Audi A3 8P - Xeon Retrofit Issue

[ccc2000]

Alright guys,

I’ve just installed the OEM single Xeon headlights on my A3 and I’m at a loss to what is causing the problems!

Below is a video of what the lights are doing.



Other characteristics of the issue:

1) When you switch the lights on, they blink like a strobe… eventually they settle down

2) Turning the lights on sometimes they work straight away (better when the engine is off in terms of successfully switching on)

3) The lights seem to get very dim, after turning them off/on they seem to get brighter

Does anything need adjusting in VCDS? The headlights don’t seem to move once you’ve put the ignition on – plus the headlight level no longer works where you switch the lights on.

If anyone has any ideas of what I can do to get these working please let me know J

Cheers!

 

[NHN]

Did you code the car for them, check all wiring is to xenon requirements, headlight levelling is completely different for xenons than halogens & that old dialldial system needs disabling from the headlight switch by disconnecting the wires, it's not compatible.

 

[ccc2000]

Ah I didn’t realise you have to code the headlights in, do you know which code I need to look for? – will this fix the problem?

Do you know what the wiring requirements are? The plug/pins look the same that connected to the back of the headlight.

Will I have to disconnect the pins for the adjustment dial at the back of the headlight switch?

Thanks for your response!

 

[ccc2000]

Can anyone help? Not sure what to do going forward.

 

[Nessy]

The wiring to the Xenon height adjuster motors is totally different to the halogen ones , and also the motors are physically different (shape and size).
When I did the same job (going from halogens to single Xenons ) it was plug & play but I did have to adapt the halogen height adjustment motors to fit the Xenon lights and re-wire the connector going to it.
It was all a bit fiddly but worth it as the height adjuster next to the headlight switch works perfectly, I didn’t have to disconnect mine.
The coding to activate Xenon lights is really easy IIRC with VCDS, I think it’s literally one tick box on the long coding helper?
Memory is a bit hazy as I did all this 4 years ago.......

 

[ccc2000]

The wiring to the Xenon height adjuster motors is totally different to the halogen ones , and also the motors are physically different (shape and size).
When I did the same job (going from halogens to single Xenons ) it was plug & play but I did have to adapt the halogen height adjustment motors to fit the Xenon lights and re-wire the connector going to it.
It was all a bit fiddly but worth it as the height adjuster next to the headlight switch works perfectly, I didn’t have to disconnect mine.
The coding to activate Xenon lights is really easy IIRC with VCDS, I think it’s literally one tick box on the long coding helper?
Memory is a bit hazy as I did all this 4 years ago.......

Hi Nessy, I've just removed and check the plugs on the Single Xeon Headlight, Original Halogen Headlights and the plug coming from my car.

The plug seems to be missing a pin as the Xeon headlight has all the pins but the halogen has the same pin missing.

See below:

The wiring to the Xenon height adjuster motors is totally different to the halogen ones , and also the motors are physically different (shape and size).
When I did the same job (going from halogens to single Xenons ) it was plug & play but I did have to adapt the halogen height adjustment motors to fit the Xenon lights and re-wire the connector going to it.
It was all a bit fiddly but worth it as the height adjuster next to the headlight switch works perfectly, I didn’t have to disconnect mine.
The coding to activate Xenon lights is really easy IIRC with VCDS, I think it’s literally one tick box on the long coding helper?
Memory is a bit hazy as I did all this 4 years ago.......

 

[henkkeumus]

I have a manual that you can use to retrofit these.
It's in Dutch but a translator should do the job I guess.

 

[Nessy]

Hi Nessy, I've just removed and check the plugs on the Single Xeon Headlight, Original Halogen Headlights and the plug coming from my car.

The plug seems to be missing a pin as the Xeon headlight has all the pins but the halogen has the same pin missing.

See below:

Its coming back to me now , please remember I did this job 4 years ago so exact procedure is a bit hazy......
I think that I had to move one of those pins around in the Xenon connector , yes there was 1 more pin present than in the halogen connector but the pin location for the wire feeding the adjustment motor is different between halogen and xenon headlights.
I definitely had to consult the wiring diagram to work out which pin to move .
It was quite a faff to fit these Xenons to a halogen equipped car (mainly re-engineering the halogen adjustment motor so that it would work in the Xenon headlight) but the way I did it means that I can take the xenons out at any time and just plug the original halogens back in.