BMW 1 Series (E87) - Welcome Home Lights Not Working

[sagarich]

Normally when I unlock my 130i with the key fob, the angel lights and rear lights come on. However last night and this morning I've noticed that they are not activating but the interior lights are. When I start the engine all lights function as usual.

I wonder if this is an early sign that the battery is on the way out. The past 2 weeks, I've been doing lots of short trips and using the front and rear heaters to help de-ice the car. Is this a know function built in to protect the battery charge or something more sinister?

iDrive is showing all the correct options ticked in the lighting menu and the headlights are set to auto on the dash.

TIA.

[sagarich]

Anyone?

[Swervin_Mervin]

I was sure my E91 used to do this when I first got it, but hasn't done it for years now. I'm told that it should and that it's a sign of a tired battery. Other than that it shows no other signs of there being anything wrong at all.

[Craikeybaby]

Is this an option? Or only on later E87s, as mine does not do this?

[swanny71]

On mine (without idrive) light settings are store on the key. First time I used the 'other' key I had to re-configure this type of thing.

[parabolica]

Do you have an auto setting on your light controls? My 6 series only switches on welcome lights if the lights are set to auto; if they are set to off then the lights don't come on when you unlock.

[Mr Tidy]

Sorry I can't help with what you report OP, but I had an E87 123d for 6+ years and when the battery was dying (probably thanks to the stop/start nonsense that you don't have) the battery light came on in the "disaster" display on the dash - long before it died to be fair!

But it never welcomed me home! (Although it did have puddle lights on the doors)!

Edited by Mr Tidy on Friday 27th January 03:55

[sagarich]

parabolica said:

Do you have an auto setting on your light controls? My 6 series only switches on welcome lights if the lights are set to auto; if they are set to off then the lights don't come on when you unlock.

First thing I checked.

I did a 30 min diversion to the office yesterday morning and after that everything is working as normal again. So it must be a built in safety feature to protect the battery when it's low on charge. Will keep an eye on it over the coming weeks.