NX300h - setting to disable "cornering foglights"?

ArneT · November 23, 2023

I have purchased a used 2016 NX 300h a few months ago.

Is there a way to turn off the feature that turns on one of the foglights when you turn into a corner? I think it's called "cornering foglights".

I find it very distracting, especially on country lanes as it appears that another car is about to come out of the road I am turning into and really wish to switch that feature off.

rayaans · November 24, 2023

I don't think you can.

Al D-Much · November 24, 2023

It's not the foglights.
Within the same cluster there are two lights, central one is the fog light, the outter one is the cornering light.

I don't think there is a menu option to deselect the feature, but I guess you could simply disconnect the bulb.
But, remember to reconnect it before an MOT, otherwise it will go down as a failure.

ArneT · November 24, 2023

8 hours ago, Al D-Much said:

It's not the foglights.
Within the same cluster there are two lights, central one is the fog light, the outter one is the cornering light.

I don't think there is a menu option to deselect the feature, but I guess you could simply disconnect the bulb.
But, remember to reconnect it before an MOT, otherwise it will go down as a failure.

Many thanks Alex. I can't see why this would be an MOT fail if it was disconnected. It still has working running lights, headlights, main beam and foglights. Only newer cars have this 'feature' so I can't see why this would be the case (although common sense often doesn't apply to rules of the road?!).

I will ask my local dealership about disconnecting these the next time I take it in. Or is it reasonably easy to do at home?

NemesisUK · November 24, 2023

I don't believe 'cornering lamps' are an MoT check as long as the function is a separate bulb.

Dealers may be able to code out the cornering lamps, telling the car it doesn't have them fitted if other variants don't have them.

Personally I find them very useful, especially reversing in dark driveways or car parks.

Spock66 · November 25, 2023

I'd suggest leaving for a few months and you may grow to appreciate them.

ArneT · November 29, 2023

On 11/24/2023 at 10:41 PM, NemesisUK said:

I don't believe 'cornering lamps' are an MoT check as long as the function is a separate bulb.

Dealers may be able to code out the cornering lamps, telling the car it doesn't have them fitted if other variants don't have them.

Personally I find them very useful, especially reversing in dark driveways or car parks.

Thanks, I tend to agree with you. I'll see what my local dealer says.

Interesting point @Spock66 re: seeing if I can grow to appreciate them, perhaps I can get used to the sudden white light appearing as I start turning into a country lane at night!

ArneT · March 2

Update on this subject. I still really dislike the cornering lights and cannot get used to them. Turning into a country lane in the dark and I still brake sharply thinking another car is coming the other way due to my own annoying "pop up" lights. I think they are unsafe and really should be optional. I live in a rural area so turn into country lanes in the dark on a regular basis.

I asked my local Lexus dealer to disable the cornering lights and they said this isn't possible - which I really cannot understand why. Surely they can just disconnect the wiring?

If no-one on the LOC can find a solution, does anyone know any good weatherproof tape that I can discretely put over these abhorrent techno gizmos from hell? Rant over, but I really cannot stand these little gimmicky lights (almost as bad as the 'rolling Christmas trees' that Mercedes are making where the whole of the front bonnet is one giant LED light bar (I can only assume Mercedes have shares in the company that makes LED bulbs?!).

RXtoNX · March 2

Must admit I don’t find them gimmicky. I’ve had them on all of my cars since 2013 and find that they are a great help turning in to country lanes and a driveway on a dark country lane.

I also think that you will find them fitted to most cars these days.

ColinBarber · March 2

Pin 3 on the fog light connector is for cornering lights, which is controlled via the headlight ECU. I don't know if it would be as simple as removing that pin from the connector and putting insulation table around it.

Some duct tape over that element of the fog light lens would be the simplest solution.

Al D-Much · March 4

Personally, I find them useful. Also, for me anyway, they aren't so bright that they fool me into thinking there's an oncoming car, besides which the light is illuminating away from your car and not towards.
They are just a bit of extra illumination when turning. I don't even notice them unless I look down purposefully. Pretty much the same as using the fog lights.

malcolmw · March 4

I must say that they don't bother me at all (I also live in a very rural area). The NX300h had very poor restoration of main beam when turning into a dark lane which I found to be much more of a problem. I am glad to say that the NX350h has much faster response when the headlamps are in AHBC mode.

ArneT · March 5

On 3/2/2024 at 6:10 PM, ColinBarber said:

Pin 3 on the fog light connector is for cornering lights, which is controlled via the headlight ECU. I don't know if it would be as simple as removing that pin from the connector and putting insulation table around it.

Some duct tape over that element of the fog light lens would be the simplest solution.

Thank you Colin. I will give that a try .. no doubt I will be defeating by our friend CanBus, but it's worth a go!

I will probably hold off using duct tape on the outside as that will look pretty ghastly unless it is colour matched to the trim around the light.

ArneT · March 5

21 hours ago, malcolmw said:

I must say that they don't bother me at all (I also live in a very rural area). The NX300h had very poor restoration of main beam when turning into a dark lane which I found to be much more of a problem. I am glad to say that the NX350h has much faster response when the headlamps are in AHBC mode.

On 3/4/2024 at 11:44 AM, Al D-Much said:

Personally, I find them useful. Also, for me anyway, they aren't so bright that they fool me into thinking there's an oncoming car, besides which the light is illuminating away from your car and not towards.
They are just a bit of extra illumination when turning. I don't even notice them unless I look down purposefully. Pretty much the same as using the fog lights.

Thank you all for the input. This clearly seems to be a personal preference (a Marmite feature?!).

For the record, I never use AHBC as I find it far too slow to turn off and back on again (it gets confused far too easily by road signs and other objects), so at least my brain and reaction speeds are still better than the electronic gubbins in the NX300h. I'll have to wait to see how my reflexes compare with the NX350h at a future date! Something to look forward to in my early 50s!!!

ArneT · March 5

On 3/2/2024 at 11:02 AM, RXtoNX said:

Must admit I don’t find them gimmicky. I’ve had them on all of my cars since 2013 and find that they are a great help turning in to country lanes and a driveway on a dark country lane.

I also think that you will find them fitted to most cars these days.

Yes, I see them very often .. and so many times it looks like one fog light has broken on an approaching car and it comes on far too often when just making a small correction on a straight road etc. If no new cars can disable them, then I might have to start buying older cars next time around.

steve2006 · March 5

I have this feature on my JDM 2004 Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS430) but they only activate when the headlights are on, it’s dark and the indicator for that side is on.

UK specification cars don’t have this feature.

ColinBarber · March 5

2 hours ago, ArneT said:

no doubt I will be defeating by our friend CanBus, but it's worth a go!

They aren't CAN bus controlled, hopefully the three segments in the light are controlled by the three signal wires.

Al D-Much · March 7

On 3/5/2024 at 4:30 PM, steve2006 said:

I have this feature on my JDM 2004 Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS430) but they only activate when the headlights are on, it’s dark and the indicator for that side is on.

UK specification cars don’t have this feature.

Mine only come on when using headlights, but based on how far you turn the wheel, rather than indicators based. As I suppose you could turn a corner on a dark lane with no one around to indicate your intention to, so you simply don't bother using the indicators.

NemesisUK · March 7

From the NX300h 2020 handbook

ArneT · March 7

On 3/5/2024 at 6:04 PM, ColinBarber said:

They aren't CAN bus controlled, hopefully the three segments in the light are controlled by the three signal wires.

I'm glad to hear that, thanks Colin.

Al D-Much · March 8

20 hours ago, NemesisUK said:

From the NX300h 2020 handbook

That's so badly written. Or, maybe it's my tired brain this morning.
I read it as:
Cornering lights will come on when you turn the wheel, indicate and are reversing.
And......
After turning the corner backwards the Cornering Light stays on for 30 minutes ???? 30 seconds surely.