2 Questions | Water Leak & Automatic Lights

[WHOisDANE]

Hi Folks .. mostly a lurker here and tried my best to search for these answer's, but I'm coming up with nothing relevant. I just have 2 quick questions for anybody that has more knowledge than I on our cars.

Question #1
Has anybody ever experienced water leakage from behind the rear view mirror? I was on an on-ramp yesterday (Seattle, WA) and it was a clover leaf on-ramp, so I was going about 20~ mph with relatively heavy rain coming down. As I was in about the apex of the corner, water came flying out from what seemed to be the head liner right behind the rear view mirror. It was about maybe 1/2 oz of water, not a lot, but enough to leave a wet stain on my jeans.

I've taken my car through the car wash a handful of times since I bought it, and also drove in even heavier rain later that evening, and the leak never happened again.

Question #2
If I leave my lights in the "ON" position (vs "auto") and turn my car off, will the lights automatically turn off after ____ seconds/minutes or will they stay on until you manually turn them off?

Thanks for the information everyone!

[M37owner]

I don't know what's going on regarding question 1. Maybe the moon roof is leaking and its working its way to the front. perhaps you can postion the garden hose to wet just a specific part of the roof/windshield to pin-point the location, and keep testing (moving hose around) until you can identify the where the leak is coming from.

On question 2, I can tell you that the headlights will turn off by themselves when left in auto postion. This gives you time to get the front door (or wherever) in the dark after you shut the car off. The default is "auto off after 30 seconds" but it can be set from "0 to 180 seconds" if you want. In my model (M37 with Nav.) it is set in the "Settings>Confort>Light Off Delay".

[WHOisDANE]

I don't know what's going on regarding question 1. Maybe the moon roof is leaking and its working its way to the front. perhaps you can postion the garden hose to wet just a specific part of the roof/windshield to pin-point the location, and keep testing (moving hose around) until you can identify the where the leak is coming from.

On question 2, I can tell you that the headlights will turn off by themselves when left in auto postion. This gives you time to get the front door (or wherever) in the dark after you shut the car off. The default is "auto off after 30 seconds" but it can be set from "0 to 180 seconds" if you want. In my model (M37 with Nav.) it is set in the "Settings>Confort>Light Off Delay".

Yes, I know that in "auto" mode it'll automatically turn off in ____ seconds based off user preference. I'm talking about leaving the dial in the "ON" position so that as soon as I turn my car on (2007 m35x) my lights come on despite it being day/night.

[lovemycarM35]

Could be the seal in the front windshield

[yomoms16]

If headlights are left in the on position...... it shuts off after several.minutes...longer than I personally would like ...im guessing some type of failsafe so you dont drain the battery.....

[suburbanmx]

If you have a sun roof, the most common leak cause is drain tube connection.

[M37owner]

I don't know what's going on regarding question 1. Maybe the moon roof is leaking and its working its way to the front. perhaps you can postion the garden hose to wet just a specific part of the roof/windshield to pin-point the location, and keep testing (moving hose around) until you can identify the where the leak is coming from.

On question 2, I can tell you that the headlights will turn off by themselves when left in auto postion. This gives you time to get the front door (or wherever) in the dark after you shut the car off. The default is "auto off after 30 seconds" but it can be set from "0 to 180 seconds" if you want. In my model (M37 with Nav.) it is set in the "Settings>Confort>Light Off Delay".

Yes, I know that in "auto" mode it'll automatically turn off in ____ seconds based off user preference. I'm talking about leaving the dial in the "ON" position so that as soon as I turn my car on (2007 m35x) my lights come on despite it being day/night.

I should have read more slowly -

The manual says this (I added the "[wording]" because the symbols did not copy over):

When the headlight switch is in the [on] or [parking lights]
position while the ignition switch is in
the ON position, the lights will automatically
turn off 5 minutes after the ignition switch has
been pushed to the OFF position.
When the headlight switch remains in the [on]
or [parking lights] position after the lights automatically
turn off, the lights will turn on when
the ignition switch is pushed to the ON position.
CAUTION
● When you turn on the headlight switch again
after the lights automatically turn off, the
lights will not turn off automatically. Be sure
to turn the light switch to the OFF position
when you leave the vehicle for extended periods
of time, otherwise the battery will be
discharged.
● Never leave the light switch on when the
engine is not running for extended periods of
time even if the headlights turn off
automatically.

[TDot]

You can go in your manual and set the lights to turn off as soon as the car turns off even if tour in auto. I can't see mine now to tell you. Or download the manual.

Looking at your windshield from outside, do you see a "dimple" right in front of where your rearview mirror is on the rubber seal? Just curious.

[Larz]

There is no way to make the headlamps turn on automatically in daylight. They aren't designed for use a DRLs. If you have the D2S HID bulbs, they only last for so many hours of operation which is extremely long when only used at night. If you use them 24/7, you will need to replace them more often than normal. I wanted lights to run whenever the car is in use so I bought DRLs and installed them myself in less than 1 hour. Because they are LEDs, they should last the life of the car. See pics in my sig below or click on my avatar pic.
I know you are aware of DRLs so no offense is intended - just sharing how I made front lights for added safety while driving in daylight. Actually the set I have is absolutely brilliant and far higher quality than the other after-market sets I've seen. They are called "Phillips Daylight-8" and since Phillips has released a newer version, mine are available now for about half what I paid.

[WHOisDANE]

There is no way to make the headlamps turn on automatically in daylight. They aren't designed for use a DRLs. If you have the D2S HID bulbs, they only last for so many hours of operation which is extremely long when only used at night. If you use them 24/7, you will need to replace them more often than normal. I wanted lights to run whenever the car is in use so I bought DRLs and installed them myself in less than 1 hour. Because they are LEDs, they should last the life of the car. See pics in my sig below or click on my avatar pic.
I know you are aware of DRLs so no offense is intended - just sharing how I made front lights for added safety while driving in daylight. Actually the set I have is absolutely brilliant and far higher quality than the other after-market sets I've seen. They are called "Phillips Daylight-8" and since Phillips has released a newer version, mine are available now for about half what I paid.

Those DRL's are sick. I've always loved the LED Strips on newer cars but I haven't really looked at a good location for something like that on my M.

I'll have to do some more research and possibly pick me up a set of those. Thanks!

[Larz]

I mui=ounted mine in 2012 with 'heavy duty' (20lb) 3M tape (from Home Depot). I didn't want to drill a bunch of holes to use the brackets that come with the bulbs so I placed the 3M tape on the flat top area and stuck them to the underside of the bumper. I just drilled a single hole directly behind them through the plastic trim piece to pass the wire through and then ran the wires through the engine bay to the controler. The controller has a POS and NEG wire that connects direct to the battery. I mounted them so the leading edge of the lamps are flush with the leading edge of the bumper. They are about 2inches from the fog lamps on the outer end of the bumper. Going on 2 years in FL heat and northern snow and they are still snug as a bug.
.

.

.
Here is a link on Ebay to the exact set I have:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-PHILIPS-DRL ... 1154wt_988
.

.

.
The newer version is brilliant, but over $200. Mine were about $175 when I bought them, but can be had for about $100 less now. If mine ever fail (which I doubt), I'll get these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-DRL-GUI ... 410wt_1225
They use 2 long LED bars instead of one row of individual LEDs.

[eessel]

I mui=ounted mine in 2012 with 'heavy duty' (20lb) 3M tape (from Home Depot). I didn't want to drill a bunch of holes to use the brackets that come with the bulbs so I placed the 3M tape on the flat top area and stuck them to the underside of the bumper. I just drilled a single hole directly behind them through the plastic trim piece to pass the wire through and then ran the wires through the engine bay to the controler. The controller has a POS and NEG wire that connects direct to the battery. I mounted them so the leading edge of the lamps are flush with the leading edge of the bumper. They are about 2inches from the fog lamps on the outer end of the bumper. Going on 2 years in FL heat and northern snow and they are still snug as a bug.
.

.

.
Here is a link on Ebay to the exact set I have:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-PHILIPS-DRL ... 1154wt_988
.

.

.
The newer version is brilliant, but over $200. Mine were about $175 when I bought them, but can be had for about $100 less now. If mine ever fail (which I doubt), I'll get these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PHILIPS-DRL-GUI ... 410wt_1225
They use 2 long LED bars instead of one row of individual LEDs.

Could you please tell me where you got that led strip? I've been looking for some but they all seem too thin. I like the thickness of that led strip. Thanks in advance.

[Larz]

The link for the DRLs is inbetween the pics in my post. If you missed it, here it is:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-PHILIPS-DRL ... 1154wt_931