Date: 30 Jan 2004 16:23:51 GMT From: Gary Fritz <fritzxxxnopsamrii.com> Subject: Why do bi-xenons dip?
Idle curiosity for a Friday... In my 2002 9-5 Aero, the bi-xenon headlights have a "shutter" that drops down to block the lights for "low beam." When you turn on the headlights, the shutters dip for a second, then return to their normal low-beam level. Question: why the dip? What's it doing? Somewhat related gripe: I sure wish there was a way to adjust the cutoff level of the low-beam shutter. When you're on level ground, following reasonably close to a car, it's perfect. Hits 'em just above the license plate so you don't blind 'em. But if you are coming down a hill, or worse over the top of a hill, the oncoming cars get the full phasers-on-stun force of your unshielded bi-xenons. Also, the low-beam setting is way too short for highway speeds -- but you can't run the high beams if there are any cars approaching within half a mile. So you end up running half blind to avoid blinding everybody else. Not optimal. I wanna be able to stretch them out a bit so I can see and so can everybody else. Gary