Light bar on mk5

[nokivasara]

Inspired by a light bar install on a mk4 ( http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=449831 ) I decided to put one on our mk5 Golf and take some pictures along the way
This is a 20" 60W light bar, the output is not great but it does light up the sides of the road better than the stock high beams so it's well worth it IMO, especially if there's a lot of deer and moose where you live.
Start by pulling the lower grille out, there's a number of tabs that you can try to press with a screwdriver while you pull but some of them are bound to break however you do I think!
I planned on installing it under the crash bar/beam but to do that you need to take the front bumper off unless you have really long drill bits, there's no room for the drill otherwise. I put the light bar in front of the radiator on the plastic support (or is it a part of the rad itself?) until I find the time to pull the front off and mount it under the beam.

Then you need to hook up the relay, power and ground can be taken here:

Trigger wire for the relay is probably easiest to splice into the white with a black stripe at the connector at the left headlight. That lead is for the high beam.

End result:

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

Thanks for this, fellow northerner. The wiring you show - does the light work only when the high beams are on? With a switch that has a fog light setting, would that wiring work for fogs? I have a midline CECM and replacing with a highline is expensive.

 

[nokivasara]

Hi, yeah it's that time of the year again, dark most of the day
Yes it works only when the high beams are lit.
You want to run the fogs from a relay setup like this?
In that case I quess you could use the switch to trigger the relay, but I have no idea how the switches are wired.

I have fogs but never use them, they only light up near the car.

Edit: What's CESM? that last sentence is like chinese for me!

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

CECM is the electronics control module.

In North America, at least there are various options for them and the better ones allow more programming by the user. I have to put in a better one to get the light switch to work as planned for both front and rear fogs.

Seriously, I'm more concerned about having a rear fog than a front one. No doubt you're also familiar with ice fog - difficult to drive, difficult to see, and difficult to stop.

Thanks.

 

[nokivasara]

Oh I see, maybe it would be easier to wire both front and rear fogs on a separate toggle switch that energizes the relay and go around the CECM altogether.

We rarely have ice fog here, I think the air is too dry. But regular fog in the mornings during fall, before the lakes and rivers freeze is common and just as bad for visibility. Like driving around in porrige!

 

[Joe 2012 Golf]

Before you went and put a light bar on, did you try an all four or all six mod? I did that with my pickup truck. Using some diodes, I pulled power from the high beams to power my low beams and my DRLs when my high beams were on. Figuring it should be similar with these cars.

 

[nokivasara]

The low beams are already lit when the high beam is on, I also put in Philips night vision (or extreme vision??) on the brights but I'm used to aux/spot lights so stock lights just aren't good enough.

Here's a link to our previous Golf, those kind of lights are what I'm used to :
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=398607

 

[Joe 2012 Golf]

The low beams are already lit when the high beam is on, I also put in Philips night vision (or extreme vision??) on the brights but I'm used to aux/spot lights so stock lights just aren't good enough.

Here's a link to our previous Golf, those kind of lights are what I'm used to :
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=398607

Pretty cool.

 

[nokivasara]

2 months later some design flaws have emerged, the light bar is mounted too low when there's a lot of snow. It illuminates the snow banks, casting shadows into the woods, pretty much the opposite to what I want from good lights.
A good thing is that is has been much cleaner that I thought, I was afraid it would be covered in snow most of the time and since it's behind the grille it's not very easily cleaned.
So, a light bar behind the grille is not the best option for us northeners...
It's still better than just the stock lights though.

 

[Mike in Anchorage]

2 months later some design flaws have emerged, the light bar is mounted too low when there's a lot of snow. It illuminates the snow banks, casting shadows into the woods, pretty much the opposite to what I want from good lights.
A good thing is that is has been much cleaner that I thought, I was afraid it would be covered in snow most of the time and since it's behind the grille it's not very easily cleaned.
So, a light bar behind the grille is not the best option for us northerners...
It's still better than just the stock lights though.

Are you hoping to see moose [or do you call them elk, there?] before they enter the road? A few folks here mount light bars to the roof of the car. It doesn't look good, modifies the airflow pattern, and is vulnerable to hits from stray rocks, but they seem to project the light into the woods really well.

 

[nokivasara]

Yeah, moose among other animals is the #1 reason for the aux lights.
Elk is like a big deer?
Lights on the roof is best but more suitable on pickups and trucks, I'm happy with having the lights at the same height as the headlights, that's enough to get a wider beam even during winter.
I don't know the part # but the VW dealers here sell mounts for spot lights that puts them next to the headlights.

But the light bar is still ok, it has stopped snowing too so the banks aren't getting any taller at the moment so we're happy with it as it is

 

[Kiingsloth]

Can’t see the images

 

[nokivasara]

Can’t see the images

I don't have the mk5 anymore, but I'll see if I can find the pictures.
You can buy a wiring kit, makes the wiring really easy. Do you have Biltema in Norway? If you do you can get:
42-600 or 42-406 wiring kit.
42-490 that you flip upside down and backwards so the light bar sits below the license plate, inside the lower grille.

You can send me a pm if you want more info, you can write in norwegian.