Are they useful though? It seems like if you don't even really notice them it may not be the greatest function. I'm also not sure I would spend the money on this feature as a stand alone thing.
There are a couple of reasons why I don't notice them operating. I drive mainly in the city where street lights seem to be at every turn and so headlight movement may not be very apparent. Also, I'm not looking for their movement - I have gotten used to them just doing their thing. In fact, I think trying to follow the center of the beam can be distracting and an accident waiting to happen. When I drive my wife's car which has non-moving lights, I don't have any visibility issues. If I drove a lot on dark narrow roads it might be advantageous to pay extra for them.
Perhaps it is a more advantageous feature for Europeans since their streets are narrower in cities.
I've been driving a Volvo XC60 with HID Active bending lights for the past 5 years and you really notice them when you turn the steering wheel the headlights also follow but they only bend at an angle of 15deg which in reality is not that much. Do they help? Probably since if the road is turning then you do get better visibility on the approach angle but the fact that the headlights are already HID makes a huge diff vs halogen beams. Honestly, even if I am driving without adaptive headlights I would still be fine with them. I'd rather have HID or LED headlamps than halogen. Do I find it worth it for the extra cost to upgrade to adaptive lights? My opinion is no but do I find it worth to upgrade say from halogen to HID or LED? Definitely!
