Highlight problems with Audi A4 Avant - is it a design fault?

Three months ago I purchased a 2015 Audi A4 Avant. When driving at night I noticed a patch of darkness. This strange beam pattern is only affected by the offside headlamp unit. I took the car to my local Audi dealer and it was tested on the headlamp beam tester for MoT purposes and passed.

End of problem as far as the dealer was concerned. I refuted the decision and asked them to test drive the car at night which they did (over a month after I had taken ownership). They came back with the reply that there was nothing wrong and nothing they could do as there is no beam height adjustment between dip and main. I took the car to another dealer this month, along with video footage from my dash cam. They agreed that there was a fault but having compared it to another, identical Avant, they concluded that the unit was as designed and, therefore, not replaceable under warranty.

I argued and offered to buy the offside headlamp unit and replace it. A new headlamp was fitted last week and to my surprise has exactly the same split beam pattern! It's difficult for me to accept that a prestigious car builder such as Audi would design and build a car that projects darkness of up to 25 feet or more between dip and main. Have you come across this before and if so do you have any suggestions on how we can cure it?

Asked on 10 December 2016 by Geoff Parkes

Answered by Honest John
I can't remember the last time I used full beam on a motorway. Never necessary, except maybe on deserted stretches in the early ours of the morning. You say 'Halogen' headlights. These are normally adjustable. If you meant 'xenon', these are not and are required by EC law to self-adjust. On VAG cars the self-adjustor often fails and they are the cars that blind you via your door mirrors as they race up behind you and pass. If you can prove that this system is not working properly on your car, then you have a case. In the meantime I'll record your complaint.
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