DIY LED Tail Light Bulb Swap

[Jmstrag]

So, I installed the Philips VisionLED bulbs today and here is my review.

Pros:
- About the same brightness as halogen bulbs
- No pink
- No polarity, so can be installed either way
- Very high quality

Cons:
- Due to the design, there's a vertical shadow cast in the housing
- The difference between dim and bright seems lesser with LED
- Bulb errors (will be corrected with coding)
- Hyper flashers on dash, but not outside (will be corrected with coding)

At this time, these are the brightest and most dependable bulbs on the market. There was one other on eBay (that I posted earlier), but I'm skeptical of longevity since these lights are always on when at night and when braking. I am satisfied despite the slight shadow.

nice thanks for the review/vids. Can you comment more on the vertical shadow that you mentioned? Is it something very noticeable in person? I couldnt quite make it out in the vids.

[Zapps]

Actually, our reverse bulbs are 921. You can either find a CANBUS LED replacement, which has less options (example) or you can look for a standard LED, which may allow you find a brighter option, but you will have to disable the bulb error check.

See this thread: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/385959

These bulbs look very similar to the USP set so I'm going to give it a shot:

http://m.aliexpress.com/item-desc/1488807569.html

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[STA4]

nice thanks for the review/vids. Can you comment more on the vertical shadow that you mentioned? Is it something very noticeable in person? I couldnt quite make it out in the vids.

Light from the LED bulbs fills the housing unevenly because the bulbs are basically two sided, but they have two openings that are supposed to allow light in the vertical direction (as they are installed).

I find it the most noticeable on the signal bulb as there is a dark spot where the bulb sits. This is likely due to the shape of the reflector in the narrow housing and the fact that the bulbs do not have any emitters on the very top...they depend solely on reflection.

I'll see if I can take a picture...

[Mrav]

So, I installed the Philips VisionLED bulbs today and here is my review.

Pros:
- About the same brightness as halogen bulbs
- No pink
- No polarity, so can be installed either way
- Very high quality

Cons:
- Due to the design, there's a vertical shadow cast in the housing
- The difference between dim and bright seems lesser with LED
- Bulb errors (will be corrected with coding)
- Hyper flashers on dash, but not outside (will be corrected with coding)

At this time, these are the brightest and most dependable bulbs on the market. There was one other on eBay (that I posted earlier), but I'm skeptical of longevity since these lights are always on when at night and when braking. I am satisfied despite the slight shadow.

Bulb:


Difference on one side:


Difference left vs right:


Difference between dim and bright:

Hey, were you able to correct the error regarding it sensing the bulbs? Specifically the errors I'm getting are:

02737 - Bulb for Tail/Fog Light; Right
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11101100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 254
Reset counter: 42
Mileage: 76776 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.05.17
Time: 18:45:59

02736 - Bulb for Tail/Fog Light; Left
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - MIL ON
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 11101100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 254
Reset counter: 42
Mileage: 76776 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.05.17
Time: 18:45:59

00984 - Left Tail Light (M4)
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 5
Reset counter: 71
Mileage: 78987 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.08.23
Time: 10:57:35

02771 - Bulb for Left Brake / Turn Signal / Tail Lamp (M69)
012 - Electrical Fault in Circuit - Intermittent
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00101100
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 254
Reset counter: 81
Mileage: 77656 km
Time Indication: 0
Date: 2015.06.19
Time: 06:30:40

[STA4]

Yes, set Channel 181 to 0.

[rlarsen]

Yes, set Channel 181 to 0.

Or Channel 191 - if you want to disable all bulb out check

CH 181 = Changes the type from Bulb to LED (1 = Bulb, 0 = LED).
CH 191 = Disables the Bulb out check (1 = enabled, 0 = disabled).

[StevieB67]

So, I installed the Philips VisionLED bulbs today and here is my review.

Pros:
- About the same brightness as halogen bulbs
- No pink
- No polarity, so can be installed either way
- Very high quality

Cons:
- Due to the design, there's a vertical shadow cast in the housing
- The difference between dim and bright seems lesser with LED
- Bulb errors (will be corrected with coding)
- Hyper flashers on dash, but not outside (will be corrected with coding)

At this time, these are the brightest and most dependable bulbs on the market. There was one other on eBay (that I posted earlier), but I'm skeptical of longevity since these lights are always on when at night and when braking. I am satisfied despite the slight shadow.

Bulb:

Those are the red 1156 LEDs, correct?

[STA4]

Those are the red 1156 LEDs, correct?

Yes, red.

[ChicagoDave]

What am I missing here....? 2012 Avant. I pulled out the tail light assembly. Is there no way to remove the reverse lights and side markers?

[ChicagoDave]

(sorry, double post three weeks apart...)

Santa was nice to me and my Avant and got me eight Philips 921LED bulbs for my rear end. Replaced all the bulbs, including reverse lights. (After taking another look, it was obvious which ones were the reverse bulbs, duh)

Immediately got the bulb malfunction error. Oh well, I'll just have to deal until I can code it out of there.

Initial impressions: reverse lights look awesome. bright white. Brake/turn lights are a tad on the pink side for my liking, but that was expected since the color of the light emitting from the bulb changes. The LED "functionality" is great. Instant on and instant off, matching the raised center brake light.

Reading Audizine is expensive! The mods are adding up.

[JeriQo]

(sorry, double post three weeks apart...)

Santa was nice to me and my Avant and got me eight Philips 921LED bulbs for my rear end. Replaced all the bulbs, including reverse lights. (After taking another look, it was obvious which ones were the reverse bulbs, duh)

Immediately got the bulb malfunction error. Oh well, I'll just have to deal until I can code it out of there.

Initial impressions: reverse lights look awesome. bright white. Brake/turn lights are a tad on the pink side for my liking, but that was expected since the color of the light emitting from the bulb changes. The LED "functionality" is great. Instant on and instant off, matching the raised center brake light.

Reading Audizine is expensive! The mods are adding up.

lol true that!

but you should be getting canbus bulbs so you dont get errors. they have built in restrictors

[ChicagoDave]

lol true that!

but you should be getting canbus bulbs so you dont get errors. they have built in restrictors

Good point! I got excited and pulled the trigger too soon. I saw the bulbs you are using in another thread. Where did you get them?

Thanks dudes,
Dave

[JeriQo]

Good point! I got excited and pulled the trigger too soon. I saw the bulbs you are using in another thread. Where did you get them?

Thanks dudes,
Dave

Ebay

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[STA4]

lol true that!

but you should be getting canbus bulbs so you dont get errors. they have built in restrictors

The errors can be disabled. Info is contained in this thread.

[JeriQo]

The errors can be disabled. Info is contained in this thread.

Yea but some people dont have vagcom or dont wanna mess with those settings. Helluva lot easier to get canbus

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[STA4]

Yea but some people dont have vagcom or dont wanna mess with those settings. Helluva lot easier to get canbus

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Agreed, but limiting to only CANBUS bulbs eliminates a lot of good choices. I was the guinea pig on a set of CANBUS bulbs, which started failing after month.

Anyone that doesn't have a cable can ask on a regional forum for help. The coding is fast and only disables the errors caused by LED bulbs. It will still give a bulb out warning.

[defsix]

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)

Just done the Taillight mod on my B8 Avant. I only added 3 to the value of the four different channels. This resulted in outer, middle and inner lights on full with breaking. Indicators are ROW, if I add 6 they would flash with indicators. Looks cleaner now. LED Bulbs next!

Is there a complete list of what each channel does somewhere? Or did I miss it in this thread?

[defsix]

So, is it better to use channel 191 or 181 if changing from Halogen bulbs to LED bulbs? I've tried both and they both get rid of the bulb error. I tried 181 and pulled bulb but it wasn't detected. Is there bulb detection if you have LED tails ?

Both work, but which is best?

My other option was to use 191, and change it to 12382, giving me, Avant with Halogen amber indicators and fogs. Outer, middle, inner and reverse are all LED.

[STA4]

So, is it better to use channel 191 or 181 if changimg from halogen bulbs to LED bulbs? I've tried both and they both get rid of the bulb error. I tried 181 and pulled bulb but it wasn't detected. Is there bulb detection if you have LED tails ?

Might be a silly question, but did you actually turn the lights on after pulling the bulb

I never tested channel 181, but assumed that it would still give a warning.

[defsix]

Might be a silly question, but did you actually turn the lights on after pulling the bulb

I never tested channel 181, but assumed that it would still give a warning.

Sorry, I just edited my post and finished it. Lights were cycled as well as ignition. I didn't get any error warning.

From research today vehicles with factory LEDS that partially fail, ie. lose 1 or 2 LEDs don't get an error.

I wonder is partial detection better than full non detection of bulb failure on the tail lights.

[STA4]

I'm okay with no detection. I can visually inspect any time I lock/unlock the doors from behind

[Xihong90]

hmmm

can i use vagcom to enable the rear signal light to act as a DRL ?

a4 b8 8k 2009 non LED

195 Left middle - 10759
196 Right middle - 10791
197 Left outer - 11272
198 Right outer - 11304
199 0
200 Fog left (only Avant) - 0
201 Fog right (only Avant) - 0
202 0
203 Left inner (on Limo also Fog) -7751
204 Right inner (on Limo also Fog) 7783
205 Reverse left - 13
206 Reverse right - 45
207 Signal left -12
208 Signal right - 44

[STA4]

hmmm

i looking for rear signal light (yellow color) to act as DRL

a4 b8 8k 2009 non LED

195 Left middle - 10759
196 Right middle - 10791
197 Left outer - 11272
198 Right outer - 11304
199 0
200 Fog left (only Avant) - 0
201 Fog right (only Avant) - 0
202 0
203 Left inner (on Limo also Fog) -7751
204 Right inner (on Limo also Fog) 7783
205 Reverse left - 13
206 Reverse right - 45
207 Signal left -12
208 Signal right - 44

A rear yellow daytime running light (DRL)? Why?

[B7AudiSline]

hmmm

i looking for rear signal light (yellow color) to act as DRL

a4 b8 8k 2009 non LED

195 Left middle - 10759
196 Right middle - 10791
197 Left outer - 11272
198 Right outer - 11304
199 0
200 Fog left (only Avant) - 0
201 Fog right (only Avant) - 0
202 0
203 Left inner (on Limo also Fog) -7751
204 Right inner (on Limo also Fog) 7783
205 Reverse left - 13
206 Reverse right - 45
207 Signal left -12
208 Signal right - 44

Could you explain why yellow?

[Xihong90]

i mean this area.... can i vagcom it to on it permanently ?

i'm coming from singapore... sorry for my poor english :)

for the front, i manage to use vagcom to enable the signal light as DRL..... but for the rear, im been trying to look for the code online, but no luck :(

[Gunnark100]

i mean this area.... can i vagcom it to on it permanently ?

Yes you can, but are you planning to change color to red or not? It will confuse others and they will not be happy with your setup

[Xihong90]

ahhhh sorry my bad... because im from singapore, and our signal light is yellow color...

[STA4]

Why would you want your yellow signals to always be on?

Here's the coding for DRL:

Enable DRL
[09 – Cent. Elect.] [Coding - 07] -> Long Coding Helper -> Byte 2
Bit 1 = DRL via Front Side markers
Bit 2 = DRL via High Beams
Bit 3 = DRL via Fogs
Bit 4 = DRL via LEDs
Bit 6 = DRL via Side markers
Bit 7 = DRL via Tail lights

[Xihong90]

i tried this code before, but this does not allow my rear signal light to act as a DRL..

because for the front signal light, i manage to use vagcom to enable it as DRL.. but i'm having problem with rear signal light.. have been searching around. but no luck

[STA4]

i tried this code before, but this does not allow my rear signal light to act as a DRL..

because for the front signal light, i manage to use vagcom to enable it as DRL.. but i'm having problem with rear signal light.. have been searching around. but no luck

If you enable rear signals as DRL, then what would you use for signals? Did you want them to flash off and on when signaling too?

[rlarsen]

What about the below ??

207 Signal left - 12 = 0000 0000 0000 1100 -> 0001 1110 0001 0101 = 7701 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)
208 Signal right - 44 = 0000 0000 0010 1100 -> 0001 1110 0011 0101 = 7733 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)

[STA4]

What about the below ??

207 Signal left - 12 = 0000 0000 0000 1100 -> 0001 1110 0001 0101 = 7701 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)
208 Signal right - 44 = 0000 0000 0010 1100 -> 0001 1110 0011 0101 = 7733 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)

Wouldn't that only enable them with tails? Meaning that he'd have to turn on lights and the other tails would turn on too.

[Gunnark100]

207 Signal left - 12 = 0000 0000 0000 1100 -> 0001 1110 0001 0101 = 7701 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)
208 Signal right - 44 = 0000 0000 0010 1100 -> 0001 1110 0011 0101 = 7733 (Tail, CH/LH, Signal)[/QUOTE]

I will try this for test:), will give result after 10 minutes!

[Xihong90]

If you enable rear signals as DRL, then what would you use for signals? Did you want them to flash off and on when signaling too?

yes sir, i want them to flash off and on when they are signaling... other than that it should be permanently on :)

[STA4]

yes sir, i want them to flash off and on when they are signaling... other than that it should be permanently on :)

I think the only way would be to change the signal lights to tail lights...even at night. So no red tail lights at night...only yellow. Then we can do it.

[Gunnark100]

Tested, Rene coding working, ive tested quickly only left inner one has i have FL tail. Yellow as drl is ok and if i switch "turn signal on" it will flash and brighter then yellow drl!

[Xihong90]

ahhh let me test it now!

[rlarsen]

Wouldn't that only enable them with tails? Meaning that he'd have to turn on lights and the other tails would turn on too.

If DRL is enabled on the tails (Bit 7 = DRL via Tail lights), then it should work

[Xihong90]

its working! thank you very much ! has been looking for this code for some time already

[Xihong90]