First drive with my matrix led headlights

[Vertigo1]

Right @Vertigo1 I've just been outside to double check, with headlights in auto and on obviously as it's dark, if you push the stalk away from you matrix is now in auto, push the stalk away from you again and you have full beam on, push stalk away from you again and you're back to auto. Pulling the stalk towards you flashes full beam.

Thanks for checking but that raises two more questions:

1. How do you turn Matrix/full-beam off again - does a fourth push of the stalk do that?
2. If the above is true then that means there's no way of turning Matrix off without first going through permanent full beam which sounds bonkers.

 

[Tom.H]

Thanks for checking but that raises two more questions:

1. How do you turn Matrix/full-beam off again - does a fourth push of the stalk do that?
2. If the above is true then that means there's no way of turning Matrix off without first going through permanent full beam which sounds bonkers.

I couldn't get it to turn off a minute ago, I'm sure I have done before but haven't driven it much in the last week or so, even less in the dark. I'll be finishing work tomorrow night though so will have a check.

 

[Vertigo1]

No rush - this is just all idle curiosity really as I'll find out for myself eventually

 

[Tom.H]

No rush - this is just all idle curiosity really as I'll find out for myself eventually

As Jassy says, they're a bit of a gimmick but they're cool when they're doing their thing.

 

[GSB]

One option l have chosen that l feel will just be a gimmick given the cost, but hey glad your enjoying them

Don't worry.. nearly a year in on mine and they're still worth every penny. And that's in london, where the opportunities to actually make use of them are few and far between. North of Hadrians wall where the nights are long, electricity has yet to become a widespread tech, and the lack of light pollution means you can still see stars dimmer the actual sun, they'll be awesome.

 

[Jassyo06]

Don't worry.. nearly a year in on mine and they're still worth every penny. And that's in london, where the opportunities to actually make use of them are few and far between. North of Hadrians wall where the nights are long, electricity has yet to become a widespread tech, and the lack of light pollution means you can still see stars dimmer the actual sun, they'll be awesome.

LOL no comeback Jassy says with that post

 

[Trevolly]

Thanks for checking but that raises two more questions:

1. How do you turn Matrix/full-beam off again - does a fourth push of the stalk do that?
2. If the above is true then that means there's no way of turning Matrix off without first going through permanent full beam which sounds bonkers.

As I said in my post you turn matrix off by a second push forward and let go on the stalk, therefore switching off auto. Easy to do no aggro at all. You don't activate or go through full beam at all as full beam is a pull back on the stalk.

 

[Vertigo1]

As I said in my post you turn matrix off by a second push forward and let go on the stalk, therefore switching off auto. Easy to do no aggro at all. You don't activate or go through full beam at all as full beam is a pull back on the stalk.

Right, so permanent full beam isn't available with Matrix?

 

[Tom.H]

Right, so permanent full beam isn't available with Matrix?

Yes, I went outside and put full beam on last night with matrix in auto. If I get chance I will get a video tonight.

 

[Lehn]

Yes, I went outside and put full beam on last night with matrix in auto. If I get chance I will get a video tonight.

That would be great!

 

[Vertigo1]

Haha we seem to be getting conflicting info here on exactly what the switch does and whether you can override Matrix to put permanent full beam on

 

[Lehn]

Haha we seem to be getting conflicting info here on exactly what the switch does and whether you can override Matrix to put permanent full beam on

All these speculations and we should just wait to see how it works when we get our cars or @Tom.H posts a video!

When do you pick up your car?

 

[Vertigo1]

Not until beginning of Dec

 

[Trevolly]

Hope this helps. Light settings were on auto btw. There are only three positions on the light stick. Away from you, neutral and towards you. There is no "click" setting like there is on the cruise control stick.

 

[Lehn]

Hope this helps.

Wow great video! So, next question... What happens if the overall lighting is not in auto but in evening/night mode? (The round selector). Will this disable Matrix lights and enable manual-full-beam-always-on using the stick?

 

[Trevolly]

Wow great video! So, next question... What happens if the overall lighting is not in auto but in evening/night mode? (The round selector). Will this disable Matrix lights and enable manual-full-beam-always-on using the stick?

Here you go! When you are driving in matrix mode the auto sign will change from white to blue and back again as the full beam is being selected and deselected by the car. I've never been flashed!!

 

[Tom.H]

But it's different at night

 

[Lehn]

Here you go! When you are driving in matrix mode the auto sign will change from white to blue and back again as the full beam is being selected and deselected by the car. I've never been flashed!!

I'm genuine surprised that it didn't work like a normal car without matrix lights then. The more you know...

But it's different at night

I can't be the only one to be proper confused now

 

[Vertigo1]

Awesome vids, thanks for doing those.

 

[Tom.H]

@Vertigo1 Right excuse the lack of talking, hopefully you can make out well enough what I'm doing in the video.

As you can see though, one push away puts it in auto, another push away turns on full beam, push away back to auto, push away again and full beam on, pull towards and both full beam and auto are off.

Excuse the orientation of the video!

 

[Vertigo1]

Wait, what?!

So why are your car and Trevolly's different? Is one a FL and one PFL?

EDIT: Sorry I meant on MY17 and one MY18? They're obviously both FL.

 

[Lehn]

@Vertigo1 Right excuse the lack of talking, hopefully you can make out well enough what I'm doing in the video.

As you can see though, one push away puts it in auto, another push away turns on full beam, push away back to auto, push away again and full beam on, pull towards and both full beam and auto are off.

Excuse the orientation of the video!

Great video, thanks. Then I wasn't wrong after all it just needed to be dark.

Wait, what?!

So why are your car and Trevolly's different? Is one a FL and one PFL?

EDIT: Sorry I meant on MY17 and one MY18? They're obviously both FL.

That's because the first videos were shot in daylight and the last in darkness.

 

[Vertigo1]

That makes no sense though as it means you can flash full beam with matrix on in the daytime but not at night?

 

[Tom.H]

Nope, his videos were done in the daylight. Mine works exactly the same in the day.

You can still flash with matrix. If it's in auto and I pull it towards me it will flash, if I have full beam on and pull it towards me then it turns them off as in the video.

 

[Vertigo1]

Sounds like the daftest system I've ever heard - controls which behave totally differently in the daytime compared to night? Sounds like an ergonomic nightmare to me but I'll see when mine arrives.

 

[Tom.H]

Sounds like the daftest system I've ever heard - controls which behave totally differently in the daytime compared to night? Sounds like an ergonomic nightmare to me but I'll see when mine arrives.

Guess there's no real need for full beam to stay on in the daylight, you use the stalk exactly the same in night and day only full beam won't stay on in the day.

 

[Vertigo1]

Also (at night) if pulling towards you flashes if it's in auto but cancels everything if in full beam then that means there's no way of cancelling auto without first going through full beam? That can't be right as that's just dangerous.

 

[Tom.H]

But why would you need to cancel auto? If you have full beam on in auto and want full beam off but to stay in auto, you just push it away from you.

 

[Vertigo1]

But if you want to cancel matrix for any reason at night, you can't do it without first going to full beam?

 

[Trevolly]

It works the same on mine at night, I just can't film it as I'm sure my wife thinks I'm sending secret messages to the neighbors wife, with me flashing my lights on and off!!

PS you'll love them when u get the car, I think they're really good when driving. They pick out road signs and light them up fantastically and create a great arc of light when driving down country lanes

 

[Tom.H]

But if you want to cancel matrix for any reason at night, you can't do it without first going to full beam?

Well the only other way I got it to do it was quickly flicking the light selector from auto to headlights on and back to auto. Like I say though, once they're in auto there's no real need to turn it off you can still flash if you want and you can still put full beam on yourself if you want.

I just tried it on the way home, and it's the same on the move as it is in the video I posted. Even recorded another one at a standstill.

 

[Hammerhead]

BMW's system is better as there is a an actual button on the end of the stalk to activate adaptive (their version of matrix) you just push the button again to turn them off. Or just use the stalk like a car that doesn't have adaptive so push forward for high beam on and pull back to flash, it's a lot more intuitive than Audi. It annoys me that to turn matrix off you have to first go into full high beam so are going to blind anyone in the vicinity, why was this not thought about by Audi?

I've also noticed when coming up behind people on the motorway when I am in the middle lane and they are in the inside lane I think I am am dazzling them just on dipped beam with no matrix switched on as I quite often get cars flash me as I go past them obviously thinking my high beam is on, the light cast to the near side of the road does look very high to be honest even on dipped beam.

 

[JohnM100]

But if you want to cancel matrix for any reason at night, you can't do it without first going to full beam?

Yes you can - just pull back on the headlight stalk briefly when in matrix full beam mode - it goes back to normal ‘dipped’ headlights. No need to go to full beam first.

A little counter intuitive since the default for ‘pull back on headlight stalk’ is generally full beam flash even when lights are off.

Think of it as the opposite of the cruise control stalk, since current position dictates what a push / pull does.

 

[Wibbly]

The problem with conventional lights (automatically dipping or not) is the sudden loss of range when they go from full to dipped. I hate that on a dark night with no street lighting, and consider it a bit of a safety issue. Matrix lights avoid that, so will be a choice for me next time round if possible.

 

[JohnM100]

The problem with conventional lights (automatically dipping or not) is the sudden loss of range when they go from full to dipped. I hate that on a dark night with no street lighting, and consider it a bit of a safety issue.

Assuming your headlights are aligned and headlight covers are clean then sorry to say but that’s a sign of the competition, age and eyesight.

Matrix lights avoid that, so will be a choice for me next time round if possible.

So do Adaptive Xenon with any bend in the road. Don’t get me wrong, matrix LED take things to a new level (even if they take a while to get used to) but other options exist. It’s the headlight equivalent of CD vs vinyl.

The way the industry is going, everyone will migrate to matrix LED so they can still see, since most other cars on the road are going that way as well.