Hi guy`s, this may have been asked already. But do you all leave your headlamp setting in the auto setting? I ask this because I really like that setting, (never have to worry about the lights) however when I start it up in the garage every morning, the lights will come on. And in the summer months, they will come on when backing in the garage, hence two unnecessary turn on`s. Just seems like extra wear on bulb/ballast life. Am I just being paranoid thinking of it this way, or do I have a valid concern? Oh, I have the HID bulbs.


Ryan

 

Leave mine on auto. I have thought about it but decided not to worry about it.

 

Exactly how I feel about it anymore. My fil has a 2007 MKZ. His has been on the auto setting since new, and same scenario (in/out of the garage all the time) And he has no problems with his.

 

My 04 has been on automatic since new with no issue.

 

Bacause you are not turning on the HID Ballast then immediately turning it off, you are not really doing any damage to the bulb. The rapid flow of current, then lack of current can cause the filament to expand and contract quickly which over time when done many times will cause the filament to fail. The auto setting allows for a time delay before the lights switch off which is actually better for the bulb.

 

I have set it to off and turn it on when I need it...the bulb needs time to warm up and the constant on/off will shorten the bulb life....ballast ? not so much......

 

Over the three years and about 100 000km that I had my 2006, no bulb failure. I also parked in a garage. Auto setting used exclusively.

 

Over seven years and about 76,700 miles that I had my 2005, no bulb failure. I also parked in a garage. Auto setting used exclusively

 

I use the auto setting for the most part. Because I don't have Personalised Settings, I am surprised that the car will not turn the lights on especially just after dusk, when it is quite dark outside already, hence I manually turn them on. What I find strange though is that if I turn the headlights on manually, and the car still detects dim light, it dims the speedo. However if I then move the switch to "auto", thinking well it's dark enough now for the lights to come on, the car turns lights off and the speedo brightens up again. I swear I am thinking of putting a box or something that shades it darker than it is, so that in dim light it actually turns on (and not just the park lights either).

 

draco, your local Lexus dealer can adjust the sensitivity of the light sensor for you. It is one of the personalized settings. Granted, they will probably want to charge you for it, but you might get lucky and do it for you for free.

 

Apparently it's at it's most sensitive setting (I had them change it twice). They did advise that apparently there was not a lot further they could do to get it to dim earlier.

 

I find the 'auto' setting on my 07 RX350 not sensitive enough.

Yes the lights do come on when it's pitch dark, or in a tunnel/garage.

But at twilight no light at all. I've asked the dealer to adjust the sensitivity, but that didn't really help. So I use manual

 

Hence why I might look for something to trick the sensor to think that it is darker than it is, but also make sure it doesn't do something silly like turn them on when it's bright sunlight.

 

I've had mine on the auto setting since June, 2005 when we bought our 330. I've not had any issues with the bulbs but I do confess that I have always got into the garage rather quickly and then shut the car off before the lights come on just because I always thought it was unnecessary for them to come on just to go back off again but I didn't want to switch from the auto setting!

 

hi draco

thought of putting a piece of tinting ontop of the sunlight sensor on the dash to try to trick the system into thinking it was 'darker' than it actually was.

However...I believe that will also affect the operation of the Climate Control, as I think it also takes input from this same sensor to decide on the strength of the sun!

So partially blocking this sensor could result in the AC not being cold enough, unless you run it on manual mode.

And in WA (West Oz, not Washington!) I think you'd want the AC working pretty well