Highbeam Assistant and other hidden gems?

[-cj-]

Hey gang,

I was reading up that our cars come with highbeam assistant. I know what you're thinking, who needs it... I just want to know if it's true. I thought I'd ask here rather then risk pissing someone off by driving against them with my highbeams..

Apparently there's supposed to be an option under the "Lights" section on iDrive, but it isn't there... But something I came across the other day implied that 1M's had it. Any ideas?

Are there any other hidden gems I don't know about? I always seem to discover something new about this car daily... Although I suspect in this case, I'm learning something new about a 135i

[ozinaldo]

I am not sure if NA cars have this as standart, it is a stand alone option in Europe; but if you have the highbeam asistant you can easily understand that by checking the back of your rear view mirror. There must be a blue sensor at the passenger (I mean for left hand drive cars) side of the back of the mirror, you should see it easily, even from a few meters distance when you face the car's front end.

Since my car is Euro spec. and w/out Nav + idrive I don't know how you should activate or desactivate it in yours though. Hope it helps.

[silvs]

Mine doesnt have it. Fully loaded us spec.

[pinmagic]

It's a stand-alone option on US cars too. To see if you have it - with the high beams OFF, push the stalk away from you (toward the dash) one time. On your dash, you should see an icon of a headlight beam with an "A" (for "automatic" or "assistant," I assume). If the beams just turn on, with no "A", then you don't have it.

You don't activate it thru the iDrive.

I'm guessing it's not all that common.

[flzrider]

Highbeam assistant was not offered on U.S. 1Ms.

[///M1]

Originally Posted by flzrider

Highbeam assistant was not offered on U.S. 1Ms.

+1 (and thankfully, needless options are left for the 5-series and up )

[-cj-]

Thanks for the info guys. I have that blue sensor on my rear view mirror... But never noticed if there's an "A" with my highbeam icon. I'll check it out later!

Originally Posted by ///M1

+1 (and thankfully, needless options are left for the 5-series and up )

Hah, I doubt I'd drive around with this all day, but a few nights ago it could have come in handy...

[///M1]

Originally Posted by -cj-

Hah, I doubt I'd drive around with this all day, but a few nights ago it could have come in handy...

I hear ya. It all depends on where you predominantly drive. I suppose if a lot involves non-urban badly lit areas it will be of value, for better or for worse, non here

[Dackelone]

Highbeam assistant is an option on ECE cars. Not available on US spec 1M's cars. It is available for US 135i's though.

I have heard it works kind of hap hazzardly though. ?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by pinmagic

On your dash, you should see an icon of a headlight beam with an "A" (for "automatic" or "assistant," I assume). If the beams just turn on, with no "A", then you don't have it.

Indeed. It's optional here.

By no means as reliable and fast as the human eye. I only use it on roads when almost no-one's around (it happens to struggle recognizing the environment very well, thus automatically untimely switching on/off, which understandably annoys other road users + it often gets confused by reflections on road signs, unduly automatically switching off).

Other aspect. As I posted a couple of months ago, I suspect that, due to the space reserved for the high beam assist icon, the unit/measure no longer seems to fit on the first line of the info display of the on-board computer. All I get when pressing the button on the turn indicator lever is (regardless whether high beam assist is active or inactive):
- a symbol + a figure on the first line (+ gear shift display)
- the unit/measure on the second line (which should normally feature on the the first line too).
- odometer and trip distance recorder vanish from the second line.
For causing the vanished odometer and trip distance recorder to reappear, I got to push the button a couple of times running through all first line data. Quite annoying. My SA has no idea and queried BMW HQ as to the reason for this impractical lay-out. He passed on my suggestion whether it's due to the high beam assist icon. No answer so far.

To all those with a 135i or 1M featuring the high beam assist option too: same lay-out as pictured below (sorry for the mediocre picture quality - quickly shot with my BB)?

[Dackelone]

^^thanks for those pics Artemis. Is the highbeam assistant switch still on the right side of the steering wheel column?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

^^thanks for those pics Artemis. Is the highbeam assistant switch still on the right side of the steering wheel column?

No, it's on the left side. No switch. Simply a push on the the turn indicator lever towards the dash to activate: then the high beam assist icon shows up in the info display of the on-board computer. If you're in an undark environment, the system is simply on standby ...it attacks only in the dark . Check the last pic of my 1M in my post above (daylight - HBA inactive / not on standby): you can see the white arrows indicated on the top part of that lever (however, I guess that's on all 1M's).

About the experienced inconveniences with HBA (I second that):
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=502641

Demo by a Scandavian owner with HBA activated (dunno which BMW):

BMW explanation:
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/t...am.html#media0

Brief BMW video explanation (F10 5er):

[jnm]

So it is NOT there on US models and not available as an option, that explains it!

The documentation (booklet you get with the car) mentions it, and since it's not available as an option I assumed it was part of the car's standard features and I have been trying many times to turn it on and was wondering why I couldn't! I thought it was maybe because it would only turn on outside of urban environments where I have been driving the car so far.

It's a bit annoying that they mention a feature in the documentation that is actually not part of the car!!

[eeghie]

Originally Posted by Artemis

No, it's on the left side. No switch. Simply a push on the the turn indicator lever towards the dash to activate: then the high beam assist icon shows up in the info display of the on-board computer. If you're in an undark environment, the system is simply on standby ...it attacks only in the dark . Check the last pic of my 1M in my post above (daylight - HBA inactive / not on standby): you can see the white arrows indicated on the top part of that lever (however, I guess that's on all 1M's).

In summary if the car is equiped with the High beam assistant it will always be activated once the high beam is activated, correct?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by eeghie

In summary if the car is equiped with the High beam assistant it will always be activated once the high beam is activated, correct?

That depends.

As previously indicated, the only way to activate HBA (more precisely, to put it on standby) is to push the turn indicator lever (stalk) towards the dash. Thus, if you started the car and did not push that lever, HBA remains inactive. If you then pull the lever towards you to manually activate the head lights (flash or hold for a few moments), HBA will still remain inactive.

But, yes, as soon as you pushed the the turn indicator lever (stalk) towards the dash, HBA is activated (on standby). If you get bored of its antics (other road users angrily flashing at you due to untimely switch-off), you can simply deactivate HBA again and wait until you find a calmer road for reactivation.

[pinmagic]

Originally Posted by eeghie

In summary if the car is equiped with the High beam assistant it will always be activated once the high beam is activated, correct?

The first time you push the stalk away from you (toward the dash), it activates the auto mode. Push it again, and the high beams are on (without auto mode).

BTW: when my earlier post said it was a stand-alone option in the US, I was speaking of the 135. Didn't notice I was in the M forum.

[E30 Racer]

This is what the high beam assist (FLA) mirror looks like.

[eeghie]

Originally Posted by E30 Racer

This is what the high beam assist (FLA) mirror looks like.

So the top sensor (blue-ish/purple) is for rain sensing. What are the other two sensors for? Assuming 1 of them is for the High Beam Assist (FLA), what is the other one for?

1) Smaller square sensor off-centre at the backside of the rearview mirror (earlier in the thread suggested this was the FLA sensor)
2) Slightly Larger rectangular sensor centered on the Rearview mirror bracket ??

[ozinaldo]

Originally Posted by eeghie

So the top sensor (blue-ish/purple) is for rain sensing. What are the other two sensors for? Assuming 1 of them is for the High Beam Assist (FLA), what is the other one for?

1) Smaller square sensor off-centre at the backside of the rearview mirror (earlier in the thread suggested this was the FLA sensor)
2) Slightly Larger rectangular sensor centered on the Rearview mirror bracket ??

Yes, smaller off-center sensor is the high beam assist according to the documents (including my car's manual). Sorry, earlier I remembered its color wrong and said it is "blue".

Center large sensor on the other hand maybe is not even a sensor That photo is a car with the alarm system as well, so maybe it has something to do with that

[E30 Racer]

Originally Posted by ozinaldo

Yes, smaller off-center sensor is the high beam assist according to the documents (including my car's manual). Sorry, earlier I remembered its color wrong and said it is "blue".

Center large sensor on the other hand maybe is not even a sensor That photo is a car with the alarm system as well, so maybe it has something to do with that

The larger sensor is for high-beam assist (i.e., the feature that automatically changes the output of the headlights from high-to-low beam in the presence of oncoming traffic or as you approach taillights).

I do not know of any US-spec 1M with this feature, although I do plan a retrofit myself. At a minimum, this will require recoding. I have not determined whether additional wiring will be necessary.

[Zuzu]

Great thread... Never new my car had the high beam assist function..

[eeghie]

One of these 3 rearview mirror bracket sensors could be to drive the Auto Headlight feature. Auto headlight is part of global option 521 (for the US model this option is in the standard config): Rainsensor and Auto headlight. (High beam assistant is Option 5AC)

Can anyone confirm the location of the Auto Headlight sensor?