[ddreib]

About 1 yr. ago, I found a set of directions on this forum that allowed me to turn my '03 SS's DRLs off. It puts the lighting controls in ROW (Rest of World) mode, rather than USA mode.
Unfortunately, this allows both fog lights and high beams to be turned on at the same time, an illegal condition in the US.
Does anyone know if there is a way to disable DRLs without allowing this illegal condition?

 

[Energy_AZ]

About 1 yr. ago, I found a set of directions on this forum that allowed me to turn my '03 SS's DRLs off. It puts the lighting controls in ROW (Rest of World) mode, rather than USA mode.
Unfortunately, this allows both fog lights and high beams to be turned on at the same time, an illegal condition in the US.
Does anyone know if there is a way to disable DRLs without allowing this illegal condition?

I had a 2nd Xenon bulb burn out within a 6 month period. The dealer replaced the bulb and then also disabled DRL to reduce use of the Xenons to ensure no more premature burnouts.

Considering this is a stateside dealer, there must be a way to disable DRL while also keeping within legal specs? Either that, or my dealer has no regard for US law (unlikely)

 

[ddreib]

This is a hopeful response. Thanks.
It was MY dealer who made use of the reprogramming directions I got in this forum. I called them today to tell them that I'd failed to pass inspection and was told my only recourse was to turn the DRLs back on.
Is there a chance that your dealer knows how to turn these off and still pass US regulations? What's the name/location of your dealer?

 

[Energy_AZ]

This is a hopeful response. Thanks.
It was MY dealer who made use of the reprogramming directions I got in this forum. I called them today to tell them that I'd failed to pass inspection and was told my only recourse was to turn the DRLs back on.
Is there a chance that your dealer knows how to turn these off and still pass US regulations? What's the name/location of your dealer?

Lund SAAB - Phoenix, AZ

1.800.479.1221


I am not aware if they know the answer to your question. They just told me they disabled the DRL to help prevent further problems with the xenons going out early. This only happened earlier this week...I havent driven at night since the change.

Now I am wondering if I am going to get pulled over this weekend? (road trip to San Diego)

 

[ddreib]

I just spoke to your dealer. He believes that your car should now be set to be fully US-legal while having the DRLs disabled.

The directions that my dealer followed are below. Apparently, if he'd stopped after making the low beam change, I'd be legal, too.

I have an appt. for 6/27 to make the change. Thanks for the lead!
===============
Reprogramming steps to disable DRLs on Saab 9-3 Sport Sedan



http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=31176



In Diagnostic Mode:

Diag>2003>9-3 Sport

Body>Exterior Lighting and Horn

Low beam adjustments.

F0. Auto Low Beam also in Pos 0.

Change setting to NO

6 seconds later,lights flicker and go out. Exit.



Then:

Go to:

Fog Lights Front.

Change to Position 1 & 2 ROW (Rest of World) Program and Exit.



This will give you:



Pos 0 > No Lights

Pos1 > Fogs and 5 Watt Headlamp / Parking Light

Pos3 > Low Beam, High Beam, Manual Control of Fogs.

 

[Cayman1]

Yes, but setting the fogs to ROW means they will stay on when you high beams go on. I think the only legal way is to leave the fogs on US mode and I think they will not work at all when the DRL's are disabled.

I have them set to ROW, who uses fogs anyways, don't think they make much of a contribution anyways (i am speaking of a xenon equipped car)

 

[ddreib]

While I hope that moving the fogs off "ROW" doesn't disable them, if I must choose between running DRLs (with Xenons) or losing fog light function, I'll choose the latter.
You're correct, with Xenons it's really hard to see any added benefit from the supplemental fog lights.
Do you know if losing the front fog light function also loses the rear one?

BTW...I'm glad this is such an active forum. I thought it might take a few days to get any sort of meaningful recommendation. My last car was a '95 Mustang that I owned for 9yr. Those forums were just a LITTLE different.

 

[Cayman1]

I agree with you.

But if you have your high beam on and your fogs, you would probably not do that when traffic is nearby, so why do you worry about the legality of it?

yes, we have some great members on this site and are very responsive.

 

[-andrew-]

But if you have your high beam on and your fogs, you would probably not do that when traffic is nearby, so why do you worry about the legality of it?

This is what I was wondering as well... Sure, in the ROW setting you could have your fogs and highbeams on, but it's only "illegal" if you do it. I don't gether how you would have failed inspection, they actually try to see if your fogs stay on with the highbeams? Here in Jersey I had no issues getting my '00 VW GTI with european spec projector xenons to pass inspection, something the car was never offered with in the states. As long as the car isn't belching smoke, it stops when you hit the brakes, and all the lights work you will pass inspection here.

I'd figure that if all these idiots out there can get away with installing xenon retrofit kits in their originally halogen headlamps, and blind every driver they come upon, no one's going to bother with the fact that my fog lights don't shut off when I turn on hy highbeams. :roll: I rarely even use my fogs... Go figure, I only turn them on when the weather is bad enough to warrant using them.

 

[voodoochile]

Yes, but setting the fogs to ROW means they will stay on when you high beams go on. I think the only legal way is to leave the fogs on US mode and I think they will not work at all when the DRL's are disabled.

That was the case with mine (2004). Can't disable DRL and retain fogs in this model year, or at least in the software rev. I have.

I don't notice much diff with fogs on or off on low beam, unless of course it's foggy out, then I do like them. I go in to work early in the morning, and it's often very foggy.

BTW, you will still have use of the rear fog light even if the fronts are disabled.

 

[bmwtech]

I had my DRL"s disabled along with other items, when they brought my car around the passnger seat occupancy light stayed on all the time. I took it in today to have it looked at and they tell me everything is fine-no open circuit or no pressure detetcted-they tried other mats and installed an updated version. They tell me this is a result of the programming. I told them to leave it and I will live with it. Also I noticed that after starting the car about three seconds later the ac blower motor will cut out for .5 second. I remember my 03 model doing the same thing right after programming. Are there side effects to programming? Is this happening to other people???

 

[thomjam]

That was the case with mine (2004). Can't disable DRL and retain fogs in this model year, or at least in the software rev. I have.

our 'vert is a MY2004. the DRLs are disabled and the fog lights work as outlined in the other message.


Jaime

 

[voodoochile]

My passenger seat sensor for the belt is hyper-sensitive also. The belt remains buckled most of the time now, even with the seat empty. Other times if the light is off, even a single magazine placed on the seat would turn on the light. This is linked to the airbag deployment, so they will not bypass it, either. They have adjusted it a few times, and now have a new sensor on order. Ridiculous. It ought to require 50 lbs to trigger it, not one ounce.

 

[voodoochile]

our 'vert is a MY2004. the DRLs are disabled and the fog lights work as outlined in the other message.
Jaime

Meaning you can run the fogs concurrently with the high beams? If so, you have a flexible dealer willing to enable ROW for the fogs, it seems.

I suppose they discourage it because most people don't have the common sense to not use fogs with high beams. Bad enough that so many people run the fogs during the day. I also often see Saabs, Volvos, and Audis with the rear foglight on during the day. These people must not really have a handle on what half the switches even do in their cars. :roll:

 

[ddreib]

I agree with you.

But if you have your high beam on and your fogs, you would probably not do that when traffic is nearby, so why do you worry about the legality of it?

I've run them this way for a year and have the common sense not to run both fog lights and high beams at the same time. Unfortunately, some people DO insist on driving around lit up like a Tijuana taxi. It is for their sake that the law requires this situation to be impossible to achieve. The first step in the annual inspection is to test the lights. When the inspector saw that I could engage both fog and high beams, the inspection stopped.

If I need to choose between running my Xenon's constantly as DRLs or turning them off and losing my fog lights, I'll choose the latter. The light pattern on the Xenons more or less makes the fog lights vestigial anyway.

 

[needashower]

Let's face it, most people do NOT have common sense and murphy's law prevails. I thought about disabling the DRLs, and then decided that I'd rather deal with maintaining the xenon bulbs than risk not being seen by other drivers and having a collision. Anyone that is considering shutting down the DRLs that lives a big city should rethink this decision. My 2 cents.

 

[ddreib]

Let's face it, most people do NOT have common sense and murphy's law prevails. I thought about disabling the DRLs, and then decided that I'd rather deal with maintaining the xenon bulbs than risk not being seen by other drivers and having a collision. Anyone that is considering shutting down the DRLs that lives a big city should rethink this decision. My 2 cents.

Actually the converse is true. No research done to date has found any safety benefit for DRLs except in very rural areas of Canada and Scandinavia where there are more moose than cars.
In urban areas, there is some data that suggests that DRLs contribute to information overload on the individual, making is slightly more difficult to identify real, risk information from other sources of lighting on the road or beside it.
So, in addition to providing no measured benefit, having DRLs on all the time wears out lights sooner (expense), places a higher constant load on the engine through the alternator (wear + expense), and is still an unusual enough occurrence that other cars flash their lights to tell you that you have your headlights turned on (annoying).
On some cars (not Saabs), the DRLs are a reduced intensity light out of the normal headlights. This can actually CAUSE a problem if the driver forgets to turn the headlights onto full operation at dusk, driving with reduced illumination instead.
The primary reason that GM has been promoting this across all of their brands is economic. It permits them to only have one variation of each car for both the US and Canada (where DRLs are required by law).

 

[Rob in Atlanta]

I just did an admittedly brief online survey of the various Daytime Running Lights ("DRL") studies. What is apparent is that there are a lot of very passionate people on both sides of the issue. Who would have thought that having your lights on during the day would engender such heated and passionate emotion? Some argue that DRL's are only effective in more northerly latitudes where ambient light is less. Some argue their effectiveness also at more moderate latitudes. Others criticize DRL's because they cause an increase in fuel usage, bringing in our era's politically correct trump card, environmental concerns. Still others, criticize the effect of glare on other drivers. Finally, some criticize DRL's as a tool of that modern bête noire of choice, the large, multinational corporation. The byzantine argument that DRL's are the tools of corporate greed goes something like this:

1. Corporation X wants to scare consumers into buying its "safer" products
2. Corporation X hires psuedo-scientific hacks to create phony research that shows the benefit of DRL's at reducing accidents
3. Corporation X equips all of its vehicles with DRL's to increase "safety," thereby causing millions to buy its "safer" products

Each of these schools of thought have critics. Some of the "studies" appear to be psuedo-scientific, while others appear to be more rigorous in their method and technique. I am certainly no expert on lumens, luminosity, refractive indices or statistical variation, but I can spot "studies" that are ginned up to produce a certain result when I see one. With so much junk- and psuedo-science out there, I don't think that anyone can definitely say whether the case for or against DRL's has been proven.

My opinion? Caveat Driver.