Headlights - again

New here. Read some old posts. 2006 Jetta TDI. It's got about 218,000 miles, so it's pretty well broken in at this point.

The dealer has occasionally replaced the bulbs, and periodically cleans the covers. But when it's pitch black dark (clouds, no moon, etc.) and raining, I can't see squat. I more or less rely on other cars, which is A Bad Thing. So I want to upgrade/replace.

1. I want to see where the heck I'm going, even in bad conditions.
2. I don't want to blind anyone.
3. I don't want to install crap that will break or cause something else to break.
4. I would prefer to be legal.
5. If HID, looking at 5000-6000K.
6. I do not intend on doing this myself.
7. I do not intend to become a headlight guru or proselytize to others.

I thought I had read in the manual that it could take both halogen and HID, but I can't find it now, so maybe it was a website somewhere. But it seems as though HID or similar is quite possible if certain appropriate steps are taken.

Suggestions, recommendations?

Find some MK5 GLI (or GTI if they will fit) headlights. I am sure they can be plugged into the harness. Those would be great if you can get the plug for them to work with your car.

They are the same as the lights I have in our GTI and they are great!

Are you thinking about bulb replacement/change, or changing the whole headlight assembly?

PB_NB said:

Find some MK5 GLI (or GTI if they will fit) headlights. I am sure they can be plugged into the harness. Those would be great if you can get the plug for them to work with your car.

They are the same as the lights I have in our GTI and they are great!

Click to expand...

They are NOT a direct plug and play.

Halogen headlights have a 10 pin plug and the Xenon headlights have a 14 pin plug.

They can be retrofitted, but you will need a wiring adapter and you will also need to retrofit a xenon capable BCM.

The entire headlamp assembly would be swapped. I don't think you would have to do any coding to make this work. So long as the High and Low beams worked and the DRL's and running light worked when triggered.

As Fixmy says there would need to be an adaptor plug to allow the connection which is sort of what I said too. I am sure that there is one out there made already as I am sure this swap is pretty popular. There might be some good info or a source for an adaptor on VWVortex as well.

Here is a possible solution for the wiring adaptor:

https://www.kufatec.com/en/light-si...trol-for-vw-jetta-golf-5-golf-5-plus-1k-33743

VicGuy, I'll replace whatever needs to be replaced, the whole assembly or parts.

One other thing I should have stated is that I just want this to work (be able to see in bad conditions). I'm not worried about looking cool.

Having said that, I can see myself ending up at some fancy aftermarket shop where all the kids get their cars tricked out, or an ultra expensive foreign car shop. I don't plan to do this myself.

What's a BCM?

Here it is. 2006 Jetta TDI HID headlamp assembly. Is this place reputable? Per their site, "VW Parts Center is your online resource for factory direct OEM Volkswagen parts and accessories." But anyone can put a blurb on a web page.


Could buy a pair and have someone install them, or point them to the site? Wiring conversion would still be an issue, but I'd be halfway there (I hope).

https://www.vwpartscenter.net/oem-parts/volkswagen-headlamp-assembly-1k6941006s

I think that link you have is the same fixture as the one you have now.

This is the one that has the projectors and HID style bulbs. https://www.ecstuning.com/b-depo-parts/european-projector-headlight-set-oe-style/hvwg5hlgti~hlx/

If you want to keep the headlights that you have currently, you can look at installing some brighter Halogen bulbs like some of the Phillips bulbs. Maybe the lenses need a cleaning or resurfacing if they are all glazed over.

I used some PIAA Halogen bulbs before and had good results.

The LED's or Xenons that I have in most of my cars now sit behind projectors and are very bright but not blinding to oncoming traffic.

Be careful not to allow a shop to put HID bulbs into the housing that you have as they will blind oncoming traffic with their unfocused light pattern.

Yeah, my mistake. This one appears to be the halogen version that I have now:
https://www.vwpartscenter.net/oem-parts/volkswagen-headlamp-assembly-1k6941006s

This appears to be the Xenon/HID version:
https://www.vwpartscenter.net/oem-parts/volkswagen-headlamp-assembly-1k6941039b

PB_NB said:

Be careful not to allow a shop to put HID bulbs into the housing that you have as they will blind oncoming traffic with their unfocused light pattern.

Click to expand...

I agree with this ^^^^^^.

And most LEDs are even worse for poor focus, from the tests I've seen.

The 'Flosser' higher output halogen bulbs from IDParts are on my ToDo list for my car.

Yeah, I'll definitely get the projectors. Just have to figure out what to buy and who to install it. I found a couple of local shops online, and plan to stop by to talk to them in the next week or so. I also think that I talked with someone at the dealer who didn't know what he was talking about. He said that halogens were the only thing VW makes for my car, but that seems to be false. But he was a Cadillac service guy, not a VW service guy.