When you shut off the car, are they not supposed to turn off after a while? It appears that I left mine on last night I'm not exactly sure how that happened; anyhow, my car started fine this morning.

When I took the dog out last night, I walked by the car, and I saw no sign of them being turned on. Yet this morning, I walk out and they're on. Is there some sort of timer if you leave them on?

I feel silly asking this, but maybe you guys have some thoughts?

btw, it was raining last evening, so we were driving with the lights on. Apparently, the xenons turned off along when the engine is shut off, but the parking lights stayed on.

 

The headlights will turn off, but not the parking lights. BMW did this intentionally to prevent people asking how to keep their parking lights on when their car is parked (with the key removed).

Crafty devils, those Germans.

 

Did I cause any damage to the battery? Or will it recharge whilst driving?

 

No real damage done, alhtough it's not GREAT for your battery to run it down. BUt, if it started, it was not drained very much so don't sweat it.

and yes, it will recharge completely in about 20 minutes of normal driving ....

 

Great, thanks guys. I tell ya, this stuff doesn't happen every day. When we were getting out of the car, the dog was all excited and jumping all over the place and it was raining... so I wanted to get out as fast as possible, and of course got distracted and forgot about the lights.

 

That is NO excuse!!!

 

I know When I walked out this morning and saw them on, I felt as if I betrayed my car.

 

FYI none of my lights stay on after I park my car. When I shut off the engine the headlights go off. The parking lights stay on (upper half of foglights). They go off when I open the door, whether or not I turn off the inside displays (stereo, time/date on the tack). I would not want my parking lights to stay on all the time (they are on all the time when I drive). What if you left it for a week? Dead battery at the airport parking lot.

 

I figured they turned off when the doors open... I really could have swore that when I took the dog out last night, no lights were on. Could it be possible that the parking lights turned back on when I hit the unlock button on my FOB? It might make sense since the light switch in the car was left in the on position?

 

Leave it on "auto" constantly and you'll never have to wonder "did I turn them off (or on) ?"

 

What I have found is the following:
1. With the switch turned to headlight position you do not get
an audible alarm when the car is turned off. The headlights go off
when the car is switched off. The parking lights go off when the
key is removed. When you return to your car and push the unlock
button on the remote the parking lights turn on again. When the car is started the headlights come on again.
2. With the switch turned to parking lights only an audible alarm is heard
when the car is turned off. The parking lights will remain on after leaving and locking the car.

I am not sure if any of this can be re-programmed as I am happy with this setup. Another item is I have the Xenon headlights and am not sure if this would make any difference, although I doubt the headlights would remain on as these use quite a bit of power.

 

Wonderfule, Dan... just as I figured; there was no way they were on the whole night. I figured they came back on when I unlocked my doors via my fob.