Although changing the headlight bulbs in an Audi A4 B8 is not the easiest task, it is still quite straightforward.
- Remove the headlight housing in Step 1.
- 2. Remove the outdated headlight bulb.
- Install the new headlight bulb in Step 3.
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What do Audi headlights cost?
Audi Headlight Assemblies That Are Most Popular An Audi headlight assembly should cost between $330.99 and $1052.99 based on industry averages.
Step 4. Unscrew the old headlight
Zullo warns that every car is unique. “He claims that while you can reach the bulb with some autos, you can’t with others. Sometimes you have to remove the inner fender to reach behind it because the battery or air filter housing is in the way.
However, changing the halogen bulb is all that is required if you can get the headlight open. This entails carefully unlocking the bulb after examining how it is secured. Zullo cautions that if the clips that are being used here are broken, the entire headlight would need to be replaced. “According to him, you must first examine how it is connected, softly disassemble it, and then carefully reassemble it without touching the bulb’s glass.
Step 5. Screw in the new headlight bulb
Without touching the bulb’s glass, carefully screw in the new bulb. If you do, the oil and grime on your hands could cause the bulb to burst once it heats up. Your car’s hood should be closed. Your headlights ought to work perfectly again after installing the new bulb, allowing you to enjoy driving your automobile day or night.
Most of the time, changing a headlight is simple and doesn’t need sending your car to the shop. See what other do-it-yourself auto maintenance tasks are available.
How can I correct an Audi headlight error?
Although there are other potential causes, the most frequent one for this warning message is a failing 35W HID OEM D1S, D2S, or D3S bulb. Of course, it is also possible that the xenon headlamp ballast module is to blame.
The fact that you often only get messages for one sideusually the left, though sometimes the rightmakes this a significant troubleshooting hint.
Swap both the bulbs and ballasts from the left to the right headlight in order to detect and isolate whether the problem is with the headlight bulb, the ballasts, or something internal in the headlight itself. Then, check to see if the dipped headlight error on your dash board changes from “Dipped Headlight Left to “Dipped headlight Right,” or vice versa. If it does, then you are aware that either the bulb or the ballasts are the problem (xenon control module under headlight housing).
It might also display the following message:
You can also look at the HID gas discharge bulb’s hue. It has clearly reached the end of its life if the gas inside the bulb has turned dark black in the middle or, if it is still operating, has begun to emit purple light.
In this situation, it would be beneficial for your car if you purchased a new xenon bulb and replaced it with a defective one.
If the issue is not localized to one side and the dashboard error is constant, we need to rule other causes outside a bad bulb.
If you observe that your dipped headlight problem only occurs in cold weather or at first start-up, it’s possible that your xenon ballasts are on their way out. Replacing them with a new ballast may be the cheapest and simplest approach to fix this.
Your Audi’s faulty ballasts have destroyed the bulbs, therefore you will also require new bulbs if the problem has persisted for a while. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you replace both the bulbs and the ballasts since, even if the ballasts were defective, it is better to repair everything at once because the bulbs have probably already been damaged by the bad ballasts and will need to be replaced soon. Furthermore, since fixing a dipped headlight error can be challenging, it is preferable to be aggressive in addressing this problem and removing any potential sources of error-causing factors.
Your car would need the same coding to install new ballasts, which you can either do yourself with a VAG-COM or take to a dealer like xenons4u where you can find the xenon HID bulbs and ballasts and have the defective bulb or ballast replaced with the necessary coding.
The Xenons4u Team posted this on November 11, 2020 in Warning Messages & Audi.
What is it?
The BMW 7 series introduced HID Xenon headlights in 1992. A non-replaceable, unshielded burner was employed by the system. Unlike halogens, this sort of bulb lacks any kind of filament. It creates an electric arc of extremely high voltage between two contacts. A variety of gases, including Xenon, Argon, and vaporized metals like mercury and metal halides, are present inside the glass chamber. In actuality, the arc causes the metal vapors to melt and transform into plasma.
HID headlights that are OEM (factory installed) have a D-series designation scheme. They are identified by three characters, such as “D4R” or “D1S,” where “D” stands for “Discharge,” the type is indicated by a number (1, 2, 3, or 4) and the final letter designates the intended application for the bulb.
The letters “R” denote bulbs that have an opaque shield covering some of the bulb (D1R, D2R, D3R, and D4R). These lights are intended to be used with a certain type of headlamp optics called a reflector.
The “S” kind (D1S, D2S, D3S, and D4S) lacks this type of shield because they are intended for projector optics. The lumen output is typically 300400 greater than that of its ‘R’ counterparts.
These HIDs from the “D” series always have the same location for the quartz envelope and arc. They need ballasts with external or internal igniters that convert power into AC and create a high voltage pulse to produce a spark instead of running on low-voltage DC current.
What do their types mean?
There were D1R and D1S first. Beginning in the 1990s, car manufacturers including Audi, Ford, and Mercedes Benz began employing Xenon headlights. In the base of the bulb on these lights are igniters.
The D2 light type series thereafter appeared. Because there are no igniters built into the base of these headlights, the bulbs are substantially smaller.
Lightbulbs of the D1 and D2 varieties run on a 35W, 85V AC current. These bulbs have mercury heavy metal in them.
Since 2009, newer HID bulb designs (D3S, D3R, D4S, and D4R) have been manufactured; these are mercury-free and more environmentally friendly. Special ballasts that are different from D1 and D2 types are needed for these lights. In-built igniters are included with the D3 lights.
Smaller than D2 type headlight bulbs, D4 bulbs need external igniters. Since the majority of higher performance projectors are for D2 base, they are not very common.
The headlight housings made for earlier bulb types are neither physically or electrically compatible with these lamps. 35W 42V AC electricity is required to run D3 and D4 lights.
What is the difference?
D1 and D3 bulbs can be distinguished from one another by comparing the ignitors’ connectors. The left top corner of the D1 type has a keying, whereas the left low corner of the D3 type.
D1, D2, D3, and D4 aftermarket bulbs have the letter C at the end and have five notches. As a result, all types of headlamp housing can be used with them. However, it’s important to note that the lights still differ in terms of their own attributes.
It is not possible to swap out D1 and D3, D2 and D4 bulbs without also swapping out their ignitors and ballasts. Components from two different systems cannot be combined.
Before letting you leave the page, let us make a few things clear:
- The D1 and D3 bulb types cannot be switched for one another.
- The D2 and D4 bulbs cannot be switched for one another.
- While D3 and D4 bulbs are mercury-free, D1 and D2 bulbs do not.
What do xenon headlights do?
The bulbs of xenon high-intensity discharge headlights do not have filaments like halogen lights do, hence they typically last longer than halogens but not as long as LEDs. They consume more energy than LEDs and less than halogens. They also generate more heat than LEDs and gradually lose brightness.
Electric current is used in xenon headlights to form an arc between two electrodes, which emits brilliant white or bluish light that is frequently brighter than LEDs. In addition to white, aftermarket xenon lights are also offered in various blue and yellow hues.
Some xenon lights are so brilliant on dark roads that even the low beams might blind approaching motorists. When the lights are turned on, leveling devices are frequently used in vehicles with xenon lights to automatically adapt the beam pattern.
Initially exclusively accessible on luxury and expensive automobiles, LEDs and xenon lights are now more extensively used, especially LEDs. Some manufacturers have made LEDs a requirement for all of their ranges of reasonably cost vehicles. Although xenon lights are less common on new cars, they are still well-liked in the aftermarket.