Dark shadow in low beams

I'm going to start with the obvious: Try cleaning your headlights. I've noticed the gen5 headlights are susceptible to showing debris more than my gen3. I think it's the nature of LED vs. reflectors. I swear I could see a shadow this summer if I hit a particularly large bug. The only consistent shadows I've noticed are a very small area at the very top of each beam that I think are shadows from the housing itself; they have a clearly mechanical shape and are identical left and right.

If that doesn't solve it, I suppose it's possible you got a defective emitter in your LED array. Maybe go out one night and park with the lights shining on something flat. Make a drawing of the light pattern(or take a pic if the shadow shows up in it) and take that drawing in with you when make a service appointment. It will give the techs a direction where to start looking. Also cover up each headlight while making your drawings so you can isolate it to left/right/both.

 

The "shadow" you see is from the small reflector in the headlight assembly. You should be able to see it on both headlights. It's normal.

 

i see some shadows in mine too but only on the left side. the right side has no shadow. i figured it's not the end of the world...yet. haha

 

I have shadows on both, they go away on high beam. I'm pretty sure it is just design oversight and not an issue per se. I've tried cleaning to no avail

 

Exact same thing with mine. I find it to be very distracting.

 

My 2022 Subaru BRZ had these same dark or shadows on low beam only. This statement from a Subaru Tech News

This black spot is to satisfy both Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rules that certain points of the beam should not be illuminated. The “dark spot” is incorporated into the beam so as not to “dazzle” corresponding vehicles or pedestrians.

 

That would make some sense if it was happening on both sides, but in this case, the shadows are only on the driver’s side low beam.

 

It's on both sides.

 

The low beam pattern isn't symmetrical. The passenger side goes further down the road, and is less likely to hit an oncoming car. It not having one of these shadows wouldn't discount the anti-dazzling purpose.

Upgraded Headlight Output and Beam Patterns

 

Not on my car. The shadows are only visible on the driver’s side.

 

Everytime I pull into my driveway with the headlights on, I can see the "shadow" on both the right and the left beams on the wall. They're the same shape and size. Like Trollbait said, the passenger side is pointed a little higher than the drivers side so you won't notice it on the road.

 

Gotcha. I’ll have to test that out with mine.