Headlights need adjusting or bad headlight level sensor?

[marcce]

For as long as I’ve had my E92 M3 the headlight level has seemed rather low with a short throw. In comparison to my E38 projectors they don’t reach nearly as far, despite both being projector headlights.

How do I know if the headlight level sensor has failed or if I just need to manually adjust the height/throw of my headlights? I have had my level sensor fail on my E46 before and when that failed the headlights seemed much lower than my E92, so I’m conficted on the cause and solution.

[RockCrusher]

Originally Posted by marcce

For as long as I’ve had my E92 M3 the headlight level has seemed rather low with a short throw. In comparison to my E38 projectors they don’t reach nearly as far, despite both being projector headlights.

How do I know if the headlight level sensor has failed or if I just need to manually adjust the height/throw of my headlights? I have had my level sensor fail on my E46 before and when that failed the headlights seemed much lower than my E92, so I’m conficted on the cause and solution.

Kind of expect if there was a problem with the headlight leveling system there'd be a warning. Or at least a error code logged, although this could be proprietary and a BMW diagnostics tool required to read the code.

I'd not mess with the headlight adjustment unless you were sure the headlight adjustment was out of spec.

And I dare say proper adjustment of the headlights is not a DIY task.

Given the complexity of the headlights and the importance of having the headlights properly adjusted, for your benefit of course, but also to avoid causing oncoming drivers distress, I'd book the car in and have a tech check the headlight leveling system for correct operation and then check the headlight adjustment to ensure it was within spec.