Hey guys, my parents got a used 2016 S-Max a while ago, and while it has no technical problems, I recently noticed that when they're driving at night, the auto high beams' dark "corridor" is to the side of the oncoming car, instead of directly on it, which looks to me like they're still hit by the high beams until they get close enough. Additionally, when behind a car, the right side of it remains slightly lit up (but not where the driver and rear view mirror is). Both of these feel inconsistent with Ford's demonstration videos of the feature and I'm left wondering if this needs to get looked at. I've attached a video and photo of what's exactly happening, and hope someone can tell whether this is how it should be or not. Thank you!

Oncoming:

https://streamable.com/to2p5g

 

That photo is showing dipped beam pattern not main (high) beam (blue icon on on cluster)

So I'm confused

32 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

That photo is showing dipped beam pattern not main (high) beam (blue icon on on cluster)

So I'm confused

It does have the high beams on, but it's a bit hard to tell because of the blur and the road lights ahead (I had to scramble to take a photo before they shut off, and they did just a second afterwards), as well as the car in front being painted black. I've edited the photo the best I could to try to outline where the beams are hitting, but the biggest tell is that the car's right wheel is lit up, while the left one isn't. I wish I had a better photo, but it basically cuts off somewhere around the middle of his passenger seat, and my worry is the passenger-side rear view mirror could be blinding the driver.

High beam shouldn't be on in that situation anyway

3 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

High beam shouldn't be on in that situation anyway

They don't really mean auto high beam.  They mean adaptive front lighting.  The type that partially cuts the beam around other vehicles.  Must admit that seems a bit advanced for a 2016 S-Max though.  I don't know exactly what type of lighting these use so can't confirm whether this is correct or not.

27 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

They don't really mean auto high beam.  They mean adaptive front lighting.  The type that partially cuts the beam around other vehicles.  Must admit that seems a bit advanced for a 2016 S-Max though.  I don't know exactly what type of lighting these use so can't confirm whether this is correct or not.

Yes, this is the one! Sorry, I don't know a lot about cars and am getting the terms wrong. I actually spent quite a while digging through google to find more information on this, but there's very little to find. The most comes from Ford themselves, notably this and this videos, as well as this one of a youtube channel doing a night test. The Ford videos show the headlights creating a dark "corridor" around oncoming cars and actively tracks them as they get closer, while my parents' car instead kind of just casts it in the oncoming lane's general direction and doesn't really react until a car gets too close. The videos also show a generous unlit area around any cars in front that are driving in the same direction, while (I hope more easily noticeable now) we get the far right end of anyone in front still being lit up. 

Since you have 'adaptive front LED headlights' has the correct driving pattern been selected in the setting ?

You should have 'Traffic Right Hand' selected if you have a LHD car.

Examples of different types of selection for the LED adaptive lights.

On 12/9/2025 at 6:34 PM, unofix said:

Since you have 'adaptive front LED headlights' has the correct driving pattern been selected in the setting ?

You should have 'Traffic Right Hand' selected if you have a LHD car.

Examples of different types of selection for the LED adaptive lights.

I didn't know this is an option and on checking today yes, it was set to left hand traffic! None of us have messed with the settings, so this was set by the previous owner. A little bit weird, because the steering wheel is on the left, and the car was imported from Italy. I set it to right hand traffic now, and the beams noticeably moved up! They were very dipped when it was on left hand traffic, at times making it difficult to see and this will hopefully solve the glare-free high beam adjustment too. Thank you!

9 minutes ago, elfish said:

it was set to left hand traffic!

Ah!!! and there was the problem. 🎉

It is a very common mistake, it is often set wrong. People assume that it is asking about the drivers steering wheel, which it's not.

Always nice to have a happy ending, and it didn't even cost anything 👍