Hey everyone. I joined this forum a long time ago when I was first considering purchasing a TL. I'm thinking more seriously about getting one now. I did some searching but came up empty handed. What I'm wanting to know is how happy everyone is with the headlights in the third gen TL. I want to know well you can see the road ahead in both high and low beams. Do you feel safe driving at night because of the headlights? Are the high and low beams independently adjustable for aim? This is an important consideration for me because I drive a lot at night. My current vehicle's headlights are AWFUL and adjusting the beams is futile because the high and low move together when you aim them...so if you adjust the low beams high enough to be able to see in front of you without blinding other drivers, the high beams are so high that they light up the tree tops and are useless. If you adjust the high beams lower so they're more effective, the low beams are pointing pretty much straight down at the ground in front of you and you end up out-driving your lights at about 30 mph.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!

Tony

 

I love them! Bright

 

the high beams already light up the tree tops for my TL. No adjustment. High and low beams are the same bulb. Both are HID

 

they are not independantly adjustable but i think you will find that the low beams are more than enough, even in extremely rural settings.

 

yeah there shouldn't be a compliant for tl headlights, and the fogs work great in rainy weather..unless u change the hid bulb to 12000k..

 

They are HID, what more can you ask for?

 

The headlights on my current vehicle are HID & I think they're dangerous.

Tony

 

Thanks for the replies everyone. Big help!

Tony

 

All OEM HID projectors equipped vehicles are not dangerous.
I don't know what you have that make you think it's dangerous.

 

Of all the cars and light trucks I have driven and owned since 1978, the 3rd Gen TL headlights are the best in my opinion.

I drive lot's a rural roads in Eastern Canada and really miss the TL headlights when I am travelling by plane and have to rent a car.

Best regards

 

I'm with everyone else - the headlights work great in rural areas IMO - rarely even need high-beams. I believe mine are adjusted correctly, but occasionally I get opposing traffic flashing their brights at me as if they think I have my brights on - probably due to the HIDS - they are BRIGHT, even on low-beam.

If you're seriously considering a 3rd gen, I'd just go to a dealership at night and test-drive one - either new or used - and make sure you take it on at least one non-lit street, preferably in the same kind of area where you usually drive i.e. rural if that's what you mostly drive. I'm pretty sure you'll find they suit your needs.

 

I didn't say they were. I've had other HID equipped vehicles that were much, much better than the car I have now. That's why I was asking...to make sure the TL's headlights were well liked by you guys. I wish I would have done the same thing before buying my current car.


With my headlights aimed as high as I feel comfortable adjusting them without my low beams blinding oncoming traffic, my high beams are literally lighting up the tops of the trees. Get this...I can drive around all night long with my high beams on and never get flashed by other cars because they're aimed so high they don't actually shine in anyone's eyes (except for the occasional truck driver.) The high beams are absolutely 100% useless unless I'm trying to blind owls!! And in this setup with just the low beams on, I can't see far enough down the road at highway speeds. If I adjust the beams any farther up so my low beams are more highway-friendly, then I get oncoming traffic flashing me. If I aim the headlights low enough so the high beams are useful and actually light up the road in front of me and not signaling orbiting satellites, then the low beams are pointed directly in front of me and I can't drive over 30 mph without out-driving them. If the high and low beams were independently adjustable, there wouldn't be a problem. I could then adjust the low beams just high enough not to bother oncoming traffic (the way I currently have it) and bring the high beams down far enough so that when I turned them on I could actually benefit from them by seeing farther down the road. This is a engineering design problem, and I am not the only one with this car with the same complaint. When they designed my car's headlights, they needed to aim the high and low beams closer together so the low beams aren't too low and the high beams aren't too high. Of course, I didn't realize this when I purchased my car. Thus, this has been a major concern of mine now that I'm looking at a differnt car.

Tony

 

I'm not sure how to edit my posts, but I just replied to your response and then re-read and realized I missed something. I didn't mean to say I thought HID headlights were dangerous, I meant that my HID headlights were dangerous. Anyway, I think I explained why in my response.

Thanks,

Tony

 

The TL headlights are very good. I don't think you will have any complaints with them.

 

I sure appreciate all the responses everyone!!

Tony

 

is it just me or TSX lights are aimed way up?! my friend tsx blind the shit out of me everytime..and every tsx i see on the road is really bright

and for the guy who say hid are dangerous...halogen use more electricity than hid, so if u worry about battery problems..than u shouldnt.

 

you know, i thought just the same thing.. or maybe it's just that they're a lot brighter? they seem to have a lot of purple blue white goin on up in those HIDs lol

 

No they're not aimed way up. TSX have clear lens which has sharper cut off and can be seen brighter to others from distance. That applies to all 04-05 TSXs. 06 TSX headlight lens have been changed due to this reason.

 

Tony,
To answer your question, our TL headlights projectors are bi-zenon.
That means the high beam and low beam are together as one.

 

You joined a long time ago? Check out my screen name and "member since" date... now THAT'S long-range planning!

Anyhow, I bought my TL in April 05 and am still extremely satisfied over two years leter. However, I do understand your headlight concern, and the TL's system is very good but not ideal in my opinion. The low beam pattern does have a very severe "cut-off," which occurs somewhat closer to the vehicle than I would like, especially on dark country roads. This is especially troublesome when approaching an uphill stretch of road, when it can seem like daylight for about 50 feet ahead (though I'm sure it's actually farther) ... and then, blackness!

The car's saving grace are it's superb high-beams, and I find myself using them a lot when there isn't any oncoming traffic. As a couple others have indicated, these are the exact same bulbs as the low beams but mechanically aimed higher when you toggle the brights.

Again, this minor deficiency only manifests itself on dark, windy/hilly roads. In typical urban/suburban settings they are just fine. I also recommend you do a nighttime test drive to be sure.

 

pretty much in line w/ everyone else- the lights on my 05 light up everything just fine.

 

I heard the TSXs have some of the best headlights available...

 

No, the projectors doesn't mechanically aimed higher when you put high beam on.
Please look up bi-xenon projectors and how they're made.

 

This sounds like a credible explanation (from Land-Rover's website, of all places) "Bi-xenon headlamps use a single xenon lamp to produce both the high beam and the low beam. The full light output is used to produce the high beam, while the low beam is formed by moving a shutter between the bulb and the lens, thus blocking off a portion of the light."

So it's a "shutter" that mechanically moves. I stand corrected.

 

My 07 TL-S Has great headlights. I sometimes have people give me their brights, THEN I give them mine Then they back off

 

i have an aftermarket 6k kaixen hid kit in my cl. while it's better than the stock halogen's it NO WHERE NEAR COMPARES to my tl-s oem's with projectors. i also work at night and go through deer territory. the tl headlights are more than sufficient.........

 

I have an 07 TL. The lowbeams are aimed a little lower than my liking, but it's supposed to be aimed at the most important parts of the road; which is basically straight forward. So I guess that's why the lights don't light up the unecessary areas on the side of the car and way up on top like old, ordinary halogen bulbs do. But the beams are bright white which is waay better than ordinary halogens that sometimes put out a yellow-ish light. High beams lit up a little better than the low beams, but like everyone here else said, sometimes high beams doesn't even matter since the low beams are bright enough.