Additional clarification (I hope!):

The inner lights are high beam and are either Xenon or Halogeon and are used when turned on by the driver, the high beam assistance turns them on, or the headlight flash is actived by the driver


In a 'standard' xenon equipped car, ONLY the outer bulbs are lit, and provide dipped and high beam from the single unit.
The inner bulb only provides corona ring light.

I understand that if active lights are specified, the inner bulb will light whilst turning and is direction & speed dependant.

 

You are right.
It was exactly the same setup on the E60/61.

 

seems kind of ridiculous that BMW wouldnt make xenon lights standard on their new cars. But i guess it's still a business that reamins in business to make money

 

if anybody knows of an add- on or a way to rewire the headlights in order for NON-Xenon F10's to have "coronas only" for DRL's it would be truly appreciated. (hope I am not dreaming) Thanks

 

I think I've got it now - but just to clarify
On my E61 with Halogeon lights the inner lights are the main/high beam and headlight flash
On xenon equipped cars the inner lights are used but only for the Headlight flash
The bi xenon technology is explained well here:My link

 

Well, not exactly,
With xenons, the inner lights are not used at all, except for the coronas (this apply for the F10 and for the E60/61 from 2007,LCI. I don't know the function för pre-LCI cars).

Here's how it works on my current car, and on my previous E61's:
At dawn and night, when dipped lights are on, the flashing function is provided by the light deflecting flaps in each light cluster. They flips up, and down again, very quickly when flashing.
The HID's seem always to be at full power so there are no extra wear on the lamps.
However, in the daytime when DRL's are on (coronas only) the HIDs are actually powered up when flashing, quite the opposite from what they say in your link...

The inner lights are ONLY used when you have the options stated in Ricracings post.

 

I'm back again - only this time I'm in possession of my new UK spec 520d with Active (Xenon)Lights

You are right about the Headlight flash - uses the main outer HID light

BUT

In my car the inner lights are used as the cornering lights and ARE used - only one side lights up at a time when turning at speeds less than 30mph or so - I thought cornering lights would use the lower fog lights as I see in Mercedes etc but mine definitely uses the inner light in the main headlight cluster.

One other point to clarify is that the LED coronas dim when the switch is turned to the right to activate the side lights or dipped beam. This means the full white LED effect is only active when DRL's are turned on and the switch is in the "O" off postion or turned to the left in the "A" position.