Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Jeffries
the adaptives turn when you turn the wheel, so they shine around curves. they don’t do the fancy stuff you can find in the videos, wrapping around cars ahead, etc. they do auto-dim for cars ahead or coming the other way. i’m glad i have them.
|
The fancy stuff is what BMW calls Intelligent Headlight Technology. It's equivalent to Mercedes's Multi-Beam LED and Audi's Matrix LED. They're illegal in the US because of an old law that require high beams to be completely separate from standard headlights. It's a neat technology which uses a lot of different LED's that light areas only where there are no other cars. So the beams can wrap around other cars, both in front and behind them, with the computer selectively turning off LED's to avoid blinding other drivers. These companies have been trying to get this law overturned for years. Canada may finally do so, but don't hold your breath for the NHTSA to embrace it.
Adaptive headlights are very nice, though, even without the IHT. They'll see incoming cars or cars in the same lane and turn off the high beams. And they'll shine cornering lights when you turn the wheel. If you're tight on money, it's not absolutely necessary, but they are a nice-to-have option.