Xenon Light replaced by dealer, now doesn't match at all!

[MplsDude]

Just picked up the Touareg from the dealer, they said that the new bulbs they are receiving from VW are more of a yellowish color and that VW is no longer making the blueish looking ones. WHAT BS!

I called BS on the service advisor on the phone and asked him if he can tell me what the bulb temperature was for the one they put in, he refused saying there is no way for him to find out.

I then asked him for the bulb part number and he said there is no way for him to determine that, I said "Well someone obviously pulls the part from your stock room, so can't you go back there and write the part number down?" He begrudgingly said he would get the part number for me.

The P/N he gave me is N-105-661-03

I have e-mailed 1stVW Parts to ask them what the correct part number is for my 04 Touareg.

I am thinking of just ordering another bulb from 1stVW Parts and putting it in the other side to match. I really like the blueish color ones though.

Does anyone know are the bulbs hard to install yourself?

[Vegas Matt]

I just had both of mine changed out per the TSB that's going around. It was only done after the service manager got involved, however, as the service writer I was working with said they found no problems and didn't replace either of them. They just cleared the fault codes without doing anything else, and I still had flickering bulbs that night.

I will say the new ones seem slightly yellower, but MUCH brighter than the old ones that were obviously dying. They also are supposed to stabilize after about 200 hours of use, so in time they may blue to your liking. If I can find the bulb part number anywhere I'll let you know.

Changing the bulbs doesn't seem to be a big deal as long as you're careful.

Matt

[zerokewl]

I think the Dealer went cheap and used a "used" bulb!
Maybe took one out of a Junk-yard that had a few hours already on it!

[Fixmy59bug]

Unfortunately the dealership is right.

The part number is N-105-661-03. And that applies to all Touaregs that use the D1S type of Xenon bulbs.

I can also tell you, though, that the part number was in fact superceded. The old part number used to be N-105-661-01. But the chances of finding one of those are slim to none and getting slimmer. The N-105-661-01 number has not been used since November of 05.

If all else fails you have two options, Buy another factory D1S bulb so it matches the other one (at the cost of just over $200),

Or you can hit up Ebay and buy 2 D1S bulbs in 6000K and have a matching set of blue-ish bulbs. That road will probably be cheaper than the one factory bulb.

As far as the dealership using a "used" bulb. I hope you weren't serious.

[Vegas Matt]

That date of November '05 for the ending of the -01 bulb may coincide with the TSB about headlights flickering. That -01 bulb may have been the culprit, hence the reason for moving away from that bulb.

I'll try to have a look at one of my new ones, which I'll assume are the new -03 bulbs, to see what brand/model they put in there now. The old ones were Osram, although I don't know the model number. Since I've been using them for about a week now (not much night driving though) they do seem to be losing some of the yellow-ish tint they initially had and are turning more toward a pleasant white. Only time will tell what it shifts toward...

Matt

[MplsDude]

Originally Posted by Fixmy59bug

Or you can hit up Ebay and buy 2 D1S bulbs in 6000K and have a matching set of blue-ish bulbs. That road will probably be cheaper than the one factory bulb.

I have head eBay bulbs can be risky because you could melt and fry your wiring in the headlight.

Would these ones be safe to use? eBay Motors: GE D1S HID XENON BULBS 6000K 9000K LIFETIME WARRANTY (item 360069224280 end time Jul-16-08 22:24:01 PDT)

Also, could I put the 9000K (Aqua Blue) ones in or would that temp be too hot for the Touareg and melt the wiring? Are the OEM Xenons in the Touareg 6000K temperature?

Oh and are there any DIY articles online about changing the bulbs yourself?

[Fixmy59bug]

Originally Posted by Vegas Matt

I'll try to have a look at one of my new ones, which I'll assume are the new -03 bulbs, to see what brand/model they put in there now. The old ones were Osram, although I don't know the model number.

Matt, Looking at the -03 we have in stock here, It is still an Osram Xenarc with a model number of 66142.

[Vegas Matt]

The color temperature won't fry wiring. Color temp (ie 4300k, 6000k, 9000k) is for a color representation only, not the temperature of the bulb itself. The higher the color temperature, the more blue the bulb. The lower the color temp, the more yellow the bulb. One thing to watch though is that it is illegal to run lights other than white or amber on the front of a vehicle, as blue and red are reserved for emergency/police vehicles. I've heard of people being pulled over for having aftermarket lights on their vehicle, so I don't know how much higher than 6000k i'd go. Also, I've read that light output actually diminishes once you get past 6500k or so, although I have no info to back it up it seems plausible.

What you need to be concerned about is wattage. The stock D1S bulbs in the Touareg are 35-watt. If you go to a higher wattage, you risk melting wiring or damaging other components (headlight housing, ballast, etc) due to the increased current draw and heat. Oh yeah, you most probably would set off a check lights warning before that happens, which would probably shut down the headlights if the current draw is too much.

Matt

[Fixmy59bug]

MPLS, The rating of HID's does not refer to the thermal temperature of the capsule. All the HID's burn at the same thermal temperature.

The rating refers to the color temperature of the bulb. FOr Example,

3000k - Golden Yellow
4100k/4300k - Sunlight (White with a slight tinge of yellow)
6000k - Pure White with a slight tinge of blue
8000k - Brilliant Blue
10000K - Purple

Remember though, The further you go up in the color scale, the less actual light output there will be. By the time you get to 10K they will be barely better than halogens with a dark shade of purple.

I would recommend a color no higher than 6000K.

[MplsDude]

Thanks for the info, it sounds like the eBay bulbs I linked above would work fine since they are 35 watt.

I wish I could see the color difference between the 6000K and the 9000K. I really like the blueish tint my drivers side original bulb has to it, so my fear is that if I buy the 6000K it won't look like Xenon lights look and will just look like a plain ole' headlight.