[volkswagens-for-life]

Thank you, that sounds awesome! I think one issue with HID kits in a high quality halogen headlight system like what Porsche uses, is that HIDs are not a point source, so it completely destroys the ability of the OEM mirrors to shape the headlight beam, blinding oncoming drivers and airplanes but not really lighting up the road much. I could imagine that LEDs do better if properly designed, because both LEDs and incandescent lights are essentially point sources, so can use the same type of housing and reflectors.

I hate saying this because its usually such a cheap response, but, "it depends". Seriously. Once upon a time, projector housings were a HUGE no-no for LED lights. In 2025, there are high end LED's designed from the ground up to be effectively installed into projector housings.

I checked rockauto and they can't seem to get you the OEM xenon housings anymore, I'm sure other sources could.. but if it were me, and having put a solid 20 minutes of research into your car.. I'd get the DDM LED lights, and I'd ensure your OEM headlamps are completely free of fog etc. If they have tiny scratches and knicks in them I'd throw Xpel protective covering over them. Not Laminx - I've had poor luck with them lasting more than a year or two regardless the fact they have lifetime warranties or whatever. But xpel was personally recommended to me by the owner of Retro Shop US and said they work great and last forever. The reason I suggest xpel over OEM housings w/ light scratches and knicks is because the xpel will actually form fit into the tiny creases and fill them in - and also aid in restoring proper lighting.

If your OEM lights have fog, you can either use a restoration kit (they work great) and then xpel immediately atop it, or buy new OEM housings. And at that point, I'd be looking to upgrade to a xenon housing if possible.

 

[casioqv]

If your OEM lights have fog, you can either use a restoration kit (they work great) and then xpel immediately atop it, or buy new OEM housings. And at that point, I'd be looking to upgrade to a xenon housing if possible.

Sounds good, I will likely follow your advice on the xpel for both of my cars. While the Boxster doesn't have fog because it's literally never been parked outdoors for more than a few hours without a car cover, my Touareg does. And I've found that removing it doesn't do much, because it comes back quickly, presumably due to oxidation, which the xpel layer would likely prevent.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

Sounds good, I will likely follow your advice on the xpel for both of my cars. While the Boxster doesn't have fog because it's literally never been parked outdoors for more than a few hours without a car cover, my Touareg does. And I've found that removing it doesn't do much, because it comes back quickly, presumably due to oxidation, which the xpel layer would likely prevent.

My Touareg lights were mint other than some minor knicks/scratches, Lamin-X fixed that 100% and they looked fantastic. Even on the fogs I used yellow lamin-x and they looked great and filled in the minor voids. The problem is, the laminx itself began fogging up after maybe 1.5-2 years. Xpel is much less likely to do this based on my research and recommendation from Retro Shop US.

If the Touareg has fogged lights, use a removal kit. I've used some in the past.. they work, but the results don't last. Now, I haven't personally used this exact kit, but I've used other Cerakote products and they're fantastic.

I'd use this kit - let it dry thoroughly according to instructions - then place the xpel over top of it.

Amazon.com: CERAKOTE® Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit – Guaranteed To Last As Long As You Own Your Vehicle – Brings Headlights Back to Like New Condition - No Power Tools Required - 10 Wipe Kit : Automotive

Buy CERAKOTE® Ceramic Headlight Restoration Kit – Guaranteed To Last As Long As You Own Your Vehicle – Brings Headlights Back to Like New Condition - No Power Tools Required - 10 Wipe Kit: Headlight Restoration Kits - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Word of advice - When I used other kits w/ a rub-on UV protectant, while applying the laminx covers I applied/removed several times (as you're supposed to be able to do... assuming you didn't just put a UV additive on the lights..) and it actually pulled up the UV additive. Now, the Cerakote may be different and not pull up like that... but.. take it from me, just do it right the first time without lifting the wrap and you'll likely be good to go for years.


EDIT: and as cool as the tinted or smoked headlamp covers look, they look like **** when driving down the road... they murder light output and alter the output color band enough to be damaging. Just get clear unless its for the fogs, the yellow was fantastic.

 

[Lars_NM]

I've got the Halogen headlights on my touareg which originally were not that good. I replaced with new factory lamp housings and halogens that are +10W over stock and carefully aligned them. They they are adequate. If you go more than +10W over stock you risk melting your headlight and/or wiring. The +10W in a reputable brand are hard to find and are not DOT legal. I suggest you measure the actual wattage before you install them and dont go more than +10W. LED don't work well in these housings because the LED's are not in the correct focal point of the lamp housing. LED headlamps need to be designed from the ground up for LED bulbs. You can't retrofit a filament bulb headlamp housing with LED bulbs and expect the focus to be correct.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

I've got the Halogen headlights on my touareg which originally were not that good. I replaced with new factory lamp housings and halogens that are +10W over stock and carefully aligned them. They they are adequate. If you go more than +10W over stock you risk melting your headlight and/or wiring. The +10W in a reputable brand are hard to find and are not DOT legal. I suggest you measure the actual wattage before you install them and dont go more than +10W. LED don't work well in these housings because the LED's are not in the correct focal point of the lamp housing. LED headlamps need to be designed from the ground up for LED bulbs. You can't retrofit a filament bulb headlamp housing with LED bulbs and expect the focus to be correct.

~5 years ago, I'd have agreed with you 100%. In 2025, I disagree. Today, they do in fact design bulbs around specific halogen housings. For instance; every single bulb Diode Dynamics makes is made for your exact housing. By that I mean, if you go to their website and search for your bulb or your automotive application and you cannot find a listing its because Diode Dynamics hasn't made a bulb that will fit your housing precisely to their level of quality.

Additionally, if you look at the amazon link above of the DDM Tuning LED bulbs, they have engineered the high beam filament and low beam filament to be in precisely the exact location as the OEM single bulb setup goes.. like so:

So these LED bulbs fit, function, and even cut off at the exact limitations of stock.

 

[Lars_NM]

I agree that the LED retrofit bulbs have gotten better but there are inherent physical problems with using led bulbs in a reflector designed for an incandescent bulb. Incandescent bulbs emit lite uniformily 360 degrees around the filiment. A planar diode emits light non uniformily and it's intensity drops off to around 50% at 50 degrees off axis. You can add more diodes in a circle and that helps but there is also a heating problem so you need a cooling solution. Save your money. For $20 you can get a pair of 65W Halogens. I bought the Nokya 65W H7 bulbs and the Hella H9 65W on Amazon for both my cars 3 years ago and have had no problems. Don't go higher than 65W or you rick melting your headlights.

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

I agree that the LED retrofit bulbs have gotten better but there are inherent physical problems with using led bulbs in a reflector designed for an incandescent bulb. Incandescent bulbs emit lite uniformily 360 degrees around the filiment. A planar diode emits light non uniformily and it's intensity drops off to around 50% at 50 degrees off axis. You can add more diodes in a circle and that helps but there is also a heating problem so you need a cooling solution. Save your money. For $20 you can get a pair of 65W Halogens. I bought the "Nokya 65W" H7 bulbs on Amazon for both my cars 3 years ago and have had no problems.

The original bulbs in my RAM have a paint so that they do not emit forward lighting, like so

My DDM Tuning lights also do not forward light, and any light that makes it forward is reflected back via the OEM "cup" thats in the assembly. They also come with a cooling heat sync as well as very quiet fans. Heating is a non issue. A factory halogen h13 can hit 1300* F... my DDM Tuning 65w LED DDM Tuning only hits 119* F.

Your Nokya 64w h7 bulbs aren't even in the same galaxy as my 65w LED's in terms of lumens, lifespan etc.

Halogen Headlight Bulb Comparison Chart – Brightness & Beam Data | BulbFacts

Compare halogen headlight bulbs side‑by‑side with brightness, beam pattern, and value scores from our independent lab testing.

www.bulbfacts.com

 

[Touaregman33]

Sounds good, I will likely follow your advice on the xpel for both of my cars. While the Boxster doesn't have fog because it's literally never been parked outdoors for more than a few hours without a car cover, my Touareg does. And I've found that removing it doesn't do much, because it comes back quickly, presumably due to oxidation, which the xpel layer would likely prevent.

Show a photo of your headlights currently and I will tell you the exact steps on how to get them looking like new. I've done countless cars and unless the oxidation is on the inside of the lens ( which is rare) I can have them looking brand new if you follow my steps.

Also you will need to xpel them afterwards.

 

[Touaregman33]

I agree that the LED retrofit bulbs have gotten better but there are inherent physical problems with using led bulbs in a reflector designed for an incandescent bulb. Incandescent bulbs emit lite uniformily 360 degrees around the filiment. A planar diode emits light non uniformily and it's intensity drops off to around 50% at 50 degrees off axis. You can add more diodes in a circle and that helps but there is also a heating problem so you need a cooling solution. Save your money. For $20 you can get a pair of 65W Halogens. I bought the Nokya 65W H7 bulbs and the Hella H9 65W on Amazon for both my cars 3 years ago and have had no problems. Don't go higher than 65W or you rick melting your headlights.

Led burn much cooler then your halogen bulbs. They won't melt, the housing. You're thinking of Xenon kits.

 

[casioqv]

Show a photo of your headlights currently

Just click on the build thread in my signature- lots of photos from different angles, and lots of responses about needing to fix it.

I bought a pair of 3M kits for doing this years ago but haven't had time yet- and the headlights still work really well.

 

[Touaregman33]

Just click on the build thread in my signature- lots of photos from different angles, and lots of responses about needing to fix it.

I bought a pair of 3M kits for doing this years ago but haven't had time yet- and the headlights still work really well.

So you're going to keep the 3m Kit and follow my instructions

wet sand with 1,500 grit disk on the drill
Wet Sand with 3,000 Grit disk on the drill
Then you're going to use meguiars 105 compound on the orange disk pad they give you
Then Meguiars 205 Finishing polish
Heres some recent cars that I've done using these steps

 

[casioqv]

So you're going to keep the 3m Kit and follow my instructions

Awesome, thanks!

 

[volkswagens-for-life]

So you're going to keep the 3m Kit and follow my instructions

wet sand with 1,500 grit disk on the drill
Wet Sand with 3,000 Grit disk on the drill
Then you're going to use meguiars 105 compound on the orange disk pad they give you
Then Meguiars 205 Finishing polish
Heres some recent cars that I've done using these steps

View attachment 270234 View attachment 270235 View attachment 270236 View attachment 270237 View attachment 270238 View attachment 270240

All with xpel out on afterwards?

 

[Touaregman33]

All with xpel out on afterwards?

Correct, I didn't apply xpel to any of those.
That's the next owners issue 😝

But I install xpel on any of the cars that I'm planing on keeping as the yellowing will come back if not.

 

[77 K20]

Is there a way to swap from bi xenon lights to xenon lights( with the two lenses)?

I believe he has the "fancy" AFS bi xenon headlights. They have a halogen cornering light in them. I can not find new ones of these anywhere as my daughter's 2007 has them and the previous owner didn't make sure the halogen cornering light was locked in and it melted a big hole in the headlight housing. I bought a used one off eBay. (used AFS headlight right below)

And the OP was asking about swapping the AFS light to the "standard" xenon headlight:

I understand his question- but I do not know the answer to it.

 

[casioqv]

They have a halogen cornering light in them.

Those would be an excellent candidate for LED upgrades I think. I don't know about you guys, but my cornering light bulbs only last about a year, even using good quality sylvania or phillips bulbs. I think halogen bulbs don't much like being turned on and off frequently, and loose a lot of filament material each time that happens, so the same bulbs don't last nearly as long in this application as they would in regular headlights. There's also a lot of thermal shock from cycling on and off.