Factory Xenon headlight. Any other options?

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musky48

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2014
Location
Ohio
TDI
2011 Golf TDI. 2003 Jetta TDI
Does anyone know of replacement headlights for the factory Xenon lights that can bet set up to not throw error messages? I need a passenger assembly but for what a used one costs may just be better to buy both new aftermarket and sell the good one. I realize i would have to wire a new plug but wasn't sure about getting rid of error messages. Any insight much appreciated.
Thanks,
 
W

Wilkins

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2005
Location
British Columbia
TDI
05 Jetta Wagon 5sp, 10 Sportwagen 6MT
As far as I know if you have factory xenon’s your simple options are replace in kind or recode the BCM for halogens. The recode requires VCDS and instructions are on the Ross Tech site/ forums. Repinning a connector should be straightforward with the correct tool and a wiring diagram. I probably can find a diagram if you need it.

Sorry to hear, what happened?
 
M

musky48

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2014
Location
Ohio
TDI
2011 Golf TDI. 2003 Jetta TDI
I just bought a car that had the passenger light broke. The price of these are insane. I have VCDS. I may look on rosstech for the instructions and diagrams. I even have the connections for halogen lights from a parts car I bought. Thanks for the reply.
 
crashtested

crashtested

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Location
Nelson, BC
TDI
2016 Q5 TDI Technik, 2014 GSW CL 6MT (RIP), 2004 Jetta GLS 5MT (sold), 2010 GSW HL 6MT (buy back)
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Speedmaster_102

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
TDI
2014 Golf Sportwagen TDI
crashtested said:
Ohhhhhhh man!! $1150 shipped - My finger is twitching!!
Click to expand...
I have a set, I personally do not recommend it. It's not as bright as the stock Halogen headlight units. I had to upgrade the ballast and the bulbs from d8s to d3s, 25w to 35w which made a nice improvement. However the most common issue w/ these headlights is that the lens shakes horribly! I've tried many ways to fix it and I just accepted having ****ty shaking lens.

0/10, do not recommend.
 
crashtested

crashtested

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2010
Location
Nelson, BC
TDI
2016 Q5 TDI Technik, 2014 GSW CL 6MT (RIP), 2004 Jetta GLS 5MT (sold), 2010 GSW HL 6MT (buy back)
Speedmaster_102 said:
I have a set, I personally do not recommend it. It's not as bright as the stock Halogen headlight units. I had to upgrade the ballast and the bulbs from d8s to d3s, 25w to 35w which made a nice improvement. However the most common issue w/ these headlights is that the lens shakes horribly! I've tried many ways to fix it and I just accepted having ****ty shaking lens.

0/10, do not recommend.
Click to expand...
Dang!! Thanks for the heads up, the twitch is suddenly gone...
 
S

Speedmaster_102

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
TDI
2014 Golf Sportwagen TDI
crashtested said:
Dang!! Thanks for the heads up, the twitch is suddenly gone...
Click to expand...
Here's my post about upgrading the bulb and ballast for the OSRAM headlight.

Upgraded my bulbs on my OSRAM LEDriving XENARC headlights

I absolutely love how the aggressive my car looks with the OSRAM headlights on my Golf Wagon, but I just couldn't get over the fact that the HID lights had little improvement over the Halogen bulbs. I did some research on the European market and I found out the regulations to use 35w bulbs...
forums.tdiclub.com forums.tdiclub.com
 
M

mikerob97

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Location
Cary, NC
TDI
2014 Jetta Sportwagen
Speedmaster_102 said:
I have a set, I personally do not recommend it. It's not as bright as the stock Halogen headlight units. I had to upgrade the ballast and the bulbs from d8s to d3s, 25w to 35w which made a nice improvement. However the most common issue w/ these headlights is that the lens shakes horribly! I've tried many ways to fix it and I just accepted having ****ty shaking lens.

0/10, do not recommend.
Click to expand...
I installed mine over the Christmas holiday...absolutely love them. I may eventually do the 25w to 35w upgrade, but for now, they beat the hell out of stock headlights...
 
S

Speedmaster_102

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
TDI
2014 Golf Sportwagen TDI
mikerob97 said:
I installed mine over the Christmas holiday...absolutely love them. I may eventually do the 25w to 35w upgrade, but for now, they beat the hell out of stock headlights...
Click to expand...
If you have access to a pick n pull junkyard, go grab a set of ballasts and HID bulbs as they are dirt cheap from there. I cannot stress the 25w to 35w upgrade is literally night and day difference and I couldn't be happier. I would have sold my OSRAM headlights if the upgrade were not benefitical.
 
97B4TDi

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
I had a custom builder assemble a set of OEM Style HID Retrofits for me. Couldn’t be happier.

They are built with:
  • New TYC OEM Replica Housings
  • Morimoto Mini H1 8.0 Projectors
  • Morimoto 4000k Bulbs
  • Hylux 2a88 35w Ballasts.
Projector_Retrofit_Night

Projector_Retrofit_Night

Above: The light has a very light blue tone at the edge of the cutoff but overall the light is not as blue as it appears.

Projector_Retrofit_Cutoff

Projector_Retrofit_Cutoff


Projector_Retrofit

Projector_Retrofit


Projector_Retrofit_Close-Up

Projector_Retrofit_Close-Up

 
S

Speedmaster_102

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
TDI
2014 Golf Sportwagen TDI
97B4TDi said:
I had a custom builder assemble a set of OEM Style HID Retrofits for me. Couldn’t be happier.

They are built with:
  • New TYC OEM Replica Housings
  • Morimoto Mini H1 8.0 Projectors
  • Morimoto 4000k Bulbs
  • Hylux 2a88 35w Ballasts.
Projector_Retrofit_Night

Projector_Retrofit_Night

Above: The light has a very light blue tone at the edge of the cutoff but overall the light is not as blue as it appears.

Projector_Retrofit_Cutoff

Projector_Retrofit_Cutoff


Projector_Retrofit

Projector_Retrofit


Projector_Retrofit_Close-Up

Projector_Retrofit_Close-Up

Click to expand...
I saw your post over on vwvortex. Did you do the retrofit? How was it? Do the lens shake? Im looking to get rid my OSRAM and retrofit my own headlights.
 
97B4TDi

97B4TDi

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 5, 2007
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
1997 B4 Passat, 2013 Jetta Sportwagen TDI
Speedmaster_102 said:
I saw your post over on vwvortex. Did you do the retrofit? How was it? Do the lens shake? Im looking to get rid my OSRAM and retrofit my own headlights.
Click to expand...
I was inspired by the post on VWVortex, however I can't take the credit for that conversion. I had a builder I found on instagram assemble them for me. No shaking. The light is wonderful. I know its not possible but I felt like we could "out run" the factory lights even with LED bulbs. These produce nice white light, FAR down the road and a nice clean cut-off.

The guy can be contacted through instagram via tc_customlighting.

Since he builds the lights custom and based on available retrofit options I will leave the pricing to him.
 
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