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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 BMW 5-Series (F10) Forums General 5-Series Sedan and Wagon (F10 / F11) Forum Auto lights - always on?
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      10-17-2010, 12:11 PM   #23
eripers
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I had an X5 behind me witch seemed to have same system. And I did also check this out. To me it seemed to work quite well. Main headlights turned on under bridges, in tunnels and in low sun. In the low sun the visibility in my rearview mirror was real poor so to me it seemed right that the headlights was on. When driving in longer period with shadow, a valley the low sun didn't get down to, the lights went back to DRL.
I don’t know where the sensor is but most of this type of sensors is in front of the rearview mirror.
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      10-18-2010, 07:03 AM   #24
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+1 for the same problem.
I have DLR on all the time but have noticed that the auto headlamps option, seems to operate when in complete, normal daylight.. it is quite random. This leads me to believe that there is a glitch in the sensor software.
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      10-18-2010, 01:00 PM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Soon ExAudi Guy View Post
Same here
Ditto. Noticed this on a long road trip Saturday, bright sunshine, clear skies, headlights stayed on well after 9:30 (sunrise around 7:30) until I just turned the damn switch off.
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      10-18-2010, 01:12 PM   #26
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eripers View Post
I don’t know where the sensor is but most of this type of sensors is in front of the rearview mirror.
According to the manual, the sensors on the mirror are only for the operation of the mirror. This has been my experience as well on my E92, because I blocked the front sensor to make it think that it was darker than it really was (to darken the mirror) and that didn't have any affect on the auto headlights.
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      10-18-2010, 02:26 PM   #27
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The sensors for the mirror are on the front and back of mirror itself. Camera for high beam assistant and lane departure warning are in the area where the mirror is attached to the screen, and this I think would imo be the logical place for this sensor too.
So to tests this you should cover up this part of the windscreen.
I cannot test, desperately waiting arrival of mine next week :-)
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      10-24-2010, 11:01 AM   #28
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I did test the sensor for the lights. It is the larger circular area on the rear view mount. I had the DRL on in the iDrive.

1. Set DRL to off (un-tick) in iDrive
2. Set the lights switch to "A"
3. Cover the larger sensor area and see the head lights come on

Now it works for me !
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      10-24-2010, 05:43 PM   #29
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Maybe its off topic, but does your navigation also go on night mode when your headlights are on? I notice if I go through a tunnel during daytime, the sky on the navi gets dark. Just wondered if your head-ligths where on but the sky on your nav us blue, then its not your sensor which is wrong, but how its programmed.
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      10-24-2010, 06:22 PM   #30
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Quote:
Originally Posted by joy5 View Post
Back to the original question, where is the sensor located on F10 and why my lights don't go off in reasonable sunshine?
Normally, there are two sensors: one for light and one for rain. However, I was told some car makers will combine both functions in forward-looking camera. Maybe that is the reason why camera is not so sensitive as sensor.
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      12-24-2010, 04:35 PM   #31
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I noticed that the auto headlights turn off during the day if it is completely cloudy sky but stays on with a blue sky and sun. It is very odd and annoying.
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      12-24-2010, 05:58 PM   #32
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They'll go off sometime in April.
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      12-25-2010, 12:29 AM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tallshorty View Post
I noticed that the auto headlights turn off during the day if it is completely cloudy sky but stays on with a blue sky and sun. It is very odd and annoying.
This is probably brought over from the E60. In Singapore where it is sunny most of the time in the day, the auto headlights does turn itself on even when the late afternoon sun is shining brightly head-on; and the annoying part is, at times when the sky seemed gloomy and somehow darkened, the auto headlight remained off!

I spoke to a senior tech and he did mentioned that the sensitivity can be adjusted by programming. He hook up my ride to check mine and confirmed that it is already set to high sensitivity! He did also mentioned something about ultra-violet rays .... and blah blah..
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      12-28-2010, 10:16 AM   #34
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The sensor is located on the back side of your rear view mirror
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      12-29-2010, 12:10 AM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindros2 View Post
So another oddball situation:

My automatic lights appear to be staying on a lot more often than usual. Even at 8:30am or 2pm with bright sunlight, my lights won't go off.

Anyone either (a) have this issue, or (b) know where the automatic sensor is located?
My 535i has the similar problem. Knowing where the sensor is located doesn't help anything. The sensor's sensitivity adjustment may need special equipment. But I just like to know if this is just purposely designed this way or just a false adjustment. Since many owners reported such an issue, it might just designed that way.
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      12-29-2010, 05:34 AM   #36
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindros2 View Post
Dude this isn't like "it's dark outside and my lights are on" or "it's 30-degrees and the ice warning is on."

We're talking about BRIGHT SUNLIGHT as I'm driving towards or away from the sunlight.

The challenge is that you can't set (or reset) the sensitivity.

I *believe* something is "tricking" the system, which was the root of my question. "WHERE IS THE SENSOR"?

Oh, and keep the sarcasm for another thread.
Bored, waiting for my f10 to arrive and looking through previous posts. Had to laugh at the comment above re ''sarcasm''. When reading back over the OPs comments this guy is off the scale rude- How can a 9 yr old have an F10
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      12-29-2010, 05:28 PM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Soon ExAudi Guy View Post
In Canada, DRLs are mandatory and are satistied by the corona rings. The full power headlights do not have to be on. Most cars run headlights at half power, or LED driving lights are activated, etc. Aside from looks, the corona rings reduce use of the Xenons, which obviously increases their life dramatically.
Actually most cars in Canada use the High Beams at about 20% or so power as the DRLs and not the headlights.

On my 08 335i, the DRLs are the center set of lights being on about 20% of their full power (these are halogen and are also used for High Beam flash to pass) and has nothing to do with the external set of lights which are the Xenons which work as the Headlights as well as the regular High Beams (aka Bi-Xenon).

I believe from 09 on, the BMW DRLs are the rings, and the center set of lights are for flash to pass High Beams using halogen lights (Xenons are too slow to heat up to be used for flash to pass). The outside set of lights can be Halogen Headlights or Xenon Headlights/High Beams (aka Bi-Xenon) depending on the model and option selected.

Last edited by Stephen5242; 12-29-2010 at 05:40 PM..
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      01-01-2011, 04:42 AM   #38
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Always keep them on myself for safety reasons, I want people to see me from far back during the day as well. I do hope your able to get it set the way you like it. Does it bother you that they are running, you cant even see them.
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      01-01-2011, 05:43 AM   #39
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In Holland you MUST drive with the headlights on....strange, but we are... ;-)
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      01-01-2011, 07:46 AM   #40
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They should be mandatory for highway driving. I have a sled I drive, old Mercedes wagon I beat up on cause I hate Mercedes, anyway, it has to work hard to get to 130kmh, but when I pass trucks running at 100 or 110, I NEED those DRL's to be on!
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      01-01-2011, 10:17 AM   #41
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindros2 View Post
So another oddball situation:

My automatic lights appear to be staying on a lot more often than usual. Even at 8:30am or 2pm with bright sunlight, my lights won't go off.

Anyone either (a) have this issue, or (b) know where the automatic sensor is located?
I have also noticed that my lights stay on during bright sunshine, but it seems only when the car has been left in bright light? To get over this I turn off the auto light when I leave the car and turn on again when i drive, this eems to get over the problem....maybe by leaving off the auot light for a while, the system resets???
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      01-01-2011, 12:15 PM   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindros2 View Post
So another oddball situation:

My automatic lights appear to be staying on a lot more often than usual. Even at 8:30am or 2pm with bright sunlight, my lights won't go off.

Anyone either (a) have this issue, or (b) know where the automatic sensor is located?
I have the same issue, the lights are always on with the headlight switch at "A" and the selection within the i-Drive is definately set to automatic not "always on". Alas I don't have the solution, just the same problem.
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      01-01-2011, 12:59 PM   #43
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Quote:
Originally Posted by finbrad View Post
Bored, waiting for my f10 to arrive and looking through previous posts. Had to laugh at the comment above re ''sarcasm''. When reading back over the OPs comments this guy is off the scale rude- How can a 9 yr old have an F10
I asked a legitimate question which owners are clearly having an issue with.

You and raleedy are wasting airtime with your crap comments.

Since raleedy's two posts are completely unhelpful "Soon we'll be getting questions about the low temp warning" and "they'll go off sometime in April", why not point the finger at the fanboy 3-series owner, not me.

"9 year old"? F off.
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      01-01-2011, 03:36 PM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lindros2 View Post
I asked a legitimate question which owners are clearly having an issue with.

You and raleedy are wasting airtime with your crap comments.

Since raleedy's two posts are completely unhelpful "Soon we'll be getting questions about the low temp warning" and "they'll go off sometime in April", why not point the finger at the fanboy 3-series owner, not me.

"9 year old"? F off.
Read my post again. I make no reference at all to content, rather your bad attitude. Instead of going off on one and resorting to using expletives, read back over your posts and try to be objective. You are downright rude. I always think people who are aggressive on forums find it hard to assert themselves in their daily lives. No disrespect to 9 year olds but you are behaving like one on a bad day!!

This is obviously totally off topic but my point is that in order to foster an environment where people are comfortable airing their opinions, it's important that we are all courteous in our posts.

Last edited by finbrad; 01-01-2011 at 03:48 PM..
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