Headlight upgrade options, visibility not style

[darkrom]

I am looking to see what I can do to make my 135i lights better. It's a 2010 and it is night and day worse than my 2014 x1 headlights. I can't see much at all at night in the 135. No tint etc. I want to see more at night, I don't necessarily need the cool headlight cosmetic upgrades or anything I just would love to see at night time.

Are there any options that retain the stock housings just an upgrade of something? I have the oem projectors in both cars.

[Wazowski]

Within months of buying my 135, I asked the dealer to adjust the lights upward. They said they were not allowed. You can adjust yourself turning the white adjustment wheels on the housing to get a "longer" light beam. After about 12 years I also replaced the factory xenon's with new Sylvania lamps. That should inexpensively do the trick.

[Lester]

For $20 you can buy night driving anti glare glasses. That should help. I find oncoming LED headlights to be a problem, and these help.

[tracer bullet]

If they are hazy / weathered then perhaps shining them up to be super clear would help? The beam would get farther down the road and less scattered.

Halogen or Xenon? I find the Xenon's to be pretty good.

[zx10guy]

First, check to see if the headlight lenses have started to haze over due to UV damage. If so, you can pay a shop to buff the plastic down and apply a clear coat on the lens. Or you can do it yourself. To minimize this issue, I had my headlights clear vinyl wrapped before they saw any significant road use. The headlights are as clear a the day they were new. Also, keeping the car in a garage also helps.

Second, as suggested have the headlights aimed upward. There was a comment about a dealer not willing to do it. Mine was ok with doing it. Made a huge difference. Not sure why the stock aim setting is so freaking low.

[darkrom]

I will look into the aiming. The car is lowered but so is the x1. I don't think I need any special glasses, the issue is just in this car so the aiming could be more likely. What bulbs are the sylvania ones? Do they really make a big difference over stock? The lenses and light housings on mine seem fine not hazy but I would definitely do a bulb upgrade and adjust aiming if it makes a difference.

[zx10guy]

I'd do the aiming first to see if that helps. It made the world of difference and I kept the stock bulbs. In fact, I'm still running the bulbs installed from the factory.

As far as not noticing if the lens have hazed, I thought mine didn't haze either. The lenses looked clear to me up until I hit a deer. The body shop replaced both headlight assemblies with brand new OEM ones. When I took to the road after getting my car back and drove at night with the headlights on, I was shocked to see how much brighter the headlights were. The body shop just moved the bulbs over to the new headlight assemblies. So this made me start putting a protective vinyl wrap on the headlights. I've done this on the 135i and my Toyota daily.

[Dudecati]

I too would like to raise my headlights. Is there a tutorial? Anyone have an easy explanation on how to do this?

Thanks!

[________]

I don’t think the headlights need to be “raised”. Just aimed properly.
You need a machine to do it perfectly, many places will do it for free even… checkout a glass shop, or even the dealer.

When the car is lowered the headlights remain level.

I’ve never had issues with visibility, and I’m picky. If you think it’s aiming too low, you’re probably right. Just get it adjusted to spec.

Now, if you think the light output is not enough, then you’re limited in options. Make sure you get the OEM D1S 4300k (nothing higher temperature). Some folks will get higher temperature bulbs for looks and don’t realize they’re losing output.

[zx10guy]

In my case, my dealership checked the aim of the headlights per BMW spec when I complained about the lack of illumination at distance. They said the lights are in spec. Told them it doesn't work for me. So they agreed to raise the aim of the headlights which made them perfect for me. Don't know if it's just me or if it really is the BMW spec being at fault here. Just that I'm used to looking further down the road due to my years of motorcycle riding and track experience.

[________]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

In my case, my dealership checked the aim of the headlights per BMW spec when I complained about the lack of illumination at distance. They said the lights are in spec. Told them it doesn't work for me. So they agreed to raise the aim of the headlights which made them perfect for me. Don't know if it's just me or if it really is the BMW spec being at fault here. Just that I'm used to looking further down the road due to my years of motorcycle riding and track experience.

Something tells me they were being lazy at first…
The headlights cannot be too high or they’ll just dazzle everyone. You’d be getting a ton of flashes. So it might have been too low.

When I look at my beam pattern against walls I always think it’s too high… but I’ve tested it driving another car against it at night and it’s fine. And I don’t get any flashes from oncoming cars.

To the person that asked about adjustment, it’s a simple screw on top of the headlight that you can twist with a screwdriver to adjust. You can do it yourself against a wall, but your measurements need to be right, both in height and in length. Google how to adjust headlights based on the percentage indicated on top of the headlight (I believe it’s 2% in our cars).

[Lester]

Make sure the floor is level. You should have 30 feet between your car and the wall. Use masking tape to mark the existing aim points. Then carefully adjust upwards, but not very much - just 1/4 inch or so. Try that for a week, then repeat if necessary.

[Wazowski]

Originally Posted by darkrom

I will look into the aiming. The car is lowered but so is the x1. I don't think I need any special glasses, the issue is just in this car so the aiming could be more likely. What bulbs are the sylvania ones? Do they really make a big difference over stock? The lenses and light housings on mine seem fine not hazy but I would definitely do a bulb upgrade and adjust aiming if it makes a difference.

Replacement Xenon bulb. Note: 12 year old bulbs may still look bright on the car, but they loose a lot of power over time. It was a surprising difference when I replaced them either Sylvania bulbs.
Regarding beam adjustment, I moved the beams up and out quite a bit from factory (huge difference). Never get "flashed" for brights. This is with factory M Sport springs (and Koni yellows).

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Onesie

Something tells me they were being lazy at first…
The headlights cannot be too high or they’ll just dazzle everyone. You’d be getting a ton of flashes. So it might have been too low.

When I look at my beam pattern against walls I always think it’s too high… but I’ve tested it driving another car against it at night and it’s fine. And I don’t get any flashes from oncoming cars.

To the person that asked about adjustment, it’s a simple screw on top of the headlight that you can twist with a screwdriver to adjust. You can do it yourself against a wall, but your measurements need to be right, both in height and in length. Google how to adjust headlights based on the percentage indicated on top of the headlight (I believe it’s 2% in our cars).

I'd sort of agree but when I hit a rat with antlers which resulted in both headlight assemblies to be replaced, the body shop had them aimed to BMW spec. Still too low. Had them adjust them a bit higher and that put the beam pattern right where I wanted them. I do agree that you have to be careful with how high to adjust the lights. When the dealer did it, they had them a tad too high and I would occasional get someone that would flash me. With the current setting from the body shop, no flashes at all.

With my Toyota C-HR with the headlights at stock spec, I get more flashes than I had expected when I switched over from the pitiful halogens to first HIDs and now LEDs. This tends to be mainly when I'm driving in rural areas where "newer" cars are not common with brighter headlights. They think I'm on high beams as they're used to halogens.

[________]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I'd sort of agree but when I hit a rat with antlers which resulted in both headlight assemblies to be replaced, the body shop had them aimed to BMW spec. Still too low. Had them adjust them a bit higher and that put the beam pattern right where I wanted them. I do agree that you have to be careful with how high to adjust the lights. When the dealer did it, they had them a tad too high and I would occasional get someone that would flash me. With the current setting from the body shop, no flashes at all.

With my Toyota C-HR with the headlights at stock spec, I get more flashes than I had expected when I switched over from the pitiful halogens to first HIDs and now LEDs. This tends to be mainly when I'm driving in rural areas where "newer" cars are not common with brighter headlights. They think I'm on high beams as they're used to halogens.

Did you install HID and LED on halogen reflector headlights? That will cause dazzling, as the car won’t dip the beam when going over undulations.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Onesie

Did you install HID and LED on halogen reflector headlights? That will cause dazzling, as the car won’t dip the beam when going over undulations.

Projector beam headlights. Doesn't matter. I'm sticking with them. Because the stock halogen setup is a safety hazard. The car is pretty new as a 2019. It's a travesty Toyota would ever let something like that loose onto the market. To get anywhere near a modern/standard headlight, I had to use high beams constantly with the car. I switched out the halogens within a week of buying the car. Totally unacceptable. I'd pay a little more in the base price of the car to get proper headlights. They wised up with the 2020 and subsequent model years when they put in LEDs as standard.

Halogens can work well if designed properly. My 2016 BMW C650 Sport maxi scooter has halogen headlights and they're more than acceptable with their performance.

[Suprgnat]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Halogens can work well if designed properly.

FWIW I've never had visibility issues with the halogens on my 128i. I am running properly aimed Osram Rallyes though. No one's ever flashed me.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Suprgnat

FWIW I've never had visibility issues with the halogens on my 128i. I am running properly aimed Osram Rallyes though. No one's ever flashed me.

I wouldn't doubt what you're saying; even with stock spec bulbs. Just that the stock Toyota setup was really really bad. It's was only a slight step above the 97 F150 truck I picked up from my step father with the hazed over headlight lenses. The Toyota was that bad and I'm not exaggerating.

Goes to show you to think about driving a potential car purchase at night. As when I took the Toyota on a test drive, it was daytime. I just assumed the headlights would be ok being that the car is so new.

[iminhell1]

Far as aim, top of license plate, bottom of side mirrors. No higher ever. That is what you're aiming to achieve.

There are coding options that can change the HID's. Read up on them.
Also the FRIM2 seems to output more light/voltage than the FRIM3 I feel. But that's not a straightforward swap.

There is also a clear lens option for the projector. That could also help.


But there's 100% chance you're just getting old and your eyesight is deteriorating.

[ShocknAwe]

Osram night breaker D1S bulbs at appropriate temps.

Add PIAA yellow h8s to the rings and crank the voltages, it cuts fog a little.

[darkrom]

Originally Posted by iminhell1

Far as aim, top of license plate, bottom of side mirrors. No higher ever. That is what you're aiming to achieve.

There are coding options that can change the HID's. Read up on them.
Also the FRIM2 seems to output more light/voltage than the FRIM3 I feel. But that's not a straightforward swap.

There is also a clear lens option for the projector. That could also help.


But there's 100% chance you're just getting old and your eyesight is deteriorating.

I don't get any younger while driving the x1 though.

[10"]

Never had any issues with my 135is or my 1M—-both of which came with LCI headlights.

perhaps you should install LCI headlights?

definitely don't do those awful aftermarket crap I see they look and probably are terrible