no, it's not. i just jacked it up a little, cranked the steering wheel and entirely removed the plastic cover. then it was just a matter of adjusting it to my preference with an 8mm nut driver. i just think the screw should be a little easier to get to. anyway, now it's dialed.

 

So you were able to get a nut driver in there even with the tire installed?
That's good to know.

 

No you can reach it easily from the engine bay with a long phillips screwdriver. See post 18 of this thread for pics.

 

phillips? mine was slotted for a flat blade screwdriver but the 8mm nut driver worked better. the slot in the screw was not very deep and i was worried i'd strip the head.

 

yeah, i made an adjustment with the lights 10 ft. away pointed at the garage door. i left the plastic cover off and took it for a test drive to see how they really shined on the road. i still had that annoying z-pattern so i whipped in a parking lot and raised the driver light up more. i know the z-pattern is for safety of oncoming traffic but if i can only see half my lane that's not very safe either. my other 04 rx-8 had xenons and i never noticed the level of the level of the lights being uneven. i kept turning the screw counter-clockwise, a 1/2 turn at a time and then tightening it 1/4 turn, trying to get the driver light to project at the same level as the passenger. after a few times it didn't seem to be getting any better. i still had a slight z-pattern. so i called it a night.

 

You must be going after a different screw. The service adjustment isn't quite a screw, it's more like a gear cog that is meant to engage a large Philips screwdriver from the side, and is reachable from standing over the engine bay. Here's another pic. See the teeth?

 

mine are all screwed up....cant I just remove or unhook the stupid sensors and then manually adjust?