Interior Headlamps
 

I've owned my X5 for close to ten years. Tonight I realized something I did not know about the vehicle. The interior headlamps are never used... unless you flash to pass. The high and low beams are the outer lamps.

Yet the inner lamps seem to be the brightest. (I think this may be an optical illusion though - maybe they are aimed higher than the high beams?)

Anyway, there seems to be absolutely no way to used this very bright lights in tandem with the high beams

Am I missing something? Is there anyway to turn these very bright and very expensive lamps on in normal driving on a dark, dark road? Or are they just for flash to pass?

The stalk that used to flash the head lights, push it forward instead of pulling it backward.

Yes, that turns on the high beams (outer lamps) not the FTP (inner lamps).

On my X the low beams are on the outside and the high beams are in the center. My is a USA X5 with the xenon head lights. Pushing the stalk forward turn on the high beam and the low beams remains on. My X is coded so that the fog light work with either low beams or high beams. In the USA fog lights are not coded to work with the high beams on.

Are you referring to the DRLs as "inner" - halogens, closest to the kidneys?

I noticed the same thing and coded mine as daytime running lights to save the HID's. I just ordered some led bulbs for them as well :)

Mine is also US, Xenon, DLR not selected.

DRL's are different in different markets - what you are calling DRLs, I call high beams.

In fact, I have no DRL of any kind. Indicators are just that (they don't double as "running lights"), the Xenon HID low beam at the outer lamp position run at all times (well, as long as the lights are on) and the inner lamps flash if the stalk is pulled and come on full time when the stalk is pushed (H1 Halogens, I think).

Like upallnight, I can also turn on fog lights with full (high) beam - coded like this from the factory.

Man, does this thing throw some light with all six front lamps running - 2x Xenon HIDs, 2x H1 high beams and 2x H11 fogs. :wow:

Plus AEs. :D

To blktoptrvl - I guess you might be able to change the LCM coding to run the lights pretty much how you like - with the exception of AEs as DRLs, which requires some hard wiring changes. YMMV, as will your local laws!

Yes those are one of the defaults on facelifts. Some have them as DRLs.

You can code them to stay on with the high beams with the stalk pushed forward.

Some early facelifts dont have this option though. I tried and dont have it, another member here too. We both have 04s. Most have been able to do it though.

Do you (and possibly the other forum member) have the bi-xenon HID headlamps? Or do you have regular xenon lights or perhaps halogen headlamps?

If not, that may be the reason. The facelifts imported to North America with the adaptive bi-xenon headlamps use the inner bulbs (nearest the kidneys) for F-T-P...or can have them turned on (or in Canada...they ARE turned on) for DRL (daytime driving lights).

Well, I certainly don't want them on all the time so I guess they are limited to FTP.

Thanks QS7.

I have two X5s - an '06 4.8 and an '05 4.4. They have the exact same headlights. That said, my 4.4 behaved as OP described - the inner halogens never came on in regular use. The 4.8 used the same light position as DRLs (which I had recoded to disable). From talking to my coding person and looking at the options in his software, it seems there are a LOT of different software configurations BMW could roll out by market and customer preference.

Lights need to be polished...
 

I can't find the window sticker right now, and don't remember the specs...

Maybe you can tell from these pics what the lamps are.

Look like the standard US Spec HIDs to me, assuming you're also coded for non-DRL.

@ Qsilver7 "The facelifts imported to North America" ?? Where were they made ? Maybe that would explain the biodegradable wiring.

You got me... :D Jumping from the various e38/e39/e53 forums...I get my mental "foot" stuck sometimes. Yes indeed, the e53 X5s are made right here in the good ol' US of A. :D

I should have wrote ..."the facelift e53s for the North American market with adaptive bi-xenon headlamps...."

Thanks for the catch. :thumbup:

Haha, I had my hopes up that there might be some "German made" ones out there! ;)

Just an FYI (for those that didn't know)...the 11th character of your VIN will also tell where your BMW was made.

If the 11th digit is an "L"...then your BMW was manufactured in Spartanburg SC. :)