Nolden DRL's - Auto headlights

[SteveGSXR600K1]

I've been 'humming and hawing' about buying the genuine Ford Nolden DRL's for my Focus for a while now. My daily commute takes me through quite a bit of wooded areas and other cars with DRL's really stand out. I've kept my eye out on eBay and amazon and the best prices seem to be around £220 for the gloss ones. Tonight I thought I'd take a look on amazon and amazon themselves had one set left at £157, so that went 'straight in my basket'!!

I've read that it's best to connect it to pin 10 and not 12 as stated in the instructions, otherwise I'll lose the sidelights. I want to have the DRL's on 100% with no lights on at all and also when on sidelights, then go down to 50% when dipped beam is on. I have auto lights on my Titanium, so can I leave it in the 'Auto' setting and the DRL's will still be on at 100%, and then go to 50% if light conditions drop?

I've read the Nolden instructions, and can't believe you have to chop the loom up before fitting. The whole idea of buying a genuine Ford product is that I'd expect it to be pretty much 'plug and play'.

[JW1982]

DRL lights must comply with European regulations.

During day at 100% the Nolden lights are technically seen as DRL lights. It is illegal to use DRL lights in combination with any other lights at the front of the vehicle.

Dimmed at 50% the Nolden lights are technically seen as sidelights. This makes it legal to use the dimmed DRL lides in combination with other lights at the front of the vehicle. However  because it is illegal to have more than 1 pair of sidelights the original sidelights need to be disabled. This can be done by cutting the wires (as described in the Nolden instructions) or by simply removing the sidelight bulbs. If you want to keep the original sidelights the DRL must switch off completely when the sidelights are on.

Automatic lights do not interfere with the DRL lights. The DRL lights will always be on when the ignition is on. This is unrelated to the position of the light switch. This also means that the DRL lights can not be switched off from inside the vehicle (only by removing the fuse). The DRL will be dimmed at 50% when the side lights are switched on either manually or by the automatic light system.

 

The Nolden DRL kit is a Ford accessoire. However except from selling the kit Ford has nothing to do with Nolden. Just like any other manufacturer.Nolden developed the kit themselves as an aftermarket accessoire. Technically the Nolden DRL kit is just the same as any other aftermarket DRL kit.   

[DJ_Andy_M]

10 hours ago, JW1982 said:

DRL lights must comply with European regulations.

During day at 100% the Nolden lights are technically seen as DRL lights. It is illegal to use DRL lights in combination with any other lights at the front of the vehicle.

Dimmed at 50% the Nolden lights are technically seen as sidelights. This makes it legal to use the dimmed DRL lides in combination with other lights at the front of the vehicle. However  because it is illegal to have more than 1 pair of sidelights the original sidelights need to be disabled. This can be done by cutting the wires (as described in the Nolden instructions) or by simply removing the sidelight bulbs. If you want to keep the original sidelights the DRL must switch off completely when the sidelights are on.

Automatic lights do not interfere with the DRL lights. The DRL lights will always be on when the ignition is on. This is unrelated to the position of the light switch. This also means that the DRL lights can not be switched off from inside the vehicle (only by removing the fuse). The DRL will be dimmed at 50% when the side lights are switched on either manually or by the automatic light system.

 

The Nolden DRL kit is a Ford accessoire. However except from selling the kit Ford has nothing to do with Nolden. Just like any other manufacturer.Nolden developed the kit themselves as an aftermarket accessoire. Technically the Nolden DRL kit is just the same as any other aftermarket DRL kit.   

In the UK, more than one set of side lights isn't illegal as far as I am aware. I used to run white sides with with dual filament bulbs in the indicators (american style parking/marker lights) and there were no issues with police or MOT. From what I was told by the MOT station they are considered as additional lights because didn't interfere with the operation of the indicators, and therefore they were not tested and ignored. As long as you have the compulsory factory fitted lights, as long as you're not imitating an emergency vehicle they are normally OK. If someone crashed into me because they are too thick to not look at a light long enough to see that it's not flashing and that it was static and dim then that would have been my problem and I would have accepted my fate on that.

In theory if you connect the correct wires to the right places, it shouldn't matter if you have auto lights as you'll be getting the power from the right lines i.e the 12v coming in on the sidelight loom to switch the DLRs down to 50%.

[SteveGSXR600K1]

Thanks for the replies.

I've read that if you follow the installation notes exactly, ie cutting the wire to the sidelights, that you'd lose the parking lights which would apparently fail an MOT. Is this right, or would the DRL's come on instead?

Also, not sure why no one's mentioned it before, but rather than cutting the earth loop off the black wire and soldering it onto the red wire, is there any reason why you couldn't just open the 3-pin plug and swap the red and black connections over?