I am glad that there is the option of turning them off at startup especially if you go from a dark parked garage to outside daylight which means all of your lights would go off and on more frequently wearing them out faster.
DRL’s
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2005
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From: Pacific Northwest
St. Jude Donor '06
I'm not too crazy about them. I'd much rather they were white and blinked amber (as is required in my state - amber turn signals) but so far I've not seen anything to do that.
I've had my '06 since 12/05 and haven't replaced any bulbs.
I've had my '06 since 12/05 and haven't replaced any bulbs.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2008
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I have a related concern. Wish I could disable the DRLs from the DIC (like many other cars, like BMWs), but at least I can turn them off after starting the car. My concern is every time I start the car in my garage, the damn headlights come on, and am going to end up frying a ballast and/or bulb MUCH sooner, no? Am I wrong to assume that? Thx.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2006
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.Man, as weird as the M3 was, it had a simple 'OFF' position for the headlights, and an on/off feature for the DRLs on iDrive. Oh well. Thanks for your reply man.
Last edited by JCtx; Aug 12, 2012 at 03:07 AM.
Team Owner
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From: San Francisco CA
Can you do that? Before hitting the 'start' button, the car is practically dead (no 'acc' or 'ignition'), no? I was under the impression ignition has to be ON before being able to turn 'auto' off, which means HIDs light up first. Or do you turn the 'accessory' function on before hitting the 'start' button? That could do it, if the automatic light function doesn't turn on with 'accessory'. Or the other alternative is turning on the parking lights, but can't turn off DRLs/headlights until car is out of the garage, because otherwise the ballasts get briefly energized while rotating the **** past 'auto' towards 'off'. And those momentary sparks could be worse than a second or two, no? Inquiring minds want to know .
Man, as weird as the M3 was, it had a simple 'OFF' position for the headlights, and an on/off feature for the DRLs on iDrive. Oh well. Thanks for your reply man.
.Man, as weird as the M3 was, it had a simple 'OFF' position for the headlights, and an on/off feature for the DRLs on iDrive. Oh well. Thanks for your reply man.
I don't know anything about the accessory switch related to the lights.
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From: Springfield MO
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St. Jude Donor '11
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St. Jude Donor '13
I have a related concern. Wish I could disable the DRLs from the DIC (like many other cars, like BMWs), but at least I can turn them off after starting the car. My concern is every time I start the car in my garage, the damn headlights come on, and am going to end up frying a ballast and/or bulb MUCH sooner, no? Am I wrong to assume that? Thx.
When you push the start button; the instant the engine starts to crank, rotate the headlight switch on the stalk toward you, and hold in the Off position until the normal readings appear on the HUD (or 5 seconds, with no HUD).
There is only a brief period between when the engine starts to crank, and when it starts and then the headlights come on. But after a few tries, you'll get it.
The bigger question is whether this technique will actually keep the low beams and/or their ballast, working longer. Racer (and many others) doesn't bother, but he might not keep a C6 long enough for shorter headlight life to show up. Someone who keeps it for 10 years/200k miles, might save some money and aggravation. Or not....
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Brett Foote
Race Director
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From: Central MO
I also like the amber DRLs. I think they show up better during daylight hours.
The Avalanche clubs have members swap out the white factory bulbs to amber as a way to easily recognize members when driving down the road.
The Avalanche clubs have members swap out the white factory bulbs to amber as a way to easily recognize members when driving down the road.
Team Owner
Joined: Apr 2005
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From: Northern NYs Adirondack Mountains,http://www.visitsacandaga.com.
Originally Posted by ELP_JC
I have a related concern. Wish I could disable the DRLs from the DIC (like many other cars, like BMWs), but at least I can turn them off after starting the car. My concern is every time I start the car in my garage, the damn headlights come on, and am going to end up frying a ballast and/or bulb MUCH sooner, no? Am I wrong to assume that? Thx.
On my second C6 I had a 05 for a couple years now a 07 Z06, this is what I do when starting and do not want DRLs or any light to come on.
Get in car, get confortable and with right hand hit the start button, with left hand turn the the headlight gizmo a quick on and off. If you do it right you will not turn those dam headlight on in a garage(they will not even blink) nor will the DRLS come on at all.. Any time after that you want lights simply flick the switch again and you will have lights. As auto lights are a default setting you have to do this every time you start car!
I have a related concern. Wish I could disable the DRLs from the DIC (like many other cars, like BMWs), but at least I can turn them off after starting the car. My concern is every time I start the car in my garage, the damn headlights come on, and am going to end up frying a ballast and/or bulb MUCH sooner, no? Am I wrong to assume that? Thx.
On my second C6 I had a 05 for a couple years now a 07 Z06, this is what I do when starting and do not want DRLs or any light to come on.
Get in car, get confortable and with right hand hit the start button, with left hand turn the the headlight gizmo a quick on and off. If you do it right you will not turn those dam headlight on in a garage(they will not even blink) nor will the DRLS come on at all.. Any time after that you want lights simply flick the switch again and you will have lights. As auto lights are a default setting you have to do this every time you start car!
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 2002
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From: San Francisco CA
I'm not sure how important it is, but you can prevent the headlights from coming on when starting in a dark garage:
When you push the start button; the instant the engine starts to crank, rotate the headlight switch on the stalk toward you, and hold in the Off position until the normal readings appear on the HUD (or 5 seconds, with no HUD).
There is only a brief period between when the engine starts to crank, and when it starts and then the headlights come on. But after a few tries, you'll get it.
The bigger question is whether this technique will actually keep the low beams and/or their ballast, working longer. Racer (and many others) doesn't bother, but he might not keep a C6 long enough for shorter headlight life to show up. Someone who keeps it for 10 years/200k miles, might save some money and aggravation. Or not....
When you push the start button; the instant the engine starts to crank, rotate the headlight switch on the stalk toward you, and hold in the Off position until the normal readings appear on the HUD (or 5 seconds, with no HUD).
There is only a brief period between when the engine starts to crank, and when it starts and then the headlights come on. But after a few tries, you'll get it.
The bigger question is whether this technique will actually keep the low beams and/or their ballast, working longer. Racer (and many others) doesn't bother, but he might not keep a C6 long enough for shorter headlight life to show up. Someone who keeps it for 10 years/200k miles, might save some money and aggravation. Or not....
There you go that's how you do it.My other car is 24 years old.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2006
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I don't know how much life I'd save them, but know it's not good for the bulbs and ballasts to momentarily fire them up. Have CFL bulbs in my house, and the ones outside, turned on every night and left for hours, have years of service. Whereas the ones on bathrooms, for instance, fail every few months, due to constant on/off cycling.