Manually Adjustable Headlights

[ShelbyM3]

In an effort to not take away from ChicagoPhantoms, I’ll start a new thread.

A few months ago I ran across the fact that European Allroad models came with a manual adjustable headlights. I was able to find a headlight switch from Latvia that is pre-facelift and not soft-touch.




I was also able to find some information regarding the wiring. An old forum post documented how someone managed to wire them, but there was mention of the 3-wire European versus our 4-wire US headlights. Because ours were 4-wire it wouldn’t work the same, but he was able to figure it out.




Fast forward to the present and Heath confirms pre-facelift headlights fit the Allroad and are a 3-wire headlight. I’m now very interested to see if I can rig these A6 pre-facelift lights with the headlight switch to allow for manual adjustment. More to come, but this may have slow progress.


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[Audibot]

Interesting...is it worth it?

[Avantly]

I looked into this a long time ago because it sounded interesting and it's definitely possible. I don't recall what the solution is but it seems there is an analog signal that the headlight adjustment circuit follows and you just need to create offset in this circuit using a resistive divider to adjust the offset. When you get into it let me know I'm sure we can figure it out.

[A4Qwattro]

The B5 A4 platform also had the manual headlight adjustment so you might find more DIY info by looking there.

[ShelbyM3]

I looked into this a long time ago because it sounded interesting and it's definitely possible. I don't recall what the solution is but it seems there is an analog signal that the headlight adjustment circuit follows and you just need to create offset in this circuit using a resistive divider to adjust the offset. When you get into it let me know I'm sure we can figure it out.

Thanks Buddy. I was worried you got lost out in Wyoming cause I hadn’t heard from you in a bit.


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[ShelbyM3]

The B5 A4 platform also had the manual headlight adjustment so you might find more DIY info by looking there.

Thank you! Good to know!


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[Avantly]

Thanks Buddy. I was worried you got lost out in Wyoming cause I hadn’t heard from you in a bit.


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I made it back after deciding to stay an extra week and a half! And there was so much work waiting for me that I've been playing catchup ever since!!!! xD

[LZ9ROAD]

I looked into this a long time ago because it sounded interesting and it's definitely possible. I don't recall what the solution is but it seems there is an analog signal that the headlight adjustment circuit follows and you just need to create offset in this circuit using a resistive divider to adjust the offset. When you get into it let me know I'm sure we can figure it out.

https://forums.quattroworld.com/allr...75.phtml#90578
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...C5-A6-allroad)

Don't worry, an OG figured it out years ago. This thread will be very useful for information, I used it years ago, I have since gotten rid of the car it was retrofitted with. Excited to see progress on both your guy's ends though.

[Avantly]

https://forums.quattroworld.com/allr...75.phtml#90578
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...C5-A6-allroad)

Don't worry, an OG figured it out years ago. This thread will be very useful for information, I used it years ago, I have since gotten rid of the car it was retrofitted with. Excited to see progress on both your guy's ends though.

There were some additional threads on top of those ones but I don't recall what forum they were on. The guys in those threads didn't seem to understand the electrical theory of what they were accomplishing, and seemed adamant that you needed 4 wire motors to make this work which is not correct. Also they kept referring to potentiometers as rheostats or dimmers, lol. When ShelblyM3 gets to this I'll find my notes you can make it work as-is and if you don't want to buy the headlight switch with the extra thumbwheel you can use a separate potentiometer or even just use push button with a small microcontroller or digital potentiometer. I was just going to add a button in one of my empty spots to toggle between two headlight levels and/or set a static level with no automatic adjustment.

[LZ9ROAD]

There were some additional threads on top of those ones but I don't recall what forum they were on. The guys in those threads didn't seem to understand the electrical theory of what they were accomplishing, and seemed adamant that you needed 4 wire motors to make this work which is not correct. Also they kept referring to potentiometers as rheostats or dimmers, lol. When ShelblyM3 gets to this I'll find my notes you can make it work as-is and if you don't want to buy the headlight switch with the extra thumbwheel you can use a separate potentiometer or even just use push button with a small microcontroller or digital potentiometer. I was just going to add a button in one of my empty spots to toggle between two headlight levels and/or set a static level with no automatic adjustment.

Either way, I am excited to see his build out and your notes. I had it installed the way the thread from QW described in a C5 A6. It worked for a while but stopped, so I removed the system. I haven't revisited it in a decade or so but I am sure this thread will have better answers than I could've had for sure.