I am new to the forum and I have an 04 VDP and my headlights are always on when set to auto. Is there a fuse or something I should check before taking to dealer. I have just turned off the lights for now but would like to use the auto feature if possible. I have heard that the light sensor is in the rear view mirror and may be the issue. Any suggestions on things to check before paying dealer to check would be appreciated. I have only had the car for a month and love it. Previously had an S-type and also great car.

 

Press "menu" on your head unit/display, then go into "Vehicle Settings" and see if you have "Daytime Running Lights" set to "On". If so, this will cause your headlights to stay on all the time.

 

I use the Daytime Running Lights in my XJR, they only come on when you are in a gear or neutral, in park they are off...and it's only the headlights that come on, no rear lights, and you don't see the green "lights on" indication on the dash either.

In the X-Type i've put some black tape over the light sensor in the rearview mirror, so the lights come on automatically all the time with the switch in auto (poor mans DRLs...) maybe previous owner did that too?

Or it could be that your car is Canadian spec with hard-wired DRLs...?

 

Thanks rscultho and Cambo351, mine was set to have the daytime running lights on.

 

Update on the headlight issue, it seems my lights were always on. The dealer says I need a new headlight switch. He also advised me that when the blinker was on, the tail light on the opposite side was also blinking. So, how difficult is it to change the headlight switch? Is it a plug and play or does it require dealer programming?

 

Did you ever change the switch out? If so, how much trouble was it?

 

Yes, I changed the switch. It was really simple. There are 4 screws holding the cover on the steering column. Once those are removed the cover pulls apart top and bottom. You are able to see the switch and it pulls out and the new switch slides in. I got the replacement switch from my local parts store. All has been well with the new switch and doing it myself saved me labor and the cost of the part from the dealer.

 

Hey guys. Coming in from eleven years in the future to say the auto-headlights on my (recently purchased) X350 VDP also seem not to work properly. When headlights are turned off, the display brightness is very bright, as I would expect for daylight. When I turn the switch to Auto, the center screen dims to night time brightness, even if it is broad daylight outside.

It would appear the light sense is nonfunctional. When set to auto, my headlights are on full time. Has anyone experienced this?

 

Mine has the daytime running lights set as the factory default for our region (Asia Pacific), so my headlights are on all the time regardless as well.
However, if your car does not have daytime running set, then your headlights should go off unless manually turned on or if the stalk is set to auto then the light sensor in the centre dash should detect ambient light levels properly.

Just checking the obvious....... you haven't got a dash mat inadvertently covering the sensor?

If daytime running light is not the automatic setting for your car, then you possibly just have a bad light sensor that feeds a signal into the instrument cluster or a wiring issue from the sensor.

 

Daytime running lights should have no effect on the brightness of the LCD touchscreen. It’s daytime. So the touchscreen should be at full brightness so I can see it during the day. With the switch set to auto, even with daytime running lights in operation, the screen should still be at full brightness during daylight hours. But in my case, it is always at nighttime brightness level, which leads me to believe I have a faulty sensor.

Also, I can find no way throughout all of my menu settings for enabling or disabling daytime running lights.

 

Also the illumination of the screen iself can be set to auto, daytime, or nighttime.

Before checking the light sensor, I would suggest that you check the settings of the screen, maybe it is set to nighttime, insread of automatic.

Best regards,

Thomas

 

thank you for the suggestion. It is set to “Auto.”