LED headlights

[freakwithracket]

I'll jump in again to explain some things. Spoon has been accurate in everything he has said about the lights so far. The wiring on that strip has three wires. A + for the amber LEDs, a + for the white LEDs, and a ground. I tie them into the appropriate power sources and ground.

Those things are nylon cable clamps. They are a opaque white. The problem with the strips was one that got me for a few days. They come with these little clips that you can screw into whatever surface you want to mount them on, and then the strip is guided through those clips. Problem was that the clips use screws that were absurdly small. Given the interference of the lens and the small screw, it was impossible for me to get them screwed down. Then on top of that, the plastic on the headlight lens lip is very hard. It just was not going to happen.

So the next thougth was to put it down with some silicone adhesive or some other bonding substance. Well, given that we wanted the strip to curve up ward, it would naturally want to bend back, and it would have been impossible to get it to stay curved while an adhesive dried. That is to say nothing of the likelihood of it turning into a total ugly mess.

So I went to the hardware store and looked around and came across thos nylon cable clamps. I pretty much drilled holes in the bottom of the lens, rand the strip through the clamp, and then secured the clamp using a bolt through the bottom that just barely made it through the other side. Then I used some silicone adhesive sealant around the nuts along the bottom to prevent moisture from entering. It turned out great, because as spoon said, while they are slightly viable with the lights off, they are not visible with the lights on.

 

[spoonman4]

Just got the headlight in today, was planning on putting them on after I got off of work today, but unfortunately I barley got home from work. I will try and put them on tomorrow or Wednesday

 

[hskrdu]

Jeff- thanks for the great info about the install and process.
spoon- looking forward to pix!

 

[spoonman4]

ok, finally had some time to get things moving and put the new lights on. First off, it took me about an hour trying to figure out how to get the freaking grill off, and thats only after i gave up and tried to find out how to do it online (the link to that is http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5643696-How-to-remove-front-grill&highlight=grill )

also, when trying to put it back in, i broke off 2 of the 4 top tabs. In frustration, i then broke the remaining two off to even things up. (for those of you who fret the little things, the 3 screws hold everything in the correct position so i figured might as well snap em off to save me future heartache)


Below are pictures somewhat showing the process.


BEFORE!!!!!
this is my view with stock headlights

AFTER!!!

I have one installed and the other is stock

the projectors are on here, but its hard to tell because its so bright

here is a picture of the cutoff on a garage. i need to do some adjusting to line them up perfectly, but that will have to be another day

(excuse all the bug guts on the windshield, i just returned from a long work trip using my vehicle... gatta love getting paid by the mile in a Passat TDI )

here is the DRL and angel eyes lit at night

 

[spoonman4]

forgot to mention, I added a TDI emblem to the grill while it was off. i do not have a picture of it on while the headlights are on because it is dark right now, but here is it just placed in the location it is actually mounted (10 bucks)

 

[spoonman4]

now for the BAD!!!


which is not to blame Jeff, because this was his first set of passat headlights i believe, and especially his first set of NMS/B7 passat headlights.

1)

the warning light on the dash comes on for a headlight fault. the fault is for the front RIGHT/LEFT marker lights. indicating they are out.

this is the first VW that has a system which monitors the side markers, which is great for VW because they are making better vehicles, but bad for me.

Had Jeff had known this system monitors it, he could have made the proper adjustments before hand meaning no warning light for me, but he did not, the MK5's do not monitor the marker bulbs.

and i told jeff i wanted him to take out the orange plastic reflector marker as well as the bulb.

2)

The actual LED strips placed in the lens may look like it is all uniform and pretty and look like a SOLID strip of LED happiness, but in reality, put them in the sunlight, especially Texas sunlight, and you can see the individual LED bulls inside the tube. They are pretty close, but you can see darker areas in between each light. It still looks nice, but i was assuming it would have the same consistency as the angel eye LEDs. In videos and pictures, you won't be able to tell because the camera makes it seem like the consistency is the same, but to the human eye, you can see the difference. this is only noticeable during the day, in the evening, you cannot see any breaks in the consistency of the LED strip



All in all, i am happy with the way things turned out. and it made my passat even more attractive.

I would do this again if i was starting from scratch. sure, a few things may be different if i had a do-over, but i would definitely do it again! now that i was the guinea pig, y'all are free to learn from our test!!!


AND I NOW HAVE A SET OF ALMOST NEW OEM HEADLIGHTS FOR SALE IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED


my next plan of action is to get LED DRL bulbs that match the color of the strip and angel eyes. and look for LED blinker bulbs as well. I know they make plug and play LED DRL bulbs for the car that have built in resistors in them, but i have not found any amber LED bulbs that have resistors in them that are plug and play with no warning light trigger on the dash.

links anyone?

 

[hskrdu]

The before and after is amazing!

 

[spoonman4]

The before and after is amazing!

I agree! i am very pleased with them. especially since my fiancé has a harder time seeing at night. these will help her greatly!

 

[hawkz]

That's a lovely retrofit, man. Nice!

 

[vw_norm]

'Bout time we got some pics! Looks like a decent retrofit. You can wire in a 50 ohm 10 watt resistor to take care of the marker light BOW. Or reinstall it since it was already configured to work with the cars' monitoring circuits.

 

[spoonman4]

here are some pics in the daylight. i really like not having the orange side markers. it makes it look meaner i think.... im going to the car wash today.


next order of business not involving lighting is plasti-dipping my rims

 

[LokiWolf]

DeAutoKey has OsRam LED bulbs for the front Amber turns, they look great!

Jeff, so what's the price out the door, including options, and how easy is it to fix the bulb out error?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[freakwithracket]

As shown in the photos in this thread:

Projectors, HID bulbs, 55W AC Ballasts, CAN-BUS Wiring Harness, LED Audi Style Strips, LED Angel Eye, all installed into OEM headlight assemblies: $600+shipping.

If you want to send me your existing housings you can save ~180-200 depending on the going price for assemblies at the time. If someone would like to skip out on the angel eye or LED strips I can deduct those of course.

The bulb out should not be an issue. The fix is easy on my end, it was just not expected that the car would put out an error for a bulb that was not a main bulb. It was also not normal to completely remove that side marker. I would just wire in a small resistor to trick the computer into thinking a bulb is there.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Out of curiosity, if I were to order a quad bi-xenon projector retrofit into stock housings without angel eyes or the LED strip, what would the damage be to my bank account?

 

[freakwithracket]

Good question..give or take about $700+shipping. I'd have to sit down and really think about it, the wiring needed and how long that will take. You'd take out those two items, but you'd need an extra set of projectors, ballasts, bulbs, likely a relay harness and of course the extra time to install and aim the projectors, and then the extra wiring involved as well.

On the matter of the wiring I'd have to think about that a bit as well. You'd want the low beam to be on for both projectors, but you can't really power two ballasts off the single low beam power source without really risking burning up some wiring. Then because you'd be taking out the halogen high beam I'd have to wire in a resistor for that to prevent a bulb out error.

A quad setup on these lights would definitely qualify as a complex retrofit.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

That's about what I was expecting. It would indeed by quite complex.

 

[spoonman4]

DeAutoKey has OsRam LED bulbs for the front Amber turns, they look great!

Thanks LokiWolf!!!! purchasing them now

Do you know if their "B7" bulbs will work in the NMS. Im assuming they will, but just want to double check before i purchase these bulbs along with the LED tailight bulbs

the link to the bulbs in question is HERE


well im assuming they work because there was another thread HERE that had an NMS passat with them on. I went ahead and purchased the taillight kit, alongside with both LED amber turning bulbs and both DRL LED bulbs. excited to see them when everything is on.

 

[LokiWolf]

Thanks LokiWolf!!!! purchasing them now

Do you know if their "B7" bulbs will work in the NMS. Im assuming they will, but just want to double check before i purchase these bulbs along with the LED tailight bulbs

the link to the bulbs in question is HERE


well im assuming they work because there was another thread HERE that had an NMS passat with them on. I went ahead and purchased the taillight kit, alongside with both LED amber turning bulbs and both DRL LED bulbs. excited to see them when everything is on.

All of DeAutoKeys products are for the NMS. They were a Vortex vendor first, so they use the incorrect term. I am running them, they work very well.

 

[spoonman4]

All of DeAutoKeys products are for the NMS. They were a Vortex vendor first, so they use the incorrect term. I am running them, they work very well.

good to know!!! especially since the purchase was already made hahaha, have you swapped out all internal lights to LED lights? if so, do you really need their tool kit? or can you use a flathead screwdriver?

 

[LokiWolf]

good to know!!! especially since the purchase was already made hahaha, have you swapped out all internal lights to LED lights? if so, do you really need their tool kit? or can you use a flathead screwdriver?

Yeah, screw driver, or panel tool works great.

 

[spoonman4]

UPDTE:


well, the led strips are less than great. They have had issues even before jeff sent them out. he got a replacement strip from the company and they are already acting up again.

I am going on a road trip to niagara falls (From Texas) leaving in 2 days, so i would prefer to use the projectors instead of the stock lights for safety sake.

we do have a new plan of action for different LED strips, but it will have to wait until I get back from my trip in late may.

If you are thinking about doing a retrofit, I would stay away from these LED strips and save your money, other than that I LOVEEEEE the new headlights

 

[1dieselsteve]

UPDTE:


well, the led strips are less than great. They have had issues even before jeff sent them out. he got a replacement strip from the company and they are already acting up again.

I am going on a road trip to niagara falls (From Texas) leaving in 2 days, so i would prefer to use the projectors instead of the stock lights for safety sake.

we do have a new plan of action for different LED strips, but it will have to wait until I get back from my trip in late may.

If you are thinking about doing a retrofit, I would stay away from these LED strips and save your money, other than that I LOVEEEEE the new headlights

How come to stay away from the LED strips? Are your headlights angle eyes?

 

[spoonman4]

How come to stay away from the LED strips? Are your headlights angle eyes?

sorry for the confusion, stay away from THESE led strips. yes the headlights have angel eyes, and I LOVE the brightness and consistency of those... actually we are going to replace these led flexible strips with some LED strips from the same company who makes the angel eyes. They wont be flixible so the new design of the LED strip will be more rigid and come to an angle in the corner of the headlight instead of a curve upward.

In all this situation, Jeff has been more than helpfull, this was just the first time he has ever dealt with these specific strips, and I was the test dummy for the passat setup along with these strips.

we are getting things sorted out. Use my misfortune for knowledge to keep little kinks out of your retrofit build

 

[Herkguy]

As shown in the photos in this thread:
Projectors, HID bulbs, 55W AC Ballasts, CAN-BUS Wiring Harness, LED Audi Style Strips, LED Angel Eye, all installed into OEM headlight assemblies: $600+shipping.
If you want to send me your existing housings you can save ~180-200 depending on the going price for assemblies at the time. If someone would like to skip out on the angel eye or LED strips I can deduct those of course.
The bulb out should not be an issue. The fix is easy on my end, it was just not expected that the car would put out an error for a bulb that was not a main bulb. It was also not normal to completely remove that side marker. I would just wire in a small resistor to trick the computer into thinking a bulb is there.

Out of curiosity, if I were to order a quad bi-xenon projector retrofit into stock housings without angel eyes or the LED strip, what would the damage be to my bank account?

Good question..give or take about $700+shipping. I'd have to sit down and really think about it, the wiring needed and how long that will take. You'd take out those two items, but you'd need an extra set of projectors, ballasts, bulbs, likely a relay harness and of course the extra time to install and aim the projectors, and then the extra wiring involved as well.

On the matter of the wiring I'd have to think about that a bit as well. You'd want the low beam to be on for both projectors, but you can't really power two ballasts off the single low beam power source without really risking burning up some wiring. Then because you'd be taking out the halogen high beam I'd have to wire in a resistor for that to prevent a bulb out error.

A quad setup on these lights would definitely qualify as a complex retrofit.

What about a quad projector set up with HID low beam but H7 high beams, no angle eye or strip? Maybe Reflector delete?
I think the quad setup would look sweet in the factory housing.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

What about a quad projector set up with HID low beam but H7 high beams, no angle eye or strip? Maybe Reflector delete?

I think the quad setup would look sweet in the factory housing.

I thought about doing quad bi-xenon projectors but we will install our factory AFS lights (Chinese market) that are sitting in the bedroom instead.

I actually devised a clever arrangement for quad bi-xenons for people without fog lights. Outer set gets hooked to low beams with white lamps, inner set gets hooked to fog light circuit with yellow lamps. All shutters get hooked to high beam circuit. This way you can run white low beams, yellow low beams, all four low beams, white high beams, or all four high beams. Options aplenty!

Freakwithracket said he could do this for $700-800 in parts and labor. Not bad!

 

[Herkguy]

That would be a different design for sure. I keep seeing the us version of the factory chinese lights popping up all over now. Even auto everything has them listed now, but they are charging more than the ebay folks (359), I have to wonder about these. I know they come with halogen but adding an HID kit for $100 they still are cheap, even if you have to rewire a wire (or not), we won't know until someone takes the plunge.
http://www.autoanything.com/lights/77A5221A4087717.aspx

So these are in the price range of having the factory ones redone with projectors.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

That would be a different design for sure. I keep seeing the us version of the factory chinese lights popping up all over now. Even auto everything has them listed now, but they are charging more than the ebay folks (359), I have to wonder about these. I know they come with halogen but adding an HID kit for $100 they still are cheap, even if you have to rewire a wire (or not), we won't know until someone takes the plunge.
http://www.autoanything.com/lights/77A5221A4087717.aspx

So these are in the price range of having the factory ones redone with projectors.

Are those AFS (active steering)?

 

[Herkguy]

These were not advertised with AFS

And I checked my factory pinning, it is the same as these so they should be plug and play.

 

[usarmy132]

I was looking at the same one from carid, made by spyder http://www.carid.com/2012-volkswagen-passat-headlights/spyder-oem-headlights-35747121.html, anyone tried them?

 

[atc98002]

I was looking at the same one from carid, made by spyder http://www.carid.com/2012-volkswagen-passat-headlights/spyder-oem-headlights-35747121.html, anyone tried them?

I'd like to see a picture installed in a car. Something tells me the black bezels wouldn't look good in my silver car.

Would also be curious to see the light pattern. Wouldn't want to have a bad projection that irritates oncoming drivers.