Has anyone upgraded their stock headlights?

GIDDY_UP_GO

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10 Jetta 13 Beetle Convertible 15 GSW
I own a 2015 GSW and was wanting to update my OEM headlights to something like the ones that come stock on the Golf R. I believe they have the LED daytime running lights.

I was wondering if anyone has done this upgrade?

Is it as simple as plug and play?

I would like to find a wrecked Golf R at a salvage yard and get the headlights from it, but that seems like a shot in the dark.
 

TDI_Dan

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I've seen some posts on an aftermarket plug and play setup but I don't know about the quality of it. I'll have to find the link.

I've considered doing the same to mine.

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TDI_Dan

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https://www.becautoparts.com

It's in another post. Search "halogen to hid" or similar. There is more than one vendor. This is the one I was checking out as per an older post. $500 a side.

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thundershorts

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Most salvage cars are front hits. I have a pair of R headlights but it got too intense trying to install and get them to function in my golf s so I defaulted to Ed's lights, which work well except don't have the turn and leveling. Now going to sell the R lights.
 

740GLE

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I want to buy those Eds reps, but pay in Canadian, the exchange rate is very very favorable against those loonies, sadly that isn't reflected in his price.
 

Mrrogers1

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Ed's are great, I kind of want to do some facelift Golf R's when I'm tired of my MK7 Golf R styles. They are BRIGHT with the good HID and while they don't autolevel, once set with the straight forward design, it's all good. Ed runs a great business and stands behind his product, great service and I'll definitely buy again.
 

RIP TDI

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'15 GSW SE 6MT...... '01 Golf GLS 5MT.... '96 Passat Variant....
Another option if you are on a limited budget or, like me, you actually prefer the aesthetics of the OE S/SE halogen reflectors: deAutokey HIDs or LEDs. Both are designed specifically for reflector housings and by all accounts are not glare-y and won't blind oncoming traffic. Light output, cutoff and overall beam pattern definition is not as good as Eds, but superior to other HID systems not specifically designed for projectors and a big improvement over stock halogens. 1/4 the price of Eds.
 
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Mrrogers1

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I've had these for over three years (with the Morimoto HID kit, 5500K):
https://www.becautoparts.com/collec...hid-headlights-golf-r-style?variant=680665150
Still going strong.
I have the same, they are awesome!

I've had these for over three years (with the Morimoto HID kit, 5500K):
https://www.becautoparts.com/collec...hid-headlights-golf-r-style?variant=680665150
Still going strong.[/QUOT
Does the high beam come with a halogen or LED bulb?
High is halogen but i rarely use them as the Morimoto 5500 setup is really good. Of course, when you do use them, you can tell they are halogen because the 5500 beam and color is crisp and white and the highs will have the "yellow" tint to it.
 
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740GLE

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u could always snag the 4500 HIDs for a bit warmer color
 

ProfBrown

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2015 GSW SE DSG
I am running the Eds replica kit. But mine are the 2018 Golf R style headlights with more of a wing than a U bar. I prefer this look. I am quite happy with them. The only issues I have had have been with the Morimoto parts lol. I had a canbus go out within 4 months. Granted I think this has something to do with the dirt road I live down. Every once and a while I get one light that will stop working. Check connections and it works again.... Now that I have done the headlight install and worked on the tinkering and what not, I can have these stock headlights in and out in less than an hour lol. Here is the link to the ones I bought. Went with the Morimoto 5500k kit. Closest to white you can get.
https://www.becautoparts.com/collec...014-5-17-mk7-golf-hid-headlights-2018-r-style

As far as the light pattern goes, I am quite a fan, adjustment was easy, and works like it should. The switchback turn signals are what drew me in, that and the fact that they are dynamic! Already installed halogen high beams is a nice touch. The lens for this high beam must be tinted some sort of way as the color almost matches perfectly to the 5500k HIDs even though its a halogen. I am a fan of this.

ONE NOTE! I noticed that one of the light assemblies (passenger) seems to have a thin layer of film starting to peel off of it... This I am absolutely not happy with. But aside from waiting for an exchange, I am thinking of getting the 3m headlight protection film. The peeling layer hasn't left any discoloration, just a small thin layer is beginning to peal. I assume the clear coat over it? Here is the link to what I was looking at... https://www.invisiblemask.com/imask/index.php?route=product/product&path=18075&product_id=36291

EDIT: Here are some pics of my set up in the car.
 

Nuje

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ProfBrown

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Those Osram headlights look sweet honestly, and LED tends to have an easier time with vibrations than HIDs from what I have read. Also LEDs have less to install compared to HIDs like my kit does. More plug and play than HIDs. Mine was plug and play, but a few more plugs lol.
 

aditud

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Pretty sure those are the same as the "old" (pre-facelift-look) Golf R replicas that Ed (becautoparts.com) also sells.
I have had (since February 2016) those (R-style). I even swapped them from my former GSW (went to VW in the buyback) to my new stop-sale GSW. Still going strong. No issues.

I just wish I found a way to swap the H7 halogens in the high beam projectors with some white light emitting halogens. I have the Morimoto 5500K HIDs in the outer projectors (work as bi-xenons), so when I switch to high beam you definitely notice the yellow light coming of the Osram Nightbreakers H7's. Of course, the xenons far outshine the halogens but the night breakers are strong enough that you clearly notice the yellowish light they emit. I recall it was easy to put the osrams in, the housings came with some cheap halogens in the high beams from becautoparts, so I got rid of those. Now I want to replace the osrams with some white emitting Hella Optilux or something like that. They have great reviews and apparently they really do put out white light.

The problem is I don't want to remove the housings to do it. I unscrewed the lids but all I can see/feel are some electrical circuits, no knob/tab that you can just twist to remove the bulb. I tried to find some DIY stuff about this online on forums or youtube but failed. I hope it can be done without taking the housings out.
 

Nuje

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Try sending Ed an email asking about how best to do a bulb swap; I've found him to be very responsive with questions.
 

aditud

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Try sending Ed an email asking about how best to do a bulb swap; I've found him to be very responsive with questions.
OK, I actually had not tried that until I saw your post :). It's sometimes the obvious thing one misses.
 

aditud

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OK, I actually had not tried that until I saw your post :). It's sometimes the obvious thing one misses.
Ed did reply pretty quickly and explained what to do, with photos. Great guy!

I replaced the bulbs yesterday, it's a pain in the butt 'cause there's not a lot of space to work in. Now the halogens do match the color of the HIDs.
 

thundershorts

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The hylux hid's in 5000k are pure white and go well with the night breaker lazers in ed's lights.
 

BarryT82

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Those Osram headlights look sweet honestly, and LED tends to have an easier time with vibrations than HIDs from what I have read. Also LEDs have less to install compared to HIDs like my kit does. More plug and play than HIDs. Mine was plug and play, but a few more plugs lol.
The Osram lights are plug & play other than a wire that goes to the battery or fuse box. The LED’s come installed. They’re $799 Euros shipped from Germany.
 

whizznbyu

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Ed's site has Hylux and Morimoto options for kits. Anyone have an opinion on which one is better? Or is it "you get what you pay for"?
 

Nuje

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I bought Morimoto from TheRetrofitSource once and they were...fine. I wasn't wowed by them - they still took a while (not near-instant like OEM HIDs are) to warm up. now, this was a few years ago, so maybe they've gotten better.

After that, on a different project, I purchased Hylux directly from Aliexpress in China (along with CNlight bulbs), and they're really good; no issues from my vantage point. I found them totally comparable with the Morimotos.

Having said all of that, I'd go for the Morimotos not because of quality, but because those are available with the 4500K bulbs. If you ever drive in rain, I find anything "whiter" (actually, they start getting blue-ish) than 5000K does not light up the road well. If you live in LA and treat rain like other places treat snow (i.e., you never drive in it), then fine - 5500K and 6000K are fine. But if you ever drive in rain...you want 4500K.
 
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ProfBrown

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Ed's site has Hylux and Morimoto options for kits. Anyone have an opinion on which one is better? Or is it "you get what you pay for"?
I got the Morimotor 5500k on my car. I had one of the CANBUS fail on me, but that was replaced with a new one in about a week after they restocked the item. Personally no complaints on them honestly. Other HIDs I have had work about the same. The other brand that I had more experience with was DDM Tuning. These I had no complaints, and on the 2 vehicles I had them on with over 50k worth of driving over the course of about 3 years, I had NO broken parts and NO issues. Keep in mind, one of these sets was in a 2013 GMC Sierra with some suspension work so flying down the washes of Ocotillo Wells in So Cal at 60+ mph did happen! ;) The Morimotos might get to their optimal light a tad faster than the DDM tuning ones, but the difference would be under 1 second...

Both the truck and my car have 5500k lights. My older E36 BMW had something more blue in it, idk what is was, but it was stupid, back when I was stupid, still never had issues with em though. It is correct that white light tends to blind in dense fog or snow. Fog is what I usually deal with where I live, like rather dense stuff, as in cant see more than 10 feet in front of the car kinda stuff. The white can hamper some level of vision, but with projectors the light pattern as it is is more direct so there is less of a blinding happening than with reflector housings. I kept the stock fog flood lights as the halogen bulbs, for when it gets to be really dense with fog, they come in handy from time to time.
 

whizznbyu

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Ed mentioned that the high beam bulb is halogen. I think he indicated that LED bulbs would not fit the halogen female part due to space constraints. Is this correct?
 

ProfBrown

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Ed mentioned that the high beam bulb is halogen. I think he indicated that LED bulbs would not fit the halogen female part due to space constraints. Is this correct?


I cannot confirm not deny this from Ed. He will know more than I will. Honestly between the 5500k and the halogens that come in the units, I can hardly tell a difference. Isn’t even worth the time for me to try and figure a perfect match, and I’m rather OCD, that’s how little it’s different if at all.


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