My '96 854 low beams only shine out and hit the ground about 3 meters in front of the car. I have adjusted them as high as the manual adjuster will allow and it really didn't do much good (went from 2.5 to 3 meters or so). Someone said something about the housing being old and not reflecting properly, and suggested painting it with chrome paint or buying new headlight housing assemblies ($$$$$...no thanks if I can help it.)

The high beams are very productive...shining way out in front of me and give me a very good swath of visibility; however, the low beams are pretty much worthless when it is really dark.

Am I missing something?

 

Another possibility is the car was hit in the front and not repaired properly.

 

It hasn't been in an accident (according to vehicle history report) and shows no signs of having hit something or being hit.

How would I evaluate if the light assembly is not properly where it should be?

 

try removing and reseating the bulbs to make sure they are correctly snapped into place