Is it possible to switch RHD headlights to LHD?

[jbourne]

I have a LHD car with headlights that project a RHD traffic pattern (this shape: O—o). I’m curious - is it possible to re-direct the headlights to project a LHD traffic pattern (o—O)?

I do not have the “tourist mode” option in my MMI. I suspect if I Vagcom the car and change region to UK, I might get that option, I suspect - but before I dive into it, I wanted to know if that’s even possible, or if my headlights are physically different somehow and I need to buy brand new xenons.

[Toady1]

No it isn't possible I'm afraid, you need a full headlight change. I was looking for the opposite this time last year! I had a RHD car that I'd taken with me to France. I've since sold it so have no need now though. Someone on here called Trups can modify your lights for you, and he will massively improve the output too which lets face it is pretty crap! But expect hardly any change from a grand!

[jbourne]

Eek, geez. Not even a way to turn on “tourist” mode or something? Crap, I had hoped otherwise.

I’ll reach out to Trups but can he really modify LHD/RHD? I thought in cases like that the optics are different.

Also that means the bumper has to come off ... hahaha

[cammmy]

I looked into this on a 370z and my understanding is this:

Modern projector headlamps don't have separate high and low beam bulbs. It's one bulb with a mechanical shutter that comes down when in dipped mode. The shape of this shutter is what dictates the beam pattern. To change the pattern requires swapping out the internals from LHD-RHD or visa-versa (with a decent risk of breakage in the process).

If the headlights are super expensive (i.e. Nissan wanted £1,700 for one headlight) then it could be cheaper to buy one with superficial damage (i.e broken lens) and swap out the internals. I imagine the headlights are shared with the rest of the A6 range though? So should be better availability than the 370z where I ended up getting a second hand unit from NZ shipped to the UK (which still saved me £1,100)

[jbourne]

It's very, very heavily dependent on the specific car, which is why I really want to know how the A6/S6/RS6 C6 crowd does it. In principle, the headlight is most likely set up for only one side of the road. _SOME_ headlight manufacturers set them up for both sides, and can be flipped with a hardware switch, but those are VERY rare. So I think that even "adaptive" headlights (not the up/down ones, but the sideways ones) would not work for this.

With that said, here's basically the background of this.

- respective traffic sides will have one headlight pointing higher towards the curb side, to illuminate pedestrians and traffic signs. So if you're driving a RHD car in RHD traffic, your LEFT headlight will point higher. The beam pattern will be O---o.
- LHD traffic will have the RIGHT headlight be a bit higher: o---O.
- The so-called "tourist" mode will DIP the headlights to prevent this. Alternative is a hardware flap that you can move in a headlight, so that your beam pattern, in BOTH cases, becomes o---o, so NEITHER of the headlights points at the curb (irrespective of what your traffic configuration is).

Also for some additional info: headlights will have an arrow on the light, somewhere, which will indicate which side they are supposed to be used in. The arrow will point to the type of traffic (i.e. if there's a little left arrow, it means the headlight is designed for LHD traffic, if it's a bi-directional arrow, then it can be switched, etc). The annoying part is that on the RS6, I think, the stupid markings are underneath the headlight - which works GREAT on a Porsche where you twist a lever with a special key (or a long knife, if you're stealing someone's headlight on the street) and your entire headlight assembly pops right off... and obviously on the RS6, your bumper and your neighbour's bumper and your third cousin's wife's estranged brother's mechanic's bumper also has to come off before you can look at the markings underneath the headlight.

So I guess what I am trying to figure out is two things:

a) If I change the region of the car to US or Europe or something, will I gain either a "tourist mode" in the MMI so I can just hit a checkbox and it'll auto dip?
b) If that's a no-go, is there a flap somewhere there that I can turn on a beam cutoff so I can reduce the oncoming traffic glare (and pass whatever local inspection there would be)?

If none of these are workable, then I guess if I ever bring this car to a LHD country, I'm installing S6 headlights. Sucks to lose the 10 LEDs, but I sure as hell am not spending $2,500 on a set of headlights!!!!!!!

(also: disassembling a headlight is a really, really bad idea. Maybe Trups can do it since he's used to it by now, but seeing as it's permasealed, you're not going to walk away a winner).

[cammmy]

It looks like it might be possible. It doesn't change the beam pattern but dips them.

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/show ... elp-needed

"Yes you should be able to do it with your xenons using VCDS and it's really easy - I do it sitting in the ferry queue at the port waiting to board.

IIRC, the setup is slightly different, depending on which Xenons you have but the option is called the same 'Tourist':
'Normal' Xenons, Select Control Module - 55 Xenon Range - 10 Adaptation and then use the up arrow to go to and change Channel 10 from 0 to 1. Click Save to store the new value.
or
'Adaptive' Xenons, Select Control Module - 55 Xenon Range - 10 Adaptation and then use the up arrow to got to and change Channel 23 from 0 to 1. Click Save to store the new value.

You will get a warning beep and a message each time you start the car though, until you set it back to your 'home' setting. It's no biggie, just a warning you can ignore.

When you're returning to the UK, follow the same procedure but set the value from 1 back to 0. The warning will disappear."

Apparently also possible from the MMI:

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/a ... pe.383492/

[jbourne]

Cool. Thanks. I'll have to play around with VCDS to see if I have that option. Definitely don't have it in the MMI, but mine is an _ultra_ old version, so maybe it got added later.

[cammmy]

It looks like it was in the 2g and 3g versions. Apparently it's grayed out unless your headlights are actually on. Maybe try turning them on and going back into the menu?

[Toady1]

Yes you can dip them in VCDS, I tried that, but you see even less out the already crap headlights. Trups can convery the LHD to RHD, it's what I was looking into. But at £800-1000 I just used beam deflectors! Though I believe the money is well spent to be fair.