02 Audi A4 Headlights

JohnW

Can anybody tell me how to change the headlight bulbs on a 02 Audi A4? The manual says to bring it to a dealer:rolleyes: Also, the description states that I have xenon lights but they are not the white/blue colour I would expect, how can i check this? Finally, how can I adjust the alignment of the lights?

cantdecide

bring it to a pre-nct test centre. they'll have the gear to set the lights properly and the expertise to change the bulb witout making cr%p of the whole headlamp (like i did in my A4, trying to change a park lamp bulb- audis are not even a little bit user serviceable). they'll also tell you on the spot if they're xenon or not. they won't charge an arm and a leg like the main dealer would either.

Captain Slow IRL

Xenon headlamp's will have warnings on them like "25,000 volts, do not touch"!
I'm not sure about the A4's but mrs land9 had a '01 passat - the dip and main beam could be replaced easily enough but the parking bulbs involved taking the front bumper and headlight out! Get a torch, have a look in and see if you can take the back cover off the head-lamp, if you can get this far you should be able to remove the bulb. Disconnect the electrical connector from the back of the bulb first, then have a fiddle to open the spring clip.
N.B. - note the way the bulb is positioned when removing it - H7's will have a cut-out (H4's have 3) and they have to be positioned correctly or else the beam will be way out.

Moanin

I've repalced a parking a dimmer bulb on my 2004 A4.The parking bulb is on the passenger side and the dimmer H7 was on the driver side.It's simple enough like any other cars that i have changed bulbs on.There's a circular cover on the inside of the lamp for each one .You have to loosen that and pull out the parking light bulb.On the dimmer there's a clip that has to be loosened and then the bulb pops out.But as someboy else said put it in the correct way and let it slip into the grooves in the lamp.Otherwise you will blind on coming motorists.Also dont handle the glass park of the bulb!

JohnW

Moanin wrote:

There's a circular cover on the inside of the lamp for each one .You have to loosen that and pull out the parking light bulb.

This is what I would have expected as I have changed bulbs before, but the complete back casing of the headlight appears to be sealed:( with one single electrical connector:eek:

PaddyFagan

JohnW wrote:

This is what I would have expected as I have changed bulbs before, but the complete back casing of the headlight appears to be sealed:( with one single electrical connector:eek:

Sounds like you have Xenon's then - this would also explain the lack of adjustment, the EU dictates that cars fitted with Xenon's have to have a self levelling mechanism.

Paddy

MercMad

You can tell from looking at the headlamps if they are xenons, when switched on they will start suddenly after a tiny delay, like a fluorescent tube light ! They sort of "blink" on !

JohnW

Thanks for all your replies, as soon as it stops raining I will go and check again.:)

JohnW

Right, finally got around to changing the bulbs, bit of a nightmare. I replaced them with "50% more output" bulbs:rolleyes: and then had them aligned professionally.
My problem still exists...basically, I have no light on the road. When i am behind another car, i light the back of the car as you would expect, when i pull into my drive, i light up the front of the house as expected. But when i am driving on a dark road, i have extremely poor light on the road.
Anybody else experience similar problems or have any suggestions to let me drive at night:(
Update: The problem is even worse when the road is wet, I have the check the instrument panel to make sure I have my lights on!

JohnW

Anybody? To make the question a little more general, the headlights are the small round type, about 60mm diameter. I see this type of headlight on alot of new cars these days, Avensis etc. They are not xenon, they are standard H7 hals. I have replaced them with xenon filled H7's that do give a much whiter light but still sh!t light on the road. Any ideas?

Alun

I dunno .. is there something wrong with your electrics maybe, which is causing not enough current to flow to the headlights making them dimmer than usual .. a dodgy earth or something?

Some cars have projector style headlamps with conventional bulbs, i.e. the beam is focussed with a lens and a metal shutter is used to cut off the dipped beam pattern. My old Primera had them, and I quite liked them, I have to say, best conventional headlights I've ever had, although the sharp beam cutoff can be a little difficult to get used to, especially on bumpy uneven roads. I don't know whether you have these on your Audi though.

JohnW

Electrics are fine. If i look at the lights directly from the front of the car they are extremely bright. Its almost like a standard house bulb, loads of night but no focus/beam from them. Reflectors like fine from visual inspection. Maybe they are just poor lights in that age Audi..

bazz26

I have the standard H7 55 watt bulbs in my Avensis and the light from them is pretty ok. Obviously not as good as xenon filled bulbs but the light is still quite good.

Have you tried to compare against another A4 maybe. Might be worth a visit to your local Audi dealer and get them to compare against another A4 or if you know someone else with an A4?

JohnW

Nearest thing I have done to that is to check anothe A4 in the traffic. They didnt seem to be great either. Thats why I'm wondering if they are just a badly designed light. I suppose i will get used to it, just that coming from a 307, its like driving without headlights now:rolleyes:

Moanin

To be honest I don't find the dimmers great on the A4

Fozzie Bear

JohnW wrote:

Nearest thing I have done to that is to check anothe A4 in the traffic. They didnt seem to be great either. Thats why I'm wondering if they are just a badly designed light. I suppose i will get used to it, just that coming from a 307, its like driving without headlights now:rolleyes:

Probably a silly question buy on my A4 there is a little pop out dial switch (beside the light switch on the dash) where you can set/adjust the headlights height/elevation. Settings are 0 - 3 i think, it's basically so you can adjust the height of your headlights if you are towing a trailer or have a heavy load in the boot or maybe a few fat mates in the back seat! The back of the car will naturally be weighted down and the front of the car angled upwards thus the headlights will be pointed up in the air and not on the road. Have you tried adjusting this?

If the headlights were aligned with this dial in the incorrect setting then they will probably be out.

As others have already discussed many times here, you can always turn the front foglights on to light up the road surface;) .... *ducks for cover*

Cyrus

as the previous poster said check the angle

also get good philips vision plus bulbs, only ones worth talking about if non xenon but they are 30 a pair

JohnW

The headlights were adjusted with the internal knob at the 0 position, but thanks anyway;)
I replaced the bulbs already, it has made the light nice and white (no more yellow hue:D ) but there just seems to be no projections from the lens:(
Might just have to bring it to a main dealer and see what they say and charge:eek: