i can’t get the auto headlight dip to work on my (excellent ) MK 4. Any idea what the problem may be?
I just leave headlights on automatic with the main beam on and it works. Is there not anything under setting? Can’t remember off hand.
That’s what I thought but it doesn’t work. I had a quick look in settings but need to check again.
Turns out mine is Recaro version which doesn’t have the safety pack fitted. I thought it had all options fitted but it doesnt ??? not available as a rettro fit apparently ???
Ah, that explains it. I thought the safety pack was part of the Recaro spec. I wouldn’t worry too much, think of all the calories you’ll be burning flicking the main beam manually.
True, but it’s rather annoying as the dealer assured me the Recaro had all the options. Had I known I may have specked a Sat Nav. Other buyers be aware. I’ll stop dazzling other drivers now by trying to get it to work and revert to good old manual. Seems daft to having something called the Safety Pack as an option!
Not wishing to rub salt in wounds but the auto-dip feature works very well and is the highlight of the safety pack. Blind spot monitoring is pretty good and not too intrusive and the lane departure warning is mostly annoying but easily turned off (leaving a glowing warning light on the dash… grrrr…)
It might sound daft but I think the steerable auto dip LED headlights are my favourite feature of the car and make driving at night a pleasure.
Adam
I wasn’t going to tell him that! Knock a man when he’s down why don’t you?
The blind spot monitors gave me a useful beep the other day whilst reversing out of a tight parking spot between two 4x4s. I wouldn’t go as far as to say it saved me from a dent but it was certainly helpful. I’ve turned the volume right down on the lane departure and don’t find it too intrusive. I’m a bit reluctant to turn it off as the light would annoy me and it might be needed one day.
Thanks Adam - not. I have at least lane departure. Still smarting at Recaro not having the Safety Pack. I’m sure it would be a firmware upgrade so why not a retrofit? Although appreciate its probably different headlight units
That’s interesting. I assumed you didn’t have the lane departure and therefore you also didn’t have the forward facing camera. You’d think it’d be just a software upgrade to add the auto dipping headlights. The blind spot monitoring would be more tricky as extra hardware would be needed, but if you have the adaptive lights and the camera it can only be software??? I just looked at the Mazda website and the Safety Pack isn’t even an option on the SR.
Exactly! My thoughts entirely – must be just a firmware upgrade required. The SR were all made as a batch so not facility to order options. I thought long and hard over a Sat Nav or SR… Knowing this would have helped. Oh Well this may help someone else.
Is this the same lane departure thing that my friend’s wife found on her bosses car when she borrowed it one day? It decided that she shouldn’t suddenly change lanes when going around a traffic island. Unfortunatley she was taking avoiding action at the time against a car that came onto the island in front of her - she steered away from it, the Mondeo steered itself back again - crunch!
No, it’s just a beep or rumble if you drift towards the line. The Ford system is entirely different, although I suspect there may be a few details missing from your friend’s wife’s story.
LOL
A word of warning for those of us with auto lights.
Both my MX-5 and daily driver have auto lights.
Yesterday I was provided with a courtesy car by the Mazda dealer whilst my ND was in sorting out the blind spot monitoring modules. Out and about in said courtesy car later that evening I couldn’t figure out why the car behind me was repeatedly flashing his lights. Then I realised my lights weren’t on! It was in town so the road was well lit by street lamps anyway plus the dashboard was also lit up so I had no reason to think my lights were not on!
In an attempt to make the lack of “the safety pack” less of a negative, it is my experience that the more self operating gadgets a car has, the more dangerous it becomes.
Auto operating lights have for a long time been the bain of any foggy morning. Those lights that turn on when light levels drop. But guaranteed the car that threatens to T Bone you at a rural junction will be the silver Mercedes that appears out of the fog with no light on because, “well the car does it automatically!”
I have lost count of the number of rain sensing wipers that will let the screen do an impression of a water fall without turning on but switch themselves on full when a fly hits the glass, smearing everything to make the screen opaque.
I have worked on manufacture events when they have been demonstrating “City Brake” where the cars is supposed to stop automatically if a pedestrian is detected. They used inflatable “people” and the cars smashed them to pieces blowing out the valves the impact was so great. So they wrapped the “people” in high vis tape because “the car is not seeing them.” More dead, blow up, people.
These were production cars with the technology being demonstrated to sales staff, not prototypes. These “safe, don’t bother, the car will do it for you” cars are on the roads now, not in the future.
Do you really want your lights going from full to dip beam automatically. In certain circumstances it must be like a disco, going up and down, but do you really want the car taking the decision for you as to when to reduce your depth of vision, such as a twisty country lane and a static fixed light. Surely even the least energetic can still operate a column switch without feeling deprived?
Yes good point ???
I do worry that drivers with “safety packs” will rely on them to the extent that they will become “lazy” in evaluating situations for themselves, thus becoming dangerous.
Now a question. What happens on a twisty rural road with a white centre line? Does the lane deviation device switch off or does it go bonkers?
I think that the only essential “safety” devices are good brakes, safety belts, air bags and a careful driver.
It can become a bit annoying, you can turn it off, then you have an irritating amber light on the gauges display.