Headlight Sensitivity Setting

[Marlinleg]

Hello to one and all. Which setting to select for my headlights to come on later as it gets dark. Brighter/bright/ normal/dark/darker, they were coming on when it was light far to soon. Phillip confused. Com🙃 . Thank you for your time. Photo attached

 

[Andy B]

I agree that these options are a little confusing however I would suggest that you experiment with the "Dark" and "Darker" options and see what works best.

[Harrier Man]

Interesting, I hadn't spotted this option. My issue is that the lights don't automatically come even when it's raining and the wipers are on. The Highway Code is clear that lights MUST be used when visibility is seriously reduced. Of course the phrase 'seriously reduced' is open to interpretation but my guide has always been that if my wipers need to be on continuously, then visibility is reduced enough to warrant the lights being on. At the moment, my Lexus fails this test so I am keen to explore this option to see what difference it makes.

[NemesisUK]

One of the first things I noticed coming from Mercedes to Lexus is that the headlamps are not sequenced to the wipers. On the MBs that I had, if the wipers operated for more than 30secs the dipped headlamps came automatically and obviously off again should the wipers stop. The wipers were rain sensing, just as the Lexus ones are.

My guess was that in Germany it has been compulsory to have dipped beam on in rain since the 60's

Another thing noted was that the rear fog lamps on the Merc would automatically go off should the car travel faster than ~30mph. Presumably MB reckon if you can drive that quickly it can't be that foggy! 

[fivish]

My headlights come on when its still quite light.

I changed the setting to -2 and they still come on. 

Is +2 less sensitive?

[Mattsneaker]

My annoyance is that my lights (and screen brightness darkening) happens when i drive under a small bridge, under a large tree - this can be very annoying when driving down a sheltered road when the screen goes bright/dark every few seconds

 

[Andy B]

1 hour ago, Mattsneaker said:

My annoyance is that my lights (and screen brightness darkening) happens when i drive under a small bridge, under a large tree - this can be very annoying when driving down a sheltered road when the screen goes bright/dark every few seconds

 

The frequent screen dimming and then brightening behaviour under certain conditions is a bugbear of mine too. 

I believe that the sensitivity of this can be altered - but only by a dealer or DIY via an ODB2 dongle and associated smartphone app (like Carista) or your own copy of Techstream. I think the setting to be changed is called "Instrument lights dimming sensitivity".

This setting exists on other Lexus models (see link below) and may well be present on the NX also. I might reinstate my Carista app subscription for a month and try to change it.

[Thanks to forum member @IS300FSPORT for listing this setting on another thread specifically about the Carista dongle]

 

[Andy B]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:22 AM, Andy B said:

The frequent screen dimming and then brightening behaviour under certain conditions is a bugbear of mine too. 

I believe that the sensitivity of this can be altered - but only by a dealer or DIY via an ODB2 dongle and associated smartphone app (like Carista) or your own copy of Techstream. I think the setting to be changed is called "Instrument lights dimming sensitivity".

This setting exists on other Lexus models (see link below) and may well be present on the NX also. I might reinstate my Carista app subscription for a month and try to change it.

[Thanks to forum member @IS300FSPORT for listing this setting on another thread specifically about the Carista dongle]

 

@Mattsneaker

Just in case you were interested in any progress on this.....

I reinstated my Carista app subscription and plugged the dongle into my car but unfortunately the "Instrument lights dimming sensitivity" setting was not listed under the Customisation section of the app. There was a setting called "Instrument lights restoring sensitivity" listed which I guessed might be related to how dark the environment would need to be before the (dimmed) screen returns to it's default brightness. I changed it from NORMAL to DARKEST (thinking that the default brightness would "recover" sooner, even at very low light) but it doesn't appear to have made any difference one way or the other. 

It's possible that the "Instrument lights dimming sensitivity" setting may be configurable via Techstream (which I have) but I'm not sure I want to go to the bother of all that.

I realise that the screen dimming setting could also be related to the setting that controls at what level of darkness my headlights come on - but I don't want to play with that as I'm happy with that setting.

C'est la vie.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:54 AM, Marlinleg said:

Hello to one and all. Which setting to select for my headlights to come on later as it gets dark. Brighter/bright/ normal/dark/darker, they were coming on when it was light far to soon. Phillip confused. Com🙃 . Thank you for your time. Photo attached

 

I would set it to Hybrid

 

On 10/18/2022 at 9:54 AM, Marlinleg said:

Hello to one and all. Which setting to select for my headlights to come on later as it gets dark. Brighter/bright/ normal/dark/darker, they were coming on when it was light far to soon. Phillip confused. Com🙃 . Thank you for your time. Photo attached

 

I Would try The Hybrid setting or auto setting if you have one....Whatever setting the lights will be brighter when you go under a bridge or tunnel The sensor is a round shaped button located in the middle of the top facia which controls this..

[Gary H]

On 8/29/2023 at 8:35 AM, Mattsneaker said:

My annoyance is that my lights (and screen brightness darkening) happens when i drive under a small bridge, under a large tree - this can be very annoying when driving down a sheltered road when the screen goes bright/dark every few seconds

 

I had this very gripe when I had my UX. The standard factory setting was way too sensitive for my liking. I could literally go under a road bridge or go past a few trees and the lights would come on. It was almost discotheque-like on some roads. Even on it’s lowest '-2' setting, it was still a little too sensitive for me.

I don’t really know how to reduce the sensitivity in my NX yet. I think I’ve found where the function is but it just says 'brighter/darker. What one turns the sensitivity down?! 

I really do wish there was just a simple 'off' setting for the lights. I really do loathe that it’s either auto, sidelights or dipped headlights and it’s one of my biggest bugbears with most modern cars.

[Andy B]

22 hours ago, Gary H said:

 don’t really know how to reduce the sensitivity in my NX yet. I think I’ve found where the function is but it just says 'brighter/darker. What one turns the sensitivity down

I think you need to choose the DARKEST option.