[9-3 Aviateur]

Saab newbie here. This may be a dumb question, but what's the difference between the DRL and the normal headlights? Comparing the both of them visually, there seems to be no difference. They both seem to be of the same intensity and even from the same bulb. Am I wrong?

 

[sptsdn]

There is no difference in the light output, just the operation of the lights themselves (the ability to turn the headlights off when needed).

There are numerous posts about DRLs, the disabling of them, the pros and cons of them, the legality of them, and the impact on the environment from them, etc, etc, etc. You should be able to find everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about them using the search function.

 

[LaserRed9-3Aero]

Saab newbie here. This may be a dumb question, but what's the difference between the DRL and the normal headlights? Comparing the both of them visually, there seems to be no difference. They both seem to be of the same intensity and even from the same bulb. Am I wrong?

You are correct.

As far as I know, in the stock configuration there are two differences between 'On' and 'Off'. In the 'On' position, you can A) turn on the fog lights and B) leave the high beams on. In the 'Off' position, the fogs won't illuminate and the high-beams will only work in the flash-to-pass mode, i.e., holding the turn signal stalk back activates but won't keep them on when you release.

That's it. No differences in which lights are illuminated, no differences in brightness.

As sptsdn said, this topic comes up a lot and I'd encourage you to do a search as well. FWIW, I like my 9-3 a whole lot better since I had the dealer disable the DRL's .

 

[ANTMAR]

DRL's come enabled unless you have a dealership that knows how to disable and is willing - most owners that can turn off their lights have had to coerce the dealership and provide details on how to do it. I prefer the ability to control my own headlights - some instances the fog lights will not come on with high beams - in my case they work with the high beams on yet I do not use that feature with oncoming traffic (obviously) - but it is nice on a solo late night early morning drive on unlit roads

 

[proline]

my dealer wont change my settings, now what?

 

[LaserRed9-3Aero]

my dealer wont change my settings, now what?

IMHO, you have three options, in no particular order.

A) Live with it. It is the way the US-spec 9-3 is supposed to work. Unless you bought the car sight-unseen, you should have realized it had DRL's and should have no other expectations. Regardless of how FUBAR the implementation is, it is what it is.

B) Find a new dealer that will do it. It seems that fewer and fewer dealerships will do this, just judging from posts around here. There are probably still some that will, but you may have to road-trip to find one.

C) Work with your current dealer. Ask them why they won't. Be nice about it. If they say, "it's illegal to do it," question as to why they think it is. It is not illegal on a national level to disable this. It might be a state law where you live, but I've yet to read of anyone actually citing such a law. Some cars, including several other GM's (Envoy's for sure, posssibly the Trailblazer but I'm not sure) allow the user to temporarily disable the DRL's with a switch on the dash. If they don't know how to do it, provide the instructions that are posted around here. My dealer said they'd do it and I gave them the instructions from around here anyway. When I picked up the car the SM thanked me for the instructions and commented that they were helpful in verifying that they did the TechII changes exactly as I requested. You can try the line that 'I visit a military base where the security checkpoint requires the headlights to be off'. I've read that it might be a valid enough excuse to get them to do it, but YMMV.

Some dealerships just flat-out won't do it, citing that they can't disable a safety feature. There is some merit to that argument, but again, this depends entirely on the dealer.

Again, this topic comes up a lot so I'd encourage anyone trying to learn about this to do a quick search for 'ROW fogs' or 'DRL disable'. Then read up on all of the tips regarding this, there's a lot of info around here.

 

[Rob Bie]

IMHO, you have three options, in no particular order.

D) If you want to pay you can go to a good independent service shop and have them do it, most if not all will have a Tech II that is up to date with its software. Just might charge you for an hour labor because of there min. and it might take like 20 minutes because our cars computer is so slow with the Tech II

 

[DrSandman]

You are correct.

As far as I know, in the stock configuration there are two differences between 'On' and 'Off'. In the 'On' position, you can A) turn on the fog lights and B) leave the high beams on. In the 'Off' position, the fogs won't illuminate and the high-beams will only work in the flash-to-pass mode, i.e., holding the turn signal stalk back activates but won't keep them on when you release.

That's it. No differences in which lights are illuminated, no differences in brightness.

As sptsdn said, this topic comes up a lot and I'd encourage you to do a search as well. FWIW, I like my 9-3 a whole lot better since I had the dealer disable the DRL's .

Actually, there's one more difference between "on" and "off". In the "off" position, some of the buttons on the dashboard are not illuminated. Specifically, the "nightpanel", "ESP", and dimmer buttons are not illuminated.

 

[proline]

thanks for the advice everyone, I am searching for a small foreign car place to do it. Anyone know of a good place in eastern CT? Woodstock, Pomfret, Killingly area?