Uneven headlights .... any tips for realigning?
 

I took the headlight assemblies off and disassmbled them to have the frames cleaned up and powdercoated. I've since reinstalled the lights. The covers themselves are on and gaps between the bumper, hood and fenders are spot on. The issue I've run into is when the lights are up, the driver side light seems to be a tad lower than the passenger side. This is evident when looking at the bezels and how they align with the bumper. The bezels are new. Please have a look at the attached pictures. Any help or advice is greatly appreciated. Is this typical and expected/normal or is my OCD acting up?

If you removed the rod from the motor then it's possible when it was reattached it was out on a few teeth off from max up. I would suggest disconnecting the rod, putting the motor full up with the button, then lifting the light all the way up until it stops, then reattach the rod. Doing this will put the lights in the highest possible position they can be in. If it doesn't work then you can use the same method to lower the other light to be even of you wanted.

I will try readjusting the arm. However, even if it was off, the motor can be manually turned until it is at full extension/up position. When this is done, the DS bezel is still not flush/level with the bumper.

There is some slop in the headlight bezels. Can you tell if the headlight itself is a little low on that side, not just the bezel?

When you raise/lower the headlights, does it go straight down or does it go up a tiny bit then go down?

Dale

This is the odd part. On the side in question, the new headlight covers are at the lowest position. In other words, they are pushed down all the way. When the HL is in the down position, the HL cover is flush and aligned with the hood, bumper, fender. When it is up, I notice the bezel is below the bumper. Also, the bezel is aligned with the bottom of the HL cover. So, not much play there, unless HL cover moves up, which would cause it to misalign with the hood/fender/bumper.

I will check if the HL when I raise/lower to see if there is something going on there. I'll post some more pics.

I asked Mike (Zoomzoom) to check his car and headlights. His are also showing that the DS HL sits a tad lower than the PS. Was this the way the factory intended? Who else wants to report in?

I don't have my car at the moment, but I know that when my SBG headlights were installed, my driver's side beams were a bit lower than my passenger side. My assumption is this might be a LHD thing, where you don't want to blind oncoming traffic?

that makes sense but on the other hand the lenses themselves are adjustable. there wouldnt really be a reason to droop the whole assembly when that adjustment can be made with the adjusting screws on the lens itself...................... or maybe im over thinking it idk

As close as I can tell, mine are equal side-side both up and down.

I posted a thread with a similar issue several months back too. Interested in any solutions.

Mine are the same. The bezel is slightly low but I figure that's ok because

1. The car only has the lights up at night and in the dark on a black car, its not noticeable.
2. The lowered edge of the bezel may prevent wind from getting under it and straining the assembly and cracking the fragile headlight cover mounts and cause the headlight cover to flip off at speed.

I had totally different bezel issue where I put the Mazdaspeed 50th Anniversary front bumper on my car. I re-used exactly the same turn signal lights as in the old bumper...

I turned the headlights on and as they opened, the lower lip of the bezel on one light kept catching the back of the turn signal light housing as the headlight rolled up. It was catching it by a good inch. WTF.

I looked for days at why the headlight bezel was snagging the back of the turn signal light housing. I could not figure out why. Nothing had changed but the bumper. I resorted to notching the headlight bezel lower edge to clear the back of the turn signal light housing as it went past. I've lived with it but I have zero idea why a bumper change necessitated a 1"x1" notch. Frustrating as all hell.

Checked mine just now. They are identical on each side :)

Now that is freeking weird. I'm having the exact same issue with the Mazdaspeed 15th anniversary bumper catching on the passenger side. It doesn't make any sense, as everything is (mostly) symmetrical as far as I can tell. Here's what I've found:

1. The turn signals are held in with one screw and one tab. Mazdaspeed cut the tab notch on the driver's side 1/4" deeper than the passenger side. I adjusted the passenger notch to match exactly, moving the turn signal forward by 1/4". It helped.
2. The only place it hits after that adjustment is on the back of the large bulb housing. If I remove the bulb, it clears. The passenger side bulb is inverted when compared to the driver's side bulb, and its shape creates more of an interference. I may shave off the bulb housing.
3. The passenger side headlight bezel does sit forward a bit more than the driver's side. This doesn't help.

Did you ever solve your issue? Or just the big notch? If you are catching on the passenger side, maybe it's the way the bumper is manufactured. The turn signals definitely sit in a different position when compared to the stock bumper.