Did ALL B6 A4 1.8Ts come w/ HID

**urgeasaurus** · 08-16-2008 08:29 PM

I just got an 05 1.8T which has the HIDs. However, during the first nighttime drive, I was surprised to learn I could barely see without the brights. Next day, I pop the fuse box and notice there is not a fuse in Slot 10, which is the one for the automatic leveling which is required for HIDs. Get a fuse, put it in and it falls out. I look in there closer and note there are NO contact points. Essentially it's a vacant slot like #18.

So my suspicion is that someone swapped out non-HIDs with the ones in there now, not realizing there was a CRITICAL component missing. But that theory depends on whether or not non-HID cars were offered.

If this is the case, how difficult is it to get these things wired correctly so that they work and are actually useful?

I'm extremely aggravated, as this has completely blown the whole new car (to me) excitement thing.

Thanks for any answers and advice.

**RLB6** · 08-16-2008 08:32 PM

HID lights were an option, not a standard in A4's. You probably just need to adjustment the beam height and that should bring your excitement back.

**Undisputed** · 08-16-2008 08:34 PM

No, they didn't all come with it. But I don't know that you HAVE to have the leveling in order to have it either. Mine came with it, but there are people on here who have swapped them out.
If it does have xenon you should have been able to tell very easily. The telltale color change during warmup when you first start the car is the dead giveaway. But not having the auto-leveling should have nothing to do with the xenon lights working and being bright enough. Do you have any pics of your car?

**absolutegtr** · 08-16-2008 08:39 PM

This was one of my first questions before buying my A4

The answer is No

What I did, and what you can do is, contact memeber "akinaboy". He will hook you up with an OEM xenon retrofit kit. I think mine cost about $300 and it came with (2) ballasts, (2) ignitors, and (2) D2S 6000K bulbs. And by god, are my lights bright now. This kit isnt some ricer, blue bulbs. It is the same components, that came on the A4 with xenons.

I love em. By far the best money spent on my car.

**Undisputed** · 08-16-2008 08:55 PM

Yeah, that was one of the first things that I checked when I bought my car too. And if you don't have em, get em. $300 isn't bad either.

**urgeasaurus** · 08-17-2008 07:48 AM

Thanks for all the quick replies. Here's the deal - it DOES have xenons (my second Audi so I know THAT, at least :-) ). They just aren't providing any light down the road - only, it seems, about 40 feet.

Let me ask you guys this question - when you turn yours on, say in the garage, do you see them move up and down, briefly, adjusting themselves? If so, that's the self-leveling function I'm talking about, which as I understand it IS mandatory under federal law. But I'm going to look into that again. I just have to get them adjusted in the interim so that I can at least see at night without blinding everyone w/ my brights.

**diagnosticator** · 08-17-2008 08:17 AM

Originally Posted by urgeasaurus

Thanks for all the quick replies. Here's the deal - it DOES have xenons (my second Audi so I know THAT, at least :-) ). They just aren't providing any light down the road - only, it seems, about 40 feet.

Let me ask you guys this question - when you turn yours on, say in the garage, do you see them move up and down, briefly, adjusting themselves? If so, that's the self-leveling function I'm talking about, which as I understand it IS mandatory under federal law. But I'm going to look into that again. I just have to get them adjusted in the interim so that I can at least see at night without blinding everyone w/ my brights.

Auto leveling, only adjusts for load variation, to prevent the beam angle from shining in oncoming driver's eyes if the car is loaded with pax or payload in the rear. The range/beam angle, is based on the settings made manually according to standard beam aim angle adjustment references.
For non auto leveling retrofits, using OEM HID parts, if the beam aim is set correctly as baseline, there is NO difference between setups with or without Auto leveling, and HID range or amount of light provided. If a large load is added after setting the beam aim, then either do so during daylight, or lower your beam angle to compensate.
Sounds like your setup, is aimed to low, the cutoff should be 2 inches below the horizontal height of the headlight centerline, when the headlights are 30 feet from a vertical target. The Knee in the kick up of the cutoff, is set with zero lateral offset from the headlight center line at the target.

Finally, it's possible to retrofit the auto leveling setup, but it's not easy, and is not worthwhile as a practical matter.

**pondside36** · 08-17-2008 08:54 AM

Great info^^^ so wish I had HID but perhaps one day.

**urgeasaurus** · 08-18-2008 04:02 PM

Diagnoticator, thanks for the great reply. That's exactly the information I needed and also eases my mind. I was worried I was going to have to get into a very involved retrofit auto-leveling thing (or pay someone, actually).

Thanks again!

**diagnosticator** · 08-18-2008 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by urgeasaurus

Diagnoticator, thanks for the great reply. That's exactly the information I needed and also eases my mind. I was worried I was going to have to get into a very involved retrofit auto-leveling thing (or pay someone, actually).

Thanks again!

No problem! One other aspect for you to consider, is that instead of auto leveling, manual leveling can be implemented using factory parts. This is a lot easier to install, using less complicated hardware and practically no electronics. The manual beam leveling uses standard DC motors instead of the stepper servo motors used in auto leveling, and a simple control knob that fits near the headlight switch. The beam angle motors, fit the headlights just the same as the auto leveling setup. The control action is simply running the motors in one direction to raise, and the opposite direction to lower the beam angle. The wiring from the control knob is two wire circuit, with the two motors in parallel connection. The control shifts the polarity of the drive voltage to the motors.
The OEM parts have to be ordered from Europe,. and are used on the Halogen type headlights. Required: 1ea control switch/knob. 2ea beam adjustment motors. The wiring harness is produced locally using terminal housings and the associated wire terminals available from the local Audi dealer parts counter. It's also possible that the existing wiring harness to the headlights, already has the wires for the auto leveling, if that is confirmed, then the wiring can be arranged to power the manual leveling motors.

**demea** · 08-18-2008 07:10 PM

If anyone is interested, I just installed (yesterday) my Valeo OEM H7 6000k conversion kit from hidconcept.com. 10 minutes per side (including quick clear corner mod)
All's I have to say is that I look for excuses now to drive at night! I had the halogen projector headlights, not the OEM HID's...FYI.
Cutoff looks no different from my brothers 05 Maxima w/ OEM HID's!