S4 Headlamp Adjustment for Continental Driving

[PBSmith]

How do I tell?

[andy2]

they are just described as "Xenon Plus headlights" - (Without the adaptive lights). Xenon on both dipped and main beam (is this what the "bi" means?)

[Teutonic_Tamer]

How do I tell?

At night, park your car facing a wall/fence/garage door, about 6 foot away. Turn on dipped headlamps. You should be able to see the horizontal dip cut-off, and also the 15 degree left "kick-up". With the engine and radio off, and the front windows open, switch between main beam and dipped beam - looking at the beam pattern, and listening.

If you do have Bi-Xenon, the beam pattern of the dipped part is physically altered by a metal flap behind the glass "eyeball" projector lens. You should hear a prominent mechanical "clunk" from the headlamp assemblies when cycling between dipped and main (don't confuse this with "normal" electrical relays). Also, the actual pattern of the "dipped" output will "fill" to a full beam. Don't get this confused with the supplementary H7 halogen main beam output (this is used in conjunction with the Xenon bulbs, when dipped beam is switched on, and is used by itself during headlamp flash when no lights are on), which will look much yellower.

On normal Xenons, the Xenon dipped beam pattern does not change.

Adaptive forward lighting is another enhancement to Bi-Xenons, and actually twists the beam of light around corners!

If either of you do find you have Bi-Xenons, post the results of your tests again, and I'll look in my favorites to find a suitable linky - PM me if I forget! Got other things on my mind at the mo - look in my sig

HTH, rgds

[andy2]

Pretty sure that would make mine a Bi Xenon.

I'd be interested to hear how the RS4 compares with the S4- I'm considering upgrading and wondering whether I could manage with just the S4, or whether I should save the extra and go for an RS4...