[CB08]

It seems like my headlights should illuminate further than they do, I've noticed that when a car coming to pass me is at my rear bumper they're lights are illuminating equal to mine. So when we're side by side the other car is getting better lighting. Also, my left headlight seems to illuminate less distance than my right one, except when my brights are on everything seems to be good. Am I imagining things?

 

[rafa]

It seems like my headlights should illuminate further than they do, I've noticed that when a car coming to pass me is at my rear bumper they're lights are illuminating equal to mine. So when we're side by side the other car is getting better lighting. Also, my left headlight seems to illuminate less distance than my right one, except when my brights are on everything seems to be good. Am I imagining things?

I assume the cars passing you are standard cars, not some clowns with 8K Xenons or whatever.

They're probably misaligned, Umbertob posted a more detailed procedure to align them than what the manual indicates, search for it and check the alignment in your garage. If you have the active headlights (i believe) you can only adjust them up or down.

Good luck

 

[CB08]

I think I checked when a benz passed me as well but when it really stood out to me it was a car with just standard lights. I'll make this my monday afternoon project. Thanks Rafa.

 

[roverca14]

Also, my left headlight seems to illuminate less distance than my right one, except when my brights are on everything seems to be good. Am I imagining things?

This is normal. The passenger head lamp should project a beam ahead of and to the right (shoulder) of the driver-side beam. The driver-side lamp should project directly in front. This is to reduce glare to opposing traffic and direct light to an otherwise "blind spot" (i.e. shoulder). As for the distance of the projection I'm not sure what is accurate? :think:

 

[umbertob]

Halogen headlight reflectors can project quite a bit of peripheral light that's not really useful for driving, but on a side-by-side comparison these light "leaks" may appear to illuminate a farther distance compared to the sharper - but far brighter - beam cutoff from HID bulbs. Agree on CA-SPORT's comment about the LH headlight illuminating a lesser distance than the RH, it's normal and it would be the opposite on right-hand drive vehicles. To make sure, have the headlights alignment checked at the dealer or a reputable shop. There are trimmer screws on top of the headlight housings, but they are tricky to adjust in your garage if you don't have a precise way to gauge the headlights beam pattern angle (per shop manual: 1.2% below horizontal and parallel at normal ride height) and you may end up blinding oncoming traffic - or getting a ticket - if you adjust them too high. FYI, on US cars you can only correct vertical alignment, while across the pond you can also adjust them horizontally.

 

[CB08]

Ah, problem solved then. You guys described exactly what I'm seeing. Thanks for the input.