Do I have high beam assist?

[chei]

Hi guys,

I just bought a 2015 A4 B8 Allroad.

I am a bit confused with how the headlights work and whether I have high beam assist or not.

I have an option in the MMI that says "Automatic headlights" - with early/medium/late settings - and when I push the light stalk forward I get a high beam symbol with an "A" in from of it, but the high beam never comes on, even in the dark with no approaching traffic. Does that mean that I have high beam assist or just automatic headlights/driving lights?
I used to have a 2014 a4 avant that had high beam assist - and it showed itself with the "A" symbol..

Another thing.. I always run the lights in the "Auto" setting - and in this setting I cant activate high beam manually either - only a short high beam "flash" when pulling the stalk towards me - is that normal? Do I need to turn the lights on all the way, to enable high beam manually?

Is all this as it should be - meaning I just dont have high beam assist (but why the "A" symbol then), and the lights need to be turned all the way on for the manual high beam to work?

Christian

[adrianreece]

I don't know about the high beam assist, but if you are pulling the stalk towards you, that is just the "momentary" high beam function. To turn on the high beams, you need to push the stalk away from you to the detent, then they will stay on. Once on, pull the stalk towards you again to return to low beams. Hope that helps!

[chei]

Yes that is the way I would expect it to work, but that only works when the light switch/dial is all the way “on” not when in “auto” which is what I normally use. Do you use “auto” or “on” when you use your high beam?


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[Novarider]

Have you checked the owners manual?

[Theiceman]

I would say something s wrong. I have Automatic lights on my car ( the setting just determines at what point you want them to come on. ) you can tell if they are working as they should come on as soon as you go into a tunnel.
my high beams work fine when you push the stalk away from you just like any other car, and also my " flash to pass" work fine.

There is a feature that dims the high beams if it senses headlights coming towards you, but I don't have that, but I think it includes a camera that is pointing forward through the car . on my last car that had it, it was built into the back of the rear view mirror.

[HartzMts]

Christian, I think your car's lights work as they should.

The "auto" function only determines if it is dark enough outside to go from Daytime Running Lights mode to Full Headlights mode. (That FH mode is selected manually with dash switch rotated fully clockwise.) As you know, through MMI, you can select Early, Medium, and Late, as to how dark outside you want it to get before your Full Headlights mode is on.

The only way I have figured out to tell if my car, driven at twilight and in "Auto" function, is in the DRL mode or the FH mode is to do what you have been doing. Push the light stalk away; if the dash highbeam light comes on, the car is in Full Headlights mode. If the dash highbeam light does not appear, the car is in Daytime Running Lights mode.

Side note: Through VAGCOM, I have my tail-lights on when my DRLs are on. I use that set-up in all daylight hours, at least.

In other words, the only way to guarantee that you have highbeams available (unless it's dark & you are in "Auto" function) is to have the dash light selector to full clockwise/ON . . . or pull the stalk towards you, anytime!

Hope this all helps; it took me a year or so of ownership to figure out when my headlights were on at twilight (in "Auto").

[Theiceman]

oh now I get it, I thought he was saying his high beams would not come on at night... or at all, of course only flash to pass works during the day , main high beam wont come on when manually activated until Auto lights turns on headlights.

high beam assisit only turns off high beams momentarily when turned on ( if you have it ) when the car senses oncoming traffic at night. It will not turn on high beams for you, that is a mechanical switch .

[chei]

Hi Guys,

Thank you for all the replies.

Just did a bit of testing.. I have auto headlights - the lights turn on automatically when I enter a parkering garage etc.

I am still puzzled though - mainly because of the "A" i get, when I push the stalk forward in "auto" mode. Do you guys without Hign Beam assist get that as well - and what does that mean then? surely it is not just showing that auto headlights is "active"?.

That is the only hint I have that the car could have high beam assist, since the A4 Avant I had a few years back used that symbol to tell me that the high beam assist was active.
(I am aware that the system wont turn the hign beam ON, just turn it down when approaching traffic.)

All this is a bit difficult to test this time of year in my part of the world - it doesnt get really dark until 11-12 pm at night :)

Christian

oh now I get it, I thought he was saying his high beams would not come on at night... or at all, of course only flash to pass works during the day , main high beam wont come on when manually activated until Auto lights turns on headlights.

high beam assisit only turns off high beams momentarily when turned on ( if you have it ) when the car senses oncoming traffic at night. It will not turn on high beams for you, that is a mechanical switch .

[Theiceman]

Hi Guys,

Thank you for all the replies.

Just did a bit of testing.. I have auto headlights - the lights turn on automatically when I enter a parkering garage etc.

I am still puzzled though - mainly because of the "A" i get, when I push the stalk forward in "auto" mode. Do you guys without Hign Beam assist get that as well - and what does that mean then? surely it is not just showing that auto headlights is "active"?.

That is the only hint I have that the car could have high beam assist, since the A4 Avant I had a few years back used that symbol to tell me that the high beam assist was active.
(I am aware that the system wont turn the hign beam ON, just turn it down when approaching traffic.)

All this is a bit difficult to test this time of year in my part of the world - it doesnt get really dark until 11-12 pm at night :)

Christian

I will check for you tonight Christian . where does the A show up for you ?

[chei]

Thanks Theiceman!

The A shows up in the instrument cluster in front of the high beam symbol, when the light dial is in "Auto" and I push the light stalk away from me.

[HartzMts]

The A shows up in the instrument cluster in front of the high beam symbol, when the light dial is in "Auto" and I push the light stalk away from me.[/QUOTE]

Christian, checked my allroad for the "A" in front of the high beam dash light. No. Either I do not have High Beam Assist, which I do not, or it is a Euro symbol for Auto light mode. Not here in North America, I think.

[Theiceman]

yeah no A for me either on my Canadian car. sounds like NA cars don't have auto dim

so your high beams don't turn off when a car comes towards you at night ?

[Smac770]

There's no reference to high beam assist for the US B8 products (A4/A5/Q5) that I find.
High beam assist is on the US B9 products, only on the Prestige trim.
While Canada is NAR with the US, they have enough product line differences that I couldn't say Canadian B8 didn't have it as an option.

So do you have to turn on the high beams first (press forward on stalk), and then press it forward again to activate assist mode?
Or when you have high beam assist enabled in MMI, assist mode is all you get. Pressing forward once gives you assist mode, with the A icon, and you'll either get the white icon (high beam off) or blue icon (high beam on).
If you get the white A icon and never see it go blue, and likewise never see high beams light up, first thoughts would be either the requirements to go high beam are not satisfied, or the camera is messed up.

I have no idea what data you might be able to explore in VCDS for the system. There is a setting for what speed must be obtained before high beams engage. Factory is 60kph, maybe yours is set to something stupid high.