Installed springs, now headlights misaligned???

[garek]

I had H&R Sport springs installed last week, and now my headlights are pointed way too high. Anybody else have this issue?

Is it possible that my mechanic thought my headlights were pointed to low and just decided to realign them without mentioning it?

[A1 RDL]

Easy Fix. Open your hood and you look just behind each headlight. You are looking for a black thumb sized knob with a philips type screw driver hole in the center. The black knob has ribs on it where you could almost use your fingers to turn it, but its too tight to get to. Use a screw driver, I used a regular flat screwdriver and cranked about 5 clockwise turns into mine. You may have to do alot more turns. Just point the car towards a wall at night and decide yourself how much you need. Its easy.

[King Tut]

Mine were actually too low after the H&R spring install. So I waited for nighttime and parked on a flat surface with the headlights pointed at a flat wall. Bring a phillips head screwdriver and a flashlight and get adjusting.

[aus]

Mine were WAY too high after the coils. It's easy to do with a metric hex wrench.

[garek]

Thanks for the info guys, I'll adjust my headlights tonight.

[mPlasticDesign]

Mine are too high as well. I have been too busy to adjust them properly and have been pissing people off lately. I get flashed all the time.

[ooowowizstev]

I thought I was the only one with the problem..guess not. Wasn't sure if my headlights were too high or if people just hated me. Flashed all the time and got the finger once as well lol.

[FSHNGRY]

Although i do not own an M3 yet, I too have encountered the same problem in the past. I installed H&R race springs on my 2005 330iZHP. Immediately after installation i noticed how low the headlights were pointing. My high beams were pointed the way my low beams should have been pointing. I ended up fixing it myself, there are 2 small knobs above the headlights when you pop your hood. One of them aligns it from side to side, and the other up and down. I would recommend getting to know someone in your local dealership( if you haven't already) and ask them to set it up for you. It can be very annoying trying to do it yourself. Good luck!

[Technic]

Guys, you are missing the real culprit in 99% of the cases of springs installation and headlights misaligned: the suspension link to the automatic headlight leveling system most probably is not connected anymore or it is damaged somehow after the installation of the springs.

The headlights are supposed to adjust to the new height automatically after a spring install... at least mine did.

[bills742]

See this post from e90post for the correct adjustment level:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...2&postcount=46

Here's another PDF with instructions:

[garek]

Originally Posted by Technic

Guys, you are missing the real culprit in 99% of the cases of springs installation and headlights misaligned: the suspension link to the automatic headlight leveling system most probably is not connected anymore or it is damaged somehow after the installation of the springs.

The headlights are supposed to adjust to the new height automatically after a spring install... at least mine did.

Any idea how to reconnect the suspension link to the headlight leveling system?

[Technic]

Originally Posted by garek

Any idea how to reconnect the suspension link to the headlight leveling system?

There is a headlight vertical aim sensor (item 1 and 6 are the sensors, items 4 and 10 are the links) at the each left (front and rear) suspension arms:



Double check that the links are still connected, that they move with the suspension and that the sensor connector/wiring is not damaged in any way.

[garek]

Thanks Technic

[Bart@AUTOcouture]

same thing happened to me when i dropped my car.. common, no need to worry

[808MGuy]

Originally Posted by Technic

Guys, you are missing the real culprit in 99% of the cases of springs installation and headlights misaligned: the suspension link to the automatic headlight leveling system most probably is not connected anymore or it is damaged somehow after the installation of the springs.

The headlights are supposed to adjust to the new height automatically after a spring install... at least mine did.

and to the guys who are adjusting the aiming, this is not just an arbitrary thing. There is a correct angle it should be aimed at to ensure you don't blind people. Its not something that should be eyeballed.

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID-VISUAL-...-PROCEDURE.pdf

[MShao825]

Originally Posted by 808MGuy

and to the guys who are adjusting the aiming, this is not just an arbitrary thing. There is a correct angle it should be aimed at to ensure you don't blind people. Its not something that should be eyeballed.

http://www.coolbulbs.com/HID-VISUAL-...-PROCEDURE.pdf

+1. I adjusted them myself after installing springs and made sure they lined up with a fellow E92 right next to me, but still wasn't happy with the aim/angle so I just stopped by my local dealership one day after work and asked them to take the car back real quick and re-aim the headlights. Took them 5-10 minutes.

[spyderco10]

yeah i thought they were self leveling

[Trier Germany]

How about some pic of the adjustment knob?

[bavarian19]

Easy to adjust.

[DirtyJersey]

Mine did the same thing after my recent Dinan springs install. Its kind of odd that so many members would have the same reinstall issues with our installers especially for me considering mine was done at the dealer. I'm bringing it in this week to have them check it but somehow I'm suspicious they'll just lower the beams instead of fixing the problem, if one even exists.

[King Tut]

Originally Posted by spyderco10

yeah i thought they were self leveling

They are self leveling, but the difference in height still changes where they level to. The weird part is that I know I installed my springs properly and I know that the levelers were not damaged in the process and after my H&R springs were installed I had to raise my headlights not lower them. I did not remove the front strut housing from the lower control arm when I did mine so I know that isn't the issue.

[Mr Tonka]

Originally Posted by King Tut

They are self leveling, but the difference in height still changes where they level to. The weird part is that I know I installed my springs properly and I know that the levelers were not damaged in the process and after my H&R springs were installed I had to raise my headlights not lower them. I did not remove the front strut housing from the lower control arm when I did mine so I know that isn't the issue.

The term “self leveling” is a bit misleading. From my experience the sensors do not detect whether or not the car is level, they simply react to the movement of the front control arm. Suspension compresses, lights go up, suspension unloads, and the lights go back down.

Not removing the control are doesn't really have anything to do with it. In fact it probably makes the issue worse because the strut housing gives you more leverage to push the control arm down, especially when you have to clear the fender. When the control arm is dropped all the way down the rod that connects the sensor to the control arm will be bent if not disconnected. That is enough to misalign the head lights.

No big deal though. It's they still work with a bent rod; you just have to adjust the lights as described above to the center point again. So if the lights are level and the sensor is not damaged and still connected to the control arm, your lights will function the same as before the spring modification.

And please use the correct metric allen key (hex key) for adjustment. That way you won't booger up the knob.