Finally no Daytime running lights

[CaerYnArfon]

At last managed, using VIDA/DICE to change lights so that its a normal light switch.... aaahhh... No more burning through bulbs at a vast rate of knots. Not that they're particularly expensive just annoying having to change them as often as I have been.


Tried all the other tricks I've seen but they didn't work for XC90 2010 ... you know the ones "ignition Position II", "Light switch to 1", "hold beam stick" etc. etc.

So How?
Into Vida
Diagnostics tab
Into Communications Tab

Select CEM module
Click the Advanced tab
Expand the CEM
Double click Programming control module

Clicked the module image at left top

and on my model (just an Active) I got


5 options of which the ones I was interested in were:

Running Lights


Each item is represented as a number in a box below the description

Click whichever you want to program

Shows 2 boxes left and right.

To change Daylight running use Left hand side. I selected the second item in the list. (have a play but apart from item 2 the others were pretty much the same.)

Click Start Programming

The current setting is shown at the top of the left hand section
This will change when the programming has completed.

A couple of seconds

P.S. Ignition was off during this...

[SwissXC90]

Please all readers note that Daytime Running Lights are legally required in many countries, so check your local regulations before turning them off.

DRL has been proved to be a safety feature and this is why it is now mandated by many countries.

Do not turn off DRL if mandated by your country.

Where I live, it is now a 300 CHF (250 GBP) fine if caught driving with no headlights or DRLs on during the daytime.

[Dastardly Diesel]

They have only been proven to be of safety benefit in sub-arctic climates with long, dark days. There is no evidence that there is any safety benefit in the UK, and it is not an offence to de activate them in the UK.

As for the OP, his stated location would suggest that he does not reside in a sub arctic climate, so he's as safe on the road today as he was last week.

[SwissXC90]

European Union Directive 2008/89/EC requires all passenger cars and small delivery vans first type approved on or after 7 February 2011 in the EU to come equipped with daytime running lights. The mandate was extended to trucks and buses in August 2012. Functional piggybacking, such as operating the headlamps or front turn signals or fog lamps as DRLs, is not permitted;[ the EU Directive requires functionally specific daytime running lamps compliant with ECE Regulation 87 and mounted to the vehicle in accord with ECE Regulation 48. DRLs compliant with R87 emit white light of between 400 and 1,200 candela.

In the past, Germany, Spain, France and other European countries have encouraged or required daytime use of low beam headlamps on certain roads at certain times of year; Ireland encourages the use of low beam headlights during the winter, Italy, Hungary and Romania require daytime running lamps outside populated areas, and Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia require the use of full or reduced voltage low beam headlights at all times. Whether this requirement is met by the DRLs required on new cars since February 2011 is a matter of individual countries' laws.

[Dastardly Diesel]

It directs that they must come equipped with them.

There is no corresponding EU directive that prevents their de activation once the car is in use. That is a matter solely for localm laws in each country.

Way back in the day Honda did some research into daylight headlamp use. Honda own the worlds foremost searchlight manufacturer, so had on call expert knowledge on optics and visibility. Honda discovered that daytime headlamp use - as opposed to specific low wattage DRLs or dim dip systems - actually increased the likelihood of certain types of accident.

Honda eventually found the reason. Dip beam headlamps in daylight help to break up the visible outline of an oncoming vehicle. The human brain calculates an approaching objects speed by the rate at which it grows compared to the background. Dipped headlamps were breaking up the outline and thus depriving the observers brain of the datum required to make an effective speed calculation.

Suzuki also researched the matter and came to the same conclusions,

Of course, Germany, Spain, France and other European countries seem to have ignored this in the past.

[Tannaton]

Firstly - like most technology in cars - daytime running lights have come a long way in the past 10 years.

Originally when Volvo introduced them they were a 21w bulb in the side light housing on the the 240's etc. and were very much like the daytime running lights of today. Then they seemed to get lazy and just put the headlights on all the time (440, P1 V70, S40/V50 etc.). But now thanks to the EU directive we have gone back to dedicated lights

Anyhow - you'd have to be pretty left field to argue that having extra lights would not improve safety and reduce accidents. No matter how bright the day is there are always conditions (driving through roads covered by trees etc.) where cars are hard to see, but made much visible by DRL's. I've experienced this several times myself. The modern LED DRL's are much better to see than simply leaving the dipped beam on, but even so having a dipped beam on is substantially better than nothing.

Bluntly - I am skeptical that any major motor manufacturer has researched them and concluded that they do not improve safety overall. Whilst in the UK you are most unlikely to ever be prosecuted for turning them off, you are on dodgy ground if they were mandated on your model and your insurer might have a view on it.... also they will become an MOT test item in 2021 on cars made after 2018.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...running-lights

The issue I have with them is that the early implementations did not include the rear lights as well - which in my opinion they should have. I also think that automatic headlight switching systems should have a dashboard indicator so you know when your on DRL or dipped beam.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by SwissXC90

European Union Directive 2008/89/EC requires all passenger cars and small delivery vans first type approved on or after 7 February 2011 in the EU to come equipped with daytime running lights

Precisely.
OP did his with Vida though because he had an earlier model year which wasn't subject to the above regulation when new.
Vida doesn't allow DRL deactivation after 2011 although some dealers may still do it with a software download.