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M35 Headlight Adjustment

gerry whtie

By gerry whtie,
in Four Door Family & Wagoneers

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gerry whtie Enthusiast

gerry whtie

Posted
Posted

Can anybody confirm that the plastic hex hd adjuster alters the light beam across the road and the metal hex hd adjuster alters where the beam strikes the road in front of the car or have I got it totally ballsed up and there is some other form of adjustment. Apart from going xenon has anybody come across good bulb replacements as they all claim to be the best as my h/lights are piss poor for fast night driving.

Thanks

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andy65b Veteran

andy65b

Posted
Posted
Can anybody confirm that the plastic hex hd adjuster alters the light beam across the road and the metal hex hd adjuster alters where the beam strikes the road in front of the car or have I got it totally ballsed up and there is some other form of adjustment. Apart from going xenon has anybody come across good bulb replacements as they all claim to be the best as my h/lights are piss poor for fast night driving.

Thanks

are your headlights still the factory Xenons?

there should also be a height adjusted inside the car.

about at your right knee when driving

gerry whtie Enthusiast

gerry whtie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
are your headlights still the factory Xenons?

there should also be a height adjusted inside the car.

about at your right knee when driving

Andy the xenons were never put back in. I know about the internal adjuster but it doesn,t improve the situation to any significant degree. Last night I drove my 02 Falcon ute down some back roads and its lights piss all over the m35s so I think further investigation is needed. Does anybody else have issues with their h/lights

andy65b Veteran

andy65b

Posted
Posted
Andy the xenons were never put back in. I know about the internal adjuster but it doesn,t improve the situation to any significant degree. Last night I drove my 02 Falcon ute down some back roads and its lights piss all over the m35s so I think further investigation is needed. Does anybody else have issues with their h/lights

I think you will find most of the m35 guys have converted back the factory Xenons. They are not perfect but they do a good job.

Cheers

Andy

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted

I'm still running the "compliance-fitted" setup (ie. what they replace the xenons with).

I too had a lot of trouble trying to figure out the headlight adjustment as it seemed to be very different to how people on here had explained it.

As far as I could work out the two hex screws work against each other in a sort of diagonal (zig zag) direction...a bit like this /\/\/\/\/ etc.

Both high and low beam are adjusted together - I couldn't find any way to adjust them independently of each other so I assume there is no way to do this.

Turning both screws the same way by the same amount will move the beam either left or right (cant remember whether clockwise = left and anticlockwise = right or the other way round).

To adjust the height, you'll find that turning only one of the screws will move the beam up, whilst the other one (turning the same way) will move the beam back down. If you turn them both by the same amount, the height will be the same as it was originally, but the beam will have shifted left or right.

Basically you'll want to first adjust them left-right, and once you have them roughly in the right spot horizontally, then make smaller adjustments to each screw independently to adjust the height.

You need to have the car parked about 1-2m from a wall - directly facing the wall, and be able to place a pole or similar object against the wall to line up the beam. Its difficult to see it moving otherwise. Also, it helps to measure the height etc so you can do left and right headlights the same height. To adjust horizontally, stand behind the car and look down the lines of the car (ie. window sill height). Its normal to aim the lights slightly to the left to illuminate the side of the road slightly and also to avoid shining your lights into oncoming traffic on the highway.

Hopefully thats not too confusing. It took quite a long time for me to work all this out.

Also remember the adjustment in the cabin - set it on say the lowest setting in the cabin first, and then manually adjust the beam...possibly adjusting it to a tiny fraction lower than where you might need it. You will then be able to use the in-cabin adjustment to get the height perfect.

I normally use the in-cabin adjustment to aim them down when driving around town and then aim them up to their highest setting when in the country. Its only a slight difference but it is a difference :(

As for the brightness, mine are still pretty poor. If anyone knows of non-xenon globes that work well, feel free to post up what they are :)

Angus Smart Grand Master

Angus Smart

Posted
Posted

Can someone tell me what replacment bulb i get for the factroy lights? i think thats what i have. can adjust inside car.

one globe flickers on and off while driving sometimes. would annoy the f**k out of anyone driving near me..

iamhe77 Grand Master

iamhe77

Posted
Posted (edited)
Can someone tell me what replacment bulb i get for the factroy lights? i think thats what i have. can adjust inside car.

one globe flickers on and off while driving sometimes. would annoy the f**k out of anyone driving near me..

Factory Xenon's?

D2R is the globe you need.

Edited by iamhe77
pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted
Can someone tell me what replacment bulb i get for the factroy lights? i think thats what i have. can adjust inside car.

The height adjustment works for any globes, whether they're still the factory xenons or even if they've been converted to H1's. :(

If you look (really) close at the black plastic cover on top of the headlights on each side (literally if you just open the bonnet, then look at where the black plastic meets the clear headlight cover on top - its around there somewhere), you'll see engravings for the different globes you need. The only one that was different for me was the normal (low beam) globes since mine has been converted to use H1's instead of HID's (ie. xenons).

gerry whtie Enthusiast

gerry whtie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
yup, convert back FTW!

try an ebay kit. youll need a D2R burner. i used a 55w kit and people complain my headlights are too bright. soft is what they are

Can you be more specific as to the kit you got from e-bay as that sounds like the go.

Cheers

Chris Rogers Grand Master

Chris Rogers

Posted
Posted
Can you be more specific as to the kit you got from e-bay as that sounds like the go.

Cheers

gerry,

when you are up this way next I'll rip the front off. I dare say the ballasts are still there.

gerry whtie Enthusiast

gerry whtie

Posted
  • Author
Posted
gerry,

when you are up this way next I'll rip the front off. I dare say the ballasts are still there.

Chris after our phone conversation i pulled the front off, cleaned out the intercooler while i had the opportunity but could see nothing that resembled the ballasts so I,ll take you up on your offer as and when I come your way.

Thanks Gerry

  • 5 years later...
MozzMann Enthusiast

MozzMann

Posted
Posted

Can anybody confirm that the plastic hex hd adjuster alters the light beam across the road and the metal hex hd adjuster alters where the beam strikes the road in front of the car or have I got it totally ballsed up and there is some other form of adjustment. Apart from going xenon has anybody come across good bulb replacements as they all claim to be the best as my h/lights are piss poor for fast night driving.

Thanks

I know this thread is old but for what it's worth buy yourself some Narva Blues

http://www.narva.com.au/pressreleases/press-releases/narvas-vision-to-go-further-slogan-demonstrated-in-blue-plus-upgrade

I have used these for a long time in my old car and when properly adjusted they are IMHO bloody brilliant (No pun intended) .

Originally I had these in my Stagea but have swapped them out for HID's in the lower Fog Hi Beam bulb and left the factory HID's in the top as they are permanently on as low beam in the NM35 Stagea's.

The Light kit I bought was a Response Kit from Jaycar and I can honestly say they are pretty good , for a conversion kit and the reflector still focusses the like quite sharply. and that is a big concern with many after market kits.

You are on the the ball with setting your lights up correctly as it makes a huge difference to driver vision and fatigue on a long night drive.

  • 4 months later...
conan7772 Mentor

conan7772

Posted
Posted

So here we go again..

I find there is no light on the road in front of me, all I can see is my shadow from the car's lights behind me.

Aren't the top H3's and bottom H4's supposed to be on with low beam ?

H4 is a Hi-Lo dual filament globe..

Only the top are on , which seem to beam high above the road.

When hi beam is on , the light is low ( parked against a wall and did this test )

So it seems they are reversed.

I've seen some photos taken overseas with the lights on and the bottom half are lit.

I'm suspecting compliance have done something wrong.

Also when my hi-beam is on, only the low beam filament in the H4's is on ..

Can anyone please confirm the correct switching.

cheers

nickcorr Proficient

nickcorr

Posted
Posted

and your low beam should be xenon... If they are halogen, then they were swapped out at compliance, and that is why your headlamp performance is rubbish...

No M35 3.5 or turbo ever left the factory without xenons..

  • Like 2
iamhe77 Grand Master

iamhe77

Posted
Posted

Mine is the same as the red Stag.

See the other pic taken overseas, lights are switched differently..

The red Stag has the low beams on whereas the silver Stag has the fog lights running.

Okay, I am going to ask a couple of really silly question here so stay with me but is the inner adjustment on the stalk set to OFF or is it set to the fog light symbol?

Also, how are you flicking from low to high beam? High beams are turned on by pushing the stalk forward (or pulling back to flash). If you are turning the outer adjustment of the stalk, you will have AUTO, parkers or low beam on (unless on auto in which case the car determines when parkers and low beam are used).

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