Passat headlights

After buying my 2004 Passat it seemed like The lights weren’t properly adjusted, so I tried to adjust them but one of them were stripped out. So I bought some aftermarket headlights off eBay. After I got them in it’s was like the adjustments were broke. The seller said he would send me a new pair, so after paying someone again to put them in. The same thing happened. It’s like I could adjust them a bit,but can’t get them adjusted high enough. I have to drive with my brights on full time. When I try the dims, it’s like there is a big black V 20ft in front of me. Has anybody had success with any brand of aftermarket headlights.

I bought a pair back in 2014 also from eBay (Depo brand, explained here) and now I have a few issues. The right one has oxidized from the inside so I cannot take the cloudiness out and the turn signal on the left is not working. Also it does not take the VW turn signal sockets as a replacement so not so good.

I will have to save now to get the Hellas that are made in Slovakia and see if there is a proper way to put HID on them (it might not be possible so I might have to deal with the yellowish 55w halogen ones unfortunately).

Thanks for the info

Best to stick with the Hella brand. I have a couple of aftermarkets on my shelf that were awful like you have found out.

FCP Euro had the Hellas (OE) on clearance not too long ago. <$120 per side. That's not a whole lot more than after-market prices.

I saw that rockauto has Hella's for $100 each. Getting ready to order a set.

I have noticed that as well as 55 wat bulbs Hella has a 100 watt bulb. Is there any reason not to use it?

100 watts is not legal.

But I suppose those ultra-bright whites are.
Blindingly so. I hates them.

What I wanted to know.

Could somebody explain if these B5.5 Hella headlights would work better in an HID/LED setup:

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-hella-parts/european-halogen-headlight-set/3b0998003/

vs. these B5.5 Hella headlights:

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/volkswagen-headlight-assembly-left-passat-3b0941015aq

Is it worth paying the extra cost to get a better HID and/or LED fit?

Jake Brake said:

I saw that rockauto has Hella's for $100 each. Getting ready to order a set.

Click to expand...

One thing about FCP Euro is that they offer a 'Lifetime Replacement' and the cost with shipping is not that much higher than RockAuto. Something to research about. I have not used FCP Euro, although their customer reviews are fairly better than RockAuto.

FCP Euro's lifetime replacement warranty is legit. I had some control arms re-replaced and they credited the purchase amount of the first "economy" kit I bought from them and let me 'upgrade' to Meyle HD on the replacement kit. Their free economy shipping (on purchases over $49) is slow though, so it may be worth upgrading shipping if it's not too much.

Are the fcp headlights the ones with im guessing led signals that make the blinkers flash a million miles an hour?

Was going to track down and install an led specific relay but seems the 4 way flasher switch and relay are built as one so resistors are my only option unless i can swap standard bulbs into the housing

PickleRick said:

Are the fcp headlights the ones with im guessing led signals that make the blinkers flash a million miles an hour?
Was going to track down and install an led specific relay but seems the 4 way flasher switch and relay are built as one so resistors are my only option unless i can swap standard bulbs into the housing

Click to expand...

From reading the description about the Hella B5.5 headlights at FCP Euro I do not get the impression that the turn signals are LED based but just regular incandescent bulbs.

tikal said:

From reading the description about the Hella B5.5 headlights at FCP Euro I do not get the impression that the turn signals are LED based but just regular incandescent bulbs.

Click to expand...

Im not 100% where the po got these. Came off of my part out passat and looked nicer than the ones on my daily so i tossed them on. Been causing epileptic seizures ever since.

I got a set that look like Anzo lights with dual angel eyes. I was going to get a set of Hella's from Rockauto, but they ran out of one side. Happy with the new ones, I can see much better. Got them on ebay.