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Need help re: parking lamps/daytime running lights

8K views 8 replies 3 participants last post by  mycabrandz 
#1 ·
Hopefully this is something simple before I take my GT in early tomorrow morning or batteries get drained.

My parking lamps/daytime running lights remain lit up/ON even when the car is shutoff or even when locked. Noticed it when i returned to the garage this evening. I tried to turn off the daytime running lights option in settings and even set the lamp control to "0". Nothing works to shut them off. Instrument panel has the lamp indicator on as well.

Are there other settings/buttons/options I may have set that resulted in this or something that can be done short of going to BMW? If not, will my batteries drain before I get it checked tomorrow morning? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
#2 ·
Unless you either wait out the time delay or hit the on/start button twice when you turn the vehicle off, some things stay on for awhile. Are you sure that this is not what's going on? Also, you can set the timeout on the lights, sort of a walk-away timer, to enable you to see while walking away from the vehicle...you might want to check that timer as well. Don't remember specifically, but I think you have to have the light switch in auto and it has to be dark for them to stay on as a function of that timer.

I don't remember the generic timeout for things when you shut the vehicle off, but I think it's around 10-minutes or so. I generally hit it twice unless I want to listen to the radio of something similar, after shutting down the engine.
 
#3 ·
Hi Jad, yeah I'm pretty sure it's not the delay or other setting, those were the first things I checked per the onboard manual and the hardcopy manual. Light switch has always been on auto. I triggered the side parking light option as well which would warn that parking lights were on (when I opened the door) then switched that off, but the lights still remained ON. After a few tries of a few random other things, I gave up decided to bring it in. i did notice that after the usual delay, the lights would flicker OFF/ON once and it would remain ON. Lights were on overnight.

Brought it in this morning for a check up. SA said it is definitely not common and they will check for software glitches or available upgrades to see if that will reset it. If not and if it is more involved, they will let me know. Hoping it will not be the latter. I'll share the results once I find out.
 
#4 ·
FWIW, since I park in my garage, I don't set the lighting switch to AUTO unless I'm going to be away for awhile since it doesn't make sense, to me anyway, for the headlights to turn on momentarily whenever I start the car, or pull in. Those thousands of extra on/off cycles for the HID's just can't be all that great for it. Now, the LED lighting, I have no problems with.

Could just be a loose connections somewhere messing with the in-car communications (via the CANBUS). All it would take is a dropped bit or two.
 
#5 ·
Just out of curiosity and for my "enlightenment", what do you set your light switch to by default? or do you actively switch based on driving situation ("0" to start, then DRL during day and switch to HID at night)?

I'm not one to be mindful about switching lights. I learned this the hard way when I picked the car up at redelivery in SoCal because they set it back to "0" (had it at auto in Europe). Folks were waving at me that evening to turn my lights on.

Maybe I could illuminate my garage automatically upon exit/enter so the HID's won't get triggered.
 
#6 ·
As I said, I leave mine in the off position and just remember to turn them on when required. If I'm going to be away for awhile and not get into a garage, I'll set it to auto until I get home. I'm not sure how bright the garage lights need to be to keep the vehicle from turning them on, but I don't have a problem with remembering, at least for now! While I know the HID's don't have a filament, per se, the 25K+vdc power supply still has to turn on, and most things electronic fail upon turn-on. I've never had a problem in any of my last few cars with HID lights, but then, I didn't set the switch to auto, either.
 
#7 ·
Thanks Jad, once again, for sharing your knowledge.

SA just called, defective light/lamp control module. They will special order and switch it out tomorrow. This is the first service visit for my GT. So far my local BMW service center and SA have been very helpful and courteous about it plus I get a complimentary multi-point inspection.
 
#8 ·
I wonder if I'm dealing with a defective light/lamp control module as well. I turned off the "daylight running light" setting and the light switch is in the "auto" position and the lights keep running. I have to shut them off by flipping the switch to the "off" position. The same feature works just fine in our 328xi. I'll have the dealer check this out...
 
#9 ·
Hmmmm, I don't believe there is an issue with your control module. Mine stayed on regardless where the control module is set, even when the GT is shut off. My DRL stay on when driving and control is set to auto, which I believe is normal.

Keep us posted if the service center finds something.
 
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