[size=2]Hi everyone, I have just traded my mercedes in for a new lexus is250 I chose a red one with oakham leather interior. Very happy with the look of the car and the drive but the lights at night on an unlit road are diabolical. Going out at night in the countryside where we live is scary the lights seem to cut off too low , leaving a black hole. I have had three other cars with xenon headlights and never had this problem before. Have taken it back to the dealer now twice to be told that there is nothing wrong. Head lights are not normally as bad as this. Has anyone else noticed any problem or have I got a dud. My next option is to write to Lexus Customer Relations whether that will do any good remains to be seen. Any comments would be gratefully received.

[quote name='Gail' post='326695' date='Jan 31 2006, 05:08 PM'][size=2]Hi everyone, I have just traded my mercedes in for a new lexus is250 I chose a red one with oakham leather interior. Very happy with the look of the car and the drive but the lights at night on an unlit road are diabolical. Going out at night in the countryside where we live is scary the lights seem to cut off too low , leaving a black hole. I have had three other cars with xenon headlights and never had this problem before. Have taken it back to the dealer now twice to be told that there is nothing wrong. Head lights are not normally as bad as this. Has anyone else noticed any problem or have I got a dud. My next option is to write to Lexus Customer Relations whether that will do any good remains to be seen. Any comments would be gratefully received. [/quote]
Gail,
You have auto-adjust h/lamps & I would suggest the auto in effect is locked in the LOW postion as though you are right behind someone to prevent you blinding them.My lights are perfect.
Tel.

[quote name='Tel' post='326709' date='Jan 31 2006, 05:31 PM'][size=2]Hi everyone, I have just traded my mercedes in for a new lexus is250 I chose a red one with oakham leather interior. Very happy with the look of the car and the drive but the lights at night on an unlit road are diabolical. Going out at night in the countryside where we live is scary the lights seem to cut off too low , leaving a black hole. I have had three other cars with xenon headlights and never had this problem before. Have taken it back to the dealer now twice to be told that there is nothing wrong. Head lights are not normally as bad as this. Has anyone else noticed any problem or have I got a dud. My next option is to write to Lexus Customer Relations whether that will do any good remains to be seen. Any comments would be gratefully received. [/quote]

I don't have the hids and my lights are excellent, on par with the hids I had in the IS300. Could be the auto-levelling playing up, but if the dealer has checked them then they must be alright.

[quote name='Gail' post='326695' date='Jan 31 2006, 05:08 PM'][size=2]Hi everyone, I have just traded my mercedes in for a new lexus is250 I chose a red one with oakham leather interior. Very happy with the look of the car and the drive but the lights at night on an unlit road are diabolical. Going out at night in the countryside where we live is scary the lights seem to cut off too low , leaving a black hole. I have had three other cars with xenon headlights and never had this problem before. Have taken it back to the dealer now twice to be told that there is nothing wrong. Head lights are not normally as bad as this. Has anyone else noticed any problem or have I got a dud. My next option is to write to Lexus Customer Relations whether that will do any good remains to be seen. Any comments would be gratefully received. [/quote]

Possibly you didn't have auto levelling headlights before.

Is this now not a legal requirement for HID

This is interesting, because ever since I've had my IS (old model), I've always thought that the headlights point at the ground compared to other cars. Even when I've had them re-set at the dealers, I'd still think that they were too low. The other three cars in our household are all German, and they all have a much higher beam, regardless of whether they're xenons or not (2 have xenons, one doesn't)

Since getting xenons for the Lexus a few months ago, its become much more obvious, as the focus point for the beam is clearly visible as being quite close to the front of the car (but I haven't had a chance to get it down to the dealers to get it levelled properly)

I'd be interested to know what progress you make with this

The elipsoid headlamps on my A4 were really really bad...they weren't Xenon's.

The 407 I had yesterday were the same, non Xenon Elipsoid. They were fab...

On the Audi the "blue" auto levelers were (in my view pardoning puns) set incorrectly and the dealers maintained all was well...I was never happy, especially when the courtesy cars were fine...

So I reckon it's the way they're set...at the factory...and 2 cars from the same model could be very very different..

Pursue the dealer/cust relations route if they are bad compared to another car that you have tested...

In the recent Australian Wheels Car of The Year Awards for 2005, the IS250's Xenon lights were voted 2nd best out of 20 car types. So, this does sound like a specific unit problem and not a general IS250 one.

I did not originally plan to mention this, but the 3 Series had the best lights

[quote name='TonyDownunder' post='326892' date='Feb 1 2006, 12:37 PM']I did not originally plan to mention this, but the 3 Series had the best lights [/quote]

There has to be something in it's favour, certainly [b]not[/b] the best [i]looking[/i] lights. Those back lights are pug ugly.