headlamps only have one screw for adjustment, as the lo beam and hi beam move as one unit. HID setups have two screws becuase the lo and hi beam reflectors are separate.

gordonw

Sorry to tell you I have a newly manufactured ES350 that has HID with Adaptive feature ( my headlights rotate when car goes around corner). The window sticker I took off the car shows a list price of this feature at $815.

I can assure you that I have only one set of adjusters under the hood. The manual is indeed incorrect regarding the adjustment of the HID AFS headlights.

Many of the posts on this issue seem to conflict with others regarding the headlight adjustments. I tried a new thread entitled

"ES350 HEADLIGHT ADJUSTMENT EXPERT NEEDED" but it was blocked.

The reason I started that thread was because I hoped there is one person who really knows what is going on.

Tom