Mk3 xenon upgrade

[Alane20]

Hi folks,

 

I recently bought a mk3 2016, it sadly was before the xenons came as standard with day time running lights, so i just got a set of xenons on line, is it a straight swap or is there canbus issues i need to be aware of, i will more than likly bring car and lights to auto electrical guy if its not a straight swap, any guides or tips would be most appreciated

[GoneToBeemer]

I’d assume the following:

 

They will fit straight in, but the wiring will be different & will need modifying.

Canbus errors will flash up for blown bulbs, so the car will need to be coded for xenon.

 

Then there’s the bigger issue - Xenons need auto levelling, something which your car won’t have. You also won’t have headlight washers - both of these will mean your car won’t be road legal. 

 

[Alane20]

Would the auto leveling not be built Into the housing, im not sure about the washer part as it would be for Ireland and not UK, is there much to be done in recoding for xenon

 

Thanks for the reply i appreciate all the help i can get

[boydeee]

I thought the auto levelling would be a sensor located elsewhere in the car eg. The rear end somewhere to sense loads etc to adjust as necessary. I could be very wrong, but on my wife's car (not a Skoda) it's near the rear axle. 

 

Good luck!

[boydeee]

Just to add to the above....

 

You may need more bits!

[Alane20]

I think i might have to abandon the idea, i thought it would be a swap out and a bit of wirings, Hopefully the lad i purchased off of will allow me to cancel the order on flea bay, i only purchased today

[SashaGrace]

On the Octy 3 there are 2 level sensors, one on the front and one on the rear, there is coding to be done to get the car to realise it has xenon lights. You should also do the headlight washers. None of this is overly complex and those headlights are a bargain. Personally I would stick with it. All you need is an autoscan of a car with xenons and access to the part numbers and you will know exactly what you’ll need.

[Alane20]

2 minutes ago, SashaGrace said:

On the Octy 3 there are 2 level sensors, one on the front and one on the rear, there is coding to be done to get the car to realise it has xenon lights. You should also do the headlight washers. None of this is overly complex and those headlights are a bargain. Personally I would stick with it. All you need is an autoscan of a car with xenons and access to the part numbers and you will know exactly what you’ll need.

Sasha you are a bad influence on me 😂😂 ill stick with it so if a good auto electrician can handle it, im also dealing with a lad about the headunit from the other thread, these were the 2 things i really wanted to change, i got him down from 310 to 265, im not sure whether to go with it for 265, all seem to be asking 400 to 430 

[SashaGrace]

To be honest it’s not that hard to get them in and to get them lighting up as long as your car has xenon light support with the current BCM but getting the AFS and auto levelling to work is more complex. You will need to add the headlight range controller to the car and wire it the gateway to be looked up and coded among other things. I would do it, but that’s just me 😂

[SashaGrace]

As long as all the pixels are ok that’s a bargain at 265. It’s not a Columbus screen it’s an Amundsen one but that’s exactly what you want. Annoys me when breakers get this wrong!! Beware the APP button won’t work. That’s normal but the backlight for it works fine.

[Alane20]

4 minutes ago, SashaGrace said:

As long as all the pixels are ok that’s a bargain at 265. It’s not a Columbus screen it’s an Amundsen one but that’s exactly what you want. Annoys me when breakers get this wrong!! Beware the APP button won’t work. That’s normal but the backlight for it works fine.

 

[Alane20]

Happy days ill go for it, ill list that 6" one on ebay i think its called the bolero, i think it will make a huge difference 👍👍

[SashaGrace]

It’s a MIB2 Amundsen 6.5 inch screen. They don’t have that much value but be realistic with the price and you will be successful. I put my old screens for sale and sold all of them quickly as I would rather have the money than wait for a better offer to come through ad infinitum.

[Alane20]

10 minutes ago, SashaGrace said:

It’s a MIB2 Amundsen 6.5 inch screen. They don’t have that much value but be realistic with the price and you will be successful. I put my old screens for sale and sold all of them quickly as I would rather have the money than wait for a better offer to come through ad infinitum.

Id be the same ill put it up online and i have a sony xav-ax100 from my passat, so between the 2 of them it will take the sting out of buying the new one lol

[k.young]

Your car will be due to be NCT'd from 2020...............cars with Xenon headlamps have to have washers..............I'm not sure id the NCT lads would pick up on that.

[Alane20]

Whats the deal with xenon's and washer's? I know it might be a silly question but i honestly dont know,

 

Plus NCT lads will fail a car for the smallest thing, i don't fancy having to retrofit a washer set up too 🤯

[boydeee]

59 minutes ago, Alane20 said:

Whats the deal with xenon's and washer's? I know it might be a silly question but i honestly dont know,

 

Plus NCT lads will fail a car for the smallest thing, i don't fancy having to retrofit a washer set up too 🤯

In the UK it's a requirement to have the washers. I think the glare from xenons is large when the headlights are covered in dirt and would affect other driver's vision. So they need to be have the washers to stop this.

 

They usually are set to wash on every fifth pull of the windscreen wash and the first washer pull of the journey if the headlights are on.

 

I guess it would depend on who is testing your car 😉

[SashaGrace]

It’s a legal requirement as a dirty lens will scatter the beam and blind oncoming motorists. This is an essential part of the retrofit unless you are going to buy the relevant plugs, make a short wiring loom and ignore the AFS system then you can remove the lights plug and play with a few coding changes for the NCT. I don’t recommend this though, if you are going to do it you should really do it right.

[JR RS]

headlights wise - it won't b a straight swap from halogens to xenons.  

too much effort required.  i would look for better performance globes instead.

 

the standard xenons setup requires:-

- master AFS controller (located behind the pedals)

- AFS level sensor on front axle

- AFS level sensor on rear axle

- then each xenon headlight unit has:-

  1. AFS slave module

  2. light control module (LCM)

  3. xenon ballast

 

i highly doubt the required wiring will b there either.

 

given urs is 2016 model, ur still uses the 55-Headlight control module.  this will need to be re-coded to allow for xenons.

2017 onwards this changed, with the functions being moved to the 4b-multifunction module.

 

then ofcourse, there is the headlight washer system which requires:-

- the jets inside the front bumper

- piping inside the front bumper

- larger washer tank

- front bumper with washer cutout for jet popout.

[drewellis]

bit more related info from this site:

https://greyhead.co.uk/other-things/are-aftermarket-hid-lights-legal-uk

What are the MOT test rules?

In a nutshell:

1. You don’t need headlight washers or self-levelling, but if your car has them fitted, they must work - there are a small number of cars in the UK, including older Renault Meganes and at least one Mitsubishi Evo, which were fitted with HIDs but no washers or self-levelling. These cars are legal in the UK, but see the note about Northern Ireland’s DVA below,
2. Your headlights must work immediately when turned on, so you need high quality ballasts and bulbs which ignite straight away, even when hot - i.e. you must be able to flick the lights off and back on again straight away,
3. The light must be mainly white or yellow - in practice, this means kits up to 5,000K colour temperature should be fine (as HID bulbs get older, they get more blue, so high-mileage standard lamps can be around 5,000K). Kits over 5,000K are more likely to attract attention from the police, or be a cause for an MOT failure,
4. Your dip and main beam pattern must conform to the regulations, which means a good cut-off and no upwards glare on dip, and a focused high beam,
5. Your dip beam pattern must be aimed downwards at the correct angle.

 

 

Bad news for drivers in Northern Ireland, though

Northern Ireland’s DVA says that cars “must” have washers and self-levelling when HIDs are fitted (compared to VOSA’s wording which says cars “may” have washers and self-levelling).

[Alane20]

I was on to the supplier this morning and thankfully they were understanding and agreed to cancel the order, the list of stuff that Jr rs mentioned above is both helpful and scary, i would be handy enough with a spanner and a haynes manual 😂 but the amout of stuff needed and the problems it could cause along the way are just not worth it, ill invest in a set of good phlips bulbs, so sofar ive bought obdeleven pro, mats car and boot, new headunit and it will be going for a €650 3 day detail and ceramic coating,  i think upgraded interior and boot lights will be it,

 

I really wanted to 2019 sportline model but i wasnt gonna go outside my budget 

[freelunch]

Try a couple Osram Night Breakers... very good H7 headlamp

[Alane20]

2 hours ago, freelunch said:

Try a couple Osram Night Breakers... very good H7 headlamp

Ill give them a shot, a lot easier than conversation 😂

[IJWS15]

On 14/10/2019 at 13:06, drewellis said:

bit more related info from this site:

https://greyhead.co.uk/other-things/are-aftermarket-hid-lights-legal-uk

What are the MOT test rules?

In a nutshell:

1. You don’t need headlight washers or self-levelling, but if your car has them fitted, they must work - there are a small number of cars in the UK, including older Renault Meganes and at least one Mitsubishi Evo, which were fitted with HIDs but no washers or self-levelling. These cars are legal in the UK, but see the note about Northern Ireland’s DVA below,
2. Your headlights must work immediately when turned on, so you need high quality ballasts and bulbs which ignite straight away, even when hot - i.e. you must be able to flick the lights off and back on again straight away,
3. The light must be mainly white or yellow - in practice, this means kits up to 5,000K colour temperature should be fine (as HID bulbs get older, they get more blue, so high-mileage standard lamps can be around 5,000K). Kits over 5,000K are more likely to attract attention from the police, or be a cause for an MOT failure,
4. Your dip and main beam pattern must conform to the regulations, which means a good cut-off and no upwards glare on dip, and a focused high beam,
5. Your dip beam pattern must be aimed downwards at the correct angle.

 

 

Bad news for drivers in Northern Ireland, though

Northern Ireland’s DVA says that cars “must” have washers and self-levelling when HIDs are fitted (compared to VOSA’s wording which says cars “may” have washers and self-levelling).

 

Ah but - I believe for type approval of Xenons they must have washers and self levelling so the car will have them fitted at new hence the UK MOT rules.  You won't find a new car with Xenons but no wipers/levelling.

[GoneToBeemer]

11 hours ago, IJWS15 said:

 

Ah but - I believe for type approval of Xenons they must have washers and self levelling so the car will have them fitted at new hence the UK MOT rules.  You won't find a new car with Xenons but no wipers/levelling.

Not quite true - the washers and self levelling are only actually required if the light output exceeds a certain Lumen. (Which is most cars equipped with Xenon).

 

There are certain cars that only use a 25W Xenon system, which wouldn’t actually require either. I believe they still use self levelling systems, but don’t have washers.