Premier Led Headlight Level Too Low?

jd14 · December 9, 2014

Hi guys picked up my 2011 premier on the weekend and drove it for the first time in the evening and I really struggled! I could not see very far at all and found the level of the headlights to be very low and not allowing myself to see into the distance much at all. Quite a scary experience.

Has anybody else had this problem? Anyway to fix this?

The car came from a lexus dealer so I'm hoping they would have checked alignment etc.

Thanks!

AlwaysEddie · December 9, 2014

Jd14 I drive a 2013 luxury model, and I have not found this a problem. My model of the car came with a little scrolling button to the right of the steering wheel in which you can adjust the headlights. I have found this to be very effective, and if anything the intensity of the headlight beams have been as good or better than many of the cars I have driven. No visibility issues at night whatsoever. Perhaps you should talk to your dealer about this...

jd14 · December 9, 2014

Thanks for the reply, the premier model does not have the adjustment as they are self levelling I believe.

Anybody else have any ideas?

KDS · December 9, 2014

I drive a 2014 premier and am very happy with the headlights both dipped and full - I think they're LED low and hid high but I'm no techie - suffice to say it hasn't been an issue since I got it in March. You might like to park a bit away from a garage door and see if there's any unusual patterns

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Wass · December 9, 2014

There is a headlamp beam adjuster which is situated to the right of the steering wheel and lower down. Just give it a tweak until you are happy.

Wass · December 9, 2014

Sorry....... I hadnt read the previous posts.. mine is a base model with adjustment... If your self levelling isnt working I would wait for your warranty to expire.

ColinBarber · December 9, 2014

It could be that the headlights just aren't set correctly so when the levelling system thinks it is level they are pointing down. Did the car go through an MOT, that should have picked that up. If the lights aren't set correctly it normally points to some front end work having been done on the vehicle as it would be rare to come from the factory wrong.

Pidu · December 9, 2014

It could be that the headlights just aren't set correctly so when the levelling system thinks it is level they are pointing down. Did the car go through an MOT, that should have picked that up. If the lights aren't set correctly it normally points to some front end work having been done on the vehicle as it would be rare to come from the factory wrong.

+1

Visit Lexus or garage with headlight beam tester to set lights and they should set correct "base" position of lights within few minutes. It's done using two screws (sometimes hidden a little) - one is responsible for vertical and one for horizontal adjustment of the headlight light beam. Once lights are set correctly self levelling system will do the rest while driving. This should be checked when car was MOTed, but some garages just do not bother.

DanD · December 11, 2014

Please accept my apologies if my comment sounds patronising, but - based on my own mother's experience! - are you sure that the lights were indeed switched on and that you were not driving around with just the DRLs?

Have you checked that the headlight stalk is in the AUTO position?

jd14 · December 12, 2014

Thank you for the replies everybody.

No offence taken to any of the above replies.

The headlights are 100% on in Auto and even in dipped beam mode.

I am finding they are aimed too low - therefore not projecting much into the distance at all.

In my previous car with auto levelling / HID lights I know when you switch the lights on they dipped up and down slightly - I am not getting this at all on my car.

Can anybody else advise here at all?

Wass · December 12, 2014

Thank you for the replies everybody.

No offence taken to any of the above replies.

The headlights are 100% on in Auto and even in dipped beam mode.

I am finding they are aimed too low - therefore not projecting much into the distance at all.

In my previous car with auto levelling / HID lights I know when you switch the lights on they dipped up and down slightly - I am not getting this at all on my car.

Can anybody else advise here at all?

On my previous car it was easy to check the self levelling by checking the headlamp beam cut off level on the horizontal slats of my garage door. They were always at the same height irrespective of the load being carried in the boot. Had the height differed from one day to the next, then quite clearly the self levelling wouldn't have been working. In my case, it always seemed to be constant.

adnewton · December 12, 2014

Your beam with Xenon headlamps is controlled via a couple of factors:-

Self leveling system is operational

Load being carried

Self leveling is mandatory on Xenon ( HID ) and operates via sensors on suspension. Those sensors detect vehicle weight ratio at front/rear and adjust headlamps to prevent glare to oncoming vehicles.

Therefore, if you have weight in rear of car which raises front, system will compensate by lowering headlamp beam. Do you have anything weighty in rear of car?

Failing this, if you bought from Lexus dealer, it would have a 1 year warranty so take it back & ask them to check Auto leveling system.

Just as a final check though, take off auto and turn on manually to see if this makes any difference.

ColinBarber · December 12, 2014

Thank you for the replies everybody.

No offence taken to any of the above replies.

The headlights are 100% on in Auto and even in dipped beam mode.

I am finding they are aimed too low - therefore not projecting much into the distance at all.

In my previous car with auto levelling / HID lights I know when you switch the lights on they dipped up and down slightly - I am not getting this at all on my car.

Can anybody else advise here at all?

I don't think they do that, it doesn't mean the self levelling isn't working.

Try aiming the headlights at a wall/garage door and get somebody to sit on the boot edge - the beam should remain level rather than go up (give it a moment to adjust).

Typically when properly adjusted if you drive behind a similar sized car your headlight beams should cut off just above their number plate / just below the rear window. If this is wrong then the headlamps should be checked for physical alignment before looking at the self levelling system.

jd14 · December 20, 2014

thanks for the replies everybody,

My car is going back to have the tracking checked as the car is pulling to the left so I will also raise this with the dealer.

NI LEX · December 2, 2015

jd 14 did you get your lights sorted. I am having the same problem. Did your Lexus dealer come up with a solution?

Zotto · December 2, 2015

On my GS 300h Premier with LEDs same problem: I searched for some screws to adjust like I did with my former GS 450h MY 2008 , but not found, will ask to fix at next service. It seems that with HIDs Lexus keeps beams low...

200h · December 3, 2015

i have noticed this with my IS the throw of light seems to be pretty poor,1 question i have to ask is

my car points uphill when on the drive so if i turn the headlights on whilst in this position will the

datum for the headlights be set here ,so when you move onto the level road outside the

beam set will now be low

can anyone advise

adnewton · December 5, 2015

Xenon headlamps require auto-dipping by law. Therefore, system should compensate. If halogen, check your setting to make sure set to 0.

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Wass · December 7, 2015

From what I have seen from night time driving, some people prefer to adjust their headlamps to a higher or lower level than the MOT pass limits. Generally speaking, I adjust my headlamps according to where I want the full beam to cut off. This quite often results in the MOT inspector commenting that I have them set too low on dipped beam.This happens on my cars and on my motorcycles. I can see through driving that some people like to have their dipped beams set quite high. This often goes un-noticed until MOT time when the inspectors normally adjust them back into spec. The problem comes when the manufacturers have self setting lights which one can't adjust. I had a Honda with such lamps and was always getting annoyed at being flashed for being on dipped beam without being able to do anything about it; I imagine it would be the same for those people who like the dip beam cut off to throw a little bit longer down the road than the manufacturers allow.

There's progress for you!

JlexusT · December 8, 2015

CT 200h Premier's have full LED beam headlights not Xenon and do not have auto leveling.

Level of the headlight is controlled via adjustments behind the headlamp units as with Halogen.

Hope this helps!

rayaans · January 5, 2016

i have noticed this with my IS the throw of light seems to be pretty poor,1 question i have to ask is

my car points uphill when on the drive so if i turn the headlights on whilst in this position will the

datum for the headlights be set here ,so when you move onto the level road outside the

beam set will now be low

can anyone advise

I would think it's to do with the road level according to car level so it wouldn't matter unless there's not much drive in front of the car

DanD · January 14, 2016

CT 200h Premier's have full LED beam headlights not Xenon and do not have auto leveling.

Level of the headlight is controlled via adjustments behind the headlamp units as with Halogen.

Hope this helps!

Hmmm... if LED do not have auto leveling, you should then find a dial at the bottom right of the dashboard - as with halogens - and use this to adjust the beam, should you not? - Or are you suggesting that the range of adjustments offered by the dial is not enough?