You know those cool LED headlights we can't have here?

[Mike K]

The ones that are basically in high beam mode 100% of the time and split the beam for oncoming traffic and cars that are in front of you so that you don't blind them? If you've been living under a rock here you go:



So since we're America, land of the free, we can't have nice things unless they pass our arduous DOT process. And basically BMW and Audi said fuck it and ship the cars without the feature. So those awesome new lights on the A8? They're just standard LED headlights without any of the cool features. Same with the new 7 series BMW LEDs.

So there's this site that you can enter the VIN on any BMW and get a complete build sheet for it. That's a pretty cool thing to have when you're looking for specific option packages. Then I noticed all the cars had something titled "5AP Decoding for no-dazzle high-beam assistance".

As an aside, coding is huge in the BMW community. You can basically program the car to do anything you want. People program them so their mirrors fold when they're locked, so that they display speed in the center display, closing the trunk with the remote instead of just opening it... If it can be done, someone has coded it.

So I look to see what the no-dazzle decoding is and basically it's just BMW shutting off the awesome lights as part as the pre-delivery inspection. So the cars are shipped here with the bad-ass lights fully functional and are essentially neutered by a BMW tech before you pick it up.

And of course all you need to do is disable the coding the dealer puts in there and bam: it's all back. One dude put a GoPro on his headlight to catch it all in action:



And with BMW (maybe other manufacturers as well) it's not just the LEDs that are full adaptive. The Xenon cars are too. In fact, the car in the above video is a Xenon car.

I'm a techy. I love stuff like this so maybe I'm exciting for something nobody else cares about.

Click to read more...

 

[DanJ]

I wonder if [MENTION=239]Turk[/MENTION] can do that with his R8. It has LED headlights if I recall.

 

[Xtant12]

what do you mean we cant have them here??

 

[SRT41320]

Is this like what my dodge dart has with its "automatic" high beams

 

[Stink Star]

I believe the s-class Mercedes also does this, but they also integrate it with their thermal imaging system so if a hazard is spotted like a deer at the side of the road, the passenger light will aim at the threat automatically so you have more time to react

 

[Euro]

That's actually pretty neat.

But I can't wait for these systems to start going haywire in about 10 years

 

[Ti28]

And this is the reason why us Techs should be making a $100k a year. Because when this shit fucks up we gotta pull our damn hair out trying to fix this shit.

 

[FrenchLicker]

Is this like what my dodge dart has with its "automatic" high beams

Lol no.

kinda.


Mike K.... this isn't terribly new, apparently people with caravans have been adding all the bells and whistles for the last few years similarly. To add pushbutton start is sub $50 and a flash, dealer cost at purchase is like 500 bucks...

 

[FrenchLicker]

And this is the reason why us Techs should be making a $100k a year. Because when this shit fucks up we gotta pull our damn hair out trying to fix this shit.

You follow a flow chart..... :derp:

:wall:

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

And this is the reason why us Techs should be making a $100k a year. Because when this shit fucks up we gotta pull our damn hair out trying to fix this shit.

Go work for a dealer in a union shop. I've got a few friends clearing 100k as techs

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

yeah, low man on totem pole at union shop...sure youll get the gravy stuff.

 

[OffshoreDrilling]

not everywhere plays favorites and feeds senior techs that work

 

[nos4blood70]

Mmmm, automotive lighting boner.

 

[Ti28]

You follow a flow chart..... :derp:

:wall:

In theory. Yes, but it's always not that easy.

Go work for a dealer in a union shop. I've got a few friends clearing 100k as techs

I've been in a union shop. Will never happen again. I didn't suck enough people off.


EDIT: I've been thinking long and hard the past few weeks of getting out of the field. Service writer or parts seem like a nice place to hang out for a while.

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

youll be happier not repairing bullshit...i know i was

 

[Gav'sPurpleZ]

a former tech as a svc writer would be a good transition. you can fully explain the necessary repairs to the customers.

back on topic.

reading it, sounded pretty cool that cars can be reprogrammed to have all the goodies.

watching the GoPro footage... i guess i wasnt sure WTF i was looking for

 

[Ti28]

youll be happier not repairing bullshit...i know i was

The last wiring nightmare I had to go through really put a damper on my feelings of swinging a wrench for a living. A horn, a simple fucking horn had to be wired through what is called a bulkhead module. A simple horn not working took 4 hours and $2000 to fix. So god damn stupid.

 

[Mike K]

Techs making 100k because they need to diagnose these? Come on. Techs don't repair. Techs replace. At least modern ones do. As a dealer technician you would never find yourself in a position where you would be troubleshooting the inner workings of a headlight. You'd simply replace it once ruling other parts of the system out.

You have advanced scanners and flow charts to follow. Many of the techs I know can replace parts but have no idea why they're replacing parts. They do what the software tells them.

This isn't going to add any work load. It's just going to be another "if this, then this" flowchart in your software.

 

[SRT41320]

Most dealers I've dealt with have one "technician" and 10 parts changers that just replace what he says is bad.

 

[RICH17]

We have technicians and what we call mechanics. Mechanics diagnose the old school stuff, do overhauls, big jobs etc and the techs(IE UTI kids) get the labtops out and contact warranty tech support to find out what to do.

the new kids don't learn shit cause they aren't allowed to think for themselves

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

only tech i know making that kinda money are entrenched senior techs and the trans/electrical specialists...

 

[Ti28]

Techs making 100k because they need to diagnose these? Come on. Techs don't repair. Techs replace. At least modern ones do. As a dealer technician you would never find yourself in a position where you would be troubleshooting the inner workings of a headlight. You'd simply replace it once ruling other parts of the system out.

You have advanced scanners and flow charts to follow. Many of the techs I know can replace parts but have no idea why they're replacing parts. They do what the software tells them.

This isn't going to add any work load. It's just going to be another "if this, then this" flowchart in your software.

It's just like that ain't it?

 

[Mike K]

For the dealer techs I know? Yeah. Maybe you're an independent. I don't know.

 

[Ti28]

It's just sooooo easy figuring out what's wrong.

A head light like that has tons of sensors,modules and wires. A scanner can only show you what it reports. If there's a wire that's fried our a module that doesn't communicate you're screwed. No more fancy scanner can help you, it's time to start back probing connectors and ohming out stuff.

 

[Mike K]

It's just sooooo easy figuring out what's wrong.

A head light like that has tons of sensors,modules and wires. A scanner can only show you what it reports. If there's a wire that's fried our a module that doesn't communicate you're screwed. No more fancy scanner can help you, it's time to start back probing connectors and ohming out stuff.

Lol, you act as if I've never turned a wrench. I've owned some really complicated cars with really complicated systems and the process of elimination works the same on a complicated $100,000 car as it does on a Ford Festiva.

And this is my point. When I had the intake issue with the A8 I knew going into it that the flaps in the intake were going be stuck but my Audi master technician buddy was certain it was just going to be stuck potentiometers. I had already ruled them out and only listened to him because he was certain. Sure enough, he was wrong.

The same goes for the fuel system in the same car. When I was getting codes for low pressure on the high pressure side of the fuel system I knew to look on the high side of the system for a problem but he kept insisting I replace the low side fuel pressure sensor and that if that was bad it would cause a myriad of problems. Logic told me it wouldn't and sure enough, it didn't. He was wrong but since the flow-chart he followed for high side problems included first replacing the low side sensor he had falsely learned to believe that this was the cause of many problems.

He's a master tech. He's the guy working on the R8's and he's not alone. It's not like he's less knowledgable than the rest. He's great at his job however his job doesn't teach him to analyze why a part failed or what purpose it serves and how it affects other components down the line. It teaches him to follow instructions and to replace when required. You can debate that but I can post the Audi TSB for my car that he sent me that is so plainly written that I'm certain my little brother could fix the car if he knew the vocabulary.

Again, as a technician, you'd never find yourself in a position to be troubleshooting the internals of an individual headlight. It would simply be replaced. And beyond that, what's the rest of the system? A camera, a computer, the headlight itself and wiring. You rule one out, you move on to the next and all of the sudden you find your problem. This said from experience. Are there cases where everything checks out individually and you need to start checking wiring? Sure but 9 times out of 10 it's a matter of finding the failing component and simply replacing it.

I don't know where you work or who you work for so maybe it's different but from what I see of most dealers, it's a matter of following flow charts and replacing parts.