Finally Upgrading to Bi-xenons

[pyro]

I am starting to gather supplies for the bi-xenon upgrade. Here is what i have so far, or is on the way:
1) The housings
2) d2s bulbs, ballasts, ignitors and mounts

I know i need the kufatec cable and i have a link to Vag-com.
I have the color DIS, and i read soemwhere that if you do no upgrade to the audo level system, that you will get an erroro message. If its anything like the one you get for low washer fluid (the end of the world according to the car) than i want to do so.

My questions (forgive me, im a n00b when it comes to Audi's)
1. Did any car with halogens come with auto level (im guessing no)
2. If not, is there a way to upgrade to auto level, and if so, can you provide a link to a place of purchase?
3. I know on the kufatec cable i will have to run wires to the control box under the steering wheel. Is there any way i can tap some of those wires off of things under the hood, or is it necessary for all of them to be run inside?
4. Since my car didnt come with adaptive or auto level, will this affect my install cost or amount of work, and will i need to Vag out anything to make the install easier?
5. Will i need to do anything special to add the DRLs on the new housings besides VAG? My halogen housings do not have DRLs on them now.

Any other insight si greatly appreciated, and i know there was a great how-to article back in the day that was lost, and i am hoping i can get all the necessary info on the install into one thread so that when i go to do it, i can make a how-to with complete detailed instructions and tons of pics.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy
[wrench]

[ravenmadx]

The Kufatec harness comes with 2 every long sets of wires and pins to plug into the box under the steering wheel. Your car does not come with auto level since it was halogen so you don't have to do anymore but just let the car knows it has Xenons and that is has or does not have DRL's now through the VAG cable. I have no idea where or how much or how painful it is to convert to auto level.

[pyro]

did you do this upgrade and have the color screen, or is this just what you know?

[ravenmadx]

I am about to do the upgrade i just need to find the time. it is not that painful just time consuming, because the bumper must be removed, the harness must be wired and routed under the steering wheel and the car must be VAG'd. While i have it apart i am going to paint my grill black and change put my OEM 4300k xenons bulbs to 6k's a.k.a 5300k (after burn in color changes to the 6k). it is all much easier when the bumper is off and everything is out of the way.

[ravenmadx]

are you just doing the bulbs or the whole housing? Sorry if i didn't ask earlier.

These are what i am installing.

http://www.geocities.com/[email protected]/ecodes.jpg

[pyro]

yes i am installing those. but if you have the color DIS you apparently will run into an issue with the auto-level.

[booch]

I am starting to gather supplies for the bi-xenon upgrade. Here is what i have so far, or is on the way:
1) The housings
2) d2s bulbs, ballasts, ignitors and mounts

I know i need the kufatec cable and i have a link to Vag-com.
I have the color DIS, and i read soemwhere that if you do no upgrade to the audo level system, that you will get an erroro message. If its anything like the one you get for low washer fluid (the end of the world according to the car) than i want to do so.

My questions (forgive me, im a n00b when it comes to Audi's)
1. Did any car with halogens come with auto level (im guessing no)
2. If not, is there a way to upgrade to auto level, and if so, can you provide a link to a place of purchase?
3. I know on the kufatec cable i will have to run wires to the control box under the steering wheel. Is there any way i can tap some of those wires off of things under the hood, or is it necessary for all of them to be run inside?
4. Since my car didnt come with adaptive or auto level, will this affect my install cost or amount of work, and will i need to Vag out anything to make the install easier?
5. Will i need to do anything special to add the DRLs on the new housings besides VAG? My halogen housings do not have DRLs on them now.

Any other insight si greatly appreciated, and i know there was a great how-to article back in the day that was lost, and i am hoping i can get all the necessary info on the install into one thread so that when i go to do it, i can make a how-to with complete detailed instructions and tons of pics.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy
[wrench]


1. no
2. kufatec sells a kit that allows you to add auto leveling, mercury26 was able to retrofit both parts (or at least i believe he was the one who did the leveling as well)
3. not that i know of, but thats the easiest part of the install! (compared to the time it takes to get the damn bumper off
4. if you want to add auto leveling it will cost you more for the kit/modules and i hear its a PITA. being that you got your housings from Jens, they are most likely the non-curve light housings and ballasts, so you don't have to worry about that. is there a break in the glass in your lens? (looks like a line going right through the middle of the lens, if no, then you don't have it.
5. no, you can VAG on and off the DRLs since you will not have a switch near the coming home knob.

[pyro]

1. no
2. kufatec sells a kit that allows you to add auto leveling, mercury26 was able to retrofit both parts (or at least i believe he was the one who did the leveling as well)
3. not that i know of, but thats the easiest part of the install! (compared to the time it takes to get the damn bumper off
4. if you want to add auto leveling it will cost you more for the kit/modules and i hear its a PITA. being that you got your housings from Jens, they are most likely the non-curve light housings and ballasts, so you don't have to worry about that. is there a break in the glass in your lens? (looks like a line going right through the middle of the lens, if no, then you don't have it.
5. no, you can VAG on and off the DRLs since you will not have a switch near the coming home knob.
ok i think im confused on something...is it possible to get the projector setup from the factory w/o the auto level? I ended up buying two of them off off ebay, not from jens. Do you have AIM?

[ravenmadx]

Did you get the lights off of German Ebay?

[pyro]

no, here are the links:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150068449270&rd=1,1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230117314905&rd=1,1

[booch]

ok i think im confused on something...is it possible to get the projector setup from the factory w/o the auto level? I ended up buying two of them off off ebay, not from jens. Do you have AIM?

yeah i do, but i don't leave it signed on. you can give me a call or something if you want, pm me

yes, you can get oem projectors without curve light, but all sets have auto leveling

[booch]

no, here are the links:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150068449270&rd=1,1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=013&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=230117314905&rd=1,1

looks like curve light (see that eliptical break in the lens) ...you could be in trouble finding ballasts (except from maybe the dealer) that fit. beware, curve light ballasts are different than non-curve light ballasts! i learned this the hard way and have an extra set of projector housings gathering dust in my garage (which if anyone wants ill sell cheap)

edit: i don't see the break in the second pic, hopefully you get a matching set!

[pyro]

well the first one is the drivers side and the second is the passneger side. I guess i would have to see how they mount underneath to see if i can make something up to fit better.
How can i go about the DIS error message aside from getting the autolevel system?
I cant see the break in the lense on the first link, but the second is hard to tell. I hope they match too. :/
i dont see what the problem with mounting ballasts is though, then again i havnt seen the mounts.

[booch]

well the first one is the drivers side and the second is the passneger side. I guess i would have to see how they mount underneath to see if i can make something up to fit better.
How can i go about the DIS error message aside from getting the autolevel system?
I cant see the break in the lense on the first link, but the second is hard to tell. I hope they match too. :/
i dont see what the problem with mounting ballasts is though, then again i havnt seen the mounts.

they have mounting points for ballasts, but the plugs protrude from the housing (plastic pieces) and are in a set location for the matching ballasts. plugs from curve light sets (ballasts/housings) do not match the plugs from non curve light sets. unless you want to hack the housings and just use your own ballasts, which is possible but would kinda defeat the purpose of a plug and play install as you would have to hack apart the kufatec harness.

there are other cosmetic differences between the two as well. it seems most non curve light lamps come from europe, and have a different plastic peice coming off the side of the xenon aperture (smooth plastic versus the larger bumpy one on the us) and chrome rather than a matte finish inside the housing on the bottom there (mine are chrome and it looks awesome btw)

i dunno how you could defeat the error message. my guess is once you code for xenons the cluster will look for the auto leveling module, when it is not found, you will get the error

[pyro]

it seems to me that they both have the matte look to the bottom section as you described, or atleast both the same.
do you think they are both the same type?
when you say the mounting of the ballasts, do you mean that they plug into the headlight somehow? i dont understand why you would have to hack into the kufatec because of the placement of the ballasts. :/

[booch]

it seems to me that they both have the matte look to the bottom section as you described, or atleast both the same.
do you think they are both the same type?
when you say the mounting of the ballasts, do you mean that they plug into the headlight somehow? i dont understand why you would have to hack into the kufatec because of the placement of the ballasts. :/

the ballasts fit flush with the bottom of the housings, the wiring harness for the bulbs is integrated into the housings. to use a different set of ballasts, you would have to run your own wires for the HIDs and also make sure you tap them correctly into the housing so they connect to the port that actually attaches to the car.

its like this, ballasts have a plug, bulbs have a plug (both of which are in the housing) and a plug runs to the car

if your ballasts dont fit the plugs, or the bulbs (and these are like proprietary plugs, not just wire plugs or something) you would either have to tap into that harness to make your ballasts connect or replace the internal harness altogether, understand?

the kufatec harness only connects the car to the housings. if the plugs on the housings don't fit your hardware (bulbs/ballasts), its really not helping you.

[pyro]

damn, okay. well hopefully i can find some ballasts online then or cheap somewhere. is there a vendor on here that sells OEM ballasts/mounts?

[booch]

damn, okay. well hopefully i can find some ballasts online then or cheap somewhere. is there a vendor on here that sells OEM ballasts/mounts?

jens (lowest a4), but curve lights are hard to find

[migsan]

Hello!


I planning make this mod, but in my case is retrofit a Bi-xenon on a 2004' B6 with halogen headlights.
For now, I had the Headlights, the D1S lamps and the original ballasts... my questions are:

1) there's any DIY that I can use?
2) I need anything more?
3) After install the bi-xenon headlights I can continue use my manual level adjust?
4) It0s possible put the Auto level Adjust?

Thanks in advance!

[pyro]

jens (lowest a4), but curve lights are hard to find

i sent him a PM, ill see what he says

[lowestA4]

Hi guys,

very interesting thread so far! I see a few well known members posting here and also a few "new faces" [:D] .

Ok, here are a few facts from me:

Below you will find two pictures of the required OEM xenon ballasts. These ballasts directly plug into the housings so you can ONLY use these original automotive lighting ballasts. Please do not try to install any valeo ballasts (B5 or B6).

Also please be advised that there are two types of these ballasts which look very similar.

-> HID housings without adaptive cornerlight feature have a small plug (see pic)
-> HID housings with adaptive cornerlight feature have a larger plug (also see pic)

If you are retrofitting bixenons into halogen cars using the famous wiring adapters you cannot use the AFS feature anyway BUT before purchasing the ballasts please identify your HID housing type by checking the ballast plug.

http://home.arcor.de/jens21/e.jpg

http://home.arcor.de/jens21/w.jpg

I really don't want to make this a fs thread but I think everybody knows anyway that I am carrying these ballasts. [;)]

Last but not least: The B7 bixenon housings do not take D2S xenon bulbs. They use D1S.

Hope the pictures helped. If not: I have tons of B7 headlight pictures...

[lowestA4]

http://home.arcor.de/jens21/d 039.jpg

"small plug ballasts"

[lowestA4]

The ebay housings are the AFS headlights (big plug).

[johniya]

Hello Jens,

It is good to hear from ya.

I will go home and check that I have adaptive headlight or not.
However, were my ecode clear corner adaptive??[confused]
I hope not...

[A10]

Hi,

Very interesting thread :) I just ordered a new A4 1.8T Cabriolet with halogens and as soon as it is delivered I want to replace them with Xenons, so I have a couple of questions:

1) Is it true that the housing is different for the cabriolet than for the Limosine/Avant? If so, where do buy them for a reasonable price?
2) How much do the parts for the Xenon upgrade costs (approx.), incl. ballasts, bulbs, wiring, housing etc.?

Thanks in advance,
-Jacob

[pyro]

1) yes
2)you'll have to send jens (lowesta4) a PM
3) please don't steal my thread! :)

[A10]

1) yes
2)you'll have to send jens (lowesta4) a PM
3) please don't steal my thread! :)

Thanks for your fast reply - and I won't [:)]

Brgds,
-Jacob

[booch]

Hi,

Very interesting thread :) I just ordered a new A4 1.8T Cabriolet with halogens and as soon as it is delivered I want to replace them with Xenons, so I have a couple of questions:

1) Is it true that the housing is different for the cabriolet than for the Limosine/Avant? If so, where do buy them for a reasonable price?
2) How much do the parts for the Xenon upgrade costs (approx.), incl. ballasts, bulbs, wiring, housing etc.?

Thanks in advance,
-Jacob

on question number 1: actually your in europe, so your cabrio may have the b7 front end (the cabrio's here still have the b6 face). do you have the new body style? if so, they would be the same lights

[A10]

Thank you for your input. I'm not sure though. It definitely has the B7 front here, but what is the new body style? When I look at www.audi.com the A4 cabrio (US?) looks just like it does here in Denmark (Europe) with the B7 front...?

Sorry for borrowing your thread, Pyro...

-Jacob

[mercury26]

I did the Auto-Leveling retrofit, it is very time consuming. It took me about 15 hours in all, since we had no real guide. You also have to remove a very large bolt from the rear suspension to get the appropriate leveling sensor installed. Also, you have quite a bit of cabling to run from front and back to the center of the car. I did purchase a kit from Kufatec for Auto-Leveling, but it still took some time. They sent me the wrong module for ALWR, so I had to track the right one down through trial and error (even with ETKA).

You can get rid of warning with the Color DIS if you install auto-leveling, but you need to either hook up the washer level sensor or ground out the pin on the DIS. Sorry I still have not done write up on the whole procedure yet.

Cheers,

Chuck

[johniya]

Lowest A4 (Jens) take a look...

I just took a picture of following housing, and this is the one I got.
I am pretty possitive this is for Adaptive Headlight Housing. (big connector)
Is that why my headlight does not light up???

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy55101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 53%2FA4+Headlight+019%281561%29%2Ejpg
If so....we need to figure out what to do next.

[johniya]

First of all, Pyro! I am sorry, I may interupt your post. However, this information could be helpful for everyone who is planning to install a Xenon upgrade.

Following pics are "RED Kufatec cable" I got from Jens.
This is how to connect b/w plug from your A4 to a OEM housing.

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy53101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 81%2FA4+Headlight+011%287405%29%2Ejpg


when you see the close up pictures there are two cables seperated from the connector. those are for "high beam flaper, and DRL" (I don't know which one is which yet).

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy53101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 81%2FA4+Headlight+014%287405%29%2Ejpg

This is one side of connectors which has two extra wires attached.
http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy55101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 53%2FA4+Headlight+016%281561%29%2Ejpg

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy55101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 53%2FA4+Headlight+015%281561%29%2Ejpg


This is the other side where it plugged to original cable from my A4
http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy53101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 81%2FA4+Headlight+018%287405%29%2Ejpg

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy53101%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 81%2FA4+Headlight+018%287405%29%2Ejpg

[johniya]

Anyone can tell me more about "what to do with this??"

I am not even sure this thing will work on my car

[pyro]

what do you mean? you run both cables inside and connect them for the highbeams and drls

[mercury26]

You have a box under the steering wheel and to the left. You have to remove four pins and replace them with four that are included with the Kufatec kit.

Cheers,

Chuck

[johniya]

I know the purpose of those two cables.
Only problem that I have... HID light is not on.
I connected the cable properly (not those two cables, since they are only for DRL & Highbeam flaper)

I used Vag-com to change the ECU to 00033, 00043, 00031, 00041...etc.
Light just does not turned on....

I may have to [drive] down to Maryland to meet Booch
it's about 8 hours driving.

I have all the tools to take bumper off.
So far, I have took the bumper on and off several times.
I can take bumper off less than 30 min...may be 20 min...

This work is so painful...may be I am not lucky enough.

[johniya]

Booch,

Are you be able to help me out installing these Xenon???
[wrench]

[booch]

Booch,

Are you be able to help me out installing these Xenon???
[wrench]

whats up JP, i replied to your pm

[johniya]

Does anyone has diagram for Halogen version of light plug??

I see each lines have numbers on the side.
from 1 to 10
1 3 5 7 9
2 4 6 8 10

What is each number for? could anyone give me a detailed information??
for example:
1 - city light
2 - low beam
3 - ground cable....etc.

I think the cable did not correctly plugged in Kufatec cable.

[toro]

I want to upgrade my non HID to HID for my B7 too. I am looking to buy used housing from ebay. go thur this post. Is it mean that is hard to find a ballast for B7 HID upgrade?

[johniya]

Not that hard to find the right part, only if you are willing to pay the right price.
As far as I know, Booch has the housing...so ask him about it.
ballasts and bulbs....ask lowest A4...he could find the right one for you.

[booch]

I want to upgrade my non HID to HID for my B7 too. I am looking to buy used housing from ebay. go thur this post. Is it mean that is hard to find a ballast for B7 HID upgrade?

it was hard a little while back, but luckily Jens has been really good at sourcing parts for us for this upgrade (including mine)

when i initially looked to do the upgrade, i purchased a set of housings off the boards which happened to be a curve light pair. at the time, the only source for those ballasts was at the dealer, so i actually ended up getting a non-curve light set and matching ballasts from Jens.

it appears now you can do the retrofit with both types, as curve light ballasts can be had. like JP mentioned, i still have my original set of used curve light projectors sitting in my garage. it seems i can sell them now that they will be useful for someone else (which i'll post in the classifieds eventually or if anyone is interested you can just PM me).

if you do get them off ebay make sure you get a matching set (either curve or non curve) and check beforehand to make sure you can get the ballasts at a resonable price.

[johniya]

Booch,

Were you be able to find the Bently manual by the chance???

I now take a close look of each cables, how it connected.

I will explan based on Kufatec cable numbers.

http://cyimg17.cyworld.nate.com/common/file_down.asp?redirect=%2Fy52401%2F2007%2F5%2F3%2F 88%2Funtitled%289157%29%2Ejpg

It seems like I got the the wrong cable....[=(]

Do you have any suggestion???

[lowestA4]

Booch,

It seems like Lowest_A4 sent me the wrong cable....[=(]



JP, it is a bit unfair to post up such statements. You got exactly the same harness like all the others before.


The problem must be somewhere else.

[leo_yuen_]

pm'ed lowest_a4, waiting for reply in regards to xenon parts.....

sorry if i kinda steal the post

[johniya]

Oh No!!

Jens, I wasn't trying to make you bad. I apologize if you feel bad in any manner.
I just try to say that I may have wrong cable...

[pyro]

...my...thread?

[leo_yuen_]

so any good news for those ppl upgrading?
looking to do one myself but couldnt find any diy walkthrough??
where do i plug the plug-and-play into??

[pyro]

search, its all on here.

[ravenmadx]

so any good news for those ppl upgrading?
looking to do one myself but couldnt find any diy walkthrough??
where do i plug the plug-and-play into??

Search I got loads of DIY's from bumper removal to how to route the wires on the Kufatec.
And I mean search this forum and use google