E85 DRL Programming

[gmiller]

Hi - I have just started to use NCS Expert and would like to activate the DRLs on my 2006 Z4 E85. I believe I have set the DRLs to be active now but nothing seems to happen when I start the car - no lights on the front at all! What have I missed? All the other changes seem to have 'taken.

Regards Graham :headbang:

 

[Clubber]

I think in our cars, DRL lights mean, leave the lights on "ON" at the selector and it doesn't beep or go to park lights when the engine is off. So, every time you turn the engine on, lights will be on without you turning them on. Did I make any sense ?

Unless, you mean park lights on all the time but not the main beams, I have no clue.

 

[DPG]

Yeah that makes sense. I had it enabled on my Coupe (enabled via Intravee rather than NCS).

 

[Scooba_Steve]

I've been looking into doing this but have not been able to instal NCS on my tablet.

Here are the options available in my LCM - I can't give you any more detail though:

Line Code Status Translation
608 TAGFAHRLICHT_ECE nicht_aktiv DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS (EUROPE)
650 PO_ALS_DRL nicht_aktiv POSITION LIGHTS AS DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS
610 GED_FL_ALS_DRL nicht_aktiv DIMMED HIGH BEAMS AS DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS
624 FL_DRL_MIT_RL nicht_aktiv HIGH BEAM AS DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS WITH REAR TAIL LIGHTS
570 DRL_DIMMUNG wert_01 DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS DIMMING
173 DRL_BLK_VORN_GEDIMMT nicht_aktiv DIMMED FRONT TURN SIGNALS AS DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHTS

 

[gmiller]

Thank you all for the very swift and detailed replies - it's been a bit of a search for me to find out exactly what to expect when I turned them on. I'm going to try this today and see what I managed to program yesterday..
(I'll admit I was kind of hoping they would work like the DRLs on my last car (Fiat 500) but to be honest the Z4 is just so much more fun to drive I don't mind using the switch )

Regards Graham

 

[gmiller]

PS - I struggled with NCS to start with and bought Carly for BMW for my Android Tablet - you appear to be able to programme all the dealer options apart from the DRLs - very easy to use as well. (Their support said that it was not included for 'Technical Reasons' .... )

Graham

Update - Carly for BMW - Android - does have the options to programme DRLs on my Z4 - now duly programmed and working.

 

[Mangozac]

I've got an Australian Z4M and have been struggling to activate just the halos as DRLs. I've finally now cracked it though! The problem I found is that most of the comments regarding what needs enabling do not take into account the other related settings that are region specific. Australian cars are European based (the BT92 ID code of my Z4M confers the ECE option in NCS Dummy) but do not have any kind of DRLs enabled. So here's the complete DRL related configuration I found needed to activate halos only as DRL:

GED_FL_ALS_DRL (dimmed high beams as daytime running lights): aktiv *
FL_DRL_MIT_RL (front lights as DRL with rear lights): nicht_aktiv
PO_ALS_DRL (position lights as daytime running lights): aktiv *
DAUERFAHRLICHT_US (daytime running lights (USA)): nicht_aktiv
TAGFAHRLICHT_ECE (daytime running lights (Europe)): nicht_aktiv
DRL_DIMMUNG (daytime running lights dimming): wert_04 *

*Items with an asterisk were modified from defaults on my car

Hopefully this helps anybody else trying to code halo-only DRLs! As is usually the case, the secret generally comes from studying and translating all of the option boolean strings in NCS Dummy

Next up is fitting some LED bulbs to the halos so they're a bit brighter!

 

[enzed4]

With your DRL's setup like this, do they turn off when you turn the headlights on (ie, dipped or high beam)? I've never been able to crack this, and my DRLs stay on regardless of whether the headlights are on or off (I have aftermarket halos that are wired to the park lights/side lights/'position lights')

I've got an Australian Z4M and have been struggling to activate just the halos as DRLs. I've finally now cracked it though! The problem I found is that most of the comments regarding what needs enabling do not take into account the other related settings that are region specific. Australian cars are European based (the BT92 ID code of my Z4M confers the ECE option in NCS Dummy) but do not have any kind of DRLs enabled. So here's the complete DRL related configuration I found needed to activate halos only as DRL:

GED_FL_ALS_DRL (dimmed high beams as daytime running lights): aktiv *
FL_DRL_MIT_RL (front lights as DRL with rear lights): nicht_aktiv
PO_ALS_DRL (position lights as daytime running lights): aktiv *
DAUERFAHRLICHT_US (daytime running lights (USA)): nicht_aktiv
TAGFAHRLICHT_ECE (daytime running lights (Europe)): nicht_aktiv
DRL_DIMMUNG (daytime running lights dimming): wert_04 *

*Items with an asterisk were modified from defaults on my car

Hopefully this helps anybody else trying to code halo-only DRLs! As is usually the case, the secret generally comes from studying and translating all of the option boolean strings in NCS Dummy

Next up is fitting some LED bulbs to the halos so they're a bit brighter!

 

[Mangozac]

With your DRL's setup like this, do they turn off when you turn the headlights on (ie, dipped or high beam)? I've never been able to crack this, and my DRLs stay on regardless of whether the headlights are on or off (I have aftermarket halos that are wired to the park lights/side lights/'position lights')

I'll have to double check for you, but I'm pretty certain they stay on regardless of the headlight setting. Which is how i prefer it - why do you want them to turn off? It could be done by wiring a relay into the system but I'd be very hesitant to go hacking up the wiring loom!

 

[Mangozac]

With your DRL's setup like this, do they turn off when you turn the headlights on (ie, dipped or high beam)?

Hey mate, just confirming that the DRLs stay on regardless of headlight state.

 

[enzed4]

With your DRL's setup like this, do they turn off when you turn the headlights on (ie, dipped or high beam)? I've never been able to crack this, and my DRLs stay on regardless of whether the headlights are on or off (I have aftermarket halos that are wired to the park lights/side lights/'position lights')

... - why do you want them to turn off? It could be done by wiring a relay into the system but I'd be very hesitant to go hacking up the wiring loom!

It's actually the law here, but seems to be overlooked (the Z4 passed the last check and it wasn't noted), and there's no need for them to be on if the headlights are on, they don't exactly help with lighting up the road :lol:. If I keep passing the annual checks without it being picked up, it doesn't worry me too much. Andy Fanshawe provided a wiring diagram for a relay, and I see you can buy kits that will turn off the DRL's when the headlights are on, so if I want to change it I can. It just would have been nice to be able to code it instead.

 

[z4pilot]

With your cars coded for DRL's, do the rear lights stay off - or is this just a way to have your side lights (front and rear) on without needing to use the light switch? Also, does this work with the Auto lights function?

 

[enzed4]

With your cars coded for DRL's, do the rear lights stay off - or is this just a way to have your side lights (front and rear) on without needing to use the light switch? Also, does this work with the Auto lights function?

Mine may be wired slightly different to others, but:
With headlights off: DRLs are on, rear lights are off.
With headlights on: DRLS stay on. Headlights on (dipped or high beam), rear lights on
Auto lights make no difference, same operation as above.

 

[Mangozac]

With your cars coded for DRL's, do the rear lights stay off - or is this just a way to have your side lights (front and rear) on without needing to use the light switch? Also, does this work with the Auto lights function?

Not with the configuration I outlined above. There are a lot of different combinations though and I recall one of them activating the taillights while I was trying to find the configuration I wanted (it might have been the DAUERFAHRLICHT_US option).

The lights all work exactly as they did before (including auto headlights). The only difference now is the the inside halos (referred to as "position lights") are always on whenever the ignition is on