adjusting headlights for a 2001 beetle

Asked by mimiisacajun Jul 07, 2008 at 07:53 PM about the 2001 Volkswagen Beetle GLS 2.0

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Can someone PLEASE tell me how to adjust the headlights on a 2001 beetle?  just tell me where the screws are to open the stinkin thing

10 Answers

155

why do you want to adjust the headlights??...

12 people found this helpful.
40

the new beetle doesnt have screws like other cars. the whole headlight assemble is a cylinder that has a locking ring on each side. look down over the headlight and look for the ring with a small hook shaped ever. pull the lever back to release the headlight. careful not to break it off. you may need a to pry a little to get the headlight assemble. but it will all come out as one piece. its easy to find the filaments then. make sure you aligh the tabes to put back and then slide the ring back the other way. done.

4 people found this helpful.
1,200

The headlights on the 2001 Beetle are adjustable and the procedure is very easy. Open the hood and look straight down at one of the headlight canisters. you will find 2 plastic hex-head screws integrated into each headlight canister. One adjusts the light beam up/down, the other left/right. There is no need to remove the headlight canister from the fender as a previous blogger said. Next, find a flat surface and park the car about 1 foot away from a wall or similar structure with the car facing it. Make 3 vertical lines on the wall (make the lines about 12 inches long). One directly in front of the VW emblem on your hood, and one in front of each headlight. Next, carefully move the car straight back 25 feet from the wall. measure the vertical distance from the ground to the center of one of your headlights, then draw a line horizontally across the wall in front of you (chalk works good). Make the line straight across, but 2" lower to the ground than the headlight measurement you just took. You should have a horizontal line across the wall intersecting the 3 vertical lines (center, left headlight, right headlight). Turn the headlights on and find the plastic hex-head screw that controls vertical up/down of the beam. The top of the beam should touch the bottom of the horizontal line on the wall. When you've got that, the next part is a bit tricky. Look carefully at the headlight beams on the wall, you will notice that the light beam is somewhat flat on the top (we call this "cut-off".. Cars sold on the European market have a razor sharp cut-off, as required by law... USA beam pattern is somewhat fuzzy, but there is still a noticeable cut-off on most USA VWs). For the light beams on the wall, the cut-off is horizontal and flat, but goes up at about a 25 degree angle at the far right of each beam. The part of each beam where it transitions from flat to the 25 degree angle forms a angle in the light pattern on the wall. adjust the screw that controls the left/right movement of the beam so that the point of the angle in the light beam on the wall falls directly over the vertical lines you drew earlier in front of each headlight. Do this on both sides & your're done! -Hope this helps.. -VW mechanic

111 people found this helpful.
160

Dmaster808! Does this app;y to a 2006 VW Beetle as well?

16 people found this helpful.
110

does this also apply to a 1999 VW beetle ?

11 people found this helpful.
20

How to change front Courtesy light bulb on 2006 vw beetle 2006

2 people found this helpful.
10

when starting a volkswagen beetle bug are the headlights supposed to be on?

1 people found this helpful.

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