Litronic (Xenon) beam effectiveness...

[lkchris]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Sadly, self-leveling will not make them any brighter/sharper.

Actually, it does just that when the system raises the low beam unit when high beams are activated.

As for leveling, it's German (EU) law that HID systems be self leveling. Washing is required, as well ... and if you wash them they will be brighter than when dirty!

[BIGJake111]

The best effect of self leveling I have seen is under hard braking the lights stay forward which is noticeable.

These are no high tech swivel steer bixenons or anything but they're sufficient if set up correctly and don't blind other in oncoming.

[particlewave]

Originally Posted by lkchris

Actually, it does just that when the system raises the low beam unit when high beams are activated.

As for leveling, it's German (EU) law that HID systems be self leveling. 100% irrelevant in the U.S.
Washing is required, as well ... and if you wash them they will be brighter than when dirty!

It will make your high beams seem brighter, but light output will not change. Litronics have a fixed cutoff shield that always blocks half of the beam, unlike bi-xenons.

No, self leveling will not make them any brighter or sharper, it just makes it look that way. Pointing a flashlight slighter higher doesn't make it any brighter, but merely changes the path of the beam/coverage area.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by lkchris

Actually, it does just that when the system raises the low beam unit when high beams are activated.

As for leveling, it's German (EU) law that HID systems be self leveling. Washing is required, as well ... and if you wash them they will be brighter than when dirty!

Right, but I am concerned about the low beam only. I don't live in the EU, so the 2nd point doesn't apply except for the part about the dirty lenses, but I keep the car clean normally, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Wow, this topic has almost turned into an oil thread!

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by Boxtaboy

Right, but I am concerned about the low beam only. I don't live in the EU, so the 2nd point doesn't apply except for the part about the dirty lenses, but I keep the car clean normally, so that shouldn't be a problem.



Wow, this topic has almost turned into an oil thread!

While you may not live in the EU the cars are built to comply with the law to begin with. That's why we all have washer jets on our litronics (which To my best knowledge is entirely useless lol)

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

While you may not live in the EU the cars are built to comply with the law to begin with. That's why we all have washer jets on our litronics (which To my best knowledge is entirely useless lol)

Lol. I don't have the useless washer jets so I just installed the clear corner piece instead...

[particlewave]

New bulbs may help, just don't pay the Porsche tax.
There are alternatives that do the same job with the same light output. I've found the biggest issue with 10+ year old Lits to be discoloration and deterioration of the reflectors reflective finish. Not a lot can be done about that.

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by particlewave

New bulbs may help, just don't pay the Porsche tax.
There are alternatives that do the same job with the same light output. I've found the biggest issue with 10+ year old Lits to be discoloration and deterioration of the reflectors reflective finish. Not a lot can be done about that.

Thanks, I may be screwed either way cause I stupidly bought an extra set of xenon bulbs way way back when they were like over $100 per bulb. Not sure what I was thinking. Didn't know the first set were gonna last this long. I'm amazed actually cause I use them quite often (even when I drive in the daytime so that others see me). Thing is, the bulbs I think are only like $40 for one now. Lol.

Not sure how my reflectors are...they seem ok, but who knows...

[jaykay]

Originally Posted by BIGJake111

While you may not live in the EU the cars are built to comply with the law to begin with. That's why we all have washer jets on our litronics (which To my best knowledge is entirely useless lol)

Not so....try travelling down a dark country road at speed with the high beams on and then fire the washers. It's like St Elmo's fire ......magical

[BIGJake111]

Originally Posted by jaykay

Not so....try travelling down a dark country road at speed with the high beams on and then fire the washers. It's like St Elmo's fire ......magical

I'll have to try it, what makes them go off? Use the window washers but have the headlights on at the time?

[Smallblock454]

Hm, i have stock Litronics. They adjust when i start the car. And they are really good.

I had another 986 for cleaning the front radiators. The Litronics in that car were OEM but retrofitted with all sensors. I recognized that the light was by far not as good as in my car. When removing the front bumper and headlamps i recognized that they had used after market connectors for the Litronic mechanism, that could easily fall of the housing. When putting back together everything i fixed that with Gaffa tape, so the plugs can't get off. Now the Litronics adjusted themselves. Low beam and high beam light was much better.

Conclusion: the Litronics are in correct position for driving if they don't adjust themselves. Also you can't adjust manually them from the outside.

Regards, Markus

[Boxtaboy]

Originally Posted by Smallblock454

Hm, i have stock Litronics. They adjust when i start the car. And they are really good.

I had another 986 for cleaning the front radiators. The Litronics in that car were OEM but retrofitted with all sensors. I recognized that the light was by far not as good as in my car. When removing the front bumper and headlamps i recognized that they had used after market connectors for the Litronic mechanism, that could easily fall of the housing. When putting back together everything i fixed that with Gaffa tape, so the plugs can't get off. Now the Litronics adjusted themselves. Low beam and high beam light was much better.

Conclusion: the Litronics are in correct position for driving if they don't adjust themselves. Also you can't adjust manually them from the outside.

Regards, Markus

With factory Litronics or any other factory HID set up, when you turn them on, the beams swivel up and level to a set position (yes, you can still adjust the vertical and lateral position of the beams through the trunk). My guess is that since that car you were working on was retrofitted with aftermarket connectors, and that they were disconnecting, that they were then not lifting up the beam upon startup like they should, and therefore, the lighting aim would of course be off. In contrast, in my set up, since I don't have the electronics installed, the projectors will not move at all during startup or shut down, and therefore, they stay in the fixed position at all times. Therefore, all I have to do is to properly aim my projectors (through the front trunk openings as stated in the manual), to get at the desired height level, and then the projectors will stay at this fixed position at all times. Therefore, I would never have the problem of the beams not leveling up to the right height because they are already fixed in the right height. Therefore, your example here is not applicable. My beams are set at the right height...it's just that they don't ever move from what I set it at to account for weight changes in the car or a swivel up of the xenons to help the halogens upon high beam application.

As I discovered, when I turned on my friend's car with the factory Litronics, the beam would swivel up upon startup and then swivel down upon shut down. So, after I installed his lights into my car without the electronics, the beam would be too low because I didn't have the electronics in my car to make the projectors level up. Therefore, to get around this, I had to manually adjust the beams up to the correct height, and then they stayed there at that level at all times. Now when I turn on the headlamps, they are at that same height all the time, and when I turn the lights off, the projectors also don't move so that when I turn them back on, they are still at that fixed height. And regardless of what car the headlamps were in, they still are not as good as the modern set ups.

Oh, and you definitely can adjust the aim of Litronics. It's covered in the owner's manual. There are 2 holes that are plugged inside each side of the trunk (behind the carpet). One changes the height of the beam, the other changes the lateral positioning. That's how I moved the beam of my Litronics up.

http://www.renntech.org/forums/topic/518-how-to-adjust-aim-of-litronics/