Halogen, Xenon, Bi-Xenon, Ecode factsheet/writeup

[cjonesgo]

I started this last year when I put in my S4 Bi-Xenons, but never bothered to finish it. It's still not 100% but lately a few threads popped up regarding this so I figured I'd just put it up. Hope it helps someone out. I'll try to update if any info is incorrect or left out.

If you have any bulb #'s (high/low/turn/city) for the various housings I'll edit this to include them. The goal is to make this a good reference to answer peoples questions that will not require hundreds of hours of searching through old threads.


OEM Single Xenon (US spec)
-Low Beam Bulb - D1S*
-High Beam Bulb - ?
-Turn Indicator Bulb - ?
•2.5" (small) diameter focusing lens (same as halogen?)
•Does have self leveling function
•Does have Amber corner reflector inside the housing
•Typically chrome but available with gray housing with USP package in 04/05
•Arguably has more ‘concentrated’ light out-put: http://forums.audiworld.com/a4gen2/msgs/709428.phtml


OEM Bi-Xenon (US spec. S4 note: some early S4's available with single xenon gray housing)
-Low Beam Bulb - D1S ?
-High Beam Bulb - Halogen H7 (or H10/9145)
-Turn Indicator Bulb - ?
•Does NOT have two separate Xenon bulbs!!
•High beam uses HALOGEN bulb, but also uses a motor to move a “cutoff-plate” that then exposes more of the low beam bulb allowing increased light output.
•Does have Amber corner reflector inside housing
•Larger Diameter low beam focusing lens
•Does have self leveling function


Ecode
-Low Beam Bulb - D2S ?
-High Beam Bulb - H7
-Turn Indicator Bulb - ?
-Citylight bulb - H6W
•Available in BOTH Single and Bi-Xenon configurations
•Available in both Chrome and Black housing (Bi-Xenon not available in chrome? someone confirm?)
•Does not have Amber reflectors inside housing (check local requirements as this is often not street legal)


OEM Xenon to Bi-Xenon (S4 gray housing)
This is probably the most straight forward swap. For the turn indicators and low beams, you will not need any additional parts* as all bulbs, ballasts, ignitors etc will be used. You should not throw any codes, CEL’s etc. unless there is an actual malfunction; burnt bulb, broken leveling motor etc. The swap on it’s own will NOT cause this! You may also encounter that the High Beam bulb will need to be swapped for a H10 / 9145 though many sources list high beam bulb as H7 (this may be dependent on the model year of the housings that you are trying to install.)


*If you have an early 2002 model year, you may have the D2S bulb. Bi-Xenon housings require D1S bulb.


OEM Xenon to Ecode (Single or Bi-Xenon)
Ballast and Xenon Bulb* carry over, but you will need to get different turn indicators (same as those in tail lights) as well as “City Lights.” And high beam bulb?
* same exception for those with D2S bulbs.


Halogen to Xenon, Bi-Xenon or Ecode
You need everything. Housings, bulbs, balasts and ignitors. If your car was not equipped with Xenon headlights originally, you WILL throw a code. This is due to the fact that your new headlights will not be able to use their Leveling motor and will tell the car that it is malfunctioning.
Useful link:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...ighlight=xenon
An alternative is to convert your Halogen housing to Xenon by using an HID kit. There are many available or you can build your own with components from a variety of cars. I have no personal experience with this and other threads already exist from folks who have undertaken this project.



Misc. worth note:
Make sure that the headlight housings you want to install into your car came from a place that the “Drive Side” of the road is the same as yours. UK lights will have a different pattern than US etc. It will light the road, but will annoy the hell out of oncoming drivers.

Different states, countries etc. will have different regulations regarding corner reflectors, light output color etc. Please check local laws if this is concerns you.

This thread is intended to provide information. Any modifications done to your car are your own responsibility. I take no responsibility for damages or citations incurred.


The information in this thread is based strictly on my research and personal experience. Please let me know if I have missed something or gotten anything wrong, I’ll be happy to edit this to remain informative. Happy Modding.

[michgo]

Wow, truly helpful. If people use the search bar, we might be moving somewhere!
Thanks for the writeup.

[mdzaudi]

wow, maybe this will prove to be the end of alot of needless HID threads.

[cjonesgo]

fingers crossed =)

[AudiA4Turbo22]

Now if i move from halogen to xenon i will throw a code as u said, so should i reprogrm my computer to say xenons present?

[cjonesgo]

hmmm, not sure as I went from xenon to bi-xenon. I am 99% sure that leveling motor is located down on the suspension, so even if you tell the car that it has xenon's it will still be missing the level controller.

someone have experience with this?

[JonnyQ]

Added a few things to your writeup. This thread is a really good idea.

Ecode
•Available in BOTH Single and Bi-Xenon configurations
•Available in both Chrome and Black housing [I don't think bi-xenon is available in chrome]


OEM Xenon to Bi-Xenon (S4 gray housing)
This is probably the most straight forward swap. For the turn indicators and low beams, you will not need any additional parts* as all bulbs, ballasts, ignitors etc will be used. [5G ballasts will fit xenon housings, but NOT bi-xenon housings, 5GL ballast will fit both type housings]
You should not throw any codes, CEL’s etc. unless there is an actual malfunction; burnt bulb, broken leveling motor etc. The swap on it’s own will NOT cause this! [ DO NOT start car without headlights attached will get code]
2002-3 model year vehicles will most likely need a harness extension on the pass. side to reach the connector on the Bi-xenon housing, can get it from SPP for approx 75 bucks or make your own: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=183640&highlight=headlight+extens ion

Female Harness: 1J0 973 735 (~20 bucks)
Male Harness: 1J0 973 835 (~13 bucks)

Wiring for female end: 000 979 133 (A) the A is for gold plated
Wiring for male end, with pins: 000 797 134 (A)




OEM Xenon to Ecode (Single or Bi-Xenon)
Ballast and Xenon Bulb* carry over, but you will need to get different turn indicators (same as those in tail lights) as well as “City Lights.” [ citylight is H6W, high beam bulb is H7]

[JonnyQ]

hmmm, not sure as I went from xenon to bi-xenon. I am 99% sure that leveling motor is located down on the suspension, so even if you tell the car that it has xenon's it will still be missing the level controller.

someone have experience with this?

IIRC Leveling motor is in the housing, the leveling sensor is tied to suspension.

[pyro]

wrong on halogen to xenon...it is a direct swap on the b6, no coding needed or errors. i did the swap and had no issues what so ever.

your link you provided is for the b7, which is completely different as you need to run wires to the ECM under the dash to swap to bi-xenons (there are no single xenon headlights for the b7).

[mxrz]

Bi-Xenons are not "S4" since they were available on regular A4's as well. And the wire harness extension is not necessarily needed, some 02-03 cars will have enough slack to pull the wiring out enough to reach, so it's best to find out before ordering an extension. You can also add the lens diameters:

Bi-Xenon: 3"
All others: 2.5"

And the fact that all DOT spec lenses are fresnel lenses, and most ECE lenses are clear, except for Bi-Xenon lenses, some ECE Bi-Xenons use fresnel lenses as well. Fresnel = blurry cutoff. Clear = sharp cutoff. You should also address the beam pattern differences between DOT and ECE.

Lots of info missing in your writeup.

[dougyfresh]

Might want to adjust that comment that OEM bi-xenons are S4 housings.

There is a single Xenon S4 housing (gray) available. Early B6 S4s had them. I have those housings on my car.

[Audituning02]

Sooo..let me get this straight since there is alot of going back an forth, I have and 02 A4 that came with halogens..I would like to swap to Xenon's in a gray housing. Are the S4 Xenon's my best option and will I need the OEM Xenon ballast?

[mxrz]

I have and 02 A4 that came with halogens..I would like to swap to Xenon's in a gray housing. Are the S4 Xenon's my best option and will I need the OEM Xenon ballast?

There is no specific "S4 xenon" housing. You have to decide if you want single xenon or bi-xenon, and if you want DOT or ECE (US or Europe) spec gray housings. All options are best with OE Valeo 5GL ballasts and D1S bulbs.

I would strongly recommend this kit with any housing option you chose:

http://www.hidconcept.com/Kits-valeo-d1s.html (yes, it's considerably more than aftermarket kits, but it's worth it are far more reliable)

[cjonesgo]

Bi-Xenons are not "S4" since they were available on regular A4's as well. And the wire harness extension is not necessarily needed, some 02-03 cars will have enough slack to pull the wiring out enough to reach, so it's best to find out before ordering an extension. You can also add the lens diameters:

Bi-Xenon: 3"
All others: 2.5"

And the fact that all DOT spec lenses are fresnel lenses, and most ECE lenses are clear, except for Bi-Xenon lenses, some ECE Bi-Xenons use fresnel lenses as well. Fresnel = blurry cutoff. Clear = sharp cutoff. You should also address the beam pattern differences between DOT and ECE.

Lots of info missing in your writeup.

yeah there is a lot of debate on the cutoff pattern of various housings. I'll let other threads cover that as there are plenty of folks that have experience in that dept. I just don't know a ton about that so I'll leave it to the experts. Also in my opinion the problem with many of the other threads is that they always degrade into a debate on which is the "best" lens/housing..... I want this to stay more on topic of specs for different housings.

For this thread I am more interested in bulb types etc on each housing so that folks will know what to expect if they do some kind of swap.

my 02 did not require any extension either, just a little tug.

questions:
Was Bi-Xenon an option on reglar A4? (not A4)
S4 Bi-Xenon available in chrome?
USP gray housing single xenon or bi? Or maybe available as both?

[cjonesgo]

some edits in OP keep more suggestions coming!

[mxrz]

Was Bi-Xenon an option on regular A4?

Not sure if it was available for the base (probably not), but it was for USP/S-Line.

S4 Bi-Xenon available in chrome?

Nope, never seen it.

USP gray housing single xenon or bi? Or maybe available as both?

In North America, the only gray option was bi-xenon. Regular xenons (2.5" lens) were always chrome. Only e-code single xenons come in both gray and chrome. (bi-xenon is only gray, all over the world).

[JonnyQ]

my 02 did not require any extension either, just a little tug.

questions:
Was Bi-Xenon an option on reglar A4? (not A4)
S4 Bi-Xenon available in chrome?
USP gray housing single xenon or bi? Or maybe available as both?

Many vehicles 02-03 need the extension, so it is worth noting to people who are contemplating the swap to bixenons.

S4/USP housing designations are not very meaningful.
Housings should be designated by: xenon/bixenon, chrome/gray, US/E-code spec

I believe later 04-05 US B6 A4 models have gray bi-xenon housings. I don't believe any A4s were fitted with xenon gray housings, only 03-early04 S4s have this type.
I don't think I've heard of bi-xenon chrome housings, not 100%.

[Maverick]

where can we get super white city light bulbs?

[cjonesgo]

Many vehicles 02-03 need the extension, so it is worth noting to people who are contemplating the swap to bixenons.

S4/USP housing designations are not very meaningful.
Housings should be designated by: xenon/bixenon, chrome/gray, US/E-code spec

I believe later 04-05 US B6 A4 models have gray bi-xenon housings. I don't believe any A4s were fitted with xenon gray housings, only 03-early04 S4s have this type.
I don't think I've heard of bi-xenon chrome housings, not 100%.

my understanding on what was available on what car is a follows:

A4- Halogen_chrome, Xenon_chrome

A4 USP- Bi-Xenon_gray Did USP have a single xenon option? Did any USP's come with chrome housing or all gray?

S4- Single Xenon_gray(only available on early models), Bi-Xenon_gray

Ecode- Single Xenon_chrome & gray, Bi-Xenon_gray only



The reason I want to stick with OEM standard issue naming is that most people buy used lights to do a swap. If you are buying them new, the seller should be able to tell you what you need. Plus everyone already refers to s4, ecodes etc.

[JonnyQ]

my understanding on what was available on what car is a follows:

A4- Halogen_chrome, Xenon_chrome

A4 USP- Bi-Xenon_gray Did USP have a single xenon option? Did any USP's come with chrome housing or all gray?

S4- Single Xenon_gray(only available on early models), Bi-Xenon_gray

Ecode- Single Xenon_chrome & gray, Bi-Xenon_gray only

I believe that 'regular' [non-USP] 2005 A4s came with grey bi-xenons as well, it wasn't limited to USP models. Perhaps late 2004 A4s as well.
And yes, 2004 model USP can have chrome xenon housings.
At some build date (i don't know exactly when) the switch was made for A4s from chrome xenon to gray bi-xenon.

There is a bunch of info on AW on this stuff, i looked through it all a long time ago when sorting out my own xenon situation. But its scattered amongst a bunch of threads.

[CyberPMG]

Until the 2005 model came out, the only gray housings existed with the S4. The A4 would get the chrome housing (gave a visual difference between A4 and S4). Therefore, the 2004 A4 USP would only get the regular Xenon with chrome housings (if you opted for the lighting package). This includes both halogen and Xenons. For 2004, the S4 was set only with Xenon lights (with the gray housing). It wasn't until 2005 when Bi-Xenons were offered for both the A4 and S4 (standard for S4, optional for A4).

[CoreyRS]

OP...if you care to update...the proper turn signal bulbs are 7507

reference

[Wet0willy01]

anyone know if the internals to bi-xenons will fit in the single xenon housings?

If want to keep my bixenons, but need the single xenon housings (ballast located UNDER the housing not in the back) for my intake manifold. Just curious if its possible or anyone tried before.


I know the singles have the best cut off, but I'm just wondering.