Disable Drl in 06 new beetle

Red Dog

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 11, 2010
Location
Tipton, Indiana
TDI
VW Beetle
I am trying to disable my drl's on my wife 2006 new beetle. I have tried the switch method, did not work. I tried the taping the tfl pin on my switch, did not work because it does not plug in to anything. What can I do to disable them? Yes I know that they are meant for safety and all that jazz. But I have just replace another h7 headlamp. It is getting in my wallet, ( used high dollar bulbs and cheap bulb they all last the about the same amount of time). Any help would be great.
 
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oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Pull the DRL relay, number 173 (I think). If your parking brake warning lamp no longer works once the relay is out, you can open and modify the relay. Do a search, it has been posted here with pics before.
 

jcrews

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Jul 28, 2007
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Round Rock, TX - VCDS
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My preferred method is to remove the light switch, extract the TFL pin, and secure it to the harness with the tape, fold & tape technique.

Otherwise you can break the TFL pin off of the headlight switch itself.

To remove the headlight switch, push the knob in while in the off position. Turn the knob a few degrees to the right, and it will be released, and pulls straight out. Leave the knob alone or unlock it again before installing to protect the console finish.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
jcrews said:
My preferred method is to remove the light switch, extract the TFL pin, and secure it to the harness with the tape, fold & tape technique.

Otherwise you can break the TFL pin off of the headlight switch itself.

To remove the headlight switch, push the knob in while in the off position. Turn the knob a few degrees to the right, and it will be released, and pulls straight out. Leave the knob alone or unlock it again before installing to protect the console finish.
That does not work on the newer cars, and the OP already tried that. ;)
 

scarletvw

Active member
Joined
May 15, 2009
Location
Minneapolis MN
TDI
2005.5 TDI Jetta
Yeah sorry man, you're newer car wont work with the TFL anymore. You'll have to change it in vag-com. I've never heard of any way to do it with any relay though so i'd be interested in hearing more about that myself though ;)

Check your local area forum and see if someone has a vag-com to do the change and you'll be golden.
 

Dunno513

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Joined
Feb 1, 2006
Location
Mirror Lake, NH
TDI
2006 NB PD-TDI DSG
Daytime headlights, DRL's, serve a safety purpose.

I'm sure there is also a post on how to disable your airbags, ESP, and even those pesky rollover pop up bars for the vert... (but you wouldn't be here because they don't make a TDI vert :()

Bulbs are not that expensive. and by god they are the easiest things to replace in the beetle (If you read the manual)

Leave the safety stuff to the experts.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Dunno513 said:
Daytime headlights, DRL's, serve a safety purpose.

I'm sure there is also a post on how to disable your airbags, ESP, and even those pesky rollover pop up bars for the vert... (but you wouldn't be here because they don't make a TDI vert :()

Bulbs are not that expensive. and by god they are the easiest things to replace in the beetle (If you read the manual)

Leave the safety stuff to the experts.
I've driven well over one million miles on cars without ABS, SRS, ESP, DRLs, and any other nannywhere acronym you can think of, never had an accident, and I am still happy and healthy. :cool:

KNOWING HOW TO DRIVE helps with vehicle safety more than anything else. And yes, all my cars that had DRLs had them disabled within minutes of purchase. :D

Every time someone makes a post about this, there is always someone who thinks they should leave them alone. This thread is no exception. If you like them, leave them be. If you don't, disable them. You know they just make them like that for North America anyways. I also equip my cars with a PROPER headlight switch too. :D
 
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Dunno513

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Mirror Lake, NH
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2006 NB PD-TDI DSG
oilhammer said:
I've driven well over one million miles on cars without ABS, SRS, ESP, DRLs, and any other nannywhere acronym you can think of, never had an accident, and I am still happy and healthy. :cool:

KNOWING HOW TO DRIVE helps with vehicle safety more than anything else. And yes, all my cars that had DRLs had them disabled within minutes of purchase. :D
Statistics would disagree.
 

Dunno513

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Mirror Lake, NH
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2006 NB PD-TDI DSG
Being the best driver in the world is not going to help you when you are surrounded by idiots who are texting, sleeping etc... Those lights help protect you from others... not you from yourself.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
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Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Dunno513 said:
Being the best driver in the world is not going to help you when you are surrounded by idiots who are texting, sleeping etc... Those lights help protect you from others... not you from yourself.
You are wasting your time, I am not having them on any car I own, and disable them on many customers' cars at their request. Sorry.... move on... :rolleyes:
 

dalchri

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Location
Muncy, PA
TDI
99 Beetle
Dunno513 said:
Daytime headlights, DRL's, serve a safety purpose.

I'm sure there is also a post on how to disable your airbags, ESP, and even those pesky rollover pop up bars for the vert... (but you wouldn't be here because they don't make a TDI vert :()

Bulbs are not that expensive. and by god they are the easiest things to replace in the beetle (If you read the manual)

Leave the safety stuff to the experts.
It is his car to do with as he pleases just as it is your advice to withhold as you please.
 

jcrews

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Location
Round Rock, TX - VCDS
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All gone
oilhammer said:
That does not work on the newer cars, and the OP already tried that. ;)
That's too weird. My new beetle standard equipment from July 2005 has a wire there, going to 173, just like in the older ones. Oh well. I didn't mention the pin number, T17/6, yellow/green. Supposedly the switch pin could be labeled B. I'd like to know if the B pin is T17/6.
 
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IchmochteTDI

Active member
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Aug 26, 2004
Location
Virginia
TDI
2005 Jetta GLS & 2006 New Beetle
Unreal...to go to that amount of trouble to disable DRLs. Yeah, that makes sense alright...about as much as when techs would tell me they're putting breaker points in instead of electronic ignition. We also used to believe that putting leeches on people healed them.
 

jcrews

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Round Rock, TX - VCDS
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NHTSA disagrees with that statement.

In the lower latitudes, there's plenty of sunlight. In high latitude areas, sidemarker DRL is most sensible, since it improves vehicle visibility in low light from all directions, instead of only in the narrow front facing headlight beams.

The worst offenders are the high beam DRLs, which create gratuitous glare, and I find very distracting.
 

Lee_Taylor

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IchmochteTDI said:
Unreal...to go to that amount of trouble to disable DRLs. Yeah, that makes sense alright...about as much as when techs would tell me they're putting breaker points in instead of electronic ignition. We also used to believe that putting leeches on people healed them.
The OP posted a query on how to disable DRL's which I believe was answered. If you have nothing useful to contribute why bother commenting?
 

Mike Morriss

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Dec 25, 2001
Location
Ponca City, Oklahoma
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99 New Beetle, 91 Vanagon TDI conversion, 05 New Beetle, 2014 Jetta Sportwagen
Another option -

I am trying to disable my drl's on my wife 2006 new beetle. I have tried the switch method, did not work. I tried the taping the tfl pin on my switch, did not work because it does not plug in to anything. What can I do to disable them? Yes I know that they are meant for safety and all that jazz. But I have just replace another h7 headlamp. It is getting in my wallet, ( used high dollar bulbs and cheap bulb they all last the about the same amount of time). Any help would be great.
I have an 05 Beetle that was made in Mexico. I tried to do the mod where one puts plastic in the TFL slot in the headlight switch connector. The TFL slot had no wire/connector in it. I saw somewhere someone else had a beetle made in Mexico. That person couldn’t use the TFL slot either and had used the B slot instead. I put the plastic in the B slot today and then tested all positions of the headlight switch. It looks like that did the trick. All lights off with the switch in the off position. All other positions work as expected.
 

VincenzaV

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Apr 25, 2015
Location
New Hampshire
TDI
2004 Jetta Wagon
Jeesh, if you don't have input on how to disable them "Mom" then just go polish your pocket protector or check the air in your tires...

If EVERYBODY had DRLs, then only the people w/o them will stand out. Meaning be more noticeable safer, right,lol. The same way we all say "Look at the dummy with his headlights off" at night.

DRL's are also the contributing reason for idiots driving at night w/o lights because they (DRL's) are often bright enough to emit light for some people to drive. I have them, I like them, but this is America dammit. Leave the DOT regulations up to the DOT cops...all three of them, lol.

OP-I removed my 04' #173 relay, clipped the inside solder joint to disable them. No codes, or any ill affects.

I did a HID retrofit with theretrofitsource.com bi-xenon projectors so I had to disable the factory ones. I wanted to make the car look more modern, so I hardwired the Panamera LED DRL's to the ignition switch and a separate remote switch (to allow me to decide when they come on with the ignition or not)
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
You can take the DRL relay out too, same as on the B5.5 cars, but on the NBs for some reason the parking brake warning light will no longer work if you do that. No idea why VAG does things different on different models, but they do. Silly Germans. ;)
 

jasonTDI

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Unreal...to go to that amount of trouble to disable DRLs. Yeah, that makes sense alright...about as much as when techs would tell me they're putting breaker points in instead of electronic ignition. We also used to believe that putting leeches on people healed them.
And DRL's take away the single advantage a motorcycle has against some distracted pokemon chasing twat. They serve no meaningful purpose whatsoever. In fact the number of morons I see driving with no other lights on at night is staggering. So if you want to nanny state anything make manufacturers make lights automatic.
 

Alan Drake

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N of Boston
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2015 DSG
Not to mention all that heat they generate - contributes to earth destruction.
Beside that they hurt my eyes from front or rear
 

drucifer

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Location
fredericksburg virginia
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2004 jetta sw tdi pd
There are three times when I want my headlights on
1. When its dark or near dark
2. When it's raining or snowing
3. When I'm in a funeral procession
 
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