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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum
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Automatic Headlamp Operation
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05-17-2006, 09:30 AM | #1 |
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Automatic Headlamp Operation
Does anyone know how exactly the automatic headlamps work (i.e. how they determine when to turn on or turn off)? It seems to me that however it is they work, some improvements need to be made...
The past few days it has been rather cloudy in NJ (not today though, yay!), and some of the roads I drive to work have pretty good spots of tree cover, so on this one stretch of road, my lights will go on, then off, then on again, then off, maybe a total of 3-4 times in this one spot. It happens again later on down the road, too. At that time I normally just turn them off so the person in front of me doesn't think I'm an idiot. Anyway, it makes sense that the car uses the ambient light outside to determine when to turn on/off the lights, but it seems like BMW picked a point and said, 'Any brighter than this and the lights go off, any darker and they come on.' Which leads to that weird behavior. I think it would have been better if there were a delay, like once the lights go on, they can't switch off for a minute, or even better, once it's "dark" enough for them to come on, it has to be some level brighter than the original cutoff point before they'll go out. Sorry, just had to vent! :mad:
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Current: 2008 E85 3.0i | Bright Red | Beige | Black Roof | Dark Poplar | STEP | ZPP | Navigation | Heated Seats | Premium Sound | Xenon
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05-17-2006, 09:37 AM | #2 |
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I am not sure how they are programmed internally. But I have no problem with them. I don't really cares what other think if my lights were behaving the way you described. I am so preoccupied with the ultimate driving experience to notice what the lights is doing.
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05-17-2006, 09:40 AM | #3 |
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I'm normally sitting in traffic when it happens, so no ultimate driving experience for me on the way to work
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Current: 2008 E85 3.0i | Bright Red | Beige | Black Roof | Dark Poplar | STEP | ZPP | Navigation | Heated Seats | Premium Sound | Xenon
Current: 2006 E90 325i | Monaco Blue | Black | Aluminum | STEP | ZCW | ZPP | ZSP | iDrive | CA | Xenon | Logic7 | Sat Radio Retired: 2003 E46 325Ci | Mystic Blue | Gray | Myrtle Wood | STEP | ZPP | ZSP | Xenon | H/K Sound |
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05-17-2006, 09:42 AM | #4 |
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I am sure whether mine has problem or it is normal. If I switch the light to Automatic in a covered parking lot, the lights will turn on immediately. Then after I drove out of the parking lot, the lights will stay on even it is sunny outside. If I turn the switch to automatic in daylight, it works normally.
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05-17-2006, 09:56 AM | #5 | |
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05-17-2006, 09:58 AM | #6 |
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I am no expert, but I'm going to impart what I know.
The light sensor senser infrared light, not ambient light. Hence why the lights shouldn't turn on when you are in the shade. It does have a delay. It turns on when it's x dark, and turns off when it's y bright (x and y being differnt). The sensitivity can be set. I took my car into the dealer, and he hooked it up to the BIG BMW Computer in the workshop and set them to least sensitive. They turn on at sunset, and turn off a little after sunset. They don't usually turn on and off while driving. |
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05-17-2006, 10:02 AM | #7 |
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I Have similar problems and posted a thread on this site before.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19798 Apparrently, the sensitivity can be adjusted using the i-Drive which I don't have. I guess I have to take it to the dealer for the adjustment. If you find a way to adjust the sensitivity yourself (without i-Drive), please le me know. |
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05-17-2006, 10:08 AM | #8 | |
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05-17-2006, 10:14 AM | #9 | |
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Having an SG car I don't want to use the least sensitive option due to visibility concerns, so I put up with it. At the end of the day it isn't really a problem to turn the lights off and on manually if they don't do so by themselves.... problem is that the adaptive feature of the Xenons is only active in the "auto mode" - I am sure someone in BMW had a perfectly logical reason for that (??)
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05-17-2006, 10:29 AM | #11 |
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I had no idea I could use iDrive to do this! Hooray, I shall fix it when I go home from work today!
Thanks all!
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Current: 2008 E85 3.0i | Bright Red | Beige | Black Roof | Dark Poplar | STEP | ZPP | Navigation | Heated Seats | Premium Sound | Xenon
Current: 2006 E90 325i | Monaco Blue | Black | Aluminum | STEP | ZCW | ZPP | ZSP | iDrive | CA | Xenon | Logic7 | Sat Radio Retired: 2003 E46 325Ci | Mystic Blue | Gray | Myrtle Wood | STEP | ZPP | ZSP | Xenon | H/K Sound |
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