Audi A4 B9 Headlights Abroad
Discussion
I'm at a complete loss...
I have a 2017 Audi A4 B9 Avant which we've taken with us on our move to Spain.
The vehicle is all but ready to be registered and I've jumped though every hoop to do so. The car went in for it's ITV test (MOT) last week and they've failed it on the beam pattern. Now, I've been everywhere to get the right information and can't seem to get a straight answer. Audi themselves can't give me a response and have passed me from department to department. Two weeks on and I'm still waiting.
The common consensus is that they adjust automatically for use abroad but nowhere can confirm this.
Okay, so the vehicle has GPS and the region for the GPS is set to Spain. I have LED lights.
There's a menu in MMI which is for exterior lighting but there's no option other than AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS and ENTRY / EXIT LIGHTS.
I've attached the beam pattern that they showed me at the test station to show the angle.
I've been quoted thousands of pounds to replace the units for LHD ones which would pretty much write the vehicle off.
I have a 2017 Audi A4 B9 Avant which we've taken with us on our move to Spain.
The vehicle is all but ready to be registered and I've jumped though every hoop to do so. The car went in for it's ITV test (MOT) last week and they've failed it on the beam pattern. Now, I've been everywhere to get the right information and can't seem to get a straight answer. Audi themselves can't give me a response and have passed me from department to department. Two weeks on and I'm still waiting.
The common consensus is that they adjust automatically for use abroad but nowhere can confirm this.
Okay, so the vehicle has GPS and the region for the GPS is set to Spain. I have LED lights.
There's a menu in MMI which is for exterior lighting but there's no option other than AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS and ENTRY / EXIT LIGHTS.
I've attached the beam pattern that they showed me at the test station to show the angle.
I've been quoted thousands of pounds to replace the units for LHD ones which would pretty much write the vehicle off.
Dapster said:
I would argue not, although that's not getting me anywhere! I've even showed them the screen shot from the Audi A7 handbook which says they adjust automatically on the continent. They keep showing me the pattern and saying the kick up to the left is enough to fail it.
It should be in the Car Menu, under Exterior Lighting; it's called "Headlamp Converter"
It may not be there though, according to this forum it may need coding in:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php...
It may not be there though, according to this forum it may need coding in:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php...
Dapster said:
Look at the picture directly above your comment. They are RHD dip lamps.A RHD headlight beam pattern is not the same as a converted RHD->LHD beam pattern, which again is not the same as a proper LHD beam pattern.
I don't know whether this applies to LED headlights, but most halogen and Xenon headlights that have a method for converting to the opposite side driving do so by cutting off the top of the beam that would illuminare the pavement in your home country. It's intended as a temporary measure and is NOT the same has having proper LHD headlights which would have the reverse of your unconverted RHD headlight pattern.
That's been the case on many cars I have driven, and is the case on my 2001 BMW which has a knob on the back of each Xenon headlight to chop off the top of the beam pattern. On my 2014 Porsche (also a VAG car) the change is done electronically in the menu, but it works the same way - it chops off the offending top part of the beam pattern rather than doing a full reverse pattern.
Your best bet is to try to find a pair of LHD headlights from a scrapyard. They should be fairly trivial to fit, but depending on the complexity of the integration you may need to have the car recoded so that it knows that it has LHD headlights and/or knows that it is an LHD market car - otherwise the auto headlight modification program light then try to chop off the top of the LHD beam pattern which would land you back at square one.
I don't know whether this applies to LED headlights, but most halogen and Xenon headlights that have a method for converting to the opposite side driving do so by cutting off the top of the beam that would illuminare the pavement in your home country. It's intended as a temporary measure and is NOT the same has having proper LHD headlights which would have the reverse of your unconverted RHD headlight pattern.
That's been the case on many cars I have driven, and is the case on my 2001 BMW which has a knob on the back of each Xenon headlight to chop off the top of the beam pattern. On my 2014 Porsche (also a VAG car) the change is done electronically in the menu, but it works the same way - it chops off the offending top part of the beam pattern rather than doing a full reverse pattern.
Your best bet is to try to find a pair of LHD headlights from a scrapyard. They should be fairly trivial to fit, but depending on the complexity of the integration you may need to have the car recoded so that it knows that it has LHD headlights and/or knows that it is an LHD market car - otherwise the auto headlight modification program light then try to chop off the top of the LHD beam pattern which would land you back at square one.
JohnnyUK said:
It should be in the Car Menu, under Exterior Lighting; it's called "Headlamp Converter"
It may not be there though, according to this forum it may need coding in:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php...
This is great. Thanks for sharing Johnny. It may not be there though, according to this forum it may need coding in:
https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php...
The car is being transported to Audi on Monday so I'm going to write out a detailed explanation in Spanish with all the findings to date. I'm hoping they can open up the tourist option as it's currently not there.
Getting silly offers from people to take the car back to the UK to sell but it's a pain because there's nothing wrong with the vehicle (bar the wrong beam pattern).
Rushjob said:
To Rickydanger, whereabouts are you? I've got an OBDelevenPro that you can use to code them in if you're near Murcia. You'd need to research how to do it though as I've only had the kit a few days and I'm still getting my head around it 
I really appreciate that but I'm about 5 hours away near Marbella. Out of curiosity, how much did it cost you?Juc1 said:
This post says 5th April - but I can't see a year so I don't know if this post is many years old.
Anyway I was just wondering @Rickydanger if there is any update. I am also near Marbella and hoping to import my 2013 UK Audi A4 to Spanish registration. Did you go to Audi near Marbella, and what happened with your headlights?
Hi there,Anyway I was just wondering @Rickydanger if there is any update. I am also near Marbella and hoping to import my 2013 UK Audi A4 to Spanish registration. Did you go to Audi near Marbella, and what happened with your headlights?
It was from 2024 and I wish I had more encouraging news but after a whole lot of money and around 3 garage visits later (including Audi), we decided enough was enough and sent the car back to the UK to be sold.
I'm not suggesting everyone will have the same issues but it's worth checking before you head over to see if the option is there as replacement headlights seem very expensive and the options available are lengthy.
We've purchased a Spanish C350e Merc and whilst the engine is a lot of fun, it lacks the technology and UX of the Audi interior.
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