My HID lights do the tip-up thing when the headlights come on, so I know the tip function works. But once up, they stay at the same level all the time, whether high beams or low beams are selected. Is that normal? Doesn't seem like it - why on earth would you use fixed HID lights for low beams and just add halogens for high beams?

 

hi
The hid do the dance when you switch the ignition on and yes there low beam only, they dont move when you put high beam on
they self leveling, so if you jack the body up at the front the head lights will lower and stay level
if you jack up the rear of the car body, the head lights will raise
that how they work, they dont use hid on high beam because they need a few seconds to warm up to full brightness, hence why they are not used for high beam and why they hid low beam allways stay on
cheers
joe

 

Thanks Joe. Ha ha, this explains why nobody replied for so long ("I can't believe this dumb *** doesn't know how HID lights work!") I appreciate your having the patience to enlighten a dumb ***. And it reveals that I still believe what I want to believe sometimes - I always assumed that because they have the ability to sweep vertically (auto-level), they also raised the beam - literally - for high beams. And I've believed this for the several years that I've been driving HID-equipped cars. Once again the quote from War Games arises: "Learn, damn you, LEARN!" Or words to that effect.