Instrument lights faulty or a 'feature'?

[bloostar]

Hi.. 2 weeks into my ownership and I've started noticing some strange behaviour in the instrument panel. If I set the lights to '0' (off), then put ignition to accessory, the needles stay lit but the whole panel dims to off after 10/15 seconds. I've noticed it occasionally goes on and off like this when driving.. if I set lights to Auto however they seem to be ok (i.e. On full time).. is this standard as I've been around Audi and vw for years, never come across this before. I've time to get fixed under warranty if it's a sign of an issue but have read stories suggesting it may be a feature.. can vcds be used to set to on permanently as I like to control my headlights manually?

[Alan02]

If I`m guessing your issue correctly, It may depend on what the light sensor is picking up at the time. If your driving on a bright day, backlights will be on. If the light diminishes enough it dims then turns off your backlights as a reminder for you to put your lights on. As you say this wont happen in Auto position. My display can vary between very bright ( Sun on car) to dim ( dull day), then off when dusk.

[bloostar]

Thanks, I thought I was losing my mind.. I guess cloud and shade can affect it too... Can't say I like the design, just because the car thinks it's dark doesn't mean it actually is? Though the blacked out rear windows probably don't help . Then again, I'm set in my ways.. I don't like my car to decide what to do (Tesla take note, self driving cars indeed pfft!!). My old A6 dash was 'on' and that was it! Great machine the A5 though, I'll let it off with this one annoyance. Thanks for the sanity check.