Active High Beam

[uniqueue]

Originally Posted by StuAgain

Drove my new V&0 in the dark and found the Active High Beam and bendy lights very good, but as I go to France often the Manual shows a picture of an underbonnet box with an adjuster to control the headlamp pattern for Active Xenon Headlamps from "main and dip right" to "main and dip left". Fine I thought no need for sticky black plastic cut-out masking. The Manual gives the templates specifically for Halogen Lamps but no other mention for Xenon Lamps.

One thing wrong, no underbonnet box that I could find looking like the picture! Does the automatic masking in the lamp work to take the place of the masking tape on the lens? Or is it automatically controlled by the GPS to give the correct dispersion patterns?

No need for masking. Not controlled by GPS
Check in the "my car" menu. Depending on your MY version there should be an option for LH or RH traffic or temp RH traffic.
The former appears to be a permanent option, the latter will only switch when the engine is running and changes back when the car is switched off.
As

[mfresh]

The main problem with auto dipping is that when I occasioanally drive another car I have got so used to auto dipping that I forget to dip the headlights and make oncoming drivers cross till I remember that I have to do it!

[StuAgain]

My hopes were raised , but on checking the MyCar menu, all the items plus Light Settings, nothing on RH or LH Drive, not even on the Active Beam settings, merely On or Off. Has anyone got a Manual that explains this magic phenomena or wizardry?

[uniqueue]

what MY v&0 have you got?

[Ninja59]

Is there any clues as to who made the lights on the XC60 with AHB?

I must admit I have LED with high beam assist on the BM and others have said switching back to car without seems alien, as alien as it is initially to drive towards someone with high beam on and not make them angry!

Reason behind my question is my surprise when I found the BM's were made by Automotive lighting in Germany like my C30's...BM's excellent headlights v the C30's candles at the front end.

[NigelDay]

Originally Posted by Ninja59

Is there any clues as to who made the lights on the XC60 with AHB?

I must admit I have LED with high beam assist on the BM and others have said switching back to car without seems alien, as alien as it is initially to drive towards someone with high beam on and not make them angry!

Reason behind my question is my surprise when I found the BM's were made by Automotive lighting in Germany like my C30's...BM's excellent headlights v the C30's candles at the front end.

Is LED with 'high beam assist' the same as active high beam ? Some of the 'lesser' systems only switch between low and high beam automatically, but do not control the beam pattern according to oncoming / following traffic. You can see this by the various LED options in the Audi, BMW and MB price lists. Full 'all singing and dancing' LED technology is not cheap.

[Ninja59]

Yes it is the full fat version where it blanks a portion of the light for oncoming and cars in front. Additionally more obviously the main beam icon stays on the dash with an oncoming car without issue whilst altering the light distribution.

LED headlights are now standard on the facelift (LCI for BMW terms) 6 series meaning you have an option of about £750 to get the high beam assist version.

This is unlike the pre version which got xenon as standard, LED headlights as option and you could have high beam assist which was only on or off and not the full fat version meaning the full LED version was more like £1800-2000.

The significant difference though is the list price of say a Mercedes CLS and a BMW 6 Gran Coupe is huge and some of the options on the CLS are standard on the 6.

[StuAgain]

Solved it, despite the Sensus Information App indicating that LH and RH can be switched from the MYCar menu, this is only possible on a few cars! So I am informed by the Technician at my local dealer. The diagram in the Owner's Manual is in fact a faded picture of inside the headlamp nacelle.

To manually change from LH Driving to RH Driving the headlamp must be removed from the bodywork, wiring disconnected, open up the back of the plastic unit (mind your fingernails) and inside the nacelle is the box with the lever to flip the low beam pattern. Reassemble without dropping the lamp unit and then repeat on the other side.

The Techie was of the opinion that as the Xenon units give a flat beam the change over won't make a lot of difference. But if I'm still uncertain he'll test for the difference with the MOT lamp tester. Maybe later after I've tested it in France.

[Ninja59]

Jesus what a faff!

[wimorrison]

Originally Posted by StuAgain

Solved it, despite the Sensus Information App indicating that LH and RH can be switched from the MYCar menu, this is only possible on a few cars! So I am informed by the Technician at my local dealer. The diagram in the Owner's Manual is in fact a faded picture of inside the headlamp nacelle.

To manually change from LH Driving to RH Driving the headlamp must be removed from the bodywork, wiring disconnected, open up the back of the plastic unit (mind your fingernails) and inside the nacelle is the box with the lever to flip the low beam pattern. Reassemble without dropping the lamp unit and then repeat on the other side.

The Techie was of the opinion that as the Xenon units give a flat beam the change over won't make a lot of difference. But if I'm still uncertain he'll test for the difference with the MOT lamp tester. Maybe later after I've tested it in France.

with the flat beam pattern post MY14 you aren't supposed to need to switch from left to right which is possibly why you cant find details how to do it or any options in the menus

Removing a headlamp from an XC60 takes 10 secs the first time and 5 secs thereafter - the additional 5 secs the fist time it to identify the plasic strips that hold the light in, pull them up and the light comes out - put the light back, push the locators back and that is it - really, really easy.