Auto-Leveling HID Projector question

[Silver Ecstasy]

When I first turn my HID's on, I noticed (with the engine off) that the projectors would both adjust independently and randomly. Try it once for yourself! Don't turn the car on, but fire up the HID's and go to your headlamps. You can hear the little servo motors adjusting the projector up or down.

Makes me wonder why? You'd think if you adjusted the leveling on the dash to "0" then it would stay at "0" and not change right? This leads me to believe that the headlights still level based on elevation and the road too. Because, I also walked across the front of the car a few times and they made independent minor changes. I didn't get to pay close enough attention of the beam pattern was moving up or down by much because they were such small adjustments, but they do move slightly.

This could also be the reason why I noticed the pattern sometimes shake under hard bumps, because the headlight assembly sits pretty solid in it's place.

Comments!

 

[GFish]

i have noticed that all auto leveling hids bounce on hard bumps

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Yeah that's probably it then. But why do they move or make adjustments when you first turn the car on? It's not like they droop lower when they haven't been used? That leads me to assume that they still level with the ground.

 

[knowledge007]

mIne don't. I park facing a wall and every time I turn the car on I never see the level bouncing at all.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Turn the lights on then get out and walk to the front and listen. Don't turn the engine on either.

 

[knowledge007]

IM telling you, I can see if the level is moving and they don't.

 

[icspots]

If you're in the US then you do not have auto leveling HIDs, just manual ones. some European 3's have auto-leveling, but I believe that that's because it's required by law there.

It's possible that the motors move a tad when they're first powered up. Have your headlights ever been removed? It's possible that if they were the motor wasn't properly reconnected when reinstalled and so it's just "floating free" a bit. Does your leveling dial work?

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

I should have said Manual leveling, not auto. My bad.

I'm not sure but they have never removed the headlights so i'm not sure why they move.

 

[Super Unique]

you might be perceiving the warming up of the light as movement. the brightness tends to bloom outward as they warm up @ first start.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Nah, I'll just have to video tape it for you guys one day.

After the light turns on and warms up, each light individually starts to make small adjustments to the aim.

 

[ms3kar]

I heard the same thing when adjusting my headlights recently. Just try it. With the engine off and the hood open turn the headlights on and listen, and you'll hear what sounds like the motors running. However, I didn't see any noticeable change in the headlight aim, so it could just be something else.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Thank you! A comfirmation. Yeah I didn't see any drastic change in the beam, just heard the motor noise.

 

[FrequentFlyer]

I've noticed the same thing and I just bought my Speed3.

 

[P2K]

I noticed the same thing but never really looked into it because I always assumed it was normal. (dunno)

 

[Zwetty]

Most likely it is just the little motors within the housing doing a "systems check" as the computer in the car boots.

 

[P2K]

That's what I thought.