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      06-22-2019, 06:41 AM   #13
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Drives: BMW Z4 Sdrive30i
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: Malaga Spain

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Hi new Z4 owner here. I thought I'd resurrect this old thread for anyone interested in this topic. A few weeks ago I purchased a 2009 Z4 E89 Sdrive30i RHD in the UK for the purpose of leaving it at my home in Spain and to re-register the car in Spain.

Naturally I was concerned about adjusting the lights to drive on the right and looking in the manual it says there is a lever in the headlight to do it but when I look at the headlights from within the engine compartment I couldn't see anything. I called BMW dealers (a few of them) and they all said the same thing that the beam pattern is flat and do not need adjusting. My mechanic in the UK tested them on his beam pattern testing machine and indeed it is pretty flat. So I drove the car from the UK through France and into Spain without any issues at all , no one flashing me at night etc.

As part of the registration process in Spain you have to take the car for an ITV (Spanish version of the MOT) when the ITV centre tested the lights they failed it saying that they are ever so slightly deflecting to the left. The tester said it wasn't major but the machine is detecting it is going to the left so he has to fail it.

After watching a video on youtube of someone adjusting the beam pattern of their xenons on a E85 Z4 it turns out there is a lever to adjust the beam pattern. So today I decided to check for myself thinking the headlamp design can't be that different to the E85 and it wouldn't say so in the manual if it wasn't possible. I can confirm that there is a lever in the headlights that will adjust the lights for driving on the left or the right.

To get to it you need to take the wheel off remove some of the wheel arch lining so you can get directly behind the headlights, you need to remove the xenon bulb and then right at the front of the projector lamp there is black half round / arched shape lever which you pull up to drive in Europe.

After doing that and testing the lights against a wall I can see now the left side of the car the beam pattern is low and and flat with a slight raise in height on the right side whereas previously it was the other way round.

So now hopefully the lights will pass the ITV when I take it there either Monday or Tuesday. In conclusion if you are just driving through Europe for a holiday you won't need to do anything but if like me you are looking to register the car in Europe then you will need to adjust them.
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