Has anyone been able to solve the headlight alignment issue on their RL's? A vehicle with HID's and the technology utilized to make the headlights steer with the front wheels should provide the optimum system but, as has been mentioned before, the ability to drive on dark undulating roads is verging on dangerous due to the inadequate implementation of this concept. I have been told that the headlight alignment is not adjustable. Has anybody found a method to allow for this car to be safely driven at night by providing light far enough ahead so that you can see the road and potential obstacles?

 

I had the same complaint that you have. I spoke to the service advisor and, after driving the car at night, he agreed to try to raise the lights. This was done and it is much better. I was warned that oter drivers might "flash" at night but this has not happened in the two months since it was done. I was charged for the service because the lights were set to facxtory specs and this was not a "warranty" issue. Hope this helps.

 

How much did they charge you?

 

I'd be so happy to have a distinct line between absolute brightness and darkness,why would you want to change it?

 

jkanon
The charke was for about 1/2 hour labor.

 

While I agree the sharp cutoff between light and dark is pretty substantial, I think that's just the nature of the projector-style HIDs that we have. I daresay guess that the reflector HIDs don't have nearly the sharp cutoff that the projectors do.

 

Maybe I'm being dense here but I'm unsure what your complaint is. I know the lights turn up to 20% with the steering wheel and that there is a sharp cut-off so that the lights don't shine into the eyes of the oncoming traffic, but I don't find either of these to be an issue. Can you explain?

 

Yes, The sterring is the 20% portion of your request. The problem is with the vertical alignment - I need to see further up the road when I drive on dark freeways so that I may Safely drive above 40MPH. The left lamp is too low to be of use or to be safe. Other cars manage to have usefull headlights without offending the opposing cars, why can't the RL?

 

I've never had this pose a problem in the RL. My S2000 however was bad at this and unless you were on perfectly flat ground you couldn't see very far in front of the car driving down poorly lit roads and the corners were completely dark, which makes the ALS nice.

 

I had this problem in both my Honda Accord and my RL -- the headlights came from the factory aimed just too low.

The cut-off is good -- it just needs to be adjusted so that it's the proper height off the ground so that it illuminates enough of the road ahead.

 

OK. Thanks for your explanation. It may be a matter of differing opinion or the relative vertical headlight alignment for our individual vehicles, but I don't have this problem with my RL. I can see fine at night well past 40mph.

 

I notice that some folks are disagreeing that the headlights are a problem.

I'll state my opinion. My 2 cents worth.

First off, my lights go back and forth ok.

That said...

The headlights on my '05 RL are the worst headlights I've ever used on *any* vehicle.

On certain roads with any vertical slope or course bearing at all, due to the sharp cut off, which all too often finds its way into the road immediately in front of the car and way too close for comfort, I cannot see pedestrians, bicyclists, children, stalled log trucks and other vehicles, woodland creatures...any unfortunate thing in the way.

The engineers should have used some feathering of a traditional light source above that sharp cutoff.

I'm also not thrilled about the uneveness of the thrown light pattern...there are too many different types/colors/bright spots/dark spots. It's distracting.

The longer I use these lights, the more aware I am of these shortcomings.

The lights in my '94 Honda Accord are perhaps the best lights I've ever used...how the lights in the RL could be this screwed up is beyond me.

'05RL, vin in 7,000's, delivery in June, 2005, 28,000 miles.


Fred

 

[QUOTE=bluemule]I notice that some folks are disagreeing that the headlights are a problem.


The headlights on my '05 RL are the worst headlights I've ever used on *any* vehicle.
I agree with all of your points except that I have had worse headlights - '68 Camaro! BTW - the best lights were the HID's on my Cadillac. Unless their are major differences between produced RL's, I find it hard to beleive that some people are happy with their headlights.

 

You're kidding me, right?

Try driving a 1992-1994 VW Passat.

Or a 1996-1999 Audi A4.

Or even older cars (I had a Puegeot 504 that couldn't illuminate its front bumper).

Let's be realistic - the lights on the RL are good but not great. The articulating light is (IMHO) a gimmick. *AND* the TL lights are better (even as simple as the "bi-xenon" - quotes because it uses a mirror to achieve high beams).

But they aren't the worst ever.

 

I don't think your issue resides soley on the RL's lights. It sounds as if you really do not like HID projector lights in general as the characteristics you elaborated upon are that of HID projector lights.

As stingerbtry stated, I agree that the S2000's projector HID's are far more worse, and they also bob up and down causing oncoming traffic to think that you're 'flashing' them. On the S500 the RL replaced, it did have HID's, but non-projector HID's. The area they shined upon was tremedous, but I was constantly getting flashed by oncoming traffic as they thought my highbeams were on.

The best projector HID's I've seen are on the B6 S4 and on the STi. Auto-level on the S4 and in-cockpit manual adjustment on the STi.

 

Wow! I guess this is one of those opinion things. I think the characteristics you find objectionable are similar for all projector-type headlights.

Anyway, there are a LOT of headlights that are much, much, much worse than the RL's. My personal opinion is that the RL lights are in the top three for me (and I've had a few cars....

The best headlights I've ever had were in my '04 TL.

Again, a matter of opinion.......

 

I think projector are by far superios to any reflector designs. The brightness is amazing within the projector range.

 

Hmm, the lights haven't bothered me but I did notice in both the S4 and RL that you get that sharp cut-off which prevents far away reflectors from showing up. Frankly I'm surprised this hasn't been raised as a safety issue yet. When in doubt I therefore add my fog lights to get some amount of stray light that will show reflectors from different sources more in advance. When on mountain roads I use my brights whenever possible (as I'm sure you all do) but the HIDs light up enough for me so far.

There really isn't anything about HIDs that forces manufacturers to produce these sharp cut-off beams I'm sure. The reflector doesn't care where the light comes from, fillament or discharge. There should be a little more stray light coming from the HIDs.

The Subi salesperson told me that they only have HIDs in their STi because 'old people' don't like HIDs. A gross generalization I'm sure but it makes sense that more gentle light is easier on the eyes.

 

Did your advisor happen to mention what he adjusted to change the vertical position? I don't see any sort of obvious mecahnical adjustment in the service manual.

 

Because it's not really a safety issue.... the brightness of the HID lamps up to their cut-off gives the impression that they're not lighting up the road as far. Whereas, conventional DOT headlights just don't hold their brightness out too far, but you don't notice it because it's more gradual.

That being said, it's FAR more important to properly align headlights that have a sharp cut-off and well-defined beam pattern, so that you maximize your brightness without blinding oncoming drivers.

Back in the day before anyone had HID lights, I had a '77 Alfa Spyder with Hella H4 euro headlights. I could run 80/100 halogens in that car, and it wouldn't bother oncoming drivers, because the headlight pattern was sharply defined, throwing a "bow tie" of light both forward and out to the right. Same kind of thing as the projector HID's on the RL -- it's got a sharply defined lighting pattern, but the sharp definitions mean that it needs to be properly setup.

 

acurafox
The advisor said that they raised the vertical adjustment. I think he said it was about 2 inches at 30 feet. If you look under the hoo, there appear to be some openings with arrows marked L and R (look near the front just behind the headlights) I think these are the access ports to adjust the lights. I don't have a service manual to check the accuracy of this.

 

I thought the adjustment under the hood were for the high beams but the low beams were computer controlled and no adjustment possible.? I would love to know how you dealer did it. Anyone with a manual out there that can shed some light on this??

 

I'll corroborate my views regarding my RL's headlights with the following independent observations:

From the Consumer Reports test drive: "The standard HID low-beam headlights limit the driver's ability to see objects in the road."

From the Consumer Reports ratings guide: The headlights get a one-half black dot.

I've only owned 5 other vehicles in my 60 years...a 1965 122S Volvo sedan, two 1980's era Volvo 240's, a 1990 Honda Accord EX, and a 1994 Honda Accord EX...not counting an old pickup woods/field truck used on the place.

I estimate that I drove these cars in excess of 1,500,000 miles. The '94 Accord has 458,000 or so and still drives and looks great for its age...it has been well taken care of by me, but not pampered.

CR's brief statement is damning and expresses my experience with these headlights. I can't always see objects in the road that need to be seen for a safe nighttime driving experience. It's that simple.

This issue has nothing to do with age, eyesight, mental prowess...it has everything to do with adequately illuminating the road in front of the car...or not.

These headlights are inexcusable in a high performance car such as the RL. At times when driving at night, I'm virtually clueless what is ahead in the road...why...because there is *no* light being directed down the road...

I find the fog lights to be entirely adequate and appreciate the wide beam pattern these throw.

The ability of the low beams to swivel is a distinct plus for me, but then again, the limiting factor on that option is the ability to see what is above the sharp cutoff.

The bottom line is that a driver can't see what isn't being illuminated...

...did I mention debris in the road...?

I'll mention debris in the road.

 

I would agree that this could be better. The passenger side is actually fine, but there is a distinct difference (I would guess about 12" at 40') between the driver and passenger side lights. If they were both at the level of the passenger side that would be fine. I am sure they did this to accomodate other drivers. Thai said I really haven't had any problems with them but do believe they could be better. I will try to adjust them at some point, just haven't taken the time to try and figure it out yet.

Kris

 

Actually you can adjust them. The auto leveling keeps the headlights level the housing, but you can adjust the housing up or down.
There is a hole on each side by the headlights, where you can insert a long phillips screwdriver through the plastic cover around the engine compartment and you can raise or lower the headlights.
Its very simple.

 

[QUOTE=bkw]I don't think your issue resides soley on the RL's lights. It sounds as if you really do not like HID projector lights in general as the characteristics you elaborated upon are that of HID projector lights.

I have not heard of anybody stating that HID's are inferior. The problem is with the RL's design and implementation. Many cars have HID's but the RL is the only one I know of that does not utilize the additional illumination that is available.

 

Thanks for the info - Is the hole for the screwdriver labelled or can you describe its exact location?

 

Could you post a picture please?

 

Just look at each fender near the headlights, you will see on the black plastic a hole with some markings- the markings are U D with arrows.
Its not that hard, and you dont need a picture to find it.

 

I brought my 2005 Rl back to the dealer in November of 2004.....at that point the car was so new they had to contact Acura....the rep immediately got them printed instructions for raising the lights which involved some quick adjustments under the hood....it improved the situation a little bit.......

 

The U and D in the little hole is not a philips screw nor does it rotate.It maybe a clamp to a shaft that has a spline on the end for adjustment. Has anybody investigated or changed the settings?

 

The helms manual says use a phillips, and its basically a tooth and gear mechanism.

 

I agree with the tooth and gear but a phillips is about as useful as a hammer!

 

I almost have to retract my last comment. I did manage to use a phillips on the gear and I did get the headlights to be useful. I am surprised that a special tool is not required for this gear turning approach.

 

what did you do differently?

 

I pushed a phillips into the rubber sleeve until it meshed with the gear. I have now adjusted my lights to be useful but I still have that stupid ding ding when the door is opened.

 

Try turning off the door light on the top console.

 

db22-

How much did you turn the screw and in what direction. ( I assume up)

Thanks

 

and why would I want to try this?

 

My lights were too low so I turned the screw in the up direction. I parked in front of my garage door and viewed the light cut-off on the door until the left light was the same height as the right headlamp. I am happy with the lights now.