The autolamp feature automatically switches the headlamps on in low light conditions; and it turns the headlamps off when the ignition is switched off.

I drive with my headlamps illuminated day/nite/rain/shine; and I am not a Canadian. I have been doing this since the mid-60s when I realized that other drivers noticed me better when the headlamp of my motorcycle was turned on. Since then all motorcycles have their headlamps wired to an always on position. While the primary purpose of headlamps is to illuminate the road, a strong secondary purpose is, in my opinion, to be seen. Daylight running lights (DRL) serve this secondary purpose, but I think low beams are even better.

I wanted my autolamp to be on whenever I drive, no matter what light condition. I took a small piece of black tape and covered the front portion of the light sensor control at the base of the windscreen interior. The red blinking light located at the rear of the sensor is still visible. The light sensor control also adjusts air conditioning in high heat conditions; and my little mod may compromise this function. So far, I have not noticed any such compromise, but I live in Oregon and summer is still not here.

 

There are "Daytime Running Light" conversion kits sold in Canada for converting U.S. vehicles. It is very easy to install the wiring, almost a plug and play. It uses a wire that is a couple of feet long that is wrapped around any available sparkplug wire. This tells the operation board that the engine is running and switches on the low beam lights, which includes the tail lamps. It works well as it does not draw on the battery until the engine is started.

Peter

 

Wrapping around a sparkplug wire is not going to work ... no sparkplug wire.

Just covering the sensor as the OP has done works fine. It has also been used to pass inspections by owners importing earlier Jaguars to Canada.

 

If I were doing DRLs, I'd only want the headlamps to come on. No taillights, no side markers, parking lamps, etc. IMO, the "tape" mod leaves all of these lights on.

 

I did the same thing with the tape and it worked fine. Did not notice any problem with the a/c. The aggravation I had was that the sensor also controls the auto dimming on the touchscreen. Since mine is a dd and I work both days and nights I finally decided to take the tape off. I do miss the auto on feature as I often forget to turn the lights on.

 

If you have access to a Mongoose or similar device you can probably turn it on in the programmable car options.

This is a screen shot from SDD plugged in to my '07 XKR.

 

Having only the head lamps come on as seen on many factory implementations is worse than no DRL at all.

Look at how many people run around with DRL at night with these systems. You can spot them easily because they have brights on the front and are completely dark in the back unless they hit the brakes or use their turn signals. Either they don't know or don't care.

At least with a "all sides lit" policy, even the clueless have the back lit at night.

The worst failing of DRL implementations used as auto headlamps is that the manufacturers lobbied to use the high beams for DRL. So, the clueless run around at night blinding everyone else. Some are lit in the back and some are not.

 

What you can do is find the override position on the instrument lighting dimmer. It turns the instruments to full bright at all times. Good enough for most usage, and you can still turn it down for long highway trips.

 

I find it incredibly ironic that you are saying this in this thread, because the OP is asking about modifying the AUTO-lamp feature, which presumably means that he would not be using manual operation of the headlamps.

But maybe the point is moot, because in my X350, the built in DRLs operated as an "all-sides" running light as you said. (I imagine the X150 is the same way.) Thus I never used it, because I think it's dumb to have all your lights lit up in broad daylight for no reason.

 

I went to my dealer and asked them to activate the DRLs on 2012 XK at its first service. They activated them by going into one of the programs and the DRLs go on when the car is put into gear and turn off when it is put into neutral or park. No charge!!