We all like to drive fast, even at night. I also like to see where I'm going, so running fast at night with high beams on Interstates with 75-100' wide medians is a good way to irritate oncoming traffic. But yesterday, I drove for three hours before dawn on I-10 through N. Florida and Alabam with high beams and the oncoming traffic did not seem to mind.

An occasional trucker would flick lights requesting dims and I prompltly complied. But, overall, oncoming traffic did not seem to notice or mind the brights. The lights seem to be channeled for the driver without a lot of scatter light escaping into the eyes of oncoming traffic. In the past, I have always felt like I was overdriving my lights when on dim. No more!

Thanks, BMW.

 

I think you would get short shrift if you did that in the UK!

 

I was reading somewhere where BMW is developing a new technology where the lights can be pinpointed using some sort of active matrix.

In a nutshell, what that means is that you could be driving with high beams on but they will "see" oncoming cars and will dim only the part of the "beam pattern" that would blind the oncoming car.

It looks like a really elegant solution to this age old problem.

 

Maybe not if you only do it where you have the wide 75-100' (25-33 m) median between oncoming. I was amazed. Past experience has been just as you suggested so I never did it. I truly believe these lights are not as offensive as what we would expect. I rode with my fingers clutching the dimmer expecting every car to give me a flick, finger or whatever. Didn't happen very often and then usually a trucker in a high cab.

 

I guess that proves that no one looks in their rear view mirror where you live! Are these with or without xenon's?

The refocused xenon's in high beam mode are a killer if you glance at the rear view mirror with someone who has them behind you....

 

JDN.......our motorways over here are only about 100' wide, let alone the central reservations !

 

You are absolutely right, Nick. I do not mind dimming when overtaking, because the fellow ahead has lights, is looking, and the combination gives you a buffer for the area that you cannot cover on low beam. I always hit the high beam just as I overtake to show that driver what the road really looks like.

In my case, driving in the wee hours, the overtakes were few and the amount of time they stayed in front was short.

My lights are whatever comes with the 545 SMG SP. I haven't been blinded by the fellow in the rear in years because of the auto dimming rearview mirrors.

 

We have a ton of those, too. Best choice is to slow down in those situations or live on the ragged edge. The last thing I want to do is blind the fellow approaching frontally in the next lane.