Auto on/off lights upon stopping..

[Jez200]

Driving home in traffic last night i noticed a following car with HID lights that appeared to keep 'flashing' me.. FUrther down the road at a 'lit' section of road we came to a stop and i saw it was a 52 reg 5 Series estate. As it came to a stop the main beam turned off leaving just those 'ring / halo' of lights on. As soon as he started moving again the main beam came back on! This continued up the road for about half a mile and was incredibly annoying!

Quaestion: Is this an actual BMW feature? It was a middle aged guy driving so didnt look the type to be fiddling with his car.. although i did spot an 'M' badge on the boot as he turned off. (It clearly wasnt an M5 estate!)

[the_g_ster]

It's not, somebody being a pain.

Just the same as all those people that feel foglights are required in a town centre, along with an exhaust that should be on a rallye car, and eye watering acceleration to get the next set of lights and those people that feel the rallye style set belt pads are needed on a 1.4 Focus that of course offers gravity defying g forces.

[john_p]

Sounds like he was turning off the engine at each stop.

[Jez200]

I didnt think it was a std. feature!

I just can't think why you would intentionally have your lights wired to do this?!!

Pretty sure he wasnt turning off the engine each time as it was 'start-stop' traffic so only 10 seconds of stopping before moving again.

Maybe the wiring is just fked on his car!

[john_p]

Maybe auto lights not quite set up right.

I remember they'd always pick a bad time to switch on, like approaching a t-junction with someone waiting to pull out

[Matt UK]

john_p said:

Sounds like he was turning off the engine at each stop.

Agreed

[Defcon5]

Will HIDs be standard fit or aftermarket on an E39?

[MarkwG]

Light fit depends on the age of the car, so could be after market or OEM: my guess would be a dodgy light sensor on the auto-lights, which he's not aware of.

[4rephill]

It could have been a driver from a foreign country.
In Japan it's a common practice to switch off the dip beam and wait with just the sidelights on when stationary as a courtesy to other drivers.