DIY LED Tail Light Bulb Swap

[Mrav]

This is going to be extra long and detailed, but I figured that would give the more cautious folks some confidence too.

Tools:
1156 CAN Bus LED Bulb - Single Intensity 26 SMD LED Tower (2 per section. 8 in total for all rear lights), Phillips screwdriver, and something square with leverage.

Album with all the instructions: http://imgur.com/a/lvZX3

Videos to show you the impact:



Shitty quality, not rotated, etc. Oh well. Second video is all stock bulbs except the left turn signal bulbs.


All questions welcome!

[T.pops]

that's awesome! im sure a couple will be in heaven with your help. thanks.

[TCHUN003]

Wow so the led bulbs are plug and play? No errors on the dash? Did you pay $170 shipped?

It's probably the video quality, but I couldn't tell the difference between the non led and the led's. Can you take some pics just before it gets dark? Do YOU notice a difference in person? Is the lighting a lot clearer? Thanks for the thread and the DIY.

[crash1121]

Wow so the led bulbs are plug and play? No errors on the dash? Did you pay $170 shipped?

It's probably the video quality, but I couldn't tell the difference between the non led and the led's. Can you take some pics just before it gets dark? Do YOU notice a difference in person? Is the lighting a lot clearer? Thanks for the thread and the DIY.

^Great questions, I'm interested in knowing all of the above also. A $170 "refresh" is a great alternative to spending $500 on knockoff LEDs or $1k on OEM LEDs.

Thanks for your post - very very cool!

[oh10a4]

Thanks for the write up, very useful! Im going to seriously look into these LEDs now.

[Mrav]

Wow so the led bulbs are plug and play? No errors on the dash? Did you pay $170 shipped?

It's probably the video quality, but I couldn't tell the difference between the non led and the led's. Can you take some pics just before it gets dark? Do YOU notice a difference in person? Is the lighting a lot clearer? Thanks for the thread and the DIY.

That's a lot of questions hahaha

1) Yes, plug and play.

2) I do get errors, but that's because of the contact point. I've noticed it only happens when I'm going uphill, like a ramp or a steep driveway. I could go days without an error and then it'll hit when I go uphill. I'm going to pull the tab further out to see if that stops it.

3) Correct, $170 shipped to change the rear brake lights, rear fog lights, and rear turn signal lights. Annoyingly, we have 2 bulbs for each turn signal and 2 for each brake light so you have to buy 8 instead of 4. Since you'll be taking everything apart, you might as well do the reverse LED's also, for an additional $14. I'll add a picture later today or tomorrow. The cool white reverse lights look FANTASTIC in my opinion, especially compared to the stock yellow.

4) I'll undo it for a side by side comparison with one side running LED turn signals and brake lights and one side running stock. In the second video I only did the turn signal with LED's while the rest of the rear was stock bulbs. Keep in mind that since the brake lights are pretty much always running it won't make much of a difference there except for when you lock and unlock the car. That video will come up tonight or tmrw evening.

5) My (biased) thoughts on the LED's - the light is much more evenly distributed in the housing for a cleaner fill and also the turn signals are significantly more crisp without the fade on or fade off effect. Another reason I wanted to do it is to remove every last filament bulb from my car. The only non LED lights in my entire car are the front turn signals which will also be replaced in the near future.

[amz]

I'm blind, or I'm missing the link to source the parts?

[Mrav]

It's in the second line of the post :P

Tools:
1156 CAN Bus LED Bulb - Single Intensity 26 SMD LED Tower (2 per section. 8 in total for all rear lights), Phillips screwdriver, and something square with leverage.

[AWDLover]

I'm blind, or I'm missing the link to source the parts?

In his linked DIY, the parts are listed. 1156 CAN Bus LED Bulb - Single Intensity 26 SMD LED Tower (in red and 2 per section. 8 in total for all rear lights)

http://www.superbrightleds.com/searc...r26-cbt%20red/

[Jmstrag]

4) I'll undo it for a side by side comparison with one side running LED turn signals and brake lights and one side running stock. In the second video I only did the turn signal with LED's while the rest of the rear was stock bulbs. Keep in mind that since the brake lights are pretty much always running it won't make much of a difference there except for when you lock and unlock the car. That video will come up tonight or tmrw evening.

Looking forward to seeing that video

[ThetaB8A4]

It's in the second line of the post :P

Mrav, did you have any problems with your running light/ rear fog light? I used the same bulbs as you and all the others work great. The running light/ fog light kicks the alarm every time the lights kick on or I turn them on manually.

[Angelorantesnyp]

That's amazing
I'll order few to try it



Sent from my iPhone/ANYPD.
Manhattan NY

[Mrav]

Mrav, did you have any problems with your running light/ rear fog light? I used the same bulbs as you and all the others work great. The running light/ fog light kicks the alarm every time the lights kick on or I turn them on manually.

Yeah, I've gotten that too. I have a feeling it's just a loose connection but I haven't had a chance to work through it and figure out the issue. I'm going to try this weekend or next weekend. If you find something before I update this thread let me know!

[ThetaB8A4]

Yeah, I've gotten that too. I have a feeling it's just a loose connection but I haven't had a chance to work through it and figure out the issue. I'm going to try this weekend or next weekend. If you find something before I update this thread let me know!

So far I've tried the spring trick to make sure the connection is tight but it didn't have any luck.

[Mrav]

So far I've tried the spring trick to make sure the connection is tight but it didn't have any luck.

Hmm, think it might be related to the resistance? These are supposed to work without needing a resistor.

[TCHUN003]

Bump for updates. I tried to watch the videos again, but they're private.

[youngd]

Been wondering about doing this for ages, but cant view the youtube clips :(

[booost]

Bump! Can op or someone else who has done this share a video? Thanks


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[dracolnyte]

man why would you post the videos only to leave them private

[Iridium.]

Videos are public again! Thanks Mrav for re-upping them!

[Mrav]

Damn sorry guys, I really dropped the ball on this one by going MIA.

I moved recently and the stock bulbs got lost so I can't show you side by side comparisons but I've attached a couple videos of the LED bulbs.

The most important thing is that you focus on how the bulbs turn off in a fraction of a second rather than fade out the way they do with the standard bulbs.

Also if anyone has tips on how to take a better video of this let me know. The camera was on the fritz because of the rapid changes in brightness.

Without further delay,

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/jm183h1bl0e1y3b/AABu4ub6QDyC7JQqo4YFgzFqa?dl=0

[amz]

For clarity, is this for B8 or B8.5?

[Mrav]

B8. 8.5 technically comes with LED lights already.

[STA4]

What confuses me is that you're using 1156 for everything, which are single intensity. Shouldn't you be using 1157 for the brakes since they are supposed to be dim when on and bright when you brake?

[Mrav]

I'm not entirely familiar with the setup of our tail lights but I want to say the intensity is controlled by the power supplied to the bulbs as even the 1156's get brighter when I brake compared to when I don't have the pedal depressed.

Can anyone else confirm? I'll try to capture that by film later this week as well to show the difference.

[STA4]

I noticed that all 4 bulbs are P21W, which would suggest that the brightness is indeed controlled by the module.

I wonder if there's a VAG coding that would enable the trunk bulb to receive full power when brakes are applied.


EDIT: Do you have a VAGCOM cable? Could you try the coding starting here: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...des?p=10643652

Change the last 5 bits of channel 195 (left middle) and 196 (right middle) in unit 46 to: 00111

[Mrav]

Hey, I do have one and I can give it a shot. Curious though, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Or are you getting issues with it?

Also, not sure which coding you're referring to in the link.

[STA4]

Hey, I do have one and I can give it a shot. Curious though, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Or are you getting issues with it?

Also, not sure which coding you're referring to in the link.

Sorry, I assumed that you're like most of us halogen guys that hate the fact that the trunk lights don't activate when you brake.

I was referring to:

It looks like the coding is the same as on the RoW models - just with brake and/or signal bit set on some of the Channels

If you take the Channel values (195 to 208) from the left side of the table below for the RoW A4 Sedan - then it should work with the turn signal working individually (like in EU).

In the second table below you can see what the last five bits are doing in each of the Channels.

It's in module 46 and you'll need the password "16017" to get in.

[Mrav]

Sorry, I assumed that you're like most of us halogen guys that hate the fact that the trunk lights don't activate when you brake.

I was referring to:



It's in module 46 and you'll need the password "16017" to get in.

No that's definitely an issue, and a safety hazard at that. I don't have that issue though. My lights do get brighter when I hit the brake, thus why I'm a little curious as to why you're getting that problem but I'm not. I haven't done any coding related to the lights.

[STA4]

The lights on the trunk lid don't light up brighter on halogen tails when you brake or signal (unlike LED tails). Only the outside section does on ours.

[Mrav]

Really? Well shit. Nobody's said a thing! I'll try out your code and report back. I'll get to it either tomorrow after work or over the weekend.

On a side note, anyone know if there's a tool that our car comes with our car for opening up the tail lights? You need a square jig of some sort. I had McGyver'd one before but would like to avoid doing that if possible.

[STA4]

Haven't you noticed that in your videos, only the outside lights flash? You may also want to change 203 (fog left) and 204 (fog right) to 00111 too if you want both lights on the trunk to get brighter. Note that changing these two will disable rear fogs, so it's optional.

Regarding the tool, do you have a socket set? I've seen someone use the larger 1/2"? without a socket.

[Mrav]

Haven't you noticed that in your videos, only the outside lights flash? You may also want to change 203 (fog left) and 204 (fog right) to 00111 too if you want both lights on the trunk to get brighter. Note that changing these two will disable rear fogs, so it's optional.

Regarding the tool, do you have a socket set? I've seen someone use the larger 1/2"? without a socket.

You're right, I just never thought about how the LED one's don't do that. I'll try out the VAG COM codes soon.

As for the socket, yeah I do. I'll try that out and see if it works for me.

[endy1]

Really? Well shit. Nobody's said a thing! I'll try out your code and report back. I'll get to it either tomorrow after work or over the weekend.

On a side note, anyone know if there's a tool that our car comes with our car for opening up the tail lights? You need a square jig of some sort. I had McGyver'd one before but would like to avoid doing that if possible.

U mean for the outer lights? I just tighten them by hand. If they are "stuck" you can use a screwdriver in the hole at the side.
Dont think there is a tool for this in the car.

[STA4]

You're right, I just never thought about how the LED one's don't do that. I'll try out the VAG COM codes soon.

As for the socket, yeah I do. I'll try that out and see if it works for me.

Try 01000 instead of 00111 if you want them to stay on in parking mode when you lock the doors.

[Mrav]

UPDATE: I was somehow able to get in all of a sudden, no idea why because I did everything exactly the same, but which byte do you want me to change the bit for? Or would I need to update the values to 5255 and 5287 in the stored values below?

[STA4]

Here's a summary of the coding to enable the middle and inner bulbs as brake/signal for the B8 halogen:

Module 46 - Adaptation
Password: 16017

Sedan (Limo):

Channel 195: Left middle - 10753 -> 10759 (add 6)
Channel 196: Right middle - 10785 -> 10791 (add 6)
Channel 203: Left inner (on Limo also Fog) - 8778 -> 8775 (subtract 3)
Channel 204: Right inner (on Limo also Fog) - 8810 -> 8807 (subtract 3)


Avant:

Channel 195: Left middle - 14849 -> 14855 (add 6)
Channel 196: Right middle - 14881 -> 14887 (add 6)
Channel 203: Left inner (on Limo also Fog) - 14849 -> 14855 (add 6)
Channel 204: Right inner (on Limo also Fog) - 14881 -> 14887 (add 6)


Bulb out warnings:

Channel 181: 65535 -> 0 (rear halogen to LED conversion)
Channel 191: 65295 -> 0 (disable all rear bulb out warnings)
Channel 192: 3 -> 2 (disable licence plate bulb out warning)

[Jmstrag]

What's 195 right now? 10753? If so, try:

195 -> 10760
196 -> 10792

For 203 and 204, subtract 2 from the stored value of each.

Thanks!

so just to confirm, changing those values should enable inner tails while braking?

[STA4]

so just to confirm, changing those values should enable inner tails while braking?

The coding above should enable brake, signal, tails, lock/unlock flash and coming home/leaving home. This coding was only known by DavidB8 before, so it's not widely discussed. My Vagcom cable is busted, so I can't test myself. My hope was that we could get similar behaviour as LED tails.

If this works, I'll probably order some LED bulbs as well. I can't justify spending $1000 on the OEM LED tails.

[Iridium.]

The coding above should enable brake, signal, tails, lock/unlock flash and coming home/leaving home. This coding was only known by DavidB8 before, so it's not widely discussed. My Vagcom cable is busted, so I can't test myself. My hope was that we could get similar behaviour as LED tails.

If this works, I'll probably order some LED bulbs as well. I can't justify spending $1000 on the OEM LED tails.

The aforementioned changes to the coding work!

Will definitely be buying LED replacement bulbs for the tail lights now.


**Edit** Sorry for the potato quality. Taken on my phone.



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