Auxiliary lights, anyone?

[Phi1osopher]

I drive quite a bit, occasionally all night long. And my lights currently suck. Today or tomorrow I will be polishing the haze out of my stock headlamps, and while I expect it will make a marked improvement, I am seriously thinking about replacing the basically unused OEM reflector and marker light out of the lower bumper with some high wattage LED spot + flood lights. Yes, I know they are not DOT, but on long lonely highways, its easy enough to turn them off when someone appears on the horizon.
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I have two high quality 14" light bars that appear that each would fit perfectly in the space, almost like an OEM fitment... of course OEM never had the modern urban commando LED thing going on.. But at least I think they would fit nicely in the space inside the bumper.
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Any opinions? I might experiment with it, carefully keeping the OEM ones so I can retrofit them back if I don't like them. It all of course would be correctly and professionally installed with relay, fuse, etc.

 

[vwxyzero]

Four thoughts:

1.) There used to be a Euro spec or aftermarket replacement headlamp assembly that was clear with update bulbs, either that or adapted from another car, don't quite remember, but maybe somebody does. I didn't do it to mine but several people did and it looked and worked great - do a search on here or Google/TDIClub and you should be able to find it.

2.) Those look like video/photo grade lights and you might blind oncoming traffic. I'd think twice about this modification.

3.) Have you considered lumping all your posts under one thread rather than five or more?

4.) You're B4V is the same ugly green that mine is. [emoji23]

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[turbodieseldyke]

BMW E36, if you can find glass lamps, is supposed to be a close match.

 

[vwxyzero]

BMW E36, if you can find glass lamps, is supposed to be a close match.

Sounds about right, distant memory though. Wasn't there a Euro replacement too? It's been awhile.

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[garciapiano]

If you live anywhere with cops that give half a damn, you'll be pulled over for running those lights during night driving if there is anyone else around.. The thing about those light bars is that the light isn't really focused in any way so it just throws a bunch of light out but maybe not as far down the road as you'd like.

 

[ToddA1]

Buy Hella E-codes, if you can find them. I bought a sets off eBay.de and had a few issues, based on translation.

Even if you buy Depo e-codes, they’re still a great upgrade compared to the DOT stuff. I run both sets. Stay away from the angel eye lights... light pattern is poor.

The BMW lights kind of fit and look ok from a distance, but look pretty bad when you get close.

-Todd

 

[TDIDaveNH]

There are a few things you can do right away to improve your lighting situation:
This has been covered here before but the new folks don't always pick up on the B4 hacks right away unless a veteran points them in the right direction. Otherwise, they're kind of in the dark.

I'd go with E-codes but let's say a good set doesn't pop up for a while.....

1. Polish the lenses you have, as perfect as you can get them.
2. swap in 60 watt high beam elements into the 51 watt low beam sockets- requires swapping from grey connectors to black:


Why?....because this:


How to do? ......make a tool to press down the locking tab and the crimp on connector should release after you push it in further.


Don't forget to flex the tab out so it will re-engage the black connector you'll be swapping on:


3. make a heavy jumper wire for this connection: It keeps the low beams on while the high beams are on instead of one or the other. Don't skimp on gauge here, it'll get hot if you do.


4. swap in a set of fog lights from a GLX Passat....the wiring is already in place, in fact there is a keeper for it on the backside of the lens blanks in the spot where they go. You'll need to swap out the headlight switch for one that rotates and PULLS out for switching the fogs on/off. That's covered in other posts I'm sure.....do some digging if you want the OEM look.

Just the first 3 quick little hacks will SIGNIFICANTLY improve your light at night bringing the light output up the what most people would consider 'normal' Yes, the factory lighting is that bad.

 

[TDIDaveNH]

Looking at your pictures in the first post, after you polish the lenses, I'd look for and fix the exhaust leak that is under the hood somewhere, that will also improve your light output.

 

[vwxyzero]

Looking at your pictures in the first post, after you polish the lenses, I'd look for and fix the exhaust leak that is under the hood somewhere, that will also improve your light output.

Great suggestions on the E - coded, fog lights, and upping the wattage on the low beam, I completed forgot about that hack.

But what exhaust leak?

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[TDIDaveNH]

But what exhaust leak?

Look at the right side of the lens, you see soot buildup inside the housing. I've seen this before on severely neglected B4's it actually takes quite a bit of time for the soot to show up in the lenses.

 

[vwxyzero]

Look at the right side of the lens, you see soot buildup inside the housing.

I see that, but it looks more like overspray or a shadow, but of course I could be wrong. It just sounds really strange and I've never seen it before, but I'm not saying it's not possible - leaking from where? The exhaust manifold?

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[ToddA1]

What Dave mentions is good info if you do a lot of driving with your high beams on.... otherwise you’re blinding oncoming traffic.

I have the jumper in the relay panel, but otherwise polishing the plastic lenses will make a big difference. Rotbox has decent plastic lenses and the light output is adequate.

I don’t agree about the fog lights. I think the light output is terrible. I used to run them, but never really noticed much difference with them. These were OE, not the knock off stuff. Lenses are very fragile also.

If I ever come across another 3 position switch w/o fogs, the fogs are getting pulled from the wagon.

-Todd

 

[Mongler98]

im running projector headlights, HID 6000 in the high and 5000 on the low, fog lights are 3200, custom relay for the amp draw, and so i can switch them all on as needed, lows are always on, fog light switch added.
there is nothing i cant see on the road and with the highs off, the cut offs are in the correct spot and not annoying, and looks cool as heck.
this was back when those LED bars did not exist, well cheap anyways. it would be nice to see them molded in place. Maybe cut out the stock fixtures and make them around the light and paint them black. there is potential here.

 

[Phi1osopher]

So I agree with everyone that the big "Mad Max" LED aux lights are a bad decision. also discovered I have the 'dummy" non-fog lights, with the wires plugged into the reflector.
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I spent a bit of time and put a nice polish on my OEM headlights, and now they are happy, bright and clear. I also went on eBay and bought a pair of headlight switches with the fog light option. I have no idea why the seller was selling two; would anyone like to buy one?
QUESTION: Should I be able to use the fog lights if I simply plug in the fog lights and swap in this switch style? I am guessing this is the "pull out to turn on the fog lights" style. ...and I also grabbed a pair of OEM fog lights. Finally, I went ahead and bought a set of the high-end LED 9006, 9005, and H1 replacement bulbs, choosing the "ridiculously bright" bulbs for the high beams... I expect this should solve my lighting concerns...
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[Phi1osopher]

There are a few things you can do right away to improve your lighting situation:
This has been covered here before but the new folks don't always pick up on the B4 hacks right away unless a veteran points them in the right direction. Otherwise, they're kind of in the dark.
Just the first 3 quick little hacks will SIGNIFICANTLY improve your light at night bringing the light output up the what most people would consider 'normal' Yes, the factory lighting is that bad.

TDIDaveNH, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing all this!
I made some purchase decisions based on this information.

 

[vwxyzero]

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What's the difference between this switch and the original? It looks identical to mine w/o fog lights.

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[ToddA1]

It has the fog light function... pull to turn on with the headlights. There are several different switches with fog lights. Another US version has marker lights.

The euro switch can turn on the fogs with markers and no headlights. It also has a rear fog light function.

Upgrade the wiring in those fog lights. They’re aftermarket and are known to melt wiring. I acquired a set of knock offs and they were Herra, not Hella.

-Todd

 

[dieseltruck]

I’ll buy the other switch

 

[TDIDaveNH]

TDIDaveNH, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing all this!
I made some purchase decisions based on this information.

You're welcome. If you need a pair of the black connectors, I'm pretty sure I have a couple I can spare for the cause. Just thinking out loud, I'd be curious to know how many of the diodes in the LED light bar you've got could be fitted into the OEM fog housing. Once you have the light switch in-hand, you'll see the trick to getting the old one out, it's pretty crafty.

 

[Abacus]

Dave is right on the money, as usual. Doing as he suggests is about as much light as the stock lights will put out, and it is a considerable difference.

I did a writeup on here many moons ago about headlight switches, it's worth a read. You can also swap the guts from the A3 switch into the B4 housing and it'll work, just the outside mount is different.

Forget the 9006 bulbs and do the very simple swap to the 9006 bulb socket, it's worth it.

I swapped in some Hella driving lights into my wagon and it made a HUGE difference. They will fit with minimal trouble but you do have to drill the back of the bumper to fit the mount. The light output is very nice and it's worthy of consideration.

I was going to make blanks for the dead area around the light but never did. The aftermarket fogs are junk, IMHO. The aim is horrible, the lenses fall off, the housings warp with the bulb heat, and the wiring is WAY too small and melts easily. The diffusing pattern also makes the light useless, moreso when they crack, which they do all the time.


This is the Euroswitch people mention, and it has the rheostats to adjust the leveling from inside the car. I never hooked them up but probably will someday. The cars are not wired for the rear fog lights, in case you were wondering. I did the 5 marker light mod anyway so I didn't need it.

 

[ToddA1]

If I’m not mistaken, the cars are partially wired for the rear fog. All it requires is a jumper from the euro switch, to an empty socket in one of the fuse panel plugs.

Break out the blank in the tail light, install bulb, and you’re done. I did it years ago, and probably only turned it on to test it.

I don’t remember running any wires to the rear of the car.

-Todd

 

[Abacus]

Actually, I think you’re right. I’d forgotten about that.