Automatic headlights......FFS it's sunny!!
Discussion
Are everyone elses auto headlights a bit too cautious with old night time/day time cut off points?
Car is a 2008 BMW E61 with adaptive xenons - which are frikkin awesome btw, like lasers in fact. Trouble is the car seems to think that even the merest hint of a shadow indicates it being dark and sticks them on for no reason. This morning for instance, 7.20am, sun low in the sky but pretty damn bright....headlight on....why!!
Can you adjust their sensitivity?
Car is a 2008 BMW E61 with adaptive xenons - which are frikkin awesome btw, like lasers in fact. Trouble is the car seems to think that even the merest hint of a shadow indicates it being dark and sticks them on for no reason. This morning for instance, 7.20am, sun low in the sky but pretty damn bright....headlight on....why!!
Can you adjust their sensitivity?
dave_s13 said:
This morning for instance, 7.20am, sun low in the sky but pretty damn bright....headlight on....why!!
Think you've just answered your own question...Sun low in the sky. If the sun is in your face its much easier to see the car in front or cars coming towards you if their lights are on.
Yes apparently it's a coding thing to have the sensitivity changed. My E65 is pretty good and always seems to light up at the appropriate time. Crisp winter mornings with the sun low in the sky also seem to turn the system on in my experience but as said, maybe that's intentional. The auto wipers also work very well, definitely something I'm happy to leave to the car. I drove one of our work Eco boxes which doesn't have auto wipers and was surprised how much of fart on it is to keep turning them on and off to keep up with the varying levels of rainwater and road speed. Any function like this the car can do well is a good addition to overall safety.
bennyboydurham said:
Any function like this the car can do well is a good addition to overall safety.
Except... my journey home takes me round a big three lane roundabout going under a motorway. It's the usual thing - people choose which lane has the least traffic in, as opposed to the lane they should be in appropriate for their exit. So there is much lane changing and pushing in. Unfortunately cars with Auto lights tend to put them on about 3/4 of the way under the motorway flyover and it looks to all intents and purposes like they are flashing someone to change lanes! It's unlikely that anyone with conventional lights would choose that point to switch them on so sometimes automatic functions aren't safe as the gadget can't take into account external circumstances.
I find the various everyday numpties you encounter on the road are much better at judging how fast two small balls of light are travelling towards them than 1.3 tonnes of metal. I have my lights on more often than not, especially on motorways and I still have one of those old fashioned switch things.
Contigo said:
The function on my E61 annoys me as they come on once or twice on the average journey and I reckon them coming onn and off puts more strain on the ballast packs and hence why I spend a fortune on bulbs and power packs!!! Annoying having them!
Can't you switch them to manual mode?I've never had auto lights but the VWs I've driven with them have a normal light switch with "Off" and "Auto" being the next position along.
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