Kamahaina

Curious problem that just appeared. At night with the head light position in "Auto" (low beam) the lights work fine, I switch to turn on the driving lights and the head lights go off. Going back to the "Auto" position and the head lights come back on. Any suggestions?

plat27265

Are you switching the lights to 'Parking Lights'? This is the position right after 'Auto'. Parking lights have the corner lights and tali lights on but the headlights are off. Switching another step clockwise will take you to 'Headlights' which turns on the head and tail lights.

superswiss

+1 and what are driving lights? The light switch has 4 positions in this order: Off, Auto, Parking Lights, On. As @plat mentioned, the parking light position turns off the headlights and only leaves the DRL or corner lights on. As the name says, it's intended for when you are stopped on the side of the road in the dark, so you can be seen. In Auto position, the lights go automatically into parking mode, the moment you turn off the engine and then turn off completely once you open the door or turn off the ignition.

Kamahaina

I own a 2010 A6, the picture you show is from an A4. 2 positions to the right from the Auto is for the "driving lights" (those corner lights that give you more night driving light when utilizing the low beams). When in this position, the headlights (while only in low beam) stay on, my problem is the headlights go out when turned to this position.

Kamahaina

No, have had the A6 for 7 years with no problems turning to this position, came up suddenly.

superswiss

Where are you located? Following is a screenshot from the 2010 A6 owners manual. The light switch looks and works exactly the same as what I posted above. The first position after auto just turns on the side marker lights w/o the headlights.

Kamahaina

Precisely. When driving at night with the low beams on, turning the switch to the 3 o'clock position (driving/fog lights), my head lights go out. The driving lights come on and the LED running light stay lit. Never happened in the past. Oh, I live in the US.

superswiss

I'm still pretty confused. Now you bring the fog lights into the mix. The fog lights are activated by pulling the light switch out in your model. Newer models have separate buttons for the fog lights. It's been a while since I owned an Audi with this design headlight switch and I never really have to use fog lights, but if I remember correctly, I thought it was by design that the headlights go off if you turn on the front fogs, because the headlights reflect off the fog and are pretty useless and actually counterproductive in situations where one would use fog lights.

If you turn the **** to the 3 o'clock position and push it all the way in, are the headlights on?

Kamahaina

Not true, the fog lights (some refer to as the driving lights) come on when placed at the 3 o'clock position. By pulling the switch out in that position, the tail lights get brighter (less bright then braking) to assist vehicles following a better chance of seeing you in inclement weather. There are no separate buttons for the fogs.
If you say the headlights go off when the fogs are activated, that would be catastrophic when driving at night and never has been the case for 7 years of ownership.

plat27265

I won't pretend I own a similar A6 as yours but I have owned a VW and now an Audi S5 that operated the same way and used the same symbology. They operate just as Superswiss and the 2010 Audi A6 manual describes them.

The 3rd position turns on the headlights in low beam. From this position, if you pull out the switch, it activates the front fog lamps. If your car is equipped with rear fogs, pulling it out another notch will activate the rear fogs. High beams are activated by using the turn signal stalk. Pushing the lever forward (away from driver), turns on the highbeams.

There is one condition that would cause the headlights to go off when the front fogs are on.
This condition occurs when the front fogs are on and your high beams are activated. This exception is not mentioned in the A6 manual but it is true in previous VWs I owned and my current Audi. I am wondering if this is what you are encountering with your A6. Have you checked your turn signal stalk to to find out if in the high beam position?

For North America, I believe it is programmed this way due to DOT requirements. Otherwise, there is a selection in VCDS that allows you to have both high beams and fogs on at the same time.