Audi A3 Halogen Assembly to Bi-Xenon Assembly (2009-2013)

[Drewlocks]

Hello,

I have a Audi A3 2009 with the stock halogen Assembly and purchased the Bi-xenon headlight assembly. The parts i have so far is:

2 Bi-xenon assemblies (2009-2013 version)
2 ballast
2 DS3 HID lights

I have also read that I need a wire kit from Kufatec, but in some thread i have read that some people were able to bypassed the wire. Also needed is VAG-COM programming.

Does anyone know a shop in the Greater Toronto area that has done the upgrade from the Halogen Headlight assembly to the xenon for Audi or VW's. Experience doing so with any model is fine. Or if anyone has done this on their own and willing to do mine for a price PM me.

Thanks,

[jschrauwen]

I've done the conversion for the rear tail lights from halogen to Euro (ROW) FL-LED.
I just purchased Ecode (Euro spec) Bixenon AFS headlights to replace my North American (NA) Bixenon AFS headlights on my 08 A5.
Although we have different cars, we can discuss some similarities that we may be confronted with. Message me and we can exchange phone numbers to discuss some options.

[Drewlocks]

I've done the conversion for the rear tail lights from halogen to Euro (ROW) FL-LED.
I just purchased Ecode (Euro spec) Bixenon AFS headlights to replace my North American (NA) Bixenon AFS headlights on my 08 A5.
Although we have different cars, we can discuss some similarities that we may be confronted with. Message me and we can exchange phone numbers to discuss some options.

Thanks for the info. Did you do it yourself? Or a local shop?


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[jschrauwen]

Thanks for the info. Did you do it yourself? Or a local shop?

A little of both. I believe I pm'd you to exchange phone numbers.

[Finder]

Hello,

I have a Audi A3 2009 with the stock halogen Assembly and purchased the Bi-xenon headlight assembly. The parts i have so far is:

2 Bi-xenon assemblies (2009-2013 version)
2 ballast
2 DS3 HID lights

I have also read that I need a wire kit from Kufatec, but in some thread i have read that some people were able to bypassed the wire. Also needed is VAG-COM programming.

Does anyone know a shop in the Greater Toronto area that has done the upgrade from the Halogen Headlight assembly to the xenon for Audi or VW's. Experience doing so with any model is fine. Or if anyone has done this on their own and willing to do mine for a price PM me.

Thanks,

I've done this retrofit on my A3 and I would like to tell you that it's a project bigger than you think. Wiring the headlights is the easy part. If you want it done properly (and I'd say do it right or don't do it at all) you need to also get the leveling sensors for front and rear plus the headlights control module. Wiring all this gets challenging. You basically need to run wires from the rear left and front left wheel plus from both headlights inside the car, where the OEM location of the headlights module should be. Plus I'm not even mentioning all the connections to the CE module.
If you got the AFS (turning left&right) cornering headlights you also need to tap into the steering wheel module to get the steering angle signal. For AFS you will need specific headlights, ballasts and headlights control module though.
What I'm trying to say here is this will cost a lot in labor to have it done properly. Think about all this before you start the project.

[Drewlocks]

I've done this retrofit on my A3 and I would like to tell you that it's a project bigger than you think. Wiring the headlights is the easy part. If you want it done properly (and I'd say do it right or don't do it at all) you need to also get the leveling sensors for front and rear plus the headlights control module. Wiring all this gets challenging. You basically need to run wires from the rear left and front left wheel plus from both headlights inside the car, where the OEM location of the headlights module should be. Plus I'm not even mentioning all the connections to the CE module.
If you got the AFS (turning left&right) cornering headlights you also need to tap into the steering wheel module to get the steering angle signal. For AFS you will need specific headlights, ballasts and headlights control module though.
What I'm trying to say here is this will cost a lot in labor to have it done properly. Think about all this before you start the project.

Hey Finder, Thanks for the information. I will not be going with the AFS option because the headlight assemblies I already have don't have that feature. As for the install did you do it yourself? or did you go to a local shop. And if you did it yourself what would charge to do mine? The part that I'm fearing is in the Kuratec adapter install into ECU. I ordered a VAGCOM and awaiting for the delivery., so I could take care of that part.

[Finder]

I've heard of a few people having bad luck with Kufatec, from taking forever to make the harness to sending out an incorrectly wired one. One reason might be that in EU Audis have a lot more in options and some are wired differently than in NA.
Because of this I decided to wire everything myself using the official Audi track diagrams.

[jschrauwen]

I had a Kufatec adapter harness installed last Fall for my conversion from NA Spec) Halogen tail lights to (Euro Spec) FL-LED. Everything worked without an issue. I will say that I did not use the Kufatec dongle for the final coding process as suggested in the forums and had it done manually - again without any issues.
If people have had issues with the Kufatec adapter harnesses, it's probably because they didn't educate themselves well enough before attempting the project. There are distinct differences for not only the tail lights , but also the headlights as well. Knowing these differences from the get go will bode well to a successful and uneventful conversion.
In the case of tail lights - NA Halogen to Euro FL-LED, one must be cogniscent of the differences. Euro tail lights do not utilize the corner marker function - NA does. Euro tail lights have rear fog light function - early NA ones did not.
Because of these differences, it means that a suitable adapter with the correct pin-outs is required as the Euro rear tail light connecters use a 4 pin whereas the NA ones use a 5 pin.

This same sort of difference can also be seen for the front headlights. NA spec use amber corner markers whereas the Euro (Ecode) ones do not utilize the (Clear) corner markers as well.
So if someone has a NA halogen headlight and wishes to convert to a Euro spec (Ecodes) headlight, they have to know what differences there are and what's all involved to successfully complete it. Obviously, the conversion from NA halogen to Ecodes halogen would be the easiest but ti would still require adapters. If they wish to go from NA halogen to ecodes Bixenon, then there's more work involved then just adapters. There's also control modules involved as well. And naturally, if they chose to go from NA halogen to Ecodes Bixenon with AFS1, then this obviously will be the most complex and most costly.
And if that's not confusing enough, one should also educate themselves as to the correct oem part numbers for the Ecodes they desire to use. Why? Because the oem part numbers will delineate if those headlights are designated as driving on the right (LHD) or driving on the left (RHD).
There can be as many as 8 different oem part numbers (4 per side) for the correct Ecodes headlights based on year of issue/install and whether a complete unit or partial (without bulbs/ballasts). This doesn't even factor in the Valeo part numbers either.

[Finder]

I was referring specifically to the Kufatec harness for xenon headlights retrofit.
And I wouldn't compare a tail lights retrofit to a headlights one. There is A LOT more work and components involved with headlights.
Tail lights are easy, especially if you orders adapters. All you need to do is install them and then do coding.

[jschrauwen]

I was referring specifically to the Kufatec harness for xenon headlights retrofit.
And I wouldn't compare a tail lights retrofit to a headlights one. There is A LOT more work and components involved with headlights.
Tail lights are easy, especially if you orders adapters. All you need to do is install them and then do coding.

I understand what you're saying about the retrofit from halogen to xenon headlights. I was making an analogy based on my past tail light experience.
I just finished sourcing Ecode headlights for my conversion from NA spec Bixenon AFS1 to Ecodes spec Bixenon AFS1 so I'm fairly aware of the differences. I spent over 4 months researching the subject. In my case, it will be plug an play as I have already coded out the amber corner markers. However, I will not be using the oem D3S bulb/igniter combo or it's ballast. Rather as a further extention of my ecodes install, I'll be sourcing D1/D2 xenon bulb adapters (they look exactly like the D3S igniter). I'll be fitting to those adapters a pair of Philips DL50 50W (Fatboy) D2S bulbs. To compliment those bulbs, I'll be using a D2S 50W ballast (true 50W). This conversion will elevate the normal 2800-3200 lumen output of oem D3S bulbs/ballasts to 5300 lumen. Combine that output increase to the ecode headlights which use a clear projector lens as opposed to the fresnel (opague) type used on the NA Bixenon projectors, andI should have an ideal set-up.


I believe I did mention that a headlight conversion is far more complex, involved and costly then a tail light one and that I made note of the various degrees of headlight conversions.

[Drewlocks]

I was referring specifically to the Kufatec harness for xenon headlights retrofit.
And I wouldn't compare a tail lights retrofit to a headlights one. There is A LOT more work and components involved with headlights.
Tail lights are easy, especially if you orders adapters. All you need to do is install them and then do coding.

So buying a new wire harness and rewire the car is better than using the Kufatec harness? How many hours did that take?

[Drewlocks]

I was referring specifically to the Kufatec harness for xenon headlights retrofit.
And I wouldn't compare a tail lights retrofit to a headlights one. There is A LOT more work and components involved with headlights.
Tail lights are easy, especially if you orders adapters. All you need to do is install them and then do coding.

Hey Finder, Do you have a list of part numbers I would need for the replacement harness?

[Finder]

Unfortunately you can't buy a new OEM harness for what you need to do because there isn't one.
Normally the wires that are needed for this are part of the main wiring harness of the car for a vehicle with xenon headlights from factory.
I did my own wiring by buying wire spools, various pins, plugs, grommets, tubes, harness tape and everything that's needed for soldering.
It took me a lot of time (about 50 hours) but everything is like OEM. I ran wires along the main wiring harness, through OEM locations, all components are in the right place.
I didn't use plug adapters for the headlights, but instead I removed all the pins and inserted them in the new plugs along with all the extra wires.
Also my headlights are AFS so I had to run wires to the steering wheel control module as well.

[Drewlocks]

Unfortunately you can't buy a new OEM harness for what you need to do because there isn't one.
Normally the wires that are needed for this are part of the main wiring harness of the car for a vehicle with xenon headlights from factory.
I did my own wiring by buying wire spools, various pins, plugs, grommets, tubes, harness tape and everything that's needed for soldering.
It took me a lot of time (about 50 hours) but everything is like OEM. I ran wires along the main wiring harness, through OEM locations, all components are in the right place.
I didn't use plug adapters for the headlights, but instead I removed all the pins and inserted them in the new plugs along with all the extra wires.
Also my headlights are AFS so I had to run wires to the steering wheel control module as well.

Hey Finder. Is there a diagram that tells you where to put the wires?

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[Finder]

There are diagrams for everything