# IIHS Safety- Those [email protected] headlights



## blackgliguy (May 4, 2004)

Good review sans the poor headlight rating. https://www.cars.com/articles/2018-volkswagen-atlas-earns-iihs-top-safety-pick-award-1420696542153/


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## Atlas123 (Sep 18, 2017)

Just about every car gets poor ratings in headlights. I am glad IIHS is starting to rate them to get shame manufacturers into improving headlights. It is definitely an area where safety has lagged behind.


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## ArgyleVR6 (Jul 12, 2001)

What exactly is the complaint regarding the headlights? Not bright enough...?


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

blackgliguy - great post, thanks for sharing.



Atlas123 said:


> Just about every car gets poor ratings in headlights. I am glad IIHS is starting to rate them to get shame manufacturers into improving headlights. It is definitely an area where safety has lagged behind.


Yes, headlights are terrible on most out of the factory cars.



ArgyleVR6 said:


> What exactly is the complaint regarding the headlights? Not bright enough...?


This website better shows some info:
http://m.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/volkswagen/atlas-4-door-suv/2018

Go to "headlights"

Guide how it is tested:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/ratings-info/headlight-evaluation


What is the bulb types everyone has and is it in a reflector or projector, we might have a better HID solution if anyone is interested in testing this we can discount for your time and sharing with the forum.
:thumbup:


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

They are full LED headlights - most of the rating comes from the beam not illuminating far enough down the road on straight away sections and on curves (where luxury vehicles often have cornering lights). The beam is tested from factory, so it could just be an alignment issue where they are not angled high enough. However the issue with a higher angle and LED lights is most oncoming drivers would complain about being blinded. This is definitely an area where manufacturers are slowly beginning to improve however.

As pointed out, most vehicles these days are marginal with some getting a "good" rating score.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/volkswagen/atlas-4-door-suv

The headlights just don't shine far enough.

The LED projectors on the Prius V gets a good rating from IIHS


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

The test is conducted so that they measure the point at which the headlights no longer provide a reading of 5 lux. This could be caused by a few things. 1) The Atlas headlights not being bright enough (to provide the threshold 5 lux intensity) far enough down the road. 2) The reflector housing is not reflecting enough of the LED light down the road or, 3) The headlight is aimed to low so that the highest intensity of light is not reaching far enough down the road.

Does anyone find the lights do not shine far enough down the road? If so, how easy are VWs to adjust the beam angle (or is this an easy adjustment on the Atlas?)


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## jkueter (Feb 12, 2008)

jkopelc said:


> The test is conducted so that they measure the point at which the headlights no longer provide a reading of 5 lux. This could be caused by a few things. 1) The Atlas headlights not being bright enough (to provide the threshold 5 lux intensity) far enough down the road. 2) The reflector housing is not reflecting enough of the LED light down the road or, 3) The headlight is aimed to low so that the highest intensity of light is not reaching far enough down the road.
> 
> Does anyone find the lights do not shine far enough down the road? If so, how easy are VWs to adjust the beam angle (or is this an easy adjustment on the Atlas?)


I think the high beams are great. The low, it feels like there is a sudden cut-off where I can't see much beyond.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

jkopelc said:


> .....how easy are VWs to adjust the beam angle (or is this an easy adjustment on the Atlas?)


Excuse me, but do you know of any vehicle since the 30s that does not have adjustable headlights for both vertical and horizontal? :screwy:


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## rbwalt (Mar 27, 2016)

*headlights*

Poor headlights have always been a issue in the US and it is do to Gov regulations. Years ago the family always took out the standard headlights an in went some good Cibe's or other good brands. it is not just the distance but the pattern though patterns have gotten a bit better. so if you want better lighting replace the car's lights with the European ones.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

rbwalt said:


> Poor headlights have always been a issue in the US and it is do to Gov regulations. Years ago the family always took out the standard headlights an in went some good Cibe's or other good brands. it is not just the distance but the pattern though patterns have gotten a bit better. so if you want better lighting replace the car's lights with the European ones.


AFAIK, the Atlas is not sold in Europe, so no chance of getting e-code LED headlight assemblies

also, my Tiguan gets an acceptable rating from iihs


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## dcsh (Dec 23, 2015)

BsickPassat said:


> AFAIK, the Atlas is not sold in Europe, so no chance of getting e-code LED headlight assemblies
> 
> also, my Tiguan gets an acceptable rating from iihs


It's sold in China, which follows European standard.


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## OZ.IN.USA (Jan 29, 2011)

rbwalt said:


> Poor headlights have always been a issue in the US and it is do to Gov regulations. Years ago the family always took out the standard headlights an in went some good Cibe's or other good brands. it is not just the distance but the pattern though patterns have gotten a bit better. so if you want better lighting replace the car's lights with the European ones.


This is correct. NA headlights conform to greatly outdated regulations, so the manufacturers are building to these regulations. The rest of the world has one standard. North America has their own.

When and IF America were to use the same standard as the rest of the world (See Metric System), e.g headlights are used to illuminate the road and kerbside road signs (ROW) and not to illuminate overhead road signs and for you to be seen and not for you to see. Poor headlights will always be an issue in America.

*Daniel Stern Lighting* has a great write up on this issue. It's a good read.


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## Atlas123 (Sep 18, 2017)

If someone has a suggestion on easy headlight and/or foglight replacements for the Atlas that will improve the headlight coverage, without being obnoxious to other drivers or looking too harsh or unnatural, please share.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

OZ.IN.USA said:


> This is correct. NA headlights conform to greatly outdated regulations, so the manufacturers are building to these regulations. The rest of the world has one standard. North America has their own.
> 
> When and IF America were to use the same standard as the rest of the world (See Metric System), e.g headlights are used to illuminate the road and kerbside road signs (ROW) and not to illuminate overhead road signs and for you to be seen and not for you to see. Poor headlights will always be an issue in America.
> 
> *Daniel Stern Lighting* has a great write up on this issue. It's a good read.


The Japanese can figure it out, why not the Germans?

The new Camry is good with bi-led projectors
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mobileratings/toyota/camry-4-door-sedan

The corolla is acceptable
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mobileratings/toyota/corolla-4-door-sedan

Acura is acceptable 

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## OZ.IN.USA (Jan 29, 2011)

BsickPassat said:


> The Japanese can figure it out, why not the Germans?
> 
> The new Camry is good with bi-led projectors
> http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mobileratings/toyota/camry-4-door-sedan
> ...



Both cars mentioned are sedans. This is a forum for SUVs and not a Germans vs Japanese issue.


Note: Not one German brand in the list below

HEADLIGHT RATINGS
Best available headlight system for each model 
2017 models unless specified

MARGINAL
2018 Chevrolet Equinox
Dodge Durango
Ford Flex
GMC Acadia
Nissan Murano
Nissan Pathfinder

POOR
Dodge Journey
Ford Edge
Ford Explorer
GMC Terrain
Hyundai Santa Fe Sport
Jeep Wrangler
Kia Sorento
Toyota 4Runner


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

OZ.IN.USA said:


> Both cars mentioned are sedans. This is a forum for SUVs and not a Germans vs Japanese issue.
> 
> 
> Note: Not one German brand in the list below
> ...


People moaning about outdated DOT standards. 

Acura MDX and RDX is acceptable 
Honda pilot LED is acceptable

Lexus NX and RX is acceptable

Rav4 LED and Highlander halogen projector are acceptable.

It goes back to my point, the Japanese can design headlights that can perform to IIHS standards, but superior German engineering for VW and Audi seem to have trouble with LED technology
Q5 LED is also marginal and Q3 LED is poor


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

BsickPassat said:


> People moaning about outdated DOT standards.
> 
> Acura MDX and RDX is acceptable
> Honda pilot LED is acceptable
> ...


You assume that the VW and Audi headlights actually perform poorly. Do you agree with the IIHS test standard? Is it realistic to what the driver would want?


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## richyrich999 (Oct 20, 2008)

BsickPassat said:


> It goes back to my point, the Japanese can design headlights that can perform to IIHS standards, but superior German engineering for VW and Audi seem to have trouble with LED technology


Except...
Honda Civic - POOR on all trims
Ford F-150 - POOR on all trims

So this isn't a German thing..


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## OZ.IN.USA (Jan 29, 2011)

richyrich999 said:


> Except...
> Honda Civic - POOR on all trims
> Ford F-150 - POOR on all trims
> 
> So this isn't a German thing..


That was the point that I attempted to make and you picked up on it. :thumbup:


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

A couple things I noted with reference to the links below (and I added a link for the Atlas):

The new Camry is good with bi-led projectors
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mob...y-4-door-sedan

The corolla is acceptable
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mob...a-4-door-sedan

Atlas:
http://m.iihs.org/mobile/ratings/mobileratings/volkswagen/atlas-4-door-suv

But here are a couple of my observations which I find interesting.

The Atlas left headlight illuminates just as far down the road as the "good" rated Camry. However the right headlight definitely falls short of the distance achieved by both the Camry and the Corolla. The high beams are just shy of the Camry distance - and do much better than the Corolla. So obviously, all of the tests need to be taken in combination in determining the rating, but seems there is some subjectivity when it comes to weighting of which readings are most important.

From other articles I have read in the past, SUVs have always been notoriously bad for headlight illumination. I would speculate this has something to do with being mounted higher and that manufacturers have to balance illumination against blinding of oncoming vehicles (and I wont bring up NA standards and lack of innovation which we know exists) but cars do seem to have a distinct advantage in most instances in being able to illuminate further down the road. As mentioned I find it interesting that the left headlight is on par with these other vehicles but the right light is not. I wrote a post above and am still curious if this is a brightness issue, reflector issue or maybe just poor aiming from factory?? (and a couple of these issues could be an easy fix excluding the reflector). Even more interesting is the high beams are almost on par with the Camry.

Does anyone know do the high and low beams use different intensity of bulbs? (Or again it could come down to the fact there are multiple bulbs, a better reflector or better aim from being mounted slightly lower?) **Keep in mind per the testing, readings for brightness are taken 10 inches from the ground - which may be why sedans often far far better?

Not an expert here but just postulating some ideas to generate further discussion to try and narrow down the cause/issue and see if there is an easy fix.


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## OZ.IN.USA (Jan 29, 2011)

"_Does anyone know do the high and low beams use different intensity of bulbs? (Or again it could come down to the fact there are multiple bulbs, a better reflector or better aim from being mounted slightly lower?) **Keep in mind per the testing, readings for brightness are taken 10 inches from the ground - which may be why sedans often far far better?_"

As to intensity of the LEDs, I have no information other than they have a life cycle of 50,000 hours.

The Atlas uses LED headlamps and high beams. They are configured as follows:

Low Beam Headlamp: 2 individual LEDs i.e. two for the drivers side and two for the passenger side.

High Beam Headlamp: 4 individual LEDs (separate from the low beam reflector and mounted below the low beams) i.e four for the drivers side and four for the passenger side.


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## atlas titan (Dec 15, 2017)

*headlight performance*

how is the head light performance at night. i saw an article from IIHS about the headlights not performing as well. would projectors instead of reflector be better for performance for led like the mdx? im in the market for an atlas sel p and i just want to see how well they perform. anyone have any pic comparing to other led headlights or have an opinion.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

atlas titan said:


> how is the head light performance at night. i saw an article from IIHS about the headlights not performing as well. would projectors instead of reflector be better for performance for led like the mdx? im in the market for an atlas sel p and i just want to see how well they perform. anyone have any pic comparing to other led headlights or have an opinion.


On the Tiguan, the "upgraded" LED projector for the low beams is rated worse (Poor) than the standard halogen headlights (Marginal), and noted some glare on the LED's.

The BMW X5 for instance are LED reflectors, and they get an Acceptable rating from IIHS.


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## logicallychallenged (Dec 9, 2005)

rbwalt said:


> Poor headlights have always been a issue in the US and it is do to Gov regulations. Years ago the family always took out the standard headlights an in went some good Cibe's or other good brands. it is not just the distance but the pattern though patterns have gotten a bit better. so if you want better lighting replace the car's lights with the European ones.


I always did the same. Although by those standards, those Hella or Cibie lights would fail today’s tests and complaints as well. 

Big issue is oncoming glare. This fails lights tested today. 


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

we talked about this in another thread somewhere. The atlas headlights are cheapo garbage units. They cost like $300-500 each and just like my cc of the past, the us version of the headlights were downgraded. (in this case as compared to the teramont). How else are they supposed to make led headlights standard in a segment where they are not.

The problem is that the auto high beams don't come on until 40mph so i often don't use the high beams and then get poor visibility with the low beams. 

It's funny someone was saying that the tig halogen lights scored higher than the tig and atlas led units. And I am in a tig loaner and agree. The lights are just better beam distribution, and while i hate halogens, at least i can see at night with them!


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

ice4life said:


> we talked about this in another thread somewhere. The atlas headlights are cheapo garbage units. They cost like $300-500 each and just like my cc of the past, the us version of the headlights were downgraded. (in this case as compared to the teramont). How else are they supposed to make led headlights standard in a segment where they are not.
> 
> The problem is that the auto high beams don't come on until 40mph so i often don't use the high beams and then get poor visibility with the low beams.
> 
> It's funny someone was saying that the tig halogen lights scored higher than the tig and atlas led units. And I am in a tig loaner and agree. The lights are just better beam distribution, and while i hate halogens, at least i can see at night with them!


Toyota can get away with it, making LED's standard in a segment where they are not. The refreshed 2017+ Corollas, get an Acceptable rating.

The new Camry with its standard LED standards, again, in a segment where they are not, gets the top of the line "Good" rating (with adaptive curve control) or a "Acceptable" (w/o adaptive curve control)

So, Toyota can get it right with their suppliers that designed and produce the headlights for them (most likely Koito).


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

BsickPassat said:


> Toyota can get away with it, making LED's standard in a segment where they are not. The refreshed 2017+ Corollas, get an Acceptable rating.
> 
> The new Camry with its standard LED standards, again, in a segment where they are not, gets the top of the line "Good" rating (with adaptive curve control) or a "Acceptable" (w/o adaptive curve control)
> 
> So, Toyota can get it right with their suppliers that designed and produce the headlights for them (most likely Koito).


Fair argument! Although different segments, same idea. Is the adaptive cruise linked with auto high beams and thats why the rating changes? I don't remember there being any different headlight options on a camry unlike on the corolla which has two different led versions (single beam and dual beam)


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

Atlas123 said:


> Just about every car gets poor ratings in headlights. I am glad IIHS is starting to rate them to get shame manufacturers into improving headlights. It is definitely an area where safety has lagged behind.


Please explain what makes modern headlights less safe. What is it that the operator of an Atlas can't see to be safe?


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

So I just did a 6 hour drive last night - half of it in darkness so I have a few of my own observations that I can contribute here. I found the headlights to be nice and bright and cutoff at distance down the road seemed pretty good. Compared to my X5, I cant really say that I was missing distance - although now that its gone I can't compare side by side. With that said, the brightness of the lights was definitely superior to most of the vehicles I passed - where my beams lit up the road more than other cars I passed and basically covered up their light pattern.

In terms of distance, as mentioned I do not feel that it was lacking. Certainly to the point that as far as my eyes would normally scan the road ahead - I didn't feel as though I was trying to scan further ahead into darkness (if that makes sense - I didn't feel as if I wanted to see for safety reasons beyond where the beam stopped).

Referring to a previous post I had made discussing brightness, reflector and beam angle - I definitely feel the lights could be angled slightly higher. This is especially true of the right headlight as in my opinion I felt because of the way the reflector housing makes such a solid cutoff I found that it wasn't shining light high enough to illuminate and reflect off the road signs on the right hand side of the road. I also did not get flashed by any oncoming traffic so the beams are definitely not angled too high. So in my opinion, the right light could shine a little higher and the left side could maybe add a degree or two more height was well.

With that said does anyone know if this is easy to do?? Is there just a screw that can be turned to adjust angle?

With respect to the high beams, I definitely found them to illuminate a lot of the road but the downfall was that the auto function (SEL prem here) kept turning them off way TOO early. From my recollection in driver training, you are supposed to have the high beams on to such a point that your lights and the lights from oncoming vehicles overlap before you switch them off. However it seemed to me as soon as any oncoming light was detected they were switching off. Even when the sensor picked up tail lights in the far distance it was switching off. Again this seemed way too premature.

Does anyone know if the auto sensor has an intensity setting that could be lowered so that the high beams stay on slightly longer when oncoming vehicles approach??

Long winded post - but hopefully helps generate some further discussion


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

jkopelc said:


> So I just did a 6 hour drive last night - half of it in darkness so I have a few of my own observations that I can contribute here. I found the headlights to be nice and bright and cutoff at distance down the road seemed pretty good. Compared to my X5, I cant really say that I was missing distance - although now that its gone I can't compare side by side. With that said, the brightness of the lights was definitely superior to most of the vehicles I passed - where my beams lit up the road more than other cars I passed and basically covered up their light pattern.
> 
> In terms of distance, as mentioned I do not feel that it was lacking. Certainly to the point that as far as my eyes would normally scan the road ahead - I didn't feel as though I was trying to scan further ahead into darkness (if that makes sense - I didn't feel as if I wanted to see for safety reasons beyond where the beam stopped).
> 
> ...


They're led diodes. No adjusting

And no setting for High beam assist. I hate that they don't come on until 40mph it's too high!

Also these lights suck compared to BMW. My 5 wagon was 7 years old and the afs xenons were far superior.


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

ice4life said:


> ....And no setting for High beam assist. I hate that they don't come on until 40mph it's too high!.....


Please explain why a vehicle going 40 mph would ever need to use the high beams. i have owned my Golf R for over 1 1/2 year and have probably used the high beams for no more than 15 minutes total.


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

jkopelc said:


> So I just did a 6 hour drive last night - half of it in darkness so I have a few of my own observations that I can contribute here. I found the headlights to be nice and bright and cutoff at distance down the road seemed pretty good. Compared to my X5, I cant really say that I was missing distance - although now that its gone I can't compare side by side. With that said, the brightness of the lights was definitely superior to most of the vehicles I passed - where my beams lit up the road more than other cars I passed and basically covered up their light pattern.
> 
> In terms of distance, as mentioned I do not feel that it was lacking. Certainly to the point that as far as my eyes would normally scan the road ahead - I didn't feel as though I was trying to scan further ahead into darkness (if that makes sense - I didn't feel as if I wanted to see for safety reasons beyond where the beam stopped).
> 
> ...


Can you turn off auto function?


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

edyvw said:


> Can you turn off auto function?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yeah i mean you activate high beam assist each time you start the car so it doesn't have to be active.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

ice4life said:


> Fair argument! Although different segments, same idea. Is the adaptive cruise linked with auto high beams and thats why the rating changes? I don't remember there being any different headlight options on a camry unlike on the corolla which has two different led versions (single beam and dual beam)


The camry rating changed due to AFS.

The corolla has 2 different LED versions, as the 2014 to 2016 have LED low beams with halogen high beams. the refreshed styling in 2017 gave it Bi-LED projectors.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

BsickPassat said:


> The camry rating changed due to AFS.
> 
> The corolla has 2 different LED versions, as the 2014 to 2016 have LED low beams with halogen high beams. the refreshed styling in 2017 gave it Bi-LED projectors.


The refreshed 2017 still has two versions. Only the sporty s and xse get the dual led. Basic models get the same setup of past with a low beam led (also drl) and the other models offer that single projector with additional LEDs in the bumper for drl.


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## BsickPassat (May 10, 2010)

ice4life said:


> The refreshed 2017 still has two versions. Only the sporty s and xse get the dual led. Basic models get the same setup of past with a low beam led (also drl) and the other models offer that single projector with additional LEDs in the bumper for drl.


Toyota says the basic models have Bi-LED headlights. Other models have the "Multi-LED" headlights with LED accent lights and bumper DRLs.

both styles are "acceptable" to IIHS


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

BsickPassat said:


> Toyota says the basic models have Bi-LED headlights. Other models have the "Multi-LED" headlights with LED accent lights and bumper DRLs.
> 
> both styles are "acceptable" to IIHS












This pic shows the bi-led (with optional bumper drl) next to the dual-led (with standard bumper drl)


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

So was able to find some time to grab the manual and check. There actually is a way to adjust the sensor level simply by pushing the turn signal lever forward and holding for about 15 secs. It was make the sensor more sensitive to oncoming traffic and lighting conditions (kind of opposite to what I was looking to do).

There is also supposed to be a setting under the lighting settings - however when I went to the menu through the infotainment - the adjustment was not there as specified. Any other SEL prem owners missing this?? Is this an error in the manual or the infotainment menu? My menu only showed lighting options for the coming home function, ambient lighting, etc

Thanks


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## GTINC (Jan 28, 2005)

jkopelc said:


> .....There is also supposed to be a setting under the lighting settings - however when I went to the menu through the infotainment - the adjustment was not there as specified. Any other SEL prem owners missing this?? Is this an error in the manual or the infotainment menu? My menu only showed lighting options for the coming home function, ambient lighting, etc.....


OMs are not written for specif vehicles but for all the variations.


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