Beam Pattern

Mills_TDI

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2005
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
Jetta,2001,Ocean Green
I noticed while i was sittin at dairy queen that another 06 jetta had a different beam pattern hitting the wall, his was more flat whereas mine has more angles. what the deal i got the package 1 with heated seats and sunroof and rims
 

cujet

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Location
Florida, Hurricane central
TDI
2006 Jetta
To a large extent, the bulbs internal makeup control the beam. Especially hot spots and such.

I am dissatisfied with my high beams. They are aiming up way too high. There is a gap between the lows (which stay on during hi beam use) and the high beams.

I have not tried to adjust.

Chris
 

Tim Birney

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Joined
Dec 14, 2005
Location
Dearborn Heights, MI
TDI
05.5 TDI
Mills_TDI said:
I noticed while i was sittin at dairy queen that another 06 jetta had a different beam pattern hitting the wall, his was more flat whereas mine has more angles. what the deal i got the package 1 with heated seats and sunroof and rims
The other car may have HIDs, or after market bulbs. That could explain the differences in the patterns.

Adjusting the HIGH beams to be lower than Squirrel Hunting, results in the LOW beams being set for Night Crawler hunting.
 

wh88

Member
Joined
May 13, 2006
Chris,

I noticed the identical issue you pointed out. There is a gap of light between the low beam and the high beam when both are on. It's quite annoying to have this gap of light while you're driving at night.

I don't think you can adjust the high beam only as they are both contained within the same housing.

Willy
 

TDIMeister

Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
Joined
May 1, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
TDI
I'm convinced A5s have E-code lamps. The beam pattern looks exactly like E-codes and nothing like DOT lamps. If you view them side by side, the difference would be startling. E-codes are characterized by a level left-side and center, then angling up to the right to aid reading road signs. The beam cut-off is also very much sharper, almost like the beam of an overhead projector.

If you look at the polycarbonate headlamp lens cover, look for a circled letter "E." This would denote E-codes. If they still are DOT-spec, you would see "DOT" inscribed on the lamps. Maybe DOT has quietly "seen the light" so to speak (couldn't help it :) ) and updated their piss-poor specs to match the European spec. Euro lights are night and day far superior to DOT.

Low Beams:





High beams (high pattern is normal, that's why they're called high-beams and you don't use it when there's oncoming traffic :) ):




The lights are E-codes for the E36 BMW, installed into my former Passat:

 

20IndigoBlue02

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 22, 2001
Location
Was North NJ, now SoCal
TDI
2002 Golf TDI-- deceased
It's more like maybe VW finally wised up as other carmakers (Japanese & European) have "E-code" patterned halogen headlights for the US market for quite some time.
 

TDIMeister

Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
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Location
Canada
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TDI
However, last I know, E-codes are illegal in the US.

Edit: MkIVs and all earlier generations of VWs do not exhibit this light pattern. The MkV Jetta is the first I have seen to exhibit this pattern in an OE North American-spec car.
 
Last edited:

TDI 4 RD

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Joined
Mar 13, 2006
Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
Still Hunting Squirrels

I finally took my car to the VW service department to see if anything could be done about the Squirrel hunting high beams on my MKV TDI (i.e. high beams that provide absolutely no increased light on the road, but only illuminate the trees).

As expected, the Service department said everything was fine with the headlights/high-beams. That's just nonsense, unless VW has purposely designed headlights that serve absolutely no practical purpose. I want to love VWs, but even a rental Impala has better lighting than my TDI -- not to mention VWs direct competitors like Honda and Toyota.

Has anyone found a solution to the squirrel hunting highbeam problem? I'm wondering if the projector style headlamps you can get without HIDs would help.

Thanks.
 

MPGeez!

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Nov 16, 2005
Location
Hanover, Penna.
TDI
06 Black TDI 5M PK2
As far as squirrel hunting goes, I have Hella E-codes and they do the same thing as the stock high beams. I have had my lamps apart (long story) and I noticed there is some play in how the reflector fits in the overall housing, suggesting it may be possible to manually aim the high beam reflector down. I plan to try this sometime when I have time to deal with the potential unintended consequence of the reflector falling completely out of its "holder." I have played with the adjustment screws quite a bit and as it has been pointed out, when the high beams are good, the lows are too low. But I have yet to have a strong need for high beams. The e-codes are that good in general and they are excellent in fog.
 

rballou

Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2006
Location
Arlington, Texas
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
The headlights on my 2006 Jetta are marked " H7 DOT H7"
I have not done any squirrel hunting with the high beams but they are handy for reading way up high highway signs.

BTW, I read in this thread and elsewhere MKV and MKIV which specify certain models of VW. What do the abbreviations mean?
 

TDI 4 RD

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Location
Hamilton, NY
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2006 TDI Pkg 1
MPGeez! said:
As far as squirrel hunting goes, I have Hella E-codes and they do the same thing as the stock high beams. I have had my lamps apart (long story) and I noticed there is some play in how the reflector fits in the overall housing, suggesting it may be possible to manually aim the high beam reflector down. I plan to try this sometime when I have time to deal with the potential unintended consequence of the reflector falling completely out of its "holder." I have played with the adjustment screws quite a bit and as it has been pointed out, when the high beams are good, the lows are too low. But I have yet to have a strong need for high beams. The e-codes are that good in general and they are excellent in fog.
Thanks for the information!! I guess I will save my money for now on the projector units or the Hella e-codes. If you have success in moving the high beam down, there are probably a lot of people who would be interested in a write-up! It's definitely true that for most of my driving, the low beams are just fine -- but with all the deer running around the Northeast, I'd really like to get some useful highbeams! I wonder if anyone has mounted Hella driving lamps on their MKV! (like in your picture!)
 

cujet

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Joined
Jun 5, 2005
Location
Florida, Hurricane central
TDI
2006 Jetta
I was able to partially fix my high beams. I took the rubber cover off the back of the high beams. I then pushed on the reflector until the aim was correct. They do kind of stay in position. The reflector is held by plastic and it does take a set.

Chris
 

MPGeez!

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Nov 16, 2005
Location
Hanover, Penna.
TDI
06 Black TDI 5M PK2
cujet said:
I was able to partially fix my high beams. I took the rubber cover off the back of the high beams. I then pushed on the reflector until the aim was correct. They do kind of stay in position. The reflector is held by plastic and it does take a set.

Chris
That's exactly what I'm considering doing. So it will work. Good to know.
 

MPGeez!

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TDI 4 RD said:
I wonder if anyone has mounted Hella driving lamps on their MKV! (like in your picture!)
That's RallyVW. And it's got a little more candle power than I'll ever need. :)
 

dieseldorf

Top Post Dawg
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MA
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ex- 1996 wagon, ex-2000 Jetta
It's more likely that the cars are equipped with a "softened" E code pattern that is DOT compliant. Other Euro marques have been doing this for about 5 years. ;)

If you look at Mk4 Hella E code replacements, you'll not the presence of both the Euro designations and the DOT mark on the polycarbonate lens.

Some folks have had the opportunity to compare the HID headlamps on USA cars vs. the same headlamp from a car sold in the European mkt. They still claim the difference is significant.
 

TDI 4 RD

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Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
cujet said:
I was able to partially fix my high beams. I took the rubber cover off the back of the high beams. I then pushed on the reflector until the aim was correct. They do kind of stay in position. The reflector is held by plastic and it does take a set.

Chris
I fiddled around with this, too, but I was really scared of breaking something when bending the holder down. So the highbeams eventually returned to their original, tree-illuminating position. I wonder if I could fashion some kind of rubber wedge to keep the highbeams pointed down.
 

dany_ro

Member
Joined
Oct 8, 2005
Location
Lake Orion, MI
TDI
Jetta 2006
squirrel hunting

My other car is a Volvo S40 with Xenon lights and this things have the BEST lights I have ever seen. I just wish that the A5 would have the same setup

I have been quietly venting about the high beams being too high and I am also looking for a way to correct.

Is complete new HID a solution or those are also aiming high?
 

TDI 4 RD

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Location
Hamilton, NY
TDI
2006 TDI Pkg 1
dany_ro said:
My other car is a Volvo S40 with Xenon lights and this things have the BEST lights I have ever seen. I just wish that the A5 would have the same setup

I have been quietly venting about the high beams being too high and I am also looking for a way to correct.

Is complete new HID a solution or those are also aiming high?
I haven't heard the same complaints from those on the Vortex with GLIs and GTIs with the HID standard. However, the price is just prohibitive to stall the complete set - something like $1500 for the parts alone!
 
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