Auto lights

[gdallas]

Something that has bugged me about my car for a while is the lack of indication from it when your headlights are on. I keep mine constantly in auto but it's be nice to know when they are lot up or not. Sometimes it's obvious. Other times its not so. I find it mildly frustrating is all.. An example of when I'd want to be **** sure would be if it was raining heavily reducing visibility and light etc. Anyone else share this frustration? And is there any vcds tricks to help me?

Thanks

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[Guest 2]

Nothing in VCDS to give a visible indication that they're on, if you're unsure just flick them on :)

[gdallas]

Then technically they become manual! ;-)

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[_tones]

Something that has bugged me about my car for a while is the lack of indication from it when your headlights are on. I keep mine constantly in auto but it's be nice to know when they are lot up or not. Sometimes it's obvious. Other times its not so. I find it mildly frustrating is all.. An example of when I'd want to be **** sure would be if it was raining heavily reducing visibility and light etc. Anyone else share this frustration? And is there any vcds tricks to help me?

Thanks

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

In my car, there is an icon which lights up green when the headlights are on, regardless of whether they are in auto mode or manually on. Its just to the top right i think of the switch to turn on the light. May not be easy during day to spot but easily visible when dark.

[gdallas]

I got this. The green one would be the side lights tho wouldn't it? DRLs? Would it not be the red dipped icon that would tell u if they were in maybe? 23903

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[_tones]

I got this. The green one would be the side lights tho wouldn't it? DRLs? Would it not be the red dipped icon that would tell u if they were in maybe? 23903

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No, I don't believe so. On my previous non vag car, it was the same green light to indicate headlights were on. DLR's were always off. I can check my car again but not sure what the red light signifies.

[gdallas]

manual says green lights is side lights mate, and red being dipped

[_tones]

manual says green lights is side lights mate, and red being dipped

Can't post screenshot of manual as i am on phone but it states that green light is on when sidelight or headlights are on. Pg 59 bottom left. If sidelights are DLRs then it doesn't answer your question about finding out when headlights are on unfortunately. I've never even noticed a red light so ill look out for it next time.

[gdallas]

likewise, i will check on way to work to see if just the green light stays on for me (i.e. drl) and report back

[_tones]

Can't post screenshot of manual as i am on phone but it states that green light is on when sidelight or headlights are on. Pg 59 bottom left. If sidelights are DLRs then it doesn't answer your question about finding out when headlights are on unfortunately. I've never even noticed a red light so ill look out for it next time.

Right,

I've tried the combinations on my way to work.
- When in AUTO mode, the green or red light are NOT lit by default (even when DRL's are enabled)
- When the headlights come on in AUTO mode, the green light only is lit up (not red one)
- When you move the knob one to right (in position of green light icon), the green light (obviously) comes on. This is dipped DRL's (the same as when you indicate and the one light dips, both of them are dipped in this mode). This triggers the red light to come on to0.
- When you move the knob to red light icon, the headlights come on and the green and red lights are again both lit.

[gdallas]

I didn’t quite have the same experience. In auto mode this morning when it was bright out, only the auto wording was illuminated but my DRLS were physically on. When I put it to the green bit (i.e. side lights) , the green bit lit up too, nothing happened to my physical car lights as the DRL lights double up as side lights. When I I put it to the red dipped icon, it lit up and my physical dipped lights came on which are of course my HID lights. Last night when I checked performed this task, the swithch had all icons and wording illumated whilst in automode, beucase it was dark out and all were required to be on. This all seems to check out with what my manual says each lights does.

[allanmb]

Do you have SatNav? That is the easiest way for me to tell if my headlights are on as I have night colours set on the SatNav. This is the only way I have found to show the current light status when in auto.

[_tones]

I didn’t quite have the same experience. In auto mode this morning when it was bright out, only the auto wording was illuminated but my DRLS were physically on. When I put it to the green bit (i.e. side lights) , the green bit lit up too, nothing happened to my physical car lights as the DRL lights double up as side lights. When I I put it to the red dipped icon, it lit up and my physical dipped lights came on which are of course my HID lights. Last night when I checked performed this task, the swithch had all icons and wording illumated whilst in automode, beucase it was dark out and all were required to be on. This all seems to check out with what my manual says each lights does.

It sounds like we have similar functionality during the day when in auto. So when DRL are on and nothing else only auto lights up. The green light comes only when headlights are on even though the DRL are already on. The difference seems to be when moving knob to green light icon. My DRL switch to dipped mode as if i was indicating. Could be different during the night

[gdallas]

when you say "My DRL switch to dipped mode as if i was indicating." dipped to me means the HID lights, do you have HID? are your DRL LEDs or Halogen?

[YawnGumbo]

When in auto mode, if the green light comes on then the headlights are on. If the green light isn't on then they're not. You can't have sidelights on with automatic headlights, only way to use sidelights is to select them manually. The green light is a bit of a bugger to see when it's light, but just put your hand over it to shade the light and then it's easy enough to see.

DRL's will switch to dipped as soon as you select sidelights or headlights, it's just it's less obvious them being dipped with headlights. This is because DRL's are designed to be brighter than sidelights, but they use the same lights. Only difference between DRL's and sidelights is with sidelights the bulbs are dimmed at the front and it turns on the rear lights.

[gdallas]

Some confusion here I think. Headlight is the entire cluster of lights not one particular light. My DRLs are exactly the same LED strip as used for my “sidelight” function. The only difference being that when in DRL mode or auto during the day, they are significantly brighter than if they were placed manually in the green “sidelight” position during the day. In the green sidelight manual position, normal HID dipped lights DO NOT come on as yawgumbo says. They will only come on when the switch is manually moved to the red dipped position at which point my DRL/sidelights are in sidelight mode, not DRL; or if it was dark and in automode.

[_tones]

Some confusion here I think. Headlight is the entire cluster of lights not one particular light. My DRLs are exactly the same LED strip as used for my “sidelight” function. The only difference being that when in DRL mode or auto during the day, they are significantly brighter than if they were placed manually in the green “sidelight” position during the day. In the green sidelight manual position, normal HID dipped lights DO NOT come on as yawgumbo says. They will only come on when the switch is manually moved to the red dipped position at which point my DRL/sidelights are in sidelight mode, not DRL; or if it was dark and in automode.


When in auto mode, if the green light comes on then the headlights are on. If the green light isn't on then they're not. You can't have sidelights on with automatic headlights, only way to use sidelights is to select them manually. The green light is a bit of a bugger to see when it's light, but just put your hand over it to shade the light and then it's easy enough to see.

DRL's will switch to dipped as soon as you select sidelights or headlights, it's just it's less obvious them being dipped with headlights. This is because DRL's are designed to be brighter than sidelights, but they use the same lights. Only difference between DRL's and sidelights is with sidelights the bulbs are dimmed at the front and it turns on the rear lights.


when you say "My DRL switch to dipped mode as if i was indicating." dipped to me means the HID lights, do you have HID? are your DRL LEDs or Halogen?

I'm referring to headlights as the HIDs (main headlights) and the DRL as the LED strips.

So by dipped I mean the DRL (I'm talking about the LED strip here if DRL is only when they're bright) are dipped when switching to the green “sidelight” position. The HIDs do not come on at all when in this position. No dipped mode for these lights.

The green light only comes on in auto mode when the HIDs are on. This signifies the Main headlights (Xenons) are on. They are not related to whether the DRLs are on or not. If the HIDs are on, the red light is still off when in auto mode.

When switchin to the 'sidelight' position, then the green light comes on and the red light also comes on. When switching to the 'red' lights position, then the HIDs also turn on along with 'sidelights'. So the green and red light are both lit up.

[_tones]

So checked the lights in the evening too so to conclude (I may not be exact on with terminoligy)

- During day
--When in Auto Mode the Auto light is on on the light panel
--When in Auto Mode and DRL are enabled in MMI, no other indicator light (apart from 'Auto' light) is enabled on the light panel
--When in Auto Mode and the Xenons are on due to weather conditions (e.g. rain), the green indicator light on the panel is lit. This is the only light that is lit in addition to the auto light.

- During night (when it's dark)
--When in Auto mode, all the lights on the panel are lit (as below image shows. I've attached the same image as gdallas did which i believe is from his/her car). This also means the Xenons are on.

So when the green indicator light is enabled (during day) or all the lights are enabled (during night), this means the xenons (main headlights) are also enabled. Hopefully this answers the query around knowing when the Xenons are on.

23911

[YawnGumbo]

I didn't say the headlights would come on when the switch was moved to the green light option. I said when the green light is lit when you leave the switch in auto then this means the headlights are on. This really isn't as difficult as you think ;)

[gdallas]

I'm not finding this difficult... I'm now perfectly clear how my headlights work.

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[YawnGumbo]

Its like magic isn't it? ;)

[_tones]

I didn't say the headlights would come on when the switch was moved to the green light option. I said when the green light is lit when you leave the switch in auto then this means the headlights are on. This really isn't as difficult as you think ;)

Yup, no one said any different.


I'm not finding this difficult... I'm now perfectly clear how my headlights work.

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Crystal