The LED headlights are auto-leveling. No need to manually adjust. Even better: There's no physical knob or dial to do so.

 

Auto-leveling does not mean that the headlights do not have or require manual adjustment. All headlights (should) have some sort of adjustment capability to aim them properly. All auto-leveling does is adjust / level them to that initial aim when the vehicle is loaded down. When I first got my BMW straight from the factory, I had to adjust the HIDs to point higher because they were aimed too low. All the auto-leveling did was re-adjust the headlights to that too low initial set point.

 

I agree that headlights should be adjusted to a proper height, but not by the owner turning them
up or down following his (or hers) own opinion of how it should be. I don't know how it's done in
the XC90, but I think it possible that it's done via software using Vida.

 

Agreed if the owner doesn't know what they're doing, but in my case (and maybe the OP's), I've been doing this for over 30 years, ever since replacing sealed beam headlights were common place and and necessitated adjustment every time. You just need 25' of level ground with a wall to shine the lights on and measure up from the ground. As a matter of fact, when I used to swap my sealed beams to E-code Halogens, they actually came with instructions for proper aiming. Now the question is, will the owner properly aim them - that I don't know.

 

Knowing what to do is one thing, respecting the regulations is something else. And that is my point,
I sometimes see the (blinding!) results of headlights aimed far too high. Perhaps these drivers know
what to do, but when they find that the headlights aim too low (often this feeling exists because they
want to drive faster than the curcumstances allow and hence the need to see farther ahead), they simply
adjust the lights higher to suit their needs without respecting the slope as mentioned in the instructions.

 

A proper job will result in months or years without any oncoming driver flashing that your headlights are too high. There is more than one way to accomplish this.

Volvo history: 2005 S40; 2005 XC90; 2009 XC90; 2014 XC60; 2018 XC90
2018 XC90: Momentum Plus; Convenience; 20" double 5 spoke wheels; Pirelli tires; heated steering wheel; charcoal; luminous sand

 

Here in Europe the proper job is decided on by the obligatory yearly inspection of the car by regulatory officials. They are a tad more demanding than the oncoming driver.

 

.....................

RNB

Volvo history: 2005 S40; 2005 XC90; 2009 XC90; 2014 XC60; 2018 XC90
2018 XC90: Momentum Plus; Convenience; 20" double 5 spoke wheels; Pirelli tires; heated steering wheel; charcoal; luminous sand

 

Has anyone tried adjusting their LED headlights yet? Hoping to see some pics / manual of how to properly do this. Thanks!

 

Here's my post from 12 September:

My previous XC90's have had headlights aimed much too low on delivery. On these it was easy to raise them to the proper point using a metric socket on the plastic hex visible from above in each headlight housing: counterclockwise raises, clockwise lowers beams. There is a similar male hex in each of the 2018 LED lamp housings but the lamps seem far more complex than 2005 or 2009 models. I was therefore a bit reluctant to start the job if others had some experience. Hence, my post.

After reading the various replies to my question I decided to do as I had done on my earlier XC90's. I raised both left and right headlights equally on successive nights in small increments; 1/4 or 1/8 of a turn (or less) counterclockwise. After each raise I would see if any oncoming drivers were annoying by my new setting; no flashing lights directed at me. Illumination is much better now. One of these days I'll raise them a bit more again.

Easy.

RNB

 

Open hood. Look down on headlights. See hole and white hex beneath. Use socket as described above. If you need more info post again.

RNB

 

Thanks, will try that and report back!

 

I hate to sound like a broken record, since others have expressed the same sentiment, but you should not be eyeballing it...

 

No, don't worry, constructive criticism is always good... I looked around and can't find any official Volvo documentation on this. Even looked at TJs on volvotechinfo.com but I guess what I'm doing is out of the scope of TJs. Any more scientific way to do it more quantitatively?

 

I have the opposite problem with our 18, maybe it was previously owned by someone in this thread, lol! I'd like to lower ours a bit, glad to know it's straight-forward. It's also a pain how crazy LED light spread is, almost makes me not want to drive at night anymore.

 

I changed mine by touching here.

 

Is the right screw for the height adjustment

 

whats with the notch on the headlights output? i dont remember that on the 2017 but i noticed it on the 20 when i drove it recently (i dont drive it much personally)

 

deleted

 

My 2020 XC90 T5 also has a short light throw distance. In addition there are two "V" shaped shadows that are not aligned and cause a "W" shadow that is focused off center to the left.
I asked the dealership immediately about this when I purchased the car new and they said it was aligned correctly . Now when I'm making longer trips at night I need to fix this for safety reasons.

I tried and could adjust the white plastic screw on the headlight to adjust the distance, but the changes later reverted to the same as before. Is that expected?
The second screw (Assuming its horizontal alignment) has a black plastic cap, and is also very recessed and I cannot reach it with the extensions I have.

I'm going to ask my local dealership if they can fix it since its still under 4 years old, will report back

 

My 2020 XC90 T5 also has a short light throw distance. In addition there are two "V" shaped shadows that are not aligned and cause a "W" shadow that is focused off center to the left.
I asked the dealership immediately about this when I purchased the car new and they said it was aligned correctly . Now when I'm making longer trips at night I need to fix this for safety reasons.

I tried and could adjust the white plastic screw on the headlight to adjust the distance, but the changes later reverted to the same as before. Is that expected?
The second screw (Assuming its horizontal alignment) has a black plastic cap, and is also very recessed and I cannot reach it with the extensions I have.

I'm going to ask my local dealership if they can fix it since its still under 4 years old, will report back
View attachment 215786

What you have in that picture is the correct calibration of these headlamps. The V is indeed off to the left a bit, to reduce glare to oncoming vehicles (so yes, asymmetric). It was introduced after a re-design of the lamps (I had an early T8 without it at some point). When Volvo introduced it, they finally got a passing safety grade on the headlamps - before, they were getting dinged for glare.

I do not like those headlamps either. The whole thing is pathetic (I suspect because regulators do not let Volvo bring in the now-decade-old matrix lights, so we are stuck with this sub-par product for North America - I guess Volvo is not investing in a headlamp that is ten years behind the tech curve just to please American regulators). But you will not fix this with re-alignment. Yes, you can lift the headlamps a bit, but they will always be (and should be) asymmetric.

Edit: Matrix lights are, as of last year, legal in the USA. So I guess Volvo is out of excuses now...

 

Edit: Matrix lights are, as of last year, legal in the USA. So I guess Volvo is out of excuses now...

As you write, regulations don't/didn't allow matrix lights, so I don't think volvo used any excuses.

 

Is the right adjuster for the up and down motion