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Can you show me on this pic where the headlight adjusters are?

196K views 159 replies 51 participants last post by  Victorio1985 
#1 ·
Can someone just show me where on this pic of my 2002 E39 the headlight adjustments are?

I've read many threads and am confused about "servo adjusters", "replacing adjusters", "auto leveling adjusters", etc. Mine doesn't seem to be fancy automatic stuff ... the lights are just set way way way too low.

I can replace a headlight bulb ... but I need a bit of help identifying where the up/down headlight adjuster screws are.

Can you kindly circle the adjusters for me in this picture below of the left and right headlight assembly?

 

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#96 ·
I'm going to take one for the team (just like I did with the make-your-own-cooling-system-tools thread).

Despite the fact I can make the headlight adjusters for less than $1.50 per headlight, or $3.00 per vehicle out of the Delrin and/or HDPE, I'm going to also provide material for CAD drawings so we can take the drawings to a machine shop to machine them out of metal.

Therefore, as per the suggestion here, tomorrow I will buy the aluminum headlight adjusters fabricated in Great Britain and shipped to the USA for $102 USD including shipping from England.

From those templates, I'll post the measurements of these machined aluminum headlight adjusters (apparently they are not cast, so they will serve our purpose well) ... and one of the volunteers here will create a CAD document which we can then hand to local fabricators at will.

I'm confident, with a little group effort, we can get the price down to about $5 per headlight adjuster (I can already make them for $0.75 in raw material cost per headlight adjuster; that but that doesn't count my labor).

Note the original BMW E39 525i Hella headlight adjusters are made of PBT plastic.


 

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#97 ·
Another interesting fabrication point we've learned is that the aluminum adjusters and the delrin adjusters on the Internet are NOT THREADED.

According to this helpful post from Zane39 over in Australia, the BMW E39 headlight adjuster hole threading is done as explained below:

"The adjusters didn't come tapped, so when you place the adjuster onto the threaded rod you have to use a 10 mm socket to tighten the threaded rod , which then pulls the aluminum adjuster back towards you and as it is doing that it taps the hole for you and by doing this it gives you room to pop the ball joint into the socket, making things a lot easier, I hope that makes sense and helps you out."

 

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#99 ·
Summary of useful DIY Headlight threads:
- Broken headlight adjusters (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) (19) (20) (21)
- How to buy new headlight adjusters (EAC E39 prior to 9/2000) (EAC aluminum E39 after 9/2000) (EAC plastic after 9/2000) (odometergears) (UK)
- How to make your own headlight adjusters (0) (1) (2) (3)
- A list of your options when your headlight adjusters are broken (1)
- Headlight aiming DIYs (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
- Headlight replacement H7 bulbs (1) (2)
- Headlight plastic polishing & refinishing DIY (1) (2) (3)
- Headlight autopsy DIY (1) (2) (3)
- What's the flat spot on the USA spec headlights (1) (2)
- Explanation of HID versus conventional and why the high beam is always a halogen H7 bulb (1) (2) (3)
- How to replace your headlight bulbs (1)
- DJ Auto or Depo headlights (1) or OEM (1)

Some of my favorite headlight adjuster threads:
 
#100 · (Edited)
This clarification from the thread below offers some insight into how we've all been using the terminology incorrectly! :)
- How to choose H7 high/low beam replacement bulbs (3100K to 4000K)

1. Halogen: A halogen, specifically, is a set of elements in "group 7" on the periodic table (see below); but bimmerfesters generally use the word "halogen" to indicate non-HID filament bulbs. These "halogen" bulbs have the tungsten filament encased in a small quartz container which is so close to the filament it would melt if it were made of glass. Inside that quartz container are one of the halogen gases (flourine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, or astatine) which combine with tungsten vapors and allow redeposition of tungsten back onto the filament, thereby allowing for both longer life (in theory) and increased light by increasing the current forced through the filament.



2. HID, high-intensity discharge = Here we mean it to be higher-voltage non-filament bulbs with a ballast. Most members considered the more expensive HID light output superior to the lower-cost filament-bulb light output. The HID bulb produces light "by means of an electric arc between tungsten electrodes inside a translucent or transparent fused quartz or fused alumina arc tube. This tube is filled with both gas and metal salts. The gas facilitates the arc's initial strike. Once the arc is started, it heats and evaporates the metal salts forming a plasma, which greatly increases the intensity of light produced by the arc and reduces its power consumption."

It's important to note that there are a variety of HID types, e.g.,

Of which, we can assume the BMW OEM Hella HID lights would be "Xenon short-arc lamps" where "ionized xenon gas produces a bright white light that closely mimics natural daylight".



3. Xenon = I thought this was a noble gas (see #1 above); but you intimate it's a brand name ... so clarification is requested. You can put xenon inside any bulb, whether it be a "halogen filament bulb" or an "HID arc bulb", so it's rather meaningless (especially after the marketing guys figured that out); however, most bimmerfesters user the word "xenon" to indicate the HID bulbs in the BMW.

4. Celis = I thought this was the plastic ring that surrounds my OEM Hella projector filament headlights (see details here). Clarification requested.


5. Hella = the manufacturer of the OEM E39 headlights. Even though their adjusters are poorly designed, most people seem to prefer Hella brand headlights over the alternatives (DJ Auto, DDM, ??others??). I'm not sure if that preference is due to light output (which is mostly what matters to me), or quality (which also matters to me), or style (which is nearly meaningless to me).

Note: This pic re-used from this thread (so ignore the questions);


6. DDM = DDM Tuning. A company that sells aftermarket headlights, much like umnitza (who not only resells aftermarket headlights, but who also sells modified-aftermarket headlights, after tampering with the brand name).


7. DEPO/DJAUTO
= brand names for aftermarket headlights for the E39.
QUESTION: Are there any other manufacturers for E39 headlights other than Hella, DJAuto, and DEPO?
 

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#101 · (Edited)
For the record, I found out from this thread, that there was an obscure oval shaped "dark spot" on the side reflector of the front Hella headlights as shown in the photo below from the OPs Bimmer.



My 2002 BMW 525i USA Halogen Hella headlights looked slightly differently; but they still had that 'dark spot':


Taking apart my OEM Hella post-facelift (2002 525i) headlights, I see a fiberoptic cable (FOC) ending at that point and originating as one of five cables at the angel eye bulb.


This is the angel eye bulb on the stock halogen post-facelift Hella where the five fiberoptic cables (FOCs) eminate:


Here, with the room darkened and a flashlight in the angel-eye spot, you can see the side-marker-light FOC termination point (which is on that dark spot).


Here you can count all five fiber-optic cable terminations eminating from the angel eye bulb (in this case, replaced with a flashlight). Personally, these five fiber-optic cables seem like gratuitous overkill to me as they serve (almost) no purpose except to light the two cellis-ring angel eyes and the side-marker light.


Here you see the bundle of five black fiber optic cables at the angel eye bulb opening and to it's left, the longer of the two white headlight adjusters:
 
#102 ·
For anyone contemplating taking apart the headlights, bear in mind the OEM Hella halogen filament-bulb headlights are actually harder to disassemble than the OEM Hella xenon-arc HID headlights ... mainly because the self-leveling motor stalk in the HID headlights provides slightly more freedom of movement than the rigid ultrasonically welded solid immovable stalk of the halogens.

Here is a picture of the moveable motor-driven stalk:


This article tells you the procedure for disassembly of that motor stalk:
"6. Here comes the hard part - removing the metal plate from the plastic housing. The self-leveling servomotor has a metal rod pointing forward hat terminates in a black plastic ball. This ball fits into a plastic socket that has a tab protruding forward through the metal plate. You have to pull the socket away from the ball to get the metal plate away from the plastic housing. I tried prying along the middle with a long flathead screwdriver but was unsuccessful with this approach. Ultimately I threaded a piece of long nylon rope behind the metal housing between the high and low beams, gathered the ends into my fist and pulled -- HARD -- to finally pop the metal plate away from the plastic housing. I had a helper (my wife) hold the plastic housing while I did this. Pretty unnerving because I feared I would break something - but I used this approach without breaking anything for both headlamps. Heard a loud 'pop' - that was the socket being freed from the ball."

However, on my halogen projector Hellas, the stalk is immovable. Here is a view from the rear of the ultrasonically welded plate (which looks like you can twist it out, but, you can't without breaking it).


On the other end of that stalk, here is what is holding it up:


Unfortunately, for me (and many others), when I tried to remove the "glove" around the ball-end of the stalk, the flimsy ultrasonically welded plate ruptured into three additional pieces.


Also notice there is a rubber gasket around that non-self-leveling stalk on the inside of the headlamp:


Interestingly, the hole didn't look broken; just the plastic stalk base:


Here you can see where it looked like the stalk "threaded into" the hole in the back of the headlight (but it was locked solid if it was).


Here I've stuck the broken stalk back into the hole; it looks like it might be glued without detrimental effect.


As you look closely, you'll see that the three "ears" sheared off the top of the plastic knob at the base of the stalk.


This picture shows how one person unclipped that stalk from the white plastic "glove"; but bear in mind, this picture is from an OEM Hella HID headlight which has that stalk for freedom.


Anyway, one BIG MISTAKE I made was not loosening both the headlight adjuster screws BEFORE trying to disengage the non-self-leveling-motor-stalk.



Nonetheless, once I disengaged the non-self-leveling stalk, the headlight easily came apart in my hands (due to the broken headlight adjusters):


Notice that there are a few white plastic pieces that do not generally break and which must be made out of a different (obviously better) plastic than the PBT plastic adjusters themselves.


Here you see both ends of the white plastic headlight adjusters on the drivers' side light:


Here's the long adjuster BEFORE unscrewing it (which I should have done BEFORE I disengaged the non-self-leveling motor stalk).


Here you see me finally remembering to disengage the two headlight adjusters from their steel threaded adjusting rod:


Here both headlight adjusters are unscrewed from their mooring points:


So here are the parts laid out:


And, finally, after gluing together the old broken PBT headlight adjusters, here they are:


Of course, now it's time to select my options for new adjusters.

There are over twenty options listed in this thread, but the main options appear to be the following:

1. For about $5 USD in materials from Tap Plastics, I can fabricate my own headlight adjusters with a dremel tool (I bought both Delrin and HDPE)
2. For $54 USD + $10 USD shipping, I can buy a set of Delrin adjusters from Palatine on Ebay
3. For $102 USD (includes shipping from Great Britain) I can buy a set of machined aluminum adjusters on Ebay
4. For $160 USD (plus shipping) I can buy a set of aluminum adjusters from EAC Tuning in Ohio.

OPTION #4 above:


OPTION #3 above:


OPTION #2 above:


OPTION #1 above:


OPTION #0 (discussed elsewhere):
 
#143 ·
E39 Halogen Hella #132656 ball-end stalk source?

Unfortunately, for me (and many others), when I tried to remove the "glove" around the ball-end of the stalk, the flimsy ultrasonically welded plate ruptured into three additional pieces.
bluebee,
Did you ever find a source for the Hella E39 Halogen ball-end stalk that broke? Mine broke too:cry: I would hate to spend half a day searching at Pick-n-Pull or fabricating a metal plate to replace the plastic.
 
#105 ·
Is there also a zip-tie fix?
Yes. Search for "zip tie" and "headlight". I remember seeing a description in one of the already referenced threads. Use two zip ties, I'm told. One around the bulb wiring and the other through that and down to anything you can grab in the engine compartment. The goal is to point the bulbs UPward.

how exactly do you fabricate the adjuster
You have two options at the moment (same options i have):
1. Take out the old adjuster and simply use it as a visual template to manufacture the new one out of a cheap (75 cents each) chunk of plastic from Tap Plastics (who have offices all over the country I'm told). Or buy a mold kit (they're less than $50 at Tap Plastics) and make your own mold from your own headlight adjusters, if they're intact.

2. Wait for me to order and receive the aluminum headlight adjusters from Great Britain and for someone to make a CAD drawing of my measurements upon them. Then take those measurements to any machine shop for fabrication.

I need a temp fix for now
Either do the zip-tie trick (see above), or, do exactly what I did. I don't have a picture of it, but, inside the headlight, I stuffed a bar of metal, about a half-inch thick, under the headlamp assembly; then I put the headlight back together. It works surprisingly well to point the lights upward.

If you have any other ideas, let us know because combined tribal knowledge is what makes all these solutions possible.
 
#109 ·
For others to follow, here is how I fabricated the first (Delrin) headlight adjuster.

Using just the miter saw on the Delrin block in a vise, I cut the basic shape in about five or ten minutes simply by eyeballing the old part with the new block.


You can see that simple shapes suffice. Here I made the top a little too thin, but it works just the same since the opening in the headlight is rather large.


Here I stuck a dremel bit into the old PBT plastic adjuster so that I could mark where the screw hole goes. All parts are symmetric for both headlights; the only difference is which screw hole you use of the two.


I chose a 5/32" drill bit to drill the holes (smaller would have worked but not larger).


Of course, a drill press would have been nice but it was trivial to drill the hole to the proper depth. Notice the tape I put on the bit to mark the depth. Also notice the original adjuster has VERY FEW threads in the plastic as most of the original PBT adjuster is empty space!


Here you see the two 5/32" drill holes, only one of which is used, depending on whether it's the driver or passenger headlight. Here, the driver headlight uses the left-most hole facing in this direction.


Everyone else who fabricated their adjusters used a bolt with a cap nut on the end; but, for fun, I roughly fabricated the ball and stalk myself. Here is the only place where precision seems to matter. The round ball on the end must fit into the "glove" in the headlight projector tightly enough to engage the lock stops. For that, the ball really should be rounder than it is here but I didn't have any tools to make it rounder (plus this was just a test).


Here is a top view of the crude adjuster.


Here is a bottom view:


At this point, I decided to re-open up my headlights. Notice the black goop is still working, even though I had opened these up once a few weeks ago.


In fact, I was surprised how well these headlights were sealed, given I had done nothing (adding nothing) to seal them up when I put them back without the adjusters (with a block of plastic underneath to hold the lights up).


The goop was amazingly strong ... but no oven was needed this time either as I worked the flathead screwdriver around the circumference a few times.


Notice the frail 10mm nut and the plastic gears meshing with the white plastic allen-head adjuster knob in this picture. Everyone says to thread the 5/32" hole using this 10mm plastic nut with a socket wrench, so that's what I did. It was amazingly easy to do as I turned the nut counterclockwise to thread the rod into the new adjuster.



This looks like the only semi-critical step. The "ball" on the stalk has to fit nicely into the glove that catches it and holds it tightly. So, for that reason, you need to make a half circle; but it doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to catch so that it can both push and pull. Here, had I used a capnut on a bolt, it would have been cleaner. But, this was just a test so it works fine for that.


Here you can see the newly fabricated headlight adjuster in place on the screw as I turn the other end with a 10mm socket wrench. I guess you have to make sure you don't strip the threads, so, when you see it bottoming out, stop turning counterclockwise! :)


Notice almost none of the "indentations" actually matter. The final functional geometric shape is actually very simple. Notice the little "landings" that guide the headlight adjuster in this picture.


Here you see the 10mm socket wrench on the 10mm plastic nut. You could use the white allen sockets but then you take a chance stripping the black gears you see in this picture as you initially thread the rod (using it as a tap). In hindsight, probably the forces were not enough to strip the black gears, but, why risk it. Use the 10mm wrench. Everyone else does.


Here you see the new adjuster almost all the way threaded down.


And here it is, threaded all the way down.
 

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#110 · (Edited)
I don't want to bore you with the same level of detail for the similar fabrication of the second adjuster (this time out of the black HDPE plastic).

I'll just show the key steps.

While the (white) Delrin block from Tap Plastics was 3/4" thick x 1 1/4 inches wide (by 7 1/2 inches long), the (white) HDPE block was 1/2" thick by 7/8" wide (by 10 1/2 inches long).

Tap Plastics had larger blocks (both wider and thicker); but I chose these sizes as the closest to the adjusters w/o me needing to change the width.



Here is the initial rough cut. Notice how crude it is because I was getting sloppy, knowing this was just a test and the novelty wore off after the first adjuster was done.


Since this adjuster was missing some pieces, I wasn't sure how long the stalk was. I don't think it was missing much so I just guessed at the stalk length. I doubt it matters a whole lot because there is plenty of length in the adjuster stalk; but it would be nice if someone measures their adjusters and reports back on the actual length (I'll know the length when I receive the $102 aluminum ones from England).


Notice the default thickness of the original $1 raw stock HDPE is almost perfect.


Again, I made the ridge a bit on the small side (dunno why I made that mistake twice) but there was still plenty of room for the 5/32" drill hole.


Also notice I did an even worse job on the stalk and ball part; but again, it just has to be close in order to work (plus this was just a test).


Here are the two final pieces, after about an hour's work with no measurement and no special tools (a vise, and a saw and a drill).


Imagine how nice they could have been had I (a) better tools, and (b) some mechanical skills. :)
 

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#111 · (Edited)
When putting it back together, I realized a critical dimension to get right is the location of the hole with respect to one of the sides. This is because the adjusting screw is rigidly in place. It spins, but does not otherwise move itself.

Therefore, please note, for the longer of the two adjusters (in my case, the black HDPE outer (lateral) adjuster), the critical dimension is the distance from the wide base to the center of the hole.

In hindsight, I made my base perfectly; but my hole was slightly too high; and I made the center ridgeline too thin (it can even be wider than the original).



As for the shorter medial adjuster (which "mostly" controls horizontal movement), only the left-most hole matters for the driver side (the rightmost hole is used for the passenger side). The distance in mine was perfect; however I note that the original PBT plastic headlight adjuster has a slightly "countersunk" hole, probably to initially guide the 'tapping' screw ... so in hindsight, it would be a good idea to slightly countersink that leftmost hole.


While the medial adjuster threaded perfectly in seconds, for a few seconds, I didn't remember how the lateral adjuster went on so I put the old one back in the only position that fit properly.
Here is a picture of the original (broken) lateral adjuster in place (at left).


Here is the new (black HDPE) lateral adjuster in place (again, at left). It's a tight fit only because I made the 5/32" hole slightly too far from the base and I made the top "ridge" slightly too thin (barely enough to fit the hole).


It's hard to see in the picture (black on black), but, the hole I drilled was slightly (maybe 1/32") too high from the base, so it's a tight fit.


Take these as lessons learned:
- The critical dimension for the longer (lateral) adjuster is the distance of the 5/32" hole from the flat base.
- The critical dimension for the shorter (medial) adjuster is the distance of the 5/32" hole from the side.
 

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#112 ·
Today, for fun, I pulled the headlight out again and snapped some pictures at angles I hadn't done before so we get a good look at how it's built.

Here is a shot of the four bulbs in the headlight:


And, I was curious how/why people want to remove the amber side plastic; it appears (as you can see below) that it would be relatively simple mechanically to remove the amber plastic (I'm not sure why but people keep asking).



In addition, I bought some 'acorn' nuts and bolts to try my hand (again) at fabricating headlight adjusters (the acorn nuts & brass bolts bring the cost from 75 cents each to about $1.50 each).


Of course, these are just experiments because I'm still waiting for the $102 machined aluminum adjusters to arrive from Great Britain.
 
#114 ·
silver540it said:
how to adjust my headlights
Here, from the bestlinks thread, are the links covering how to adjust them:
- Headlight aiming DIYs (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)


 
#115 ·
Update:

Today, with information from one of the vendors of plastic (Nylon-6) headlight adjusters, I updated the dozen options folks have used to repair their headlights. A few of these options cost less than $10 for both headlights; while most cost less than $100 for both headlights.

Almost all of this widely scattered information was compiled merely by my ability to search, read, and type; however one free solution I came up with myself which worked just fine temporarily to shore up the headlights while I waited for the $102 (includes shipping) aluminum machined headlight adjusters to arrive from England.

I simply shoved a wedge-shaped bar of metal under the headlight assembly. It worked like a charm while I waited for parts to arrive.

 
#116 · (Edited)
In keeping with the pictorial educational nature of this thread, I will post some pictures of my headlights in the hope that the photos will be useful to others who haven't yet taken theirs apart.

For example, in this thread, someone asked how the three-point adjusting and leveling system works in the HID headlights.

These photos of my halogen (fixed leveling point) headlights, show why I never could figure out the previous red-and-white ball-and-socket diagram when it was first posted (see post #114 above).

That's because the triangle in the diagram is a different shape in my headlights than in that diagram!

Notice the shape of the triangle of three points in this photograph of the female socket ends of the three ball-and-socket joints.

1. The leveling stalk (in the conventional Hella halogens) is permanently fixed.
2. The lateral adjuster adjusts for lateral movement mostly.
3. The medial adjuster adjusts for horizontal movement mostly.


Here is the male end of the ball-and-socket for the three leveling and adjusting points in the Hella headlights:


And here is a closeup of the ball end of the ball-and-socket joints:


You will note these pictures show the home-made (white Delrin on the top left, black HDPE on the top right) adjusters I fabricated (cost is about $7 for four adjusters, enough for both headlights).

More pictures to follow using the aluminum machined headlight adjusters.
 
#117 ·
I ran into a snag after I put the aluminum headlight adjusters in the 2001 Hella headlights. I had opened the headlights in the hot California sun; but it's cooler now. The headlights have about an eighth to a sixteenth of an inch to go; but the black butyl adhesive in the lip seems to be more rigid than when I pulled it out.

So, searching for the oven temperature for the 2001 headlights, I found this Z3 post which says:
"I heated them for about 10 or 15 minutes on 200F (using fanbake to circulate the air)."

So, that's what I'll do when I get a chance (gotta run to the mall right now).

 

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#118 · (Edited)
Well, after 18 months, starting from not even knowing where the headlight adjusters were, I can now say I've learned a lot, thanks to you.

Today I baked my headlight (for the first time) to put it back together (the last 1/16th of an inch anyway) and put it back into the 2002 BMW 525i.

I made a few mistakes, and, after first installing them ... I then had to remove the headlights to get the side-marker light in place first; then again, I had to remove them because I forgot to put on the top rubber gasket and the bottom painted plastic trim; and then a third time because it's easier to replace the halogen bulbs if the headlights are out of the car a few inches.

Anyway, on the next dark moonless night, I'll adjust them too - but for now, I can't wait for dark so I can see how they work by default in the middle adjuster position.

More details to follow since we have to make a CNC diagram of the machined European aluminum adjusters that I finally settled on.
 

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#119 ·
BTW, notice that all these various shapes work just fine inside the headlights!

What matters for the longer (lateral) adjuster (which adjusts horizontal movement 'mostly') measurements are:
- the distance of the screw hole to the 'start' of the base
- the total length

Not much else matters greatly. For example, the aluminum adjuster has a vastly different shape and it works just fine. My crudely fabricated HDPE attempt also had a simpler shape than the original PBT plastic and it would have worked fine except I messed up the distance of the screw hole to the start of the base.

For the shorter medial (vertical motion) adjuster, what matters is:
- the hole position relative to the bottom of the base & longitudinal centerline
- the width of the base (can be about 1/16th larger than OEM but no larger)
- the height to the ledge (can be smaller than OEM but no larger)
- the width of the top ridge (again, can be smaller, but no larger than OEM)
- the total length

All the rest of the measurements are not important. In fact, my crudely fabricated Delrin adjuster worked just fine and the European machined aluminum replacement adjuster is shockingly different in shape from the Hella OEM molded PBT thermoplastic adjusters.

 

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#120 ·
As an additional datapoint, the first threading of the brand new machined aluminum or newly fabricated plastic adjusters turned out to be no big deal.

For the longer lateral ('mostly' horizontal motion) adjuster, I counted 25 turns of my 10mm socket wrench to fully thread the European machined aluminum adjuster and 30 turns on the PBT plastic OEM adjuster (I didn't count the turns on my crudely fabricated Delrin adjuster).

For the shorter medial ('mostly' vertical motion) adjuster, I counted 22 turns and 25 turns on the aluminum and OEM PBT adjusters respectively, to fully seat them.

When I assembled the headlights, I needed the adjusters in a position, so, I left them almost fully extended when assembling with just a few threads biting; and then brought them half way (10 turns) with a 10mm socket wrench for placement into the vehicle during the day.

I'll adjust them at night, of course.
 

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#122 · (Edited)
University of BMW as your thesis
:)

Two things drive me.
1. I hate being styupid, and,
2. I like to give back to the team if I can.

I think, in this case, I can give back to the team with newly found or conflictingly interesting knowledge.

For example, one very unexpected pleasantry was that, despite all that was said about the permanent leveling stalk needing to be glued back into place, all I did was twist it about 10 degrees clockwise to seat it, and it seems to have seated fine.

So, despite what others have said, in my 2001 Hella's anyway, my permanent stalk seems to simply be twisted in; and it seems to simply twist out.

Of course, since I had previously broken the twist tabs, I had to glue them back on; so, I hope they hold up for the duration. Time will tell.

 

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#123 · (Edited)
The red drawn diagram always confused me. Now I know why.

My 2001 Hella halogen headlights look nothing like that red diagram. The triangle of the two adjusters and the one ball-and-socket fixed point is different.

I didn't do a very good job with the diagram, but, see this blue diagram of what mine looked like.

Others better at CAD can draw a better diagram but the point is that the two medial points are almost vertically in line; while only the upper lateral point is off to the side.

You can see from the blue diagram (but not the red diagram) that:
- The lateral (outside) adjuster moves the focus 'mostly' laterally (horizontally)
- The medial (inside) adjuster moves the focus 'mostly' vertically

 

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