Issue Installing OEM Euro Golf R lights on US R

[OceanLad]

Hey all,

So a few months ago, my beautiful little 2016 R was viciously assaulted by a Subaru Forester and both headlights were destroyed.

When it came time to replace, to save a little $$ for other mods, and to get just a slightly different look, I ordered a set of headlights from a dealership in Spain. They are the European headlights which, I thought, the only difference was the clear marker instead of the colored turn signal marker on the North American Rs.

The headlights are the adaptive units and my car was originally equipped with the adaptive units. But I am not sure what is going on.

When I turn the car on, the headlights run through that weird TRON boot up thing where they go up, down, out and in, so I know the motors work.

Unfortunately, the high beams don't engage and the adaptive properties aren't working. Everything I've read says these should be plug and play, any idea what is going on? My big concern (And hopefully, I have not totally screwed myself) is that the lights came with a ten pin harness while my stockers had a 12 pin harness.

Has anyone come across this issue? Any tips for resolution? Point me to the right coding?

Also, for those of you with non-adaptive lighting, do they go through that same space-aged motorized warm up? I assume not, but if so, I am worried I got the wrong units.

Thanks for any tips, everyone!

 

[vrod]

What partnumbers are your old ones.. And what part numbers are the new ones? The new ones might be with DLA which is a different projector.

 

[OceanLad]

VROD, I will get the part number later, but that was the really frustrating part. Both headlights have the same part number. Both are DLA.

I think I'm to the point where I know what I need. I need to get a hold of a wiring diagram for the European headlights.

 

[revgti]

im pretty darn sure we don't get DLA in the US. Plus, why would the part #s be the same if you got E-codes vs US spec lamps.

 

[notavr1]

Did you adapt them? I have them on my car and they were plug and play

Edit: also are you sure the xenon bulb is seated correctly?

 

[vrod]

Did you get the part numbers? Do you actually know what DLA is? The difference is that the projector inside the headlight has a "rolling shutter" and not a normal one. Light assist is different than the dynamic light assist system.

 

[OceanLad]

RE

Yes, I actually know what DLA is. And, just fyi, that came off a bit condescending. But I really appreciate the help, and I know tone is tough on the internet. Just wanted to let you know.

And why the part numbers are the same, I cannot tell you. Probably witchcraft, but VW didn't consult me, so the witchcraft thing is just a guess.

NOTAVR, did you do the swap yourself? Did you have the same number of pins on both units? I will have to check to see if the bulb is seated properly. Is there a reason you think that could be the issue.

 

[bbjwvr6]

Yes, I actually know what DLA is. And, just fyi, that came off a bit condescending. But I really appreciate the help, and I know tone is tough on the internet. Just wanted to let you know.

And why the part numbers are the same, I cannot tell you. Probably witchcraft, but VW didn't consult me, so the witchcraft thing is just a guess.

NOTAVR, did you do the swap yourself? Did you have the same number of pins on both units? I will have to check to see if the bulb is seated properly. Is there a reason you think that could be the issue.

How could they be plug and play if you got DLA headlights which are certainly different than the lights in your car? Are you trying to get the DLA function to work? Does your car have DAP? Not to be condescending but are you sure you know the difference between adaptive headlights and Dynamic Light Assist?

 

[OceanLad]

bbjwvr6 and vrod, my apologies. I was assuming DLA was the adaptive (moving) feature.

 

[OceanLad]

And looking back at the thread, I did order the DLA lights. Fudge! Anything I can do to get this working?

 

[bbjwvr6]

And looking back at the thread, I did order the DLA lights. Fudge! Anything I can do to get this working?

If you have US 2016 with DAP, you might try enabling this with VCDS...You may be able to get it to work. But camera in the windshield that comes with USA DAP, might not be capable of it.

You might also shoot for getting these to work without the DLA feature...maybe you can copy the coding from someone elses headlights (USA) as the new ones are probably coded incorrectly for your setup. I seem to remember someone needed to copy their old coding to their new euro lights to get them to work and they weren't even DLA.

 

[OceanLad]

Yeah, we tried that. Copied the coding from the originals, but no joy.

I found this part, which seems to be the necessary mirror/camera, but it looks like I'd also need a new windshield and a bunch of coding. Of course, then something else will probably come up. I'm still worried about the final wiring to the headlights, though my hunch is, the two pins that are missing on the DLA units are for the high beams, since, as I understand it, the DLA doesn't have a separate high beam function.

Anyway, I sent an e-mail to a guy in Australia who said on one of the forums down there he did the swap. Here goes nothing!

This has turned into the most expensive way I've ever tried to save money.

 

[bbjwvr6]

Yeah, we tried that. Copied the coding from the originals, but no joy.

I found this part, which seems to be the necessary mirror/camera, but it looks like I'd also need a new windshield and a bunch of coding. Of course, then something else will probably come up. I'm still worried about the final wiring to the headlights, though my hunch is, the two pins that are missing on the DLA units are for the high beams, since, as I understand it, the DLA doesn't have a separate high beam function.

Anyway, I sent an e-mail to a guy in Australia who said on one of the forums down there he did the swap. Here goes nothing!

This has turned into the most expensive way I've ever tried to save money.

Yeah...you might also be concerned that your 09- Central Electronics may be incompatible as well. Since I have the Lane Assist camera (2016 USA with DAP), I tried coding that I know gets High Beam Assist (the dumb version of DLA) to work and I couldn't get either my 09 or A5 modules to accept the coding.

 

[OceanLad]

bbjwvr6, thanks much. Good to know. Guessing this is a fools errand. Damn.

 

[vrod]

Good luck with it. I have not yet to see anyone retrofit this succesfully though.