A3 headlights pointing at ground

[Mandinka]

I recently bought a used 2006 A3 S Line and everything was fine with the lights then one evening they came on and were pointing at the ground about 10 feet in front of the car. I should point out that the "leveling" sensors are both broken but have been since I bought the car.

I found the manual adjusters but even at maximum adjustment they are no where near high enough. When I say "maximum" I mean I feel the adjuster come to a stop, I forced one on a Mazda once and broke a $1300 headlight unit so I'm reluctant to push this further.

So, my question is......the motors that control the bulbs steering control, do they also control the beam height, presumably from the leveling sensors. Since my sensors are broken somehow the beams were ok until the other day. Could it be that the setting was "forgotten" by the system, went to default and needs reprogramming using a VAG COM ?

Another question. Are the bulb angles controlled independently from the whole unit. What I mean is, do the bulbs have a range of movement that I can't access without VAG COM so what I've done by moving the manual adjuster is move the whole unit with the bulb but the bulb still has more movement to do within the unit which is leaving my aim still too low ?

I don't have VAG COM and I'm reluctant to buy one if this isn't the cause of my low headlight aim.

Hope someone can throw some light on this..... ;-)

[marcusiscool]

The bulbs might have come loose, and therefore are pointing at the ground. Try adjusting the bulbs to see if they are loose. Not sure about VAGCOM. Hope this helps.


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[Das Ponto]

Replace the sensors would be your first best bet.

My 3.2 had the sensor flipped the wrong way and headlights pointed straight down. There are leveling sensors in the rear, and the dynamic turning is sensors on the steering somewhere but that I don't remember exactly.

As well if you run an adaptation on the leveling system it can correct your issue as well. When my sensor was flipped it still worked, but was just providing backwards readings. After the adaptation (yes with VAG-Com) the headlights pointed level as they were supposed to.