DrCorbyLee

Coincidentally just booked in complete alloy refurb over at Amazing Alloys based on your previous recommendation and was also thinking about buying new hub caps and bolt covers from skoda-parts.com rather than paying main stealer rip-off prices - great minds think alike :-) Can you please confirm you didn't get hit for any customs charges etc and that the listed Euro price and Fedex delivery charge is all you paid? Their UK customer support guy has suggested this is the case but having been hit with charges when I ordered gaming headphones from a UK website dispatching from Danish warehouse that ended up being dispatched after final Brexit changes, just wanted to be 100% sure this time.

Same here, used a local VW indy specialiast to change the bulbs which shows the absurdity of the design as although xenon bulbs are long life they won't last the life of the car so somewhere down the line the user will have to change them. That's where my 2 hour figure came from. He was happy to fit my free-issue bulbs. Whatever you do, don't go to Skoda main dealer to get this done, I was quoted almost 700 quid (albeit for labour and bulbs) for the job, I swear they must have been planning on taking out the engine and gearbox to gain access! Bulbs I used were standard Osram OEM spec from Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007A0UW2E/, currently 45 quid each and when I just looked were available for same day delivery if you have Amazon Prime. These were absolutely identical to the old bulbs (which must have been factory originals as I've owned the car since it was 3 months old) which didn't actually have any Skoda or VW part numbers on them, just the Osram markings. Don't be tempted to buy these bulbs from anwhere that isn't an official Osram distributor as lots of counterfeit bulbs out there. You can get upgraded output versions for slightly more but there's no such thing as a free lunch here, increased output also gives decreased life. When I first got the car the headlights were the best I'd ever experienced but it turns out that Xenon bulbs deteriorate slowly with time and output drops off until the point you start to think old age has robbed you of your night vision. I have seen a manufacturer recommend that they are routinely changed every 3 years (but then they would say that wouldn't they 😉 In fairness mine had done 110K over 8 years so couldn't complain too much. As there was nothing inherently wrong with the headlamps saw no reason to upgrade the bulbs although YMMV. Proved right as with new bulbs the difference was like night and day (pardon the pun). Cost 200 quid for bulbs and labour which hurt (especially as in same month also needed new front wishbone bushes, new discs and pads all round, new rear caliper and 6th service 😞 but definitely worth it to make driving at night a far more pleasant experience Even if you are considering changing bulb because one has failed rather than because of reduced output, it's definitely a good idea to change both bulbs at the same time as if one has failed then the other is likely not far behind and the last thing you want to do is change the failed bulb and then have to pay a second lot of labour to change a 2nd failed bulb somewhere down the line.

Unfortunately the easy access in YouTube video is with a pre-facelift car. For a facelift car like yours you need to remove bumper to gain access to remove headlamps to in turn access the bulbs so rather than a 2 minute job it becomes a 2 hour job. Also note bulbs are different, facelift needs D3S whereas earlier cars use D1S

Was it just the bulb fail indicator or did you also get a specific error message on Maxi Dot display as well? It could just be that the baseline alignment needs setting (after which the self leveling does the necessary to trim up or down) or could be something in the self leveling system. As always, first port of call is a scan to see what fault codes have been thrown up. Best of luck (and think positive, at least DSG 'stat sorted, mine was done about 18 months ago, amazing the improvement in fuel consumption on long runs, they're obviously designed to run at 90C for a reason!)

Similar here, I thought it was my eyes going with age, was only when I drove a courtesy car (base spec octavia with halogen headlamps) did I appreciate just how bad my headlamps had gotten and that there was nothing (new at least) wrong with my eyes. The VW indy I've recently started using charges £45+VAT per hour which I think isn't too bad, still hurts but was 200 quid well spent in total to get headlamps sorted

Yep, Laser make some interesting tools at sensible price but unfortunately they only appear to offer as set of 5 for 50 quid odd rather than selling individual sockets. If you needed a specific size then I reckon the purchase of a cheap 1/2" drive deep socket of the appropriate size to suit strut nut and some "minor" fettling with an angle grinder you could likely make something that wouldn't be pretty but would work the same.

Sound like your car is almost identical to mine, registered November 13 a few months into facelift and the first 4x4 FL estate that I saw come onto the 2nd hand market when I was looking to purchase in January 14. Yes, lot of websites give confusing information around this transition period but D1S are for pre-FL (and can easily be changed in situ by unscrewing covers on rear of each headlamp) and D3S are for FL (and are a pig to swap) so if you have FL the D3S will definitely fit. I find the easiest way to spot the difference between Pre-FL and FL is the headlamp lenses and estate tailgate. The Pre-FL headlamps have Superb logo embossed into the front lens: Whereas FL cars have no such logo. The tailgates on FL estates have a more angular design in keeping with modern Skoda family design like this: Pre-FL are more rounded like this: I have read somewhere that you can gain the necessary access through the inner wheel arch but when I suggested that to the indy doing the work he reckoned that it was easier to take whole bumper off for total ease of access rather than practicing your gynecology skills through the inner wheel arch. Either way it's crazy to have to do anything like that when the bulbs aren't going to last the life of the car. Mine hadn't failed but were changed as the output from the original bulbs had dropped off so much in 8 years + 110K miles it was like driving with a tealight balanced on each wing. Had become simply dangerous in the middle of winter and certainly not "Simply Clever" for once. New bulbs restored them to being the best headlights I'd expereince when I first got the car.

If you do use a crowfoot spanner remember you need to correct the torque setting to allow for the offset position of the torque wrench relative to centre of the nut. Maths is easy but Norbar also make a neat android app to do these calcs for you. Neatest solution is to use something like Laser 6496 Strut Nut Socket Set 5pc Which can be used with a standard torque wrench at factory setting

Just changed bulbs on my 63 plate facelift car, Osram D3S, £95 the pair from Amazon. Unfortunately it's a major job on facelift cars, 2hrs work at local independent with bumper off so was just over 200 quid all in. Still better than the almost 700 quid local Skoda stealer wanted to supply and install OE bulbs

Many an obscure electrical problem on SIIs can be down to well know problem of damaged wire(s) in door loom. When mine went in driver's door was fortunate it simply disabled main speaker in that door rather than any important functionality (although amazing how annoying mono output becomes after a while!) Could explain your passenger window and mirror issue (might even be driver's door loom which sees the most stick as there's I believe a common controller in that door) but struggle to see how that would impact on rear wiper. Concern with the air freshener wasn't weight, more concerned cord could jam in the ball joint in steering wheel cover preventing it moving as intended. Unlikely but not impossible. Still sounds to me like could be issue with the stalk mechanism not doing what it should. Wonder if you can find replacement one from a breaker or ebay at sensible price to try swapping out? WRT VCDS, was wondering if any way to view live data coming from the stalk rather that seeing any fault code

There isn't a noticeable difference to (my) naked eye between off and intermittent wipe position and I have occasionally suprised myself when looking in rear view mirror and seen rear wiper wiping for no apparent reason because I'd knocked the stalk forward and not noticed. If my trick re pulling back the stalk to wash the front screen and then slowly releasing stalk to ensure it only springs back to the default off position doesn't work every time to prevent start-up wipe each and every time then it does sound like there is an intermittent mechanical (e.g. stalk not ending up in correct position) or electrical (e.g. switch contact not making or breaking correctly) issue with the wiper stalk. Not sure how you would diagnose, maybe VCDS can show the status of the stalk switches? Silly question - looks like you have something hung from the base of ithe wiper stalk (air freshener maybe?) Clutching at straws but is it possible that this is preventing the stalk moving back and forth freely?

Holts brake cleaner (available in 600ml aerosol spray cans or 5 litre bulk cans, Zoro.co.uk cheapest I've found it) is my go to degreasing agent and seems safe on all plastics and rubbers I've ever tried it on. Never had the misfortune to have to clean up the carnage you describe but see no reason why it shouldn't flush out the oil and then remaining cleaner will then quickly evaporate to nothing especially if you also blow through with compressed air. Would be concerned about using anything water based in case you end up with trapped residual water that then gets sucked into the engine on startup. Can't find anything Skoda / VAG specific but concensus on this old forum thread was that brake cleaner would be OK for cleaning out intercooler etc - https://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/137602/cleaning-oil-intercooler

Pretty sure the MaxiDOT tick box is only there to enable auto rear wipe when reverse is selected and when certain conditions (front wipers running continuously in auto above a certain speed from recollection). I think you may have the wiper (right hand) stalk in wrong position. Rather than being in default off position you have it pushed forward one increment which sets the rear wiper to essentially intermittent wipe mode as per position 6 below Just tested with my 63 plate facelift car with auto wipers and if you start engine with the wiper stalk in that forward position (rather than in the default off position) you get a single wipe of the rear screen as you describe. Try pulling the wiper back towards you until front screen washes and then gently release from spring loaded wash position so it only springs back to the default off position. If it's then still doing a rear wipe on startup then maybe there is an issue with the wiper stalk not defaulting to correct off position?

The estate tailgate lamps are 501 5W5 wedge type bulbs. I've just upgraded mine to LED. Not all LEDs fit the holder because as well as gripping electrical connection flat base, they also have a secondary support around base of the main bit of circular glass body. The body of first lot of bulbs I bought was just too wide for this secondary support and so couldn't push fully into the holder. So although they would illuminate they weren't being gripped properly and sure they would have soon vibrated loose . So you need LEDs that are physically identical in size to the original halogen bulbs. These are the ones I ended up with - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393610898339, Although not as bright as the original ones I tried they are a great improvement, nice white light and lot brighter than the halogen originals. Makes working out of the boot a lot easier and was 6 quid well spent although just seen price has gone up 50% since purchased back in November. eBay vendor keeps sending me discount codes (usually 8 to 10%) - DM me if you plan to buy these and I'll be happy to send you any active discount code I have at the time. Alternatively try the trick of adding them to your eBay watch list as it's amazing how often you then quickly get offer of a discounted price. If your rear passenger light is the same as my facelift car there are 3 bulbs. The middle one is essentially a slave to the main cabin light in front so from recollection comes on when doors open (if front light is in auto position) or when front lamp is manually switched on. I think it can also be switched on manually but too cold to go out and check! The ones either side are essentially reading lights with separate switches in the lamp module for left and right rear passengers to switch them on and off on demand.

I didn't notice any change to headlamp performance as happened in the middle of summer when was only driving in daylight hours. The car started to intermittently show a lighting fault with MaxiDot message "No Bend lighting (AFS) Function. Check Manual!" As usual the manual is of no use, just tells you that "AFS system is defective, the headlights are automatically lowered to the emergency position, which prevents a possible dazzling of oncoming traffic". Eventually fault stayed on permanently and was investigated at the dealers at same time as my rear suspension was being rebuilt. I think in my case the sensor failed electronically (hence the error message as I assume controller was seeing an implausible reading from the sensor). If the sensor instead fails mechanically (e.g. lever arm breaks or becomes disconnected) then I assume no such error will be shown as it is seeing a signal from the sensor albeit on that isn't actually accurately reflecting the current level. As xman says, LED "upgrades" are illegal in UK (believe some of the Philips bulbs are being homologated in select European countries but not yet in UK) and as I was perfectly happy with the headlamps when I got the car at 3 months old I only wanted to restore them back to original factory performance rather than upgrade. If you are convinced that this is an alignment issue, there is another possibility to consider, namely that the actual mechanism in each headlamp that adjusts the aim of the headlamp is knackered. Less likely than the basic adjustment being wrong (as superbdreams describes) or a faulty level sensor as you would need same fault in both headlamps, but is possible. Do your headlamps still go through the up/down left/right dance on start up? If they both do this and end up at the back at highest position once the dance is finished then think you can discount this.

Had a similar experience with my own 63 plate facelift car. Main beam was still OK (I assume due to combined output from xenon and separate halogen bulbs) but dipped beam had become downright dangerous despite the car having had best headlamps I'd ever seen when I purchased it 8 years ago. Knew self levelling was fine as had a failed front level sensor replaced back in the summer and even manually cranked up the level to no avail. Nothing to do with aim, simply there wasn't sufficient light output any more to properly illuminate the road ahead. Turns out output from xenon bulbs slowly decrease with time (some manufacturers even recommend changing bulbs every 3 years, but then they would wouldn't they!) so bit the bullet and decided to replace the bulbs with Osram Xenarc Original which come with a 4 year warranty. The results were quite literally like night and day and fully restored the original performance. Facelift cars like mine use D3S bulbs and I paid just under £95 the pair from Amazon but then had to pay local VW independent for 2 hours labour to install as it's a bumper off job to change the bulbs. Lot of money compared with swapping a couple of halogen bulbs as I'm used to but still 200 quid all in well spent. I believe the OP's pre-facelift 2012 Superb uses D1S bulbs which are currently less than £63 the pair from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORIGINAL-discharge-quality-66140-folding/dp/B00HWWX7R2) and, even better, understand that they are easy to swap without having to dismantle half the front of the car (directly accessible from rear of of headlamp in engine bay)

Had full 4 wheel alignment done on my facelift 4x4 estate back in the summer after rear suspension was rebuilt. Just checked the Hunter print out and it shows green band for toe as 0º00' to 0º10' and the pictogram suggests the angle is toe in so that I think means your proposed tracking settings are OK as 10' is equivalent to 0.1666º (I think!)

Thanks for that, can now see the logic of how varying engine speed and, more importantly, load could impact on prop' vibration. The commonality of parts in VAG is certainly a double edged sword - keeps prices down but then when there is a design "shortcoming" like this it impacts on an awful lot of different cars. Seems very common in Audi's equipped with Haldex (rather than Torsen) diffs and is also a problem with Superb IIIs e.g. My biggest concern when I bought my car just under 8 years and 109K miles ago when it was 3 months old was the risk of a huge bill somewhere down the line thanks to complexity of the DSG + Haldex drive train. Had been taking out Skoda extended warranty each year to cover such an eventuality. Never had any of the feared drive train problems although each year had at least one claim (water pump, DSG+Main thermostats, 2xs window regulators, head lamp level sensor and aircon compressor) which nearly always fully offset cost of each year's warranty. Unfortunately with mileage now past 100K wasn't able to renew the warranty at the start of December. Never thought a disc of rubber and steel would potentially be of such concern. One more thing for me to now worry about!

100% agree that change in gear wouldn't have any effect on tyre related noise as they are turning at same rate at a given road speed irrespective of gear selected/engine rpm . Similarly not doubting your experience with failed prop' doughnut but unless I've misunderstood how the haldex 4x4 is configured, the noise from prop' doughnut wouldn't be impacted by change in gear/engine rpm as it spins at same speed at a given road speed. So to my simplistic thinking, it's only a change in road speed which would alter prop's speed of rotation and hence it propensity for vibration from a knackered doughnut. Or have I missed something here and the problematic prop' doughnut isn't linking output from the gearbox to the rear diff?

I'd agree with TasMan that it could be an issue with rear tyres. Couple of years ago had really bad drone at motorway cruising speeds in my 63 plate FL 4x4 estate. Was also causing such vibration that you could actually see the backrest of the unoccupied front passenger seat vibrating. I feared the worst that it was a transmission issue but as the rear tyres were down to 3mm I decided to change them first. They weren't badly saw-toothed (certainly not like some of the horror story photos I've seen) but sure enough with new tyres fitted the drone and vibration disappeared so possible that they were out of balance and / or saw-toothed enough to cause my problem. However, what is strange with the OP's reported issue is that changing down and hence increasing revs stops the drone. Surely if the problem was down to propshaft coupling or rear tyres that would make no difference as if car is at the same road speed, propshaft, rear diff and rear wheels are all turning at exactly the same speed irrespective of engine speed / what gear you're in?. With my issue, dropping from my usual indicated 75 cruising speed to 60 or so made it go away as the wheels were then rotating maybe 20% slower. So if the issue here is definitely correlated to engine speed / gear selection rather than road speed then I fear the problem could possibly be gearbox related.

Recently installed a pair of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185099563838 in my 63 plate facelift Estate. Superb estate reversing lights don't appear to be CANbus monitored so can't comment on whether these bulbs are fully CANbus compatible or not if you wanted to use them in other applications but they do work very well as reversing lights. Gives a bright white illumination which is a great improvement over the dim yellow illumination that the stock halogen bulbs provide.

I didn't realised they dimmed with age either until I started researching to see if it was my eyes or headlamps that were failing with age, fortunately it was the latter :-) Some manufacturers recommend replacing them every 3 years (but then they would ;-) No idea why the blue is worse in rain, I suspect it's mostly subjective but could be the way the different wavelength of light is absorbed by the droplets of water. If blue/white light is absorbed more by water than the more yellow cooler standard bulbs then the range would decrease. If you zoom in to the picture of box in the ebay listing you can see part number 66140, same as the Amazon ones. So think the 66144 in listing text is just a typo and they are the same as the amazon ones. Sure the vendor can confirm. Does look to be a brilliant price for those particular bulbs, almost 15 quid the pair less than Amazon. However when you click through to the "See details and exclusions" it shows they are £43.44 per bulb and not per pair. And if you add to basket direct from the original link it also then shows as a single bulb. So the "2x OSRAM D1s........" in the title on the ebay link looks to be a typo'. Again, the Vendor will 100% confirm but as always it looks like Amazon is cheapest (and also most convenient if you have Prime) One other thing to bear in mind that there are lots of counterfeit Osram bulbs out there. That's why the boxes and bulbs themselves have codes on them that you can check on Osram website to confirm they are genuine and even provide details of the manufacturing batch etc. So be careful if you find an ebay bargain if it's not from an Osram approved dealer as could well be cheap Chinese copies so not the bargain they appear.

I've just changed the Xenon bulbs on my 63 plate Facelift Elegance as the original 8 year old / 110K mile bulbs had deteriorated to such an extent that had gone from being the best headlamps I'd ever experienced when I got the car at 3 months old to being like driving with a couple of nightlights stuck on on the front. This is the downside with Xenon headlamps that nobody tells you about, even if you don't have a failure like you've experienced, the performance slowly but steadily decreases with time. I went for Osram Xenarc Original which come with a 4 year warranty. The results were quite literally like night and day and fully restored the original performance. The old bulbs were strangely enough exactly the same Osram part without any Skoda or VW part numbers on them despite I'm sure being the bulbs fitted at the factory. Personally I'd be wary of going for high performance bulbs as, if they are similar to halogen bulbs, the improved performance comes at the cost of reduced life as there is no free lunch here. Similarly I would be wary of going for bluer / higher temperature bulbs as recommended by SkeidaFin as have read these prioritise form over function, they look really good but performance is reduced in rain compared with lower temperature "normal" Xenon bulbs. YMMV but as the Osram Xenarc cool blue bulbs are more than twice the price of the Osram Xenarc Original bulbs it could be an expensive experiment if they don't work for you. Guess the question to ask yourself is whether you were happy with your headlamps before the recent problem? If the answer is yes then can't see a compelling reason to go for anything other than equivalents of the original bulbs like the Osram Xenarc Originals. Facelift cars like mine use D3S bulbs and I paid just under £95 the pair from Amazon but then had to pay local VW independent for 2 hours labour to install as it's a bumper off job to change the bulbs. I believe your pre-facelift Superb uses D1S bulbs which are currently less than £63 the pair from Amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/ORIGINAL-discharge-quality-66140-folding/dp/B00HWWX7R2) and, even better, understand that they are easy to swap without having to dismantle half the front of the car.

Have exactly the same sirius alloys and 40 profile tyres as you but, as AG Falco says, it's not the tyre that's causing the issues, it's corrosion of what is a poor quality finish on the alloy wheels. The 40 profile tyres certainly don't help to prevent external cosmetic damage which in turn causes external corrosion but prior to my current Superb had a Mondeo for 7 years and 130K miles When I part exed it for the current superb it was almost 8 years old and had 137K miles on the clock but as it was on 205/55/16s, the higher side walls ensured that I never put a mark on the alloys in the 7 years, finish was still immaculate and never had any slow leaks from corrosion . Contrast that to the superb where as well as countless scuffs from potholes (and possibly a few kerbs but would never admit that 😉 loads of the finish is flaking off from undamaged sections, they simply don't seem to cope as well with UK conditions as the Ford alloys did. Suspect it's same internally, corrosion (possibly exacerbated by wet air, never thought of that before) happening because of poor quality finish. That said the 40 profile 18s suit the superb both in looks and, more importantly, in matching the performance of the car, only time I've ever had traction control kick in is when purposely provoking it in snow whereas the old mondeo with 40HP less would spin front wheels at every opportunity. Obviously the 4 wheel drive is a big part of that but so is running appropriate wheels and tyres to suit the performance, especially the torque of 170 diesel.

My own experience with almost identical set up (4x4 170 elegance registered November 2013) is the issue arises from corrosion where the the tyre bead seats and seals on the barrel of the rim rather than than the loss of powder coat from the parts of the rim you can see which is purely cosmetic. No good taking them to Kwikfit and their ilk, they'll randomly spray some leak detect solution on the bits they can easily reach which the wheel still on the car and then tell you there isn't a problem as it doesn't sell them any tyres. Proper solution is full refurb' as you describe (which also deals with cosmetic issues) but cheapest solution is to find yourself a proper old school back street tyre shop and get them to sort it. All mine have ended up needing sorting in turn, three have been sorted already and the air loss on the fourth and final one is now getting annoying enough that I will be sorting in near future. All my guys do is locate where the air is coming from by immersing the wheel and tyre in water tank (the air loss is minuscule, tiny bubble every few seconds which is why quick squirt of leak detect spray will never work), remove the tyre and then clean up the corrosion where the tyre bead seats with wire brush / fine sanding disc (as AG Falco describes) and they then refit the tyre using some specfic gunk designed to help in with these sort of sealing problems (believe it's basically a thicker version of the lubricant they routinely use when fitting a tyre). For first two was charged 20 quid the pair, cash of course 😉 , the third one was 15 quid (all including new valve and re-balancing). The first two were done about 18 months ago and had no problem with any of those three since (even after new tyres have been fitted by Kwikfit mobile). So whilst it likely isn't a permanent fix as fresh corrosion will eventually appear elsewhere on the circumference where tyre bead seals, from my experience it isn't something that will need to be done regularly.