Side light and rear number plate bulbs

[FazS3]

Hi guys,

Want to upgrade the rear number plate bulbs and also get rid of the front yellow sidelights. (would prefer to get something similar to the xenon on front)

Was wondering has anyone done this and which bulbs would I need?

Does upgrading the rear number plate lights bring up a fault code on the DIS?

Any help appreciated

[FazS3]

Digging in a little deeper, if anyone could confirm this would be grateful,

I think the front sidelight bulbs are H6W with off set pin?

[sar]

i bought the mtec super white 501 w5w to replace my side light bulbs, nice white light xenon effect.

[MB2]

You will need resistors if you don't use incandesant bulbs - none of the "fault free" LEDs seem to work with our DIS. With resistors you shoud be fine but even then can have the occasional error (usually clears itself immediately) although it can depend on what options the car has as auto-lights & coming home lights seem to add to the problems.

[MikeFish]

Yes, you will get an error with sidelights and rear number plate lights if you are not careful.

I bought the older version of these quite a while ago and have not had one problem with them.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REAR-NUMBER-P ... 223&_uhb=1

The offset pin bulbs you mentioned earlier are for the DRLs not the sidelights.
The sidelights are 5w5 as mentioned earlier. I can't remember if I get errors with my sidelights, my fog lights defo give an error, and I have got varying degrees of effectiveness with DRLs so I think it must be my sidelights I am also getting errors with. Have tried lots of different types though.

[pDkALO]

Faz, if you're trying to change any of the external lights, they all get monitored by the DIS, so there's a good chance that LEDs in any of them will cause an error message, due to their very low current draw making the DIS think that the bulb isn't working. So generally you'll need a resistor in as well to stop the errors.

As others have said, the front sides are the 5w 501 wedge type - if you can find a very high brightness LED in there, you might be lucky and find that it draws enough power to register on the DIS, but it's a bit hit and miss. I tried a few that didn't work, then came across one that seemed OK - nice and bright and no errors in DIS.... but then they both burnt out within a couple of weeks anyway, so went in the bin! I then fitted a pair of PIAA bulbs which are fine - basically just normal bulbs but with a blue~silver coating on them so they appear white when switched on.

And when you see LEDs sold as "canbus error free" etc, chances are they won't fool the Audi sensors - many have tried and been disappointed (me included).

If it's the DRL bulbs you're thinking of, these are 21w 382 type - lots of LED alternatives available, but you will definitely need 50w resistors with them. Bit of a chore to wire in resistors neatly and find somewhere for them to sit so they don't melt anything, but the end result can look effective - there are several threads with pics on this from owners who've done it before.

[FazS3]

Hi guys,

thanks for the replies, mine has had the DRLs upgraded.

Just want the sidelight bulbs changed when my full lights are on as I think the yellow sidelight bulb looks EWW! lol

So will I need a resistor to change that too?

[pDkALO]

Just want the sidelight bulbs changed when my full lights are on as I think the yellow sidelight bulb looks EWW! lol

So will I need a resistor to change that too?

If you want to go LED, then as I mentioned, it's a bit hit and miss, as some will be OK, others not - but given the fact that the sidelight bulb doesn't really do much other than give a little spot of light, and the level of faff involved in fitting another set of resistors is quite high, I'd just go for a PIAA filament bulb because they look white when on - or I think you can get a cheaper equivalent on the 'bay or in Halfords for a fiver....

[MB2]

If you want to go LED then I would just wire the resistors in & be done with it as will then have the choice of any LED and is cheaper than messing around with various "error free" LEDs...

[FazS3]

No I dont want to go LED guys.

So I would just need the w5w bulbs as mentioned above?

[pDkALO]

The mtec w5w is just a blue coated filament bulb as I was describing - that's what I fitted after a couple of fails with LEDs - it's close to xenon / LED colour temp' when switched on at night:

blue glass filament 5w bulb

As MB2 says, if you really want LEDs, best wire in some resistors and then fit whatever LEDs take your fancy - but if I were you I wouldn't wire them in inside the headlight housing, because they'll get hot and might melt something expensive...

[FazS3]

That looks exactlly like what Im after, where did you purchase them from?

[pDkALO]

there are some floating on the 'bay at the moment for less than a fiver.... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTEC-SUPER-WH ... 3f0c0b3f72

[captain_stealth]

I just want to be able to see better at night in standard (dipped) headlight mode. Is there any way of wiring in an extra pair of headights (e.g. R8 LEDs into our DRL housing) as a kind of supplement? Sorry in advance if this is a stupid idea - I find the standard setup to be wanting somehow...

[MikeFish]

I just want to be able to see better at night in standard (dipped) headlight mode. Is there any way of wiring in an extra pair of headights (e.g. R8 LEDs into our DRL housing) as a kind of supplement? Sorry in advance if this is a stupid idea - I find the standard setup to be wanting somehow...

Have you tried specsavers?