Hi all,

Recent convert to the Superb way of life - exchanged my '02 Mondeo Ghia X for a very plush champagne gold '05 Superb with nav cream leather.

I did some research on here and on JD power results which pushed me into taking plunge. However and unfortunately, my girlfriend had a little incident with the front of the car and another car a couple of weeks ago.

I needed a replacement bumper and some spray work - this was all fine but I fear they may have damaged the HID Xenon lights somehow when they were working on the car.

Every time I turn the car on now, it displays the "LIGHTS FAILURE" warning. This doesn't seem to be incline dependant, all the bulbs are working okay and I've tried a full battery reset in attempts to resolve the warning. The HID lights seem to power up correctly - starting dim and rising to their correct alignment.

Any one got any experience with this - I have checked through the forum but couldn't find anything that corresponds... any help really appreciated!!

(Given the costs of HID issues, I'm really hoping this is something small!)

Hi all,

Recent convert to the Superb way of life - exchanged my '02 Mondeo Ghia X for a very plush champagne gold '05 Superb with nav cream leather.

I did some research on here and on JD power results which pushed me into taking plunge. However and unfortunately, my girlfriend had a little incident with the front of the car and another car a couple of weeks ago.

I needed a replacement bumper and some spray work - this was all fine but I fear they may have damaged the HID Xenon lights somehow when they were working on the car.

Every time I turn the car on now, it displays the "LIGHTS FAILURE" warning. This doesn't seem to be incline dependant, all the bulbs are working okay and I've tried a full battery reset in attempts to resolve the warning. The HID lights seem to power up correctly - starting dim and rising to their correct alignment.

Any one got any experience with this - I have checked through the forum but couldn't find anything that corresponds... any help really appreciated!!

(Given the costs of HID issues, I'm really hoping this is something small!)

Welcome to the forum

I'm sorry, I'm not at all sure what this could be other than a possible problem with the automatic levelling system of some sort (a guess) but hopefully someone should be able to help.

Cheers, love the slammed Superb.

Hopefully someone can shed some light (excuse the pun) on my problem!

If they're factory HIDs and they both light up, then the problem is likely somewhere else, check high beam, sidelights and foglights. Check that you get headlight warning in the middle switch position, if yes the problem is likely outside HIDs

Do you have LEDs instead of bulbs anywhere? If yes,on the Superb the sidelight circuits need at least 25Ohm resistor on each side to prevent the warning. Accident could have broken a connection to the resistor.

I bet on the high beam or rear sidelight/foglight.

Hi cheers for the response...

The car is completely standard - no fancy non standard bulbs - just the factory HID lights. All the bulbs seem to be working ok - I only have one rear fog light (on the drivers side) which I think is correct according to some of the posts on here.

What's worrying is that the warning is given when I turn on the ignition - the lights don't even need to be on! It seems to be picked up in a systems check at key on...

If it's popping at startup then perhaps the headlights themselves report error code.. Since there was bumper work done, perhaps they took headlights off (although not sure why)

Double check that all headlamp connectors are plugged in, there are 2 on one side and I think 1 on the other side. The extra connector is for headlight levelling signals. The headlights will work, but not level correctly without the levelling connector plugged in.

Also, I vaguely recall blowing a fuse during work on the headlights (I was retro-fitting thumbwheel levelling at the time). Check that all fuses work. This was on the Mk I Octavia HIDs, though .

Also, visually inspect the front levelling sensor, it probably also has a connector. Failing that use VAG-COM or other code reader.

Edit: Apart from one case when I had dead ballast, the headlight codes cleared as soon as the setup was in working order.

hi all!

just an update...was parking this evening when I spotted that the nearside front dip beam seems to have a high frequency flicker - something I only spotted when parking nose into a wall. Bit odd.

Still haven't had a chance to get someplace with diagnostics, will keep the post updated...

Called into a friend of mine who owns a garage this morning on the way to work. On checking the DTCs, the Comms Failure DTC for the HID system was set. He cleared this with his diagnostic tool and everything seems to be rosy now thankfully. Keeping fingers crossed this is now closed.

Have had Superb 1.9tdi for 2 years with lights failure fault.The car has had a new rear axle fitted under warranty .After new axle was fitted the warning lamp came on every time I started the damn thing,Dealership in Macclesfield had car for 4 days and could not find fault.

After ripping my hair out I decided to investigate the rear axle light levelling sensor which is on near side under a plastic cover.

Whoever fitted the new axle had put the levelling sensor on upside down.

10 minutes with a 10mm socket and I had fitted it correctly. Bingo , no more warning lights.Could scream at main dealer but whats the point.

I would therefore check both front and rear headlight levelling sensors.

Not really relevant but on my Superb II, had to have a bottom suspension ball replaced. Next night trip found lights did not level, looked under front and found that the rod on the front levelling unit had pulled out of its fitting. When the car had been raised and the ball joint removed the suspension arm had dropped pulling the rod out. How the fitter missed this is a mystery. A few minutes and all was working o.k.

I also believe that there are some levelling ballast device on the bottom of the light, to aid with the self levelling. I recall some people on here having issues with these, causing the lights failure warning. Mine does this on occasion, but touch wood, both headlights work ok.

If you have access to vag com, it's possible to check the load sensors to see if they're within their operational range. I did work on one a while ago which was showing this fault message and it turned out that the mounting bracket for the front sensor had been bent slightly, which put the sensor output out of range.

Check the rear ones, and in particlar replace the side and brake ones, I've had this message before and it was one of the rears not quite twisted in far enough.