Hello everyone,

I have 2015 F56 MCS with the AUTO ON/OFF switch for headlights. I noticed that despite being bright outside, the lights would stay ON or take forever to switch off.. I was driving under overpass and the lights came ON. Once I got out to a bright conditions, the lights stayed ON until direct sunlight hit the sensor.. this happens all the time. Any advice on that?

 

It’s pretty typical behavior that the lights will stay on for a short period of time in the conditions you mentioned, maybe a minute or two after the car re-enters daylight conditions. The lights won’t immediately switch back off after you’re out of the dark conditions that triggered them to turn on, if that’s what you’re expecting. Also, the time of year and your location matters. If you’re in the northern part of the U.S or in Canada, the sun is low on the horizon this time of year, so the lights come on sooner than many expect them to, and they’ll turn off later than many expect them to. That’s pretty typical of automatic lights that use a photosensor like MINIs have (a combined rain-light sensor).

 

Typical behaviour

Quick to turn on in dark.
Slower to turn off in light. It has to be a certain amount of time, and brightness.
Otherwise the parking lot lights at Walmart would have the headlights go out.

 

If you want the lights on, turn them on. If you want them off, turn them off. Otherwise, let the auto thing do whatever it wants and don't think about it. That's kind of the whole point.