Adjusting instrument brightness

MikeB

Active Member
May 26, 2014
13
0
Is there a more accessible way to quickly adjust the brightness of the instrument dials etc without having to go through the car setup menu with the touchscreen? It isn't safe to do it while driving, older cars had a dial near the headlight switch. I have the convenience pack if that changes anything.
 

chrisRibiza

Active Member
Sep 27, 2007
1,194
51
Nope. Through the head unit is the only way I think.

Surely once it's set you never need to change it? I know I've never changed mine before in any car I've had.
 

MikeB

Active Member
May 26, 2014
13
0
I prefer it brighter when it's brighter outside then dimmer as it gets dark which is less distracting. Only a minor problem but there's a reason it's adjustable.
 

daniel575

Active Member
Apr 2, 2014
123
1
Agree, with both these, and also the infotainment screen. (Why don't instrument panel and infotainment system go *together* in brightness, anyway?!)

I drive on very dark quiet roads a lot, when I prefer everything to be as dark as possible. Then, I might drive the same day in extremely bright sunshine and want it to be brighter.

So far what I do is simply to plan a little break around sunset and change it then. No big deal really, but I do also miss having a simple dial button next to the lights switch.
 

Suicida1 Zombie

Active Member
Mar 19, 2013
446
2
I prefer it brighter when it's brighter outside then dimmer as it gets dark which is less distracting. Only a minor problem but there's a reason it's adjustable.

The display works that way anyway if you don't have the sidelights on. Try starting your car up at night with your lights turned OFF then shine a torch/phone flashlight it your cluster and watch the cluster light up.

If you have the LED lights then the front DRLs are fine until dusk and then just put your lights on when it starts going dark.

Personally I find the sidelights almost a total waste of time, once I have has my back sidelights turned on so they work as a DRL via VCDS I can safely say I will never use the sidelights again in this car.
 

andrewpain

Active Member
Jul 5, 2014
1,852
3
Meppershall Beds.
quite agree about the brightness knob on the dash. So much easier...and a big button for traction on/off.
especially with the new DTK tuning boxx just announced!!
 

ayjaysee

Active Member
Aug 11, 2014
5
0
Totally agree with this! I was driving at about 9:30pm last night and I was surprised at how dark it was (where has the summer gone??!). However it was a great way for the LED head lights to show off their main beam assist capabilities (setting is on medium sensitivity) and they were spot on.

Because of the darkness and absence of street lights it was also apparent that I was being blinded by the infotainment screen even though the sat nav had auto changed to night mode. So I fiddled with the brightness setting of the screen a bit and also noticed the auto off after 10 seconds setting which I turned on, which solved the problem.

I can't help wishing that with the light sensors required for turning on/off headlights and the sat nav day/night mode there could be the functionality to have a day and night brightness settings for all the dash backlights/screen etc so it didn't need to be changed manually?
 

gh2

Active Member
Aug 2, 2010
115
0
At night I usually drive with 'Traffic' on the screen as it's usually blank at night, therefore the darkest I can get the screen to be
 

andrewpain

Active Member
Jul 5, 2014
1,852
3
Meppershall Beds.
my older saabs used to have a "Night Panel" button that turned EVERYTHING off, except the speedo from 0-70 mph.
if you went over 70 it would all light up again.
which could be a bit annoying...
 

Rokerlad

Full Member
Sep 25, 2004
345
0
East of Eden
The instruments seem to go very dark when driving under trees etc then the illumination kicks in when it's too late. Another bugbear for me. Why can't the instrument panel be permanently illuminated?
 

smurf123

Active Member
Feb 9, 2014
318
2
swindon wiltshire
on the infotainment system when you have the sat nav on there is a auto setting for day/night function does this only work on sat nav or does it also apply on media and radio
 
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