Headlamps need to be angled up

This is easy mate. There are only two adjustment screws on each 355 light pod. Both can be got at when the lights are raised, but once they are up turn of the battery switch to keep em raised and to stop them from blinding you.
The two adjustment screws are as follows. The outer single screw adjusts the side to side light beam. The one you need is right at the top in the middle of the light unit (the glass unit in the pod by the way). Turning the X head screw clock wise will raise the light beam, so anti clock wise will lower the light beam. Its not rocket science
Easy, but be sure to be careful not to unscrew the adjustment screw anti clock wise to much or it will unscrew all the way out of the plastic threaded carrier. Which is no great problem because it just screws back in again.
Then turn the lights on, on a level piece of road and adjust them to were you want them.

 

+1. With regard to your dim lights, please read this Thread by No Doubt and order the mentioned Toshiba bulbs from eBay (I bought both low and high beam bulbs. They're great!!). Link: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=171084.

Also when you go to align you lights, try to find a large blank, wall (e.g., side of a building or garage), tape some white poster board to the wall at your desired height and place two big crosses (+) in black magic market as "bulls eyes". Then pull your car away from the wall a reasonable distance 50-60' and adjust your headlights so they provide uniform illumination around the black crosses. Note: You'll also have to do this for the high beams.

 

You need to adjust the pods so they are completely flush with the hood when down. Once you have done that, raise them, and remove the front panel (2 screws on each side) which will expose the internal light assembly. This is mounted on three pins, two with internal screws and one which is the pivot. If you loosen the lower and tighten the upper at the same rate, you move the beam up, the opposite does the opposite. If you loosen both at the same rate you pivot the beam to the right, and the opposite to the right.

Measure the distance between the bulbs on the car, then mark this out on the wall. You should be on a flat road surface, perpendicular to the wall. The beams should drop 10 CM (4in) for 10 meters (33 ft.) So measure the height of the bulb to the road surface in inches, divide it by 4, then multiply by 33, and that's the number of feet you need to park the car from the wall. Then adjust the beams up or down to ensure the light line (the dipped beams shine though a lens over a blanking mask which should deliver a pretty sharp beam line) is right on the base of the wall.

You should verify this distance by parking another car alongside and your beams should cover about the same distance. IF you absolutely want to ensure you're not illegal, take it to any motor vehicle test center, where they have a light box that tells you the exact diffraction of the beams (insurances require this in some countries).

Piece of cake and will cost you a coke an hour if you drink it while you do it. If the beam is dim, then you probably have the same problem many Fcars have. You can buy an H2 HID system and it will give you excellent brightness (basically handles any input from 8-9 volts to 15, to generate a constant output), alternatively, you can set up a system that takes the power from the bulb circuit to energize a relay to then make a direct connection between the battery and the lights themselves (make sure you put in a 15 amp fuse between the battery and the relay) - this will give you the best brightness on stock lights.

I have HID on the dipped beams, and rigged the relay for the main beams. This gives the best lighting and works perfectly (but I'm not a fan of too modern looking lights on an 18 year old car)

Marco

 

Marco (Sorry, Sir Marco of Stoogeshire):

With regard to distance measurements. Doesn't each country (and even each State, in the U.S.) have specific requirements regarding illumination. In the F355 Workshop manual they give adjustment parameters, but state they are for Italy. I really like your "formula" (you must remember you H.S. trigonometry class). I think I'm going to use it to adjust mine.

Best,

Scott

 

Lawyers say "only for the country we know - so we don't have to be responsible of the ones we don't"...

You're right, every country/state/jurisdiction have rules etc. I have found though that the "must not glare oncoming traffic" one is the foundation of all. This model ensures that at the bumper distance (F-cars are lower than most) we can't blind due to the lenses and the mask built into the dipped light, and have a pretty reasonable coverage pattern in front of the car - at least some 100-130 ft, which is about the limit of a standard halogen technology bulb (meanwhile full beams will give you at least 500 ft).

If you "tune" it to this, then stop by a vehicle testing center and use their collimator unit (a box with a lens at the front, a graduated screen at the back and a glass top to see the pattern and is about 1.5-2 ft long) you can then fine set it to make sure you comply with local regulation at a total much less than Ferrari charges...

I came within 95% (actually reverse engineered the above formula for the Mondial t - which is at about 95% of the 355 dimensions) of the "perfect" setting for the UK MOT (our vehicle testing standard) and was within the legal range.

Marco

 

With the exception of California for emissions, vehicle standards are quite uniform across North America (USA and Canada) with only minor things like gauge icons, KPH vs MPH, language (english, spanish, french) and such. It would be too much for manufacturers if every state and province had differing rules/regs.

 

Thanks, Dave. I should have stated... for headlight alignment. Sorry, my fault. I really like Marco's method. Yes, it's involved but once you do it, I would think the alignment would hold for quite a while. I bought those Toshiba bulbs mentioned in No Doubt's Thread (high and low bulbs). They are "Flame Throwers" and I've had people flash at me when I've only been on low beam. I probably need to adjust my headlights a little with these new bulbs.