[N867LC]

I've been scouring the forums and there are plenty of threads on how bad the Touareg headlights are.

We all know how to polish the exterior lenses to remove the light diffusing coating and reapplying a UV protective coating, open up the capsule and do a "joey mod" and such.

My headlights are terrible as everyone else's. I have polished and protected the lenses. But I can see that the light pattern coming from the projectors is scattered and almost looks like the lenses are "out of focus" or shifted inside the housing.

I don't want to pay for used headlights and have the same burned out projector issue, nor do I want to pay $700+ for two pieces of plastic to put my hands on (my ex-girlfriend had two pieces of plastic too and those weren't any fun to play with either ...trust me!!)

What I haven't been able to find is:
1) Which, if any retrofit HID bi-xenon projectors work within the stock headlight capsule?
2) what is the size(s) of the lenses?
3) what size of projector should be used?

 

[noobytoogy]

I very much doubt the projectors have moved.

I thought the V10 came with xenons as standard.

Is that correct on your car?

 

[Scubacruiser]

Start here: http://www.clubtouareg.com/forums/f64/t1-afs-bixenon-projectror-upgrade-with-retrofitlab-md1s-projectors-228722.html

Aftermarket projectors for an Audi A4.

 

[N867LC]

I very much doubt the projectors have moved.

I thought the V10 came with xenons as standard.

Is that correct on your car?

Correct! my T1 is a V10 edition...It does have the bi-Xenon / Halogen headlights.

But the projectors have lost all ability to do anything expect provide "mood" lighting. I've opened up the back of the projectors and what isn't black falls out in a grey dust/flake. I know the lenses haven't moved, but it is amazing to see the completely "chaotic" diffused pattern from each headlight. Both scatter light differently.

I just ran across the write up on the AFS T1 swap out. I am in the process of pulling the guts out the first headlight capsule now. I'll take photos and document for anyone else.

 

[noobytoogy]

From what you write it sounds like the "chrome" reflectors have failed.

If that is the case then I'd source a pair of used headlight units and, whilst I was at it, replace both the xenon bulbs as these fade over time.

 

[noobytoogy]

Looking on e-bay $400 or thereabouts should get you a good pair.

 

[N867LC]

Thanks Noob! I had thought about getting a replacement set of headlight capsules, but there is no guarantee that those replacement capsules wouldn't be just as bad as mine.

I pulled one headlight capsule apart last night. Not hard for a first timer. I was concerned that I would break something.

 

[N867LC]

I was able to get the headlight projectors out without too much problem. I took photos and I will do a write up for others to use.

The projectors themselves were completely burned out...literally black on the entire top side.

Now to find a replacement!

 

[noobytoogy]

It will be good to see those photos. Perhaps you have identified the real issue ref the lights.

 

[N867LC]

Removal of projectors from headlight

1) Perform standard process for removing the lens and inner housing from headlight capsule. I used 225 deg F, a set of small, medium and large wood chisels to free and remove the outer portion of the capsule from the lens. Two small flat blade screwdrivers to help lift and free the lens and the inner housing from the capsule.

2) After the inner housing (silver decorative piece) has been removed. The Halogen high beam projector (inner projector) can be removed with a T20 torx driver. This comes out very easily since the screws that hold it in place are now accessible from the front and the leveling system is not touched.

3) To remove the bi-xenon projector things get a bit more complicated. You can access the top two of the four T20 screws without any problem. The bottom screws are hidden by the high-low flap motor and the ballast flange area.

You CAN NOT pop-off the leveling system to get this projector out, you have a VERY HIGH RISK of destroying the ball & sockets that are in the leveling system.

5) Use a 10mm socket to turn the left / right adjustment to fully move the projector away from the outside edge of the housing (left headlight turn all the way right, right headlight all the way left). You are going to unscrew the shaft completely out.

6) Move the projector freely inward to gain access to the lower two T20 screws with a minimal amount of difficulty and free the projector from the leveling system.

7) To remove the projector, you will need to remove the flap motor with a T15 torx driver (it gets in the way), next work the projector around so that the projector can come out rear first on outward side of the capsule.

Photos to follow as soon as I put them on drop box and can upload them.

My plan is to install Morimoto's Mini D2S 3.0 from The Retrofit Source. I will have to use the D1S adapter from the 2009-2010 Tiguan to use these D2S housing or just cut a slot into the D2S retainer rings to slide the D1S bulbs in place.

Things You will notice:
1) That all (okay 85%) the wiring in the capsule has NO insulation left on it!
2) The top of the projector housing has NO reflective coating left on it!

 

[N867LC]

Here are the photos of the projector removal.

 

[nickyt]

lolz. Those wires look great. Not a thing wrong with them!

PS: don't ask about the insulation though...

 

[N867LC]

Removal of headlight wiring harness

This is pretty simple once you get the projectors removed. You will need a large flat blade screw driver and small flat blade screw driver.

1) Locate the main plug in the back of the headlight capsule. The plug is removed from the capsule from the inside towards the outside.

2) From the inside you can see (4) tabs on the top and bottom of the connector. Press the small screw driver blade on the tab and move the tab toward the connector body (compressing the tab). Use the large screwdriver to apply pressure on the connector (from the inside) so the tab starts to go through the headlight capsule.

3) keep pressure on connector with large screwdriver and now do the next tab on the same side (left or right). You want the connector to start to move outwards.

4) Still keeping pressure on the connector, repeat the process for the opposite side. The connector will slide out and all the wiring harness can be removed and repaired.

The insulation on all the wiring was brittle and fell off as I handled the harness. It took me about a hour to cut, splice and put heat shrink tubing on all the wiring. I used 1/16" (1.5mm) and 1/8" (3.0mm) heat shrink tubing.

 

[N867LC]

Here are some photos of the repaired wiring harness going back into the capsule. These should help visualize what my instructions are.

Note: The wiring in the harness is completely covered. I used clear heat shrink tubing on allot of the wiring that I didn't splice out.

 

[Built4Sin]

I can't believe the wires disintegrated like that. I̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶w̶l̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶-̶c̶h̶r̶o̶m̶e̶d̶?̶ However if you can fit the Morimoto's thats a way better option.

Never mind on the re-chroming; HID Planet "Burnt reflector bowls. how can i fix them"

 

[noobytoogy]

I can't believe the wires disintegrated like that.

"

It's becoming a known fault for a lot of people.

 

[LauriJT]

Wow. Those wires and reflectors look great, lol. Since those headlights have two projectors unlike the afs headlight, why not replace both units with bixenon projectors?
That might have some awesome visibility.

I just bought a 2002 passat variant and it has bixenon lights too that are horribly bad. Aliexpress has lots of hella evo projectors with good price for it. Just hoping passat doesnt have permaseal headlight like touareg...

 

[N867LC]

Wow. Those wires and reflectors look great, lol. Since those headlights have two projectors unlike the afs headlight, why not replace both units with bixenon projectors?
That might have some awesome visibility.

I just bought a 2002 passat variant and it has bixenon lights too that are horribly bad. Aliexpress has lots of hella evo projectors with good price for it. Just hoping passat doesnt have permaseal headlight like touareg...

Thanks Lauri!

1) I looked at the Halogen high beam projector and it shows no signs of deterioration and honestly the beam from it is "IMO" very good.

2) If I change out the Halogen high beam projector, I may need to change the factory ballast as well. which may introduce other issues with "faults" or "codes" being thrown since something is out of the normal.

2a) My logic is: Keeping the setup so that I can use the factory ballast removes a possibility of creating a problem in order to solve a different problem. I plan to go through a stepped process, so that once we solve one design issue we can then address the next. Also there isn't too much room in or behind these headlight capsule and I didn't want to try and make room where there may not be any to have.

 

[LauriJT]

You are right, better actually keep it simple. the fact that there is no room for mod like that alone makes it pretty much impossible.

 

[liquidlynx]

T1's are hybrid xenon / halogen aren't they? Can you switch fully to xenon? My 2006 is hybrid I know...and having the same issue with the light quality. What do we think on replacement OE lights - useless or do I have to go buy OEM from the stealers?