Several months ago, my car's driver-side healight is much brighter than than the passenger side. So I took my car to the dealership, and I was told some sort excess wearout problem on my driver-side headlight, the entire healight unti was replaced. Since then, I am still seeing driver-side headlight is much brighter than passenger side, especially when my car get close to the rea-bumper of the car in front of me, the mirror effect from the bumper showed the driver-side is at least twice or 3 times brighter

I mentioned twice to my service manager during my 4-time dash ratting noise visits (yes, 4-time so far, TSIB was done twice, and yesterday they re-insulate the dash/windshield areas). I was told, it is normal to have driver side headlight brighter, the service manager even put down in writing that " Driver side is more like a spot light and passenger side is wider like panoramic view that is why it does not look with the same brightness". Does anyone ever hear this theory? I was driving the RX 400h loaner yesterday, and I can tell the brightness of the both headlights are very close.

I suspect the brightness difference is coming from the 1st headlight unit replacement, an older passenger-side headlight is dimmer than a newer driver-side headlight.

Thank you in advance for your comment and advice.

 

i can't comment on the previous wear and replacement issue, but it's true that the optics for both sides might not be the same. the driver side is a bit more focused, and the passenger side a bit more "diverge". the driver side is also supposed to be a bit lower than the passenger side to avoid glare on oncoming traffic.

have you tried to do this? park your car on the street at night with headlights on. get in front of the car, maybe 4-5 car lengths distance. gradually lower your body and keep on staring at both headlights. at certain point the headlights should "suddenly" shine on you. does the driver side happen earlier than the passenger side?

i am wondering if your driver side is shooting higher than the passenger side, thus when you are shining on the bumper in front, the driver side reflection is much stronger

 

3 times brighter is not normal, have you dealer compare it to a new GS and show him the problem.

 

That is definitely not normal.
The passenger side will be the one to appear brighter in most cases, simply because the overlapping driver side beam will stack its brightness.



That said, each projector (even the same model) are often slightly different, which may adversely affect output. However, I do not believe that it would possibly be that many times brighter. Have you compared your output on a wall at say, a few dozen feet? Take some pictures or let us know.

If they replaced your bulbs too, the new bulbs may not yet have color shifted like your passenger side, and thus retain more of a yellow (and brighter) appearance.

Alignment of the headlights can be another factor at play here, as it can easily trick your eyes into believing that one side is much brighter simply because it is aimed too high or the other side is aimed too low. Again, check your cutoff against a wall at maybe 25, 50 feet.

Might be other things at work here, but that's just my opinion

 

Thank you for all your input, I'll look into it further, maybe take some pictures.

 

whichever side you are located in a car, it's usually brighter in my experience. i.e. when you're in the driver seat, your driver's side looks brighter when you approach someones rear bumper, and when you're in the passenger seat, the passenger light would seem brighter. my girlfriend sitting in my passenger seat felt her side was brighter. hope this helps