AMBER SIDELIGHTS coded/programmed after manufacture legality

[xjay1337]

defblade said:

BMWs have a system where if the side light bulb fails (IIRC - it may be the dip beam, but I think it's side light), then the check system picks it up and the lighting ECU does what you mentioned - lights the indicator on low voltage - instead.
So there's a very good chance that you're just seeing people who have broken sidelight bulbs and don't realise/care about it.

On some VW's you actually code the car with VCDS to run the indicators as additional lights.
It is legal.
You can choose a % between 0 and 100... around 20-30% is fine. Any more and that is distracting.

I've seen many E60 5 series that have amber markers on the front and their sidelights work.

[loose cannon]

It’s also a nice marker to show you were all the bell ends are so you can try to avoid,

[Durzel]

Might as well code the headlights to slowly strobe as well, I mean if we're all trying to be different and tttish.

[Riley Blue]

I saw a car, a Golf I think, whose sidelights alternated rapidly red - green - purple as it drove along; 'very tasteful' were two words that did not go through my mind.

[ellisd82]

Sorry to jump on an old thread, but as OP stated these can be programmed, how do you unprogram them? My new side lights work (come on), but have caused the BMW to think there is a fault and so put the ambers on - I don't want them on. When switching to main lights, they do go out and side lights are still on as well so that is ok for night driving at least.

[Daz_86]

Need a coding appliaction and OBD lead. Unsure if the official BMW software, ISTA, can do it.

A few mins googling your vehicle type and "activate amber drl" or similar should bring up which software is used and then you can reverse it, uusally its something like a country code change or a simple line of coding to "sidemarker = on"" or "off" etc

[4rephill]

ellisd82 said:

Sorry to jump on an old thread, but as OP stated these can be programmed, how do you unprogram them? My new side lights work (come on), but have caused the BMW to think there is a fault and so put the ambers on - I don't want them on. When switching to main lights, they do go out and side lights are still on as well so that is ok for night driving at least.

If all you've done is change the sidelights, and the car is now putting the amber lights on due to thinking there's a fault, something is wrong with either the car or the bulbs you have fitted, and my monies on the bulbs (The cars program doesn't change when you fit the bulbs - Have you switched from standard bulbs to LED's? )

[ellisd82]

Thanks for replies. Yeah they are new bulbs. Will look at buying some new ones I think. Don't want to be driving round with ambers on.

[Gilhooligan]

ellisd82 said:

Thanks for replies. Yeah they are new bulbs. Will look at buying some new ones I think. Don't want to be driving round with ambers on.

If the car has been coded to put the amber lights on like in the US then you need something like this to undo it:

https://www.mycarly.com/how-it-works/car-coding/

[liner33]

Or bimmercode both quick and easy to use