Vag-Com / vagcom Guide

[CleanSC]

You don't need a new switch. Just the coding.

 

[JetTurbo]

i ment this

will i need to buy another version to use DRL?

No, the headlight switch and enabling DRL are really unrelated.

DRL is a side topics covered in this post: Inner headlights on US market GTI (Bi-Xenon equipped) - function and settings

 

[loccusst]

Sitting at work and wondering if there is a way in vag com to change the side markers to act as turn signals? I really wish I hard turning lights like I used to have on my old T-Bird. I guess I am getting old lol.

 

[merkeyterkey]

Sitting at work and wondering if there is a way in vag com to change the side markers to act as turn signals? I really wish I hard turning lights like I used to have on my old T-Bird. I guess I am getting old lol.

Cant do it via vag-com but yesterday I saw someone who wired them up with his turn signals. I cant find the thread though...

 

[Adv4nc3r_Mk5]

No, the headlight switch and enabling DRL are really unrelated.

DRL is a side topics covered in this post: Inner headlights on US market GTI (Bi-Xenon equipped) - function and settings

would you mind explaining how do DRL work with shown switch? thats what i have and i dont get it

 

[JetTurbo]

Sitting at work and wondering if there is a way in vag com to change the side markers to act as turn signals?

Not exactly.
On each side, the front side marker shares its circuit with the same side city / parking light.
i.e. to program the front side marker light you must program the city light.
There is no direct function to make the city light / front side marker light act as a turn signal.

There is a backup function that makes the city lights / front side marker lights act as a BACKUP turn signal.

When this is set, as long as all your lights are working, nothing changes.
If a front turn signal bulb fails, THEN the corresponding city light / front side marker
WILL flash as the backup turn signal.
So you would have to disable the front turn signal bulbs to get there.
And to use those lights as a turn signal with only VAG-COM changes
you will have a Bulb Out Warning staring you in the face
and the tempo of the instrument panel indicator flash and sound will change. :thumbdown:
That is as close as VAG-COM changes gets, at least on my 2006 US mk5 that is the way it works.

I really wish I hard turning lights like I used to have on my old T-Bird. I guess I am getting old lol.

The mk6 controllers do provide cornering light functions via the fog lights.
My wife's Passat b6 has cornering lights included in the headlight fixtures
and uses the same algorithm the new controllers use to trigger fog light as cornering light.
It is not triggered by the turn signal per se, it seems to trigger off combinations
of the steering sensor, speed sensor, and turn signal,
because it comes on as I negotiate significant bends in the road too.
Works surprisingly well.

mk6 Golf TDI controller - function not available on US a5g controllers

there are two other mk6 settings related to this too.

Cant do it via vag-com but yesterday I saw someone who wired them up with his turn signals. I cant find the thread though...

Saw that too, posted by MYGTI07 in the thread: Sidemarker bulb. And the above is probably the reason why.

 

[loccusst]

So I would have to rewire the side markers in the bumper to the turn signals to achieve what I want....hmmm.

 

[Adv4nc3r_Mk5]

i have ordered mine, looking forward to trying few of those things.
mainly DRL, auto-lock when over 15km/h, and i need to find out gateway type if compatible with RCD510.
can someone answer my previous question about DLRs? how does it work exactly?

 

[JetTurbo]

DRL

i have ordered mine, looking forward to trying few of those things.
mainly DRL, auto-lock when over 15km/h, and i need to find out gateway type if compatible with RCD510.
can someone answer my previous question about DLRs? how does it work exactly?

Pretty simple, DRL will activate whenever all the below are true:
- headlight switch is off
- key is on
- parking brake off
- DRL enabled in the Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519 — byte 0, bit 4 (default US stock)
You will receive an instrument panel confirmation of DRL activation.

Additionally, with stock US settings and either front fog supporting euro switch (auto or regular)
(i.e. country set to US in Instrument Cluster Control Module J285)
- DRL will activate in the city / parking light position of the euro headlight switch as well.
(If non-US country setting, no DRL in any headlight switch position but off.)

As it relates to a switch with auto setting, no difference
assuming no rain / light sensor has been added to the US car.

Default DRL turns on only the GTi HIDs in low beam operation (no city / parking lights).
Optional setting in Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519 - byte 17, bit 4
to change DRL to use only front fog lights instead (what I like to call HID saver DRL).

 

[Adv4nc3r_Mk5]

thank you very much for the detailed explanation. i have european VW Golf MKV TDI so im always confused when i read those US/EU/Scandinavian settings differences.
I cant believe it can be that simple, because i got a newsletter from my VW dealership about a year ago that if i want to add DRLs (we have to use lights during days as well, req. by law) it will cost me somewhere around 50euro plus a new switch or something between those lines i dont remember exactly.

edit:
".... DRL enabled in the Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519 — byte 0, bit 4 (default US stock)..."
u say default US stock, does that mean that my version can have different bytes and bits?

 

[JetTurbo]

thank you very much for the detailed explanation. i have european VW Golf MKV TDI so im always confused when i read those US/EU/Scandinavian settings differences.
I cant believe it can be that simple, because i got a newsletter from my VW dealership about a year ago that if i want to add DRLs (we have to use lights during days as well, req. by law) it will cost me somewhere around 50euro plus a new switch or something between those lines i dont remember exactly.

edit:
".... DRL enabled in the Vehicle Electrical System Controller J519 — byte 0, bit 4 (default US stock)..."
u say default US stock, does that mean that my version can have different bytes and bits?

Not usually different bytes and bits. It means different default settings from the factory.

The difference for Scandinavian DRL (byte 0, bit 3) vs North American DRL
is the lights that come on with DRL. Activation conditions are still the same.

Scandinavian DRL lights the same lights as headlight switch On,
unless the optional fog lights as DRL setting is checked.
Having driven in Sweden many a time during December - February,
I get why the Scandinavian DRL results in basically "all lights all the time".

BTW My visiting Swedish friends often forget they need
to turn on the lights at night when driving US rental cars. :biggrin:

 

[Adv4nc3r_Mk5]

so scandinavia stands for EU settings?

 

[JetTurbo]

so scandinavia stands for EU settings?

I did not think EU required DRL? :iono:
Thought it was only the far northern countries - Finland, Sweden, Norway - that required it.
There is no EU specific setting for DRL that I am aware of.

 

[Adv4nc3r_Mk5]

i see, so it was made for scandinavia at first, but then the rest of EU must have joined. cant wait for trying it. once in ten times i forget to turn the lights on and it would cost me 60euro if i got caught by police. sorry for off-topic

and i have one more stupid question. can you brick your ECU? like set something and after that you wont be able to get back into it with vagcom?

 

[VancouverGTI]

I think you could definitely cause yourself some problems if you set the wrong bits. As to whether or not you could truly brick it, I suppose it's possible, but I haven't heard of it happening first hand.

Run a scan before you make mods, and then save it. Much of the long coding can be used as a reference if you need to put things back the way they were before you made changes. :wink: