Dear All,

I am wondering about the Daytime Running Lights setting. It seems that the dealer must program this option. My question is, what are the pros and cons about activating this option? The obvious "pro" is an increase in visibility to other drivers and therefore safety. But my hunch is that there is more to this than meets the eye or BMW would ship all cars with this defaulted to "on" for liability purposes. So anybody have thoughts on the "cons" of turning on the DRLs? Is there a decrease in the life expectancy of the bulbs? Are bugs more likely to zero in on my car? (just kidding).

Any thoughts you might have would be greatly appreciated. I have never owned a car with this function before.

Thanks and best regards,

Jeff

Registered: I believe this option is iDrive-controlled and not a dealer-only item.

Sam

This option is not in MY I-drive

not on my i-drive either.......

I re-read the online users' guide and I did find the "daytime driving lamps" section. All it said was, sure, no problem, just manually turn the switch two clicks and voilla! Sorry, I don't know where I saw that or, now, if I did. My dealer is checking on what options are dealer-set. He has never seen this sheet that the 2000 E39 had, of what you wanted for several options, at least some of which are iDrive-settable. He's going to have to work for his all 5's. My auto, ordered on 2/17 and $2k deposit given, is still only a virtual car, kind of like slide-ware, in that there is still no production number. Arrrrgggghhhh. Again, I am sorry for any confusion I caused.

Sam

IMO it is dealer adjustable, the reason is simple, in some countries you have to keep your lights on all the time, if they made it user adjustable then those people would be able to disable this feature...

Thanks for your thoughts.

I am pretty sure that this must be set by the dealer.

My real question is, should I bother? I note that nobody chimed in that they utilize DRLs on either their E60 or some other car. I am interested in whether there are any downsides to this.

Thanks for all of your collective advice and experience!

-Jeff

I also wondered the same thing...

Will the bulbs burn out quicker if they're on all the time? Logic tells me "yes".

Safety or longer burning lights. What is better?

The day time running light will cause more gas consumption. Probably minor. The new LED technology will allow same gas consumption even with day time running light.