LED daytime running lights on an 09 A3

[williamo]

I picked up my new A3 Sportback (an 09 facelift) brand new in December.

Lovely car, very happy, one small issue which is purely vain and aesthetic..
When i ordered it, the standard spec listing 'daytime running lights' however although I have LEDs daytime runners, they are in fact the standard yellow LED (a la new A4 etc). i should've ordered the xenon lights...

I don't want any of those fake, tacky LED lights of fleebay (why anyone would do that, it's so obviously not right on a 97 A4 avant!!)

Does anyone know if i can swap the lights over at the dealership for xenons? Will it effect my warranty having them retro-fitted, given the car is only two months old??

Cheers
W

 

[h5djr]

Which model of Sportback do you have.

I ask because, only the S-Line and S3 can be ordered with xenon headlights with the LED DRLs.

If you want to retro fit xenons it could work out quite expensive because not only do you have to change the headlights themselves you have to add headlights washers and the self-levelling system. It can be done and some members of the forum have done it but I doubt if a dealer would be prepared to do it.

I have just ordered a new SE spec Sportback and I could not order it with 'normal' xenons and had to go for the adaptive xenon headlights, These work out a bit more expensive but are only way to get xenons on an SE thanks to Audi UK's strange marketing policy.

 

[williamo]

Hi,
It's a Sport model, with it's overly firm ride and the not-as-eco-as-it-thinks-it-is 1.8TFSI. I don't think I will bother with changing the lights, they're still LEDs, just not the xenons, i can live with that. I'm ordering an A5 in the summer, will remember then to specify, specify, specify and not assume it comes with anything.

Also after just 2,800 miles, my A3 is going into the Audi service centre, noisy exhaust with a popping sound, which isn't good...

W

 

[Lee_R]

Cant you just remove all the yellowy LED's and replace with cooler ones? Surely they are removable because even LED's dont last forever?

 

[NHN]

Yeah if you're changing car summer I wouldnt bother cause the retrofit is expensive trust me, its not just plugnplay it relies on other modules being right version, additional wiring & additional modules, its not as simple as that sorry plus headlights are very expensive

 

[h5djr]

Are you sure they're LEDs? The colour is exactly the same as a standard W5W bulb. I know they're not LEDs in the standard A4 DRLs.

I didn't think LEDs were used in anything of the the Xenon headlights. Looking at ETKA it indicates the same. As far as I can see LED DRLs are only used in the Xenons headlights which Audi will only supply on the S-Line and S3 models on the facelift models and the Adaptive Xenon headlights (which can be ordered for any facelift model).

The two 2.0TDI Sport's I test drove recently had halogen headlights and no LEDs anywhere in the headlights.

 

[frenchy2475]

They dont have leds in non xenon headlights, they are halogen bulbs.

 

[williamo]

Hi,

Thanks for that, yeah it's very confusing, so it's just rear lights which are LEDs, just not the front DRLs.

What kind of bulbs would i need for bright white DRLs and where can I get them from? They are along strip below the headlights and sidelights, and to the side of the indicators (the indicators on the 09- are for some odd reason closer to the grille)

Ta,

w

 

[NHN]

Uh be warned the halogen facelift headlights drl's are also the sidelight bulb, it has 2 uses as per this thread guys:

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=65844

where are your drl's as that guys drl's are actually on the bottom corner left/right corner, headlight side dependent of course

So when changing to led you are effectively most likely causing issues as the sidelights & drl use same bulb/wiring but of course different power levels to achieve different level of brightness, so beware