The auto works great for me and I don't mind when they come on when I pull into the garage b/c then I can see just how far I need to pull in so not to squash the car with the garage door. As far as going under bridges, etc that's ok they come on, having a black car in a dark shadow it makes it easy for anyone who's thinking about changing lanes or pulling out in front of me to think twice.

 

I agree.... that makes more sense

 

with the current set up, each time i want to switch off my headlights at night, i go from on (projector), to off (only amber), to on (projector again), then off.

Im sure this has a negative effect on the xenon bulbs (yes i have xenons now )

 

that's why i said just turn off the car first. then turn the lights off. this will prevent the excessive flicker.

 

yea that was good advice nismo.. thats what i do now..

but still it would b nice not to have to worry about it...

 

can it be possible to rewire the "off" and the "auto" settings so its backwards... "off" will be "auto" and vise versa?....... this will solve the flicker as well if someone was to actually do it..

 

that's the setup Hz recommended. i agree it would be better, but still not perfect. Besides, the switch will still be sensitive and bump off.

So which car has the "ultimate" setup out there?

 

Yes, Nissan definitely dropped the ball on the headlight setup when they didn't include a 30-sec delay for the lights to come on when the auto mode is selected. It's not good for the HIDs to come on in auto mode just because you go under a freeway overpass.

 

I agree! The auto setting is to sensitive!

 

that's why I always make sure that I turned my headlight switch to OFF before leaving my car, even if Im using AUTO, so that in the morning, I dont have to worry about my HIDs lighting up when in an underpass or a garage.

 

well im gonna change my answer. i used to use the auto mode for my headlights when they were halogen but now that i got HID's i make sure to do it manualy. i use my remote start alot and i usualy park way away from everyone. i dont want my HID's on for the 5 or so minutes that im not there, i dont wanna take that chance of someone seeing them one night and then me coming out and finding it without headlights

 

I got xenon headlights on my maxima and the problem is that they are not sensitive to the changing daylight, and during rainy days, they do not come on even though I try to change the settings on the information display, thus I have to turn it on at times during cloudy days for safety reasons. I heard the putting on the xenons many time will cause the xenon to get short life span.

 

maybe i'm reading this wrong but how can you be using both when you're leaving them off during the day and putting them on auto at night?

 

Day = Manual mode
Night = Auto

Manual + Auto = Both

Im a Genius!

 

is that what he meant? well, thanks for clarifying.
anyway, i hate the way the light switch is setup also.

 

I rarely drive at night in the Max. So I keep mine off and turn them on manually when I do need them.

 

ditto


only I think that it would be better like this, simply for not having to hunt around for off on the stalk. It's not that I would have trouble myself nor any other normal person, but thinking from a design standpoint. Works for a dial type ****, but for a stalk:

0-Off
1-Park
2-Headlights
3-Auto

Reason being off is at the stop, cant mess that up. I think one of the biggest problems with the current setup is when you use the manual setting and go to off, you turn the headlights out, then they come back on for a sec when passing auto before turning off again. Not good for the bulbs.

 

I turn them on manually. It's just me, but this isn't something I feel comfortable to leave to a sensor. There are many times in daylight with curved roads or hills such that I want the lights on and the sensor wouldn't turn on the lights in situations such a this for passing other vehicles.

 

I use the auto mode and love it. Great feature!

 

better yet:
0-Off
1-Park
2-Auto
3-Headlights(ON)

Then ON and OFF are at the ends. If you turn it to Auto and they don't turn ON, you can go to ON. When you're getting out, you get just go to AUTO and they will disingage when you close the door.

This has to be the perfect setup!!! I'm emailing Nissan and rewiring to this once warranty is up.

 

Auto mode all the way

 

Manual, always.

 

manual without a doubt, for the same reasons as have been listed already......control control control.........same reason to have a manual trans....LOL

 

This is a hot thread for being about auto headlight mode lol
I wish this car had rain sensitive wipers...its one of the few things it does not have, can't complain though.

 

This discussion was helpful. Tried it both ways, have ended up going with the auto.

 

I use the auto mode. Works great. Hey, they designed it to turn on/off your headlights so you don't have to! So I use it. Never a problem and I used it on my 2002 SE also.

 

true but the problem lies where if you have HID, flickering on and off causes premature bulb burnout. HIDs need time to warmup and cooldown.

So to repeat myself: always use AUTO to turn your lights on. Then just leave your car and allow them to shut off AUTO style (you can change the time setting, I use: as soon as my door closes).

If it's not dark enough (may want to play with the sensitivity setting 1-4), go all the way to ON. Now when you get out, turn the CAR off first then turn the lights OFF.

If concerned with daytime driving and hitting dark spots, keep them at OFF during the day.

this will prevent turning off and on and off which is bad for HID.

 

I use my lights like Nismo and a few other do as well. I would like to get as much use out of my HID bulbs as possible. I'm sure they are not cheap to replace, so the longer they last the better for my pocket!

If I go out at night I leave it on "auto" until I get back home and I don't have to use the lights anymore. Once, I'm home I'll leave it the switch at the off position. If I have to use my lights the next day, I'll just turn them on manually.

 

i leave my lights on auto but sometimes during the day like when it rains and stuff i turn them on manually but overall i think auto works pretty good

 

Auto mode - set it and forget it...

 

Auto mode. I sat and watched it a couple of times to see if it really worked.

 

Nice shot by the way. I have the same colour, tint, etc.

 

In the beginning I used to leave mine on auto but I also noticed that it would
turn off and on many times while driving thru underpasses, tunnels etc. and
learned that the more your HIDs are turned off and on the more you'll shorten
the life of your HID headlights. So I just do it manually now.

 

Lets talk about this for a min. Does it really shorten the life that much??? I mean, i think nissan was stupid for putting the Auto mode before the manual mode on the light switch to begin with. No logic behind that considering HID's should not be operated like this (on off on). But really will we ever have an HID bulb go out because of this (life shortning) that the AUTO-to-ON selector does to the lights? I say the HID's will last beyond 120K miles and at that point we would have got rid of the car or be shopping for new one. Who in the forum has ever had an HID bulb burn out for regular use reasons????

 

speaking of lights... my dome light switch broke off and the insides of the plastic ON-OFF-DOOR switch are gone.. anyone have an idea how I can get this fixed out of warranty? I know if you slide a flat-head over the circuit board that is exposed now it will turn the interor lights on and all... the dealership wants $180 to give me a whole new roof cluster with lights, and sunroof controls all in one to fix it.. thats not including labor.. of course I guess I could do it myself. Other wise my last resort is hot wiring it so the DOOR position is always on. Kinda sux. Please HELP!!!

 

I use the AUTO setting as well

 

manual...garage is too dark

 

I use auto, my titan spoiled me on that. Glad the max had it or I would have missed it.

 

Manual here... but really.. do you think turning them on manualy in the dark will shorten the life of the HID's??? due to the flicker that happens as the switch passes through AUTO then PARKLIGHTS and then FULL ON? does that shorten the life of the HID's? I thought it would not since the arch is already sent through one time only at 20,000 volts to ignite the xenon gases and then the second ON spot after AUTO would just resume warmup for the bulbs. Whats your input on this guys?????

 

Its all about the auto mode....