B6 (R36) Projector Issues

[snerlo]

It depends on how anal you are about having perfect headlights. If the lens looks like it has a small frosty looking discolouration and you feel like ripping the headlight apart, then go for it, but from the sounds of it, it really isn't worth worrying about in my honest opinion. I'm pretty anal about having things perfect but a line has to be drawn somewhere!!

[Felixrising]

I was having a look at my xenon HIDs and also noted they are very cloudy too... Is this just UV bleaching or by design? I can't see it being the later... the retrofit source lenses look great, but what size are the correct ones? If the instructions on pulling those lamp assemblies apart are correct, I don't think I'm up for it.. the one I saw had the guy sticking the whole thing in the oven! :S

Please correct me if I'm wrong, the stock Xenon HID globes are 4300k? I would have though they are 5000k at least, they look super white/blueish compared to the cornering lamps and parking lights (is that what the inner smaller lamps are called?) which both look less than 4300k, more like 3000k or something down into the yellow spectrum. I'd like to get both cornering and driving lights similar to the xenons, I'm guessing either 4300 or 5000k, but totally happy to stick with halogen/conventional incandescent bulbs where possible (price and staying close to stock being the driving factors here).

[Jakeys]

I think the clouding is wear/grime on the lenses. From factory the lenses have a golf ball kinda bumpy design on them rather than flat, but they should be clear. I am guessing it is common as everyone I have asked has had the clouding, although it tends only to be visible at night when they are on. It affects the output quality, unfortunately, so it is a flaw.

Yes, heating the lenses to separate them is not uncommon, and yes it is a ****ty job I'd rather not do either. Plus, I don't think it will be as easy as just replacing the lenses with aftermarket, I expect some modding would be involved.

Yes, stock are 4300k. Your parkers and cornering/bend lighting are incandescent aka "yellow" light, which is why your projectors appear white by comparison. If you replace your parkers with LED you will notice they are considerably whiter than the factory HID lights, refer to my first photo in the original post for an example. The camera makes the LED look blueish but it is a proper white LED, and the HID looks yellower next to it. This is because LED at a guess is probably around 5000k.

You are unlikely to find LED lights easily that are a matching 4300k, you will either want to swap your HID's to 5000k (Expensive and prick of a job, front bar off) or accept your LED lighting being a bit whiter than your headlights. I've done the latter, the difference is very minor, significantly less than incandescent vs 4300k. Your parkers, mirror puddles and license plate lights can all be swapped out easily for LED variants. DO NOT buy LED for your cornering/bend lighting though, even CANBUS compatible lighting will throw an error there as they fade out rather than turn off when you complete your turn, which doesn't work with LED. I was going to get Phillips BlueVision globes for mine for this reason, but everything else is LED.

If you do decide to upgrade your HID globes to 5000k, while you have the lights out, you could try cleaning inside your lenses with a stick with some microfibre on the end or something, but I have no idea how much clearance there is in there for that.

[Passat R36]

re the Xenon, some case is the the Xenon bulb heated up the reflector in the unit causing the crap light output

[Felixrising]

Hmmm... Thanks @Jakeys for your very informative post! In considering all of the HID upgrades and LED upgrades, I've decided to go for traditional Halogen H7 globes, I think from a pure visibility perspective the Philips WhiteVision (4100k) would offer the best mixture of purer white light whilst maintaining good visible lighting, with the Philips CrystalVision (4300k) offering less visibility but a closer match to the 4300k HIDs - which also meets my *need* to get ride of that yellow light which bugs me *every time* those cornering lights come on. As for the parkers... no idea, but blingwork automotive lighting seem to have a CrystalVision kit that includes "matching" T10 parkers (with zero info on what they are) which I assume 'll be plug-n-play.

I kind of expected there'd be a TSB about the Xenon projector lens cloudiness... but there is only a dead url to "customer reports moisture in HID/Xenon assembly"... Meh... the search for a lazy solution continues... I might have a crack at that stick+cloth idea..

EDIT: What are the fog lamps again? H11? I'm guessing, being for foggy conditions, by rights they should remain very yellow temperature lamps...

Cornering lamps: H7 55W
Parkers: T10 W5W
Fog Lamps: H11 55W?

[Passat R36]

R36 has no fog lights.

[Felixrising]

I actually had a proper look at the front of the car... Well, that is embarrassing

So I did see a whole extra bulb I hadn't noticed before in the cornering lamps.. so there are two, a H7 55w and a ???

EDIT: according to this post, it's two H7 55W globes...

The cornering bulbs are a H7 55W and the Bi-Xenon is a D1S 35W. The parking bulbs are a H5W.

[Jakeys]

That sounds right. If your included parkers don't work out, grab these. They are dirt cheap, postage was quick, no errors, and look perfect. I have them for my parkers and my license plate lights (Remember that MY10.5 license plate globes are different from older model years, wedge instead of festoon) and they match stock output pretty much to a tee, but are white obviously. A lot of LED solutions are typically too bright and light up the road/look obviously aftermarket. These would also work for your mirror puddles as I've probably mentioned somewhere in the other lighting thread going on recently, but I recommend the proper panel for that as they are quite a lot brighter which you actually do want for puddle lights!

[Passat R36]

That's the static cornering light and as far as I can tell, there is only one globe, the other one is its reflection.

[snerlo]

You got that right Passat R36. It is the reflection

[Felixrising]

LOL! It totally had me! When I look at the picture now, it seems more obvious... I kept thinking, it's exactly 90deg offset but is oddly smaller... Yay, less bulbs to buy!

@Jakeys: I was also considering these T10 LEDs but the ones you linked to seem to have a couple of extra resistors in parallel, so should be able to dissipate a bit more power and not trip a CAN Bus error

[Jakeys]

Mine also have a few more LED SMD's on as well. You wouldn't want to go any less bright than what I got in my opinion, or you're looking at dimmer than stock.

[Felixrising]

A small update.

I received the Philips Crystal (4300k) bulbs... Maybe my Xenons are different, but I'd say the light is ever so slightly more blue from the Crystal bulbs than the Xenons.. Maybe 4100 would have been a better match. That said, I'm really quibbling over the slightest of shades and probably the 4100 would have been too far in the yellow direction and I'd be complaining about that instead :p

One issue with changing the DRLs - admittedly I'm yet to do some research about it - I couldn't for the life of my get the DRLs out!!!! I have a couple of cuts and a bit of blood on my clothes after trying for several minutes with no success.

[snerlo]

Thanks for the update mate. Will look into these one day although they are expensive for just halogen bulbs!!
With regards to the DRL's, you mean the parkers?? If so, yeah, I know what you mean. They are a real pain in the you know what!!

[Felixrising]

Yeah, I do mean the Parkers! My terminology is all mixed up.

Well, I figured out if I use my pliers, I'm able to fairly easily get a hold of the tab and pull it out without any further sacrificial blood letting or swearing from me.

I've now got a six (6) spare T10 LEDs, as per above, that I'm giving away to anyone that wants to pick them up OR for $5 + postage (because it's a pain going to the post office)..