LED Headlight Bulb Install

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Hello,

I purchased a H7 and H15 LED kits for my JSW and upon popping the hood and pulling out the halogen bulbs I am unsure how these bulbs install. I didn’t realize that the bulb is held in by a plastic retainer.

I’ve tried finding a video on YouTube and searching here but couldn’t find detailed information on how they install. Any tips or tricks?

Vehicle is a 2013 JSW

Thank you
 
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VicGuy

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Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Location
Victoria BC
TDI
2012 JSW Golf Wagon, 97 Golf Turbo Diesel
I wanted to make sure I knew which bulbs are in my 2012 JSW, so took out one of each (hi/lo beam) last week.
It's definitely a case of 'doing it by feel', and paying attention to the orientation when they are removed (though of course I didn't do that...)

I could look through the front of the headlight and watch the bulb as I inserted it, so at least I could tell when it was seated properly. Then it was a quarter (?) turn to lock the bulb tabs into the socket.
It is awkward.
 

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
I wanted to make sure I knew which bulbs are in my 2012 JSW, so took out one of each (hi/lo beam) last week.
It's definitely a case of 'doing it by feel', and paying attention to the orientation when they are removed (though of course I didn't do that...)

I could look through the front of the headlight and watch the bulb as I inserted it, so at least I could tell when it was seated properly. Then it was a quarter (?) turn to lock the bulb tabs into the socket.
It is awkward.



Which kit did you order? Did your bulb come with adapters?
 

VicGuy

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Dec 31, 2019
Location
Victoria BC
TDI
2012 JSW Golf Wagon, 97 Golf Turbo Diesel
Which kit did you order? Did your bulb come with adapters?
Sorry- I didn't read your question carefully. I guess the LEDs don't just plug into the existing connectors?
That definitely adds a new level of difficulty.

After doing some research, I decided that LEDs weren't a good idea for my 2012 headlights.
I see too many cars locally with bright headlights shining in my eyes- I don't want to add to the problem!
:)
I'm going to put in brighter halogens, so it is a straight plug-in replacement.
Not such a big challenge!
 
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PRY4SNO

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Joined
May 15, 2016
Location
Edmonton, AB
TDI
2013 Touareg Execline
Sorry- I didn't read your question carefully. I guess the LEDs don't just plug into the existing connectors?
That definitely adds a new level of difficulty.

After doing some research, I decided that LEDs weren't a good idea for my 2012 headlights.
I see too many cars locally with bright headlights shining in my eyes- I don't want to add to the problem!
:)
I'm going to put in brighter halogens, so it is a straight plug-in replacement.
Not such a big challenge!

I was staunchly against doing the same, but some research has warmed me up to the idea of retrofitting LEDs into the reflector housing. The company I'm most interested in is the deautokey LED set ups. My biggest misgiving is that the LEDs won't melt snow/ice in wintery conditions, where halogens will.


https://deautokey.com/category/shop-by-car-model-vw-jetta-sportwagen-mk6-2009-2014


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UOIBrDxfOc


https://www.golfmk6.com/forums/inde...key-hid-led-setup-for-halogen-housing.290261/


I've seen these in a new SuperDuty diesel and was blown away with the output and the cutoff. For the price and lifetime warranty I think it's worth a try. The so-called high output halogens aren't going to do much from everything I can find and are likely to burn out more quickly. I think the biggest cost will be getting the lights properly aimed at a dealership (apparently they use a machine with lasers) if one is unable to dial it in properly using tape on a wall/garage door.



If they're not for you I've seen a pretty good market/response for resale on the classifieds. Pretty low risk gamble.
 

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
I was staunchly against doing the same, but some research has warmed me up to the idea of retrofitting LEDs into the reflector housing. The company I'm most interested in is the deautokey LED set ups. My biggest misgiving is that the LEDs won't melt snow/ice in wintery conditions, where halogens will.


https://deautokey.com/category/shop-by-car-model-vw-jetta-sportwagen-mk6-2009-2014


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UOIBrDxfOc


https://www.golfmk6.com/forums/inde...key-hid-led-setup-for-halogen-housing.290261/


I've seen these in a new SuperDuty diesel and was blown away with the output and the cutoff. For the price and lifetime warranty I think it's worth a try. The so-called high output halogens aren't going to do much from everything I can find and are likely to burn out more quickly. I think the biggest cost will be getting the lights properly aimed at a dealership (apparently they use a machine with lasers) if one is unable to dial it in properly using tape on a wall/garage door.



If they're not for you I've seen a pretty good market/response for resale on the classifieds. Pretty low risk gamble.

I recently purchased deautos high & low beam kit for my JSW. I’ll post before, after and install photos. These halogens just aren’t bright enough in my opinion; especially here in “deer country”.
 

VicGuy

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Location
Victoria BC
TDI
2012 JSW Golf Wagon, 97 Golf Turbo Diesel
I recently purchased deautos high & low beam kit for my JSW. I’ll post before, after and install photos. These halogens just aren’t bright enough in my opinion; especially here in “deer country”.
I'm looking forward to your posts and pictures.
Thanks!
 

PRY4SNO

Veteran Member
Joined
May 15, 2016
Location
Edmonton, AB
TDI
2013 Touareg Execline
Also looking forward to pics of the before/after, and a recap of any installation issues/challenges.
 

IXLR8

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Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
I recently purchased deautos high & low beam kit for my JSW. I’ll post before, after and install photos. These halogens just aren’t bright enough in my opinion; especially here in “deer country”.
Add me to the list of folks interested in seeing the results of your new bulbs.
 

wolf1389

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Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
TDI
2014 Jetta sportwagen Comfortline
let us know if you had to remove your front bumper and take off the headlight housing to get to the headlights. i cant seem to squeeze my hand in between the fuel filter housing and the headlight assembly to get to the bulbs. drivers is side is marginally better for space but still a nuisance. i have had my DEauto HID low beam kit and DRL/Highbeam LED kit sitting in my car since last summer i havent been able to swap them out... their LEDs dont seem to fit in the housing for the DRL and theres no tabs on them to grab onto to twist them in place.. :( may end up returning them or selling them if i cant install them)
 

brae

New member
Joined
Feb 22, 2020
Location
CANADA
TDI
Jetta TDI Highline
Hello, has anyone ever installed aftermarket headlights, specifically the Audi A5 design ones on a 2011 VW Jetta. I found a supplier that says its a plug and play design but im not buying it. I feel like the headlight switch would have to be replaced with the more advanced one and then re-coded to the vehicle. Any thoughts? Cheers!
 

scow1

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 27, 2008
Location
IL
TDI
10 Sportwagen TDI
let us know if you had to remove your front bumper and take off the headlight housing to get to the headlights. i cant seem to squeeze my hand in between the fuel filter housing and the headlight assembly to get to the bulbs. drivers is side is marginally better for space but still a nuisance. i have had my DEauto HID low beam kit and DRL/Highbeam LED kit sitting in my car since last summer i havent been able to swap them out... their LEDs dont seem to fit in the housing for the DRL and theres no tabs on them to grab onto to twist them in place.. :( may end up returning them or selling them if i cant install them)
The DRL/Highbeams are easy to put in with lots of hand space. Your low beams which are tucked up by the fuel filter and junction box under the hood are a total PITA. It is such a tight fit for the hand and a tight fit for the bulb to lock into place, I am wondering if you need to drop the bumper and pull the head light. I was going to ask the same question as this post because I still can not get either low beam to lock into place from DeAutoLed.
 

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
To start off, for those starting to think their halogens just aren’t cutting it anymore; the LED bulbs are well worth the investment. The light pattern is slightly different due to the bulb producing more light and reflecting the facets of the reflector housing more however I feel I’ll quickly adjust to it.

If you don’t have small hands; I would set aside a good hour or two for installing them due to tight spaces and the need to partially detach the front bumper cover to remove the headlights.

It can be done without removing them however bulb adapter tolerances may require slight tweaking to the bulb receptacle to make solid contact with the LED which I will explain in further detail later. After removing all the hardware I will explain I removed below I was able to make the tweaks and insert the bulbs without unplugging them.

First remove these six torx bits which hold the headlight and headlight brace in.



Next remove the four torx screws from inside the wheel well. You may remove the front wheels to do so or turn the steering fully each direction to access them.





Then you will want to pull up and out on the corner of the bumper cover to pop it out from under the headlight and front fender.

Now remove the four screws circled in red below and am carefully unsnap the bottom of the grille.



Once the grille is removed you have access to the four screws circled in green. From this point the bumper should be loose enough to hang there without removing any lower torx screws to sneak the headlights out.

Here is the low beam H7 bulb:



You can see that is has two connectors that match the factory H7 bulb holder. Before I removed the headlights I was able to sneak the H7 bulbs in; through the wheel wheel liner on the driver side and right in front of the coolant reservoir on the passenger side. However due to slight bulb manufacturing variables the bulb receptacle in the headlight housing will not always make the best contact with the bulb connections.

One of the two bulbs I received required slightly tweaking of the receptacle to fire properly without kicking on and off. Once the headlight is out you can look into the housing and see the metal connector tabs like below:



Simply bent them out with finesse and viola! The bulb makes perfect contact.

The H15 DRL & Highbeam bulb has a really nice rubber seal on it which makes it slightly tricky to twist into place. One trick I found that helped greatly was to lightly oil the rubber seal so it could glide into place. As others have stated there isn’t much to grab and twist them into place. The connectors fit so firmly the small amount of oil on the seal I can’t see it wiggling loose.



Once the H15 bulb is in I was able to creatively fold open and tuck the heat sink fabric. After the heat sink fabric was tucked the rubber seal was able to be reattached with the bottom remaining slightly cracked open to allow the ballast to hang out.

Once you get the bulbs in, verify they all function properly, then assemble in reverse order.

I’ll take some night photos next chance I get.

Since deauto advertises these mimic the factory beam pattern, I didn’t adjust the aim of my headlights at all since they seemed fine before replacing the bulbs. I just verified they were in the same place after reassembly. But please make sure alignment is checked so you’re not blinding other drivers on the road regardless of what bulbs you have.

I’m not too worried about country roads any longer. If you guys have additional questions let me know!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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prsa01

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Joined
Aug 16, 2000
Location
mpls,mn usa
TDI
14 jsw 6m, 96 B4v, miss my a4 :(
Since you have the handy fence right there, any initial impressions of comparative beam pattern/aim? How about brightness and how well the brighter part of beam matches viewing area.

Very nice write-up and they look great!
 

IXLR8

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Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
Thanks for the write up, I think. I know were part of next month paycheck is going!!
 

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Since you have the handy fence right there, any initial impressions of comparative beam pattern/aim? How about brightness and how well the brighter part of beam matches viewing area.

Very nice write-up and they look great!
The beam pattern resembles the halogens; simply with a much brighter focus point which helps with the extra distance they provide extra visibility. Since the replacement I haven’t had a chance to get out to some dark country roads yet but during the driving I’ve done since:

I can say roads signs have become much more visible, the brighter bulbs really activate the retroreflectivity!

The light pattern on the road isn’t quite as “soft” as the halogens and is a bit more faceted.

The focus seems well placed and has good coverage.
 

97B4TDi

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Feb 5, 2007
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Wisconsin
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1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Deautokey is having a decent “leap day sale” right now.
 

IXLR8

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Joined
Mar 9, 2003
Location
Cushing, ME
TDI
12 Passat Platinum Gray, 02 Golf Black, 01 Jetta Black
Once the H15 bulb is in I was able to creatively fold open and tuck the heat sink fabric. After the heat sink fabric was tucked the rubber seal was able to be reattached with the bottom remaining slightly cracked open to allow the ballast to hang out.
So you were able to tuck the heat sink fabric into the headlight assembly. But the ballast was not able to fit inside and you left it outside with the dust cover slightly open?
My bulbs arrived today and I hope to install them tomorrow. :)
 

97B4TDi

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Location
Wisconsin
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1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
I finally gave up and returned mine. Poor design. The stock bulbs twist and lock in easily.
As mentioned in my install post the rubber seal creates the difficulty; I feel it’s a good thing they are right to install. It means a good seal is made.

Remember, a thin/light coat of a lubricant helps immensely. Without having much to grab to assist locking the bulbs in place, this really helps reduce the grunt work of fighting the seal. Full disclosure I did have to grab the heat sink fabric slightly to put some extra “umph” behind the twist but it held up just fine.





So you were able to tuck the heat sink fabric into the headlight assembly. But the ballast was not able to fit inside and you left it outside with the dust cover slightly open?
My bulbs arrived today and I hope to install them tomorrow. :)

Correct. I may have been able to creatively wrap it around and tuck it inside but the amount of heat sink fabric fills the housing. With the fabric tucked and the ballast cable hanging towards the ground the dust cover did fit and stay on.

I’m looking into changing the City Bulbs to LEDs now since they create an amber glow when the low beams are on, which can be seen here:



I’ll update the post when I change those.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

CDubber

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Jun 25, 2010
Location
Utah
TDI
Jetta SportWagen TDI
As mentioned in my install post the rubber seal creates the difficulty; I feel it’s a good thing they are right to install. It means a good seal is made.

Remember, a thin/light coat of a lubricant helps immensely. Without having much to grab to assist locking the bulbs in place, this really helps reduce the grunt work of fighting the seal. Full disclosure I did have to grab the heat sink fabric slightly to put some extra “umph” behind the twist but it held up just fine.


These look nothing like the ones I bought from them. Mine had no wiring or heat sink fabric. It was a singular round metal housing that was supposed to just twist and lock into place like the factory bulb. However, no matter how much I pushed, pulled or twisted, they would never quite lock into place and would come loose easily. I tried both bulbs on both sides with no luck.
 

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
These look nothing like the ones I bought from them. Mine had no wiring or heat sink fabric. It was a singular round metal housing that was supposed to just twist and lock into place like the factory bulb. However, no matter how much I pushed, pulled or twisted, they would never quite lock into place and would come loose easily. I tried both bulbs on both sides with no luck.


Did it look more like this bulb?




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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