[IanS100]

I have an e90 320d LCI fitted with halogen lights and, according to the original specification sheet, it is fitted with drl’s. There is a menu option to turn the drl’s on/off but I can’t for the life of me see what difference it makes. The following seems to apply regardless of whether the setting is on or off

Lights Position 0: All lights are permanently off
Lights Position 1: AE only are on
Lights Position 3: (Auto-lights) AE & dipped beams

Does anybody know what difference the drl setting is supposed to make and where are the drl's?

Are the dipped beams supposed to be ‘always on’ (regardless of drl menu setting) with the auto-lights on or is this down to low ambient light levels?

Cheers

[parapaul]

With the DRL option on, the dipped beams are permanently on.

With the DRL option off, the lights work in Auto when switched on.

It is just low light levels at the moment - mine are always on too, even in what I'd consider enough daylight. Theres nothing wrong with yours

[doughboy]

Seems not right to me?

(firstly, in auto, the little green led will come on next to the switch if your headlights have been activiated by low light levels - that's the only way you can tell if your lights are on!)


When DRL's are ON you can't turn them off with the light switch, that's the whole point - they are always on!

I have xenons, and when DRLs are ON in the menu, then with the lights switched to OFF the angel eyes are on BRIGHT in DRL mode (i.e cos its daylight so they need to be BRIGHT)

If I put the light switch to pos 1 (parking lights) then the angel eyes go to DIM, because in the dark you don't want dazzling daytime DRLs on.

Then in auto position, it automatically switches between bright angel eyes (DRLs) and dim angel eyes with headlamps.

[BanziBarn]

Yep, the Halogen DRL setting simply keeps the dipped beam on all the time as long as you have the light switch in the auto position.

If the light switch is in any other position then the behaviour of the lights is determined my the switch only.

[IanS100]

Thanks for the replies

doughboy, unfortunately I have halogens with the permanently dim AE.

Are the sidelights still fully lit when used as drl’s or are they supposed to be at a lower light level?

I expected something to be lit even when the light switch is set to 0, maybe BMW don’t understand the principle of drl’s

[BanziBarn]

Originally Posted by IanS100

Thanks for the replies

doughboy, unfortunately I have halogens with the permanently dim AE.

Are the sidelights still fully lit when used as drl’s or are they supposed to be at a lower light level?

I expected something to be lit even when the light switch is set to 0, maybe BMW don’t understand the principle of drl’s

The Side lights (i.e rings) are lit when when DRLs are on, but they are drowned out by the dip beam.

Nothing is lit when the switch is set to 0. In the case of Halogen LCI lights, the DRL is simply the dipped beam. The only difference between DRL, and just turning the dipped beam on yourself is that they come on and off automatically when you turn the car on and off.

[doughboy]

Proper LED or Angel eye type DRLs have to be extra BRIGHT in the daylight (so they can be seen properly)! Too bright for use in the dark.

They need to dim when its dark (i.e. when headlights or parking lights are on) as they are not 'aimed' i.e. they are wide angle and will dazzle.

God knows why BMW have kept the old dim single light-level angel eyes on halogen cars, they are not bright enough for use as DRLs in the day, so the dipped beam is used to supplement them.

And its ridiculous to have a 'setting' in idrive etc, but then make them turn off when you put the switch to '0'?? WTF?

[BanziBarn]

I guess the switch is an over ride (i.e in off position the lights are always off) - they assume that most people have it on auto all the time, in which case the Idrive option does have limited functionality.

Still pretty crap though. Why is it so hard to make an angel eye bright enough to do the job in the day time.

[IanS100]

Originally Posted by doughboy

And its ridiculous to have a 'setting' in idrive etc, but then make them turn off when you put the switch to '0'?? WTF?

My thoughts entirely!!

Using dip beams on a car which BMW have lauded as having such amazing fuel economy is crackers, why didn't they fit decent LED AE to all the e9x models? mad!!

[zltm089]

Originally Posted by doughboy

Proper LED or Angel eye type DRLs have to be extra BRIGHT in the daylight (so they can be seen properly)! Too bright for use in the dark.

They need to dim when its dark (i.e. when headlights or parking lights are on) as they are not 'aimed' i.e. they are wide angle and will dazzle.

God knows why BMW have kept the old dim single light-level angel eyes on halogen cars, they are not bright enough for use as DRLs in the day, so the dipped beam is used to supplement them.

And its ridiculous to have a 'setting' in idrive etc, but then make them turn off when you put the switch to '0'?? WTF?

Plus one!!!....

Its much easier on the Audi...all the lights are controlled via the main switch ...