Both headlight adjusters move beam vertically

[Dale_K]

I'm kind of confused about adjusting the Litronic headlights on my 2000 S. When I bought the car the right headlight was pointed too right and too low. I read the owner's manual and turned the direction it said and couldn't get any adjustment. Finally I took the headlight out of the car and decided the manual was wrong and turned the adjuster the other way. I could watch the bulb holder move the way I needed it to go and finally it made a little pop and jumped a bunch in the right direction. I think the previous owner had cranked it beyond the valid adjustment range.

The lights were usable at this point but still a little low on both sides and a little right on both sides. Here's the confusing part - the top adjusting screw, which is supposed to be lateral seems to move the beam vertically more than it moves it horizontally. In fact I don't notice any horizontal movement at all. Both the top and bottom screws move the beam up and down. I cranked the horizontal adjuster quite a bit and then moved the bottom screw quite a bit to compensate for the vertical change the upper screw made. The lights aren't too terrible right now but I don't understand why the lateral adjustment screw doesn't work the way I think it should. The top screw doesn't seem to move the beam from side-to-side.

[xtremecc]

I think its just a simple yet terrible adjusting design from Porsche. There is actually nothing wrong with the adjusting mechanism. sometimes you might adjust height and when trying to adjust lateral movement, it seems to also go up and down. Read your manual, I adjusted the lights at the proper distance but had to overcompensate in my up/down adjustment so when I adjusted lateral, it would bring it down a little. Dont over turn them screws or otherwise you will end up breaking the mechanism itself! took me a good hour or so but got them pretty close.

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Coincidentallly, I decided to adjust my normal headlights tonight and discovered the same malady. Both adjusters just moved the light up an down. I really would like to make some lateral adjustments. Can anbody tell us how to make the lateral adjustment work ?

[xtremecc]

they do move at a lateral position but due to the floating adjusting mechanism, it will also mess your vertical adjustment. I recommend to play with both and overcompensate on your lateral first, you can clearly see the lens moving and then adjust your vertical, have to messed with both till I got it ok. make sure you "count" how many turns you adjust. If overdone, the adjusting mechanism will run out of thread and you will break it trying to "force" the headlights. After it breaks, you will have a wobbly lens shaking around with no fix. DO refer to your manual and set your car at the right distance from the projecting wall you might be using. It also does not help that the reflector or light dispersers do not emit a perfect dispersion of light. I always have unwanted peaks on my headlights.