Auto Lights - What am I doing wrong?

I have a 2017 CX-5, and I am trying to adjust the auto dashboard brightness. Like the manual says, I turned on the headlights and turned the stalk by the gauges. It goes dark, then really bright, but it's not "beeping" anymore like it use to when it reached a certain level between the dark and brightness settings. Isn't that the "auto" setting when it beeps?

I'm wondering if I am just doing something wrong.

Thanks!

It beeps when you go to full brightness. You adjust the panel lights with that knob but the auto lights in the settings screen.

Remember that the brightness takes into account ambient lighting.

So, what setting do I want to make it go back to factory settings brightness wise?

Jman136 said:

So, what setting do I want to make it go back to factory settings brightness wise?

Click to expand...

Do you all keep the knob at full brightness, or just below that?

You're not doing anything wrong per se. In the past these knobs were varistors that adjusted voltage for dimming. What Mazda probably did was leave the original design in place and add an encoder that converts it to digital PWM in order to integrate it into the newer system controller. Many varistors are non-linear so once you add the A/D conversion step you end up with a knob that seems to do almost nothing for most of it's rotation then suddenly produces a large degree of adjustment near the end. Which is how this particular knob works.

If you aren't looking for full illumination (which is confirmed with a beep once you hit it) just be patient and turn the knob very slowly. These settings are independent for day and night illumination modes too so that's worth keeping in mind as well. The automatic headlight function will brighten and dim the dash based on how much ambient light it senses.

Recently purchased a 2019 CX-5 and I am also wondering about the instrument brightness setting knob. There appears to be only two setting, dull or very bright. Cannot find any description in the owner's manual about setting the brightness in steps. Is there a way?

I think it runs at full brightness during the day [if that's what you're talking about], unless you turn it all the way down. You should be able to adjust it at night with the stalk.