I have asked Skoda dealers if I can upgrade my mk 3 octavia estate elegance 's normal tail lights to the LED ones found on the VRS.they have said the wiring loom is different and it can't be done.they don't seem keen to be honest and said I should have requested that option on purchase, bit late now !does anyone knowif this is possible or us it more trouble than its worth? I get the impression Skoda don't like doing retro - fit?

Superskoda sell the LED rear light cluster for the O3 estate, they might be able to help you:

http://www.superskoda.com/Skoda/OCTAVIA-III/Octavia-III-Combi-original-Skoda-Autoas-LED-tail-light-RIGHT

Anything can be done:-)

If the plugs are different then you will need to buy or make a small adaptor lead, once done you then need to change a few of the adaptations in the BCM for led operation of the tail / brake lights.

Do the normal tail lamps have 3/4 bulbs making up the 'C'?

xpower, would you in all your VCDS wisdom tell the world what channels may need changing for converting from basic rear clusters to LED ones? This question has been raised on several threads before, but the answer has usually been to go compare the adaptations map between cars with basic and LED cluster, and work it out yourself. Unfortunately it's a bit too baffling for me.

 

Your advice is much appreciated.

In honest comparing is the best option however,

You could complete an adaptation map of the 09 central module and export to excel.

If you can send it to me I can advise on the correct channels.

Regards

Anything can be done:-)

If the plugs are different then you will need to buy or make a small adaptor lead, once done you then need to change a few of the adaptations in the BCM for led operation of the tail / brake lights.

Do the normal tail lamps have 3/4 bulbs making up the 'C'?

It may be hard to believe but the standard tail/brake light only has one bulb.

Clever work done with internal reflectors

I'm doing a set on a hatch this weekend, I'll post up the outcome. The user has already fitted them, so the connectors must be the same.

 

I reckon half a dozen adaptation channels need changing for bulb type and brightness and that will be it, shouldn't take too long to work it out.

OK, for the hatch 26 adaptation channels need changing, 10 of which are optional.

 

I'll make the changes tomorrow and if all works well will post the method in the sticky thread.

 

The connectors on the rear of the light units are the same - it took @Waqar all of 20 minutes to swap both rear light units and the necessary bulbs over (fog, indicator & reverse).

Posted it in the sticky thread anyway, it is fairly simple stuff, just needed to make sure I had covered all of the changes.

 

Not sure if the estate will be the same channels, I'm just comparing to my estate now.

Yep, exactly the same for the estate as well.

You don't have to change the ones highlighted in orange, but to match factory coding you may as well.

 

Thanks andyvee for sharing your experience with us, much appreciated!

I can confirrm it works perfectly as well

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It may be hard to believe but the standard tail/brake light only has one bulb.

Clever work done with internal reflectors

 

Hmm, not on my Octavia estate, the rear lights take the same configuration as the MkII, two 21W bulbs, one at the top, another at the bottom, these perform the role of brake/tail and fog/tail, these are then joined (to make the 'C' shape) by two smaller W3W bulbs.

Hmm, not on my Octavia estate, the rear lights take the same configuration as the MkII, two 21W bulbs, one at the top, another at the bottom, these perform the role of brake/tail and fog/tail, these are then joined (to make the 'C' shape) by two smaller W3W bulbs.

Really? I have to admit to not checking my mk3 but assumed it was the same as the standard mk2 estate when I'm sure I had to change only one twin filament bulb when I lost one side.

Then again I may have forgotten the separate indicator and reversing lights in the cluster.

I'll check tomorrow.

Edited 7 November, 20169 yr by Gerrycan

Silver1011,

You were right about all the bulbs in the mk3 Rear C cluster .

Funny, a couple weeks ago I was driving behind my own car at night and thought the rear lights were not quite as bright as I remembered on my mk2

Since the mk2 was more than two years ago I would not bet that was correct seeing as my track record on this topic has not been that good

Edited 8 November, 20169 yr by Gerrycan

They've done a good job on the MkIII rear light clusters, there appear to be some diffusers over the bulbs which do a better job of spreading the light around, which makes it quite difficult to see the individual bulbs.