Author Topic: HOW TO: XENON setting for EUROPE - Save £150! - not for the faint hearted...  (Read 40268 times)

Offline The Doc

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Ok here we go!

This is MUCH easier with the headlamp removed BUT it can be done WITH CARE and "good finger control" in situ.

I advise you to READ THIS CAREFULLY before removing the lamps and playing with them!


1. Remove the cover from the rear of the xenon light



2. Remove the RED AND BLACK bulb connector by twisting it to the left - AS YOU DO THE WIRES WILL DISCONECT - THIS IS NORMAL



3. Look to the side of the lamp assembly towards the lens of the lamp and you will see / feel a small metal tab (VERYDIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH!)
Push it UP FOR EURO and DOWN for UK spec - BE CAREFULL as it can flap forwards during the procedure - this will not cause damage BUT CAN ANNOY!



4. Replace RED AND BLACK bulb connector and twist to the RIGHT.



5. Then re-connect the wires - they WILL NOT GO ON UNTIL THE RED AND BLACK CONNECTOR IS BACK IN PLACE.




TRY 'EM
« Last Edit: 04 September 2007, 13:38 by jv »

Offline illyun

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Thanks Doc - I have also found a really good pdf file on the Mkiv forum that gives some instructions and can be found at:

http://www.thewindinglane.co.uk/images/pdf/xenon.pdf

If the above link ever goes down, mail me and I will e-mail a copy to anyone who wants one.


and here is a cut  and paste from people who have tried it on the Mkiv forum...

Thats strange, both mine are on the outside of the unit nearest the wing, maybe they have changed the units, is yours a 2006 spec car?

Just checked my mates car and his is the same as mine, both on the side nearest the wing, looks like you have an odd one out there.

I found the lever but i got confused, in the pdf it says the lever should be up for left hand drive traffic and down for right hand drive traffic. When i checked my passenger side lever it was down but the driver's side was up. Can you clarify if left hand drive traffic means that the steering wheel is in the left or if you drive on the left hand side of the road and that right hand drive traffic means the steering wheel is in the right or if you drive on the right hand side of the road. Plus can you tell me what position your lever is at.



After catching sight of the VW instructions for the job (as in your PDF) I decided to reverse the operation myself by feeling for the lever inside the headlight; on my '05 car both levers are wing-side of the light.

One hint: it's much easier if you remove the Xenon power unit. It's got "open/close" written on it, you rotate it in "open" direction and the supply wires will disconnect themselves as you rotate - this is a safety feature so that you can't expose the bulb contacts on the power unit with the power attached. With this removed it's easier to reach the levers. When you've flicked the lever, you reattach the power unit, rotating it in the "close" direction, then fit the supply cable again; this only fits in one way and although you're fitting it pretty much blind, isn't hard to do.

The whole operation took me no more than a minute per side, which is a damn sight better than going to the dealer!

IIRC you just unscrew the round cover off the back of the unit and towards the middle of the car on the lens unit inside is a switch/lever this adjusts them from rhd up to lhd down i think (basically opposite to what they are currently set)

« Last Edit: 17 December 2006, 15:09 by illyun »
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Offline The Doc

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Yes opposite to my pic on the Pass side!

I only did the driver side  :embarassed:

Offline illyun

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SORTED...  :laugh:  Rang the local dealer and slated them - felt better - and cancelled their planned robbery for tomorrow morning.

I actually didn't bother taking the power unit off... I just slid my toddlers slim and long paintbrush in there and looked through the gap on the outside of the lightbulb but couldn't get the end of the brush near enough.  Along came a work colleague of mine and asked what I was doing. I told him and he took the brush off me and sorted it in 10 seconds, walked over to the other side and repeated it.  I felt inadequate  :embarassed:  But I saved £300  :evil:  There is a hole or gap under the power unit and he slid it through there.
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Offline The Doc

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Offline Ridg

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any ideas if this is the same for the MK4 xenons, as i'll probably driving in Europe next month

Offline illyun

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Not sure mate - only did it with the Mk5 R32 - sorry.  Try the Mk4 owners club www.uk-mkivs.net ... or the Mk4 board on this site
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Offline mike.

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That's my pdf above -- Famous at last  :smiley:
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Offline JRD

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Doc,

I have just been quoted by a dealer £132 to convert my lights for use in Europe and £132 to convert them when I get back to the UK this is scandalous. He said the bumper had to be removed to do the conversion. When I asked if it was I job I could do myself I was told they may have to reset some stuff with their VW computer but he admitted they had never done a conversion on an R32.Could there be any truth to the computer story.
Also can anybody supply me with an e-mail/phone number for a person at VW UK I could speak to about this.

Jim.

Offline KentBladeboy

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Do unto others, as they do unto you!!

Save the £132's each end, save skinned knuckles, breaking your toddlers favourite paintbrush, et al.

Living in Kent, and using A and M roads daily, I am sick and tired of Johnny Foreigner
flouting just about every UK road law with impunity and getting away with it, probably the most annoying being not adjusting their lights for driving on the left.

So when on foreign soil, do not adjust your lights, use our powerful Xenons to give them a bit of their own treatment,  they don't like up 'em Cap'n Mannering
« Last Edit: 19 June 2007, 20:19 by KentBladeboy »
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