"Adaptive Headlight : Defective" 2013 B8.5 S4

[GabrielSyler]

Last week I had an "adaptive headlight :defective" error come up on the dash and the "steering" lights stopped working.

Took it into Audi who changed the control modules on both lights under warranty.

Drove home, no problems in daylight.

Pull into my under ground garage drove to my spot (30 meters from entrance) as soon as I started reversing the error came back up and the steering lights stopped working.

It's hard to say whether the issue occurred once the main beams come back on or when I hit reverse, as they both occurred within a couple of seconds of each other. The error def happened the same time I started reversing.

It's booked back into Audi but I thought I'd see if any one here has any views on what could have caused it and what audi's next steps are likely to be?

ECU has the latest APR stage 2 and car has exhaust and air intake, but I can't see that causing the problem.

[nok]

I've got the same error in my 2013 S4, just started spontaneously. Going to schedule with service this week, hopefully no more surprises after its fixed, like yours. Following.

[esc]

On the Q5 had the error recur after first fix. Second time it was a cornering light bulb that burnt out.

[onlyaudis]

you guys are making me glad mine didn't have that option.

[moose_head]

For mine, they replaced the actual bulb.

[DBL R]

you guys are making me glad mine didn't have that option.

It is literally one of my favorite things about my s4.

[fesmail]

Same issue on my 2013, haven't taken it in yet but the corner bulbs are no longer working..... Will report what fix my dealer goes with

[GabrielSyler]

It's back in tomorrow so I'll report on what they tried this time.

[The Fat Kid]

It is literally one of my favorite things about my s4.

Really? I thought it would be cool, but it is barely noticeable unless you serpentine at slow speeds.

[dean.mohr]

Really? I thought it would be cool, but it is barely noticeable unless you serpentine at slow speeds.

Yanno, that's kind of what I thought, but then I drove my 2013 Fusion (projector headlights that aren't HID, don't rotate) and the difference is noticeable. I love having the pivoting headlights.

[DBL R]

Yanno, that's kind of what I thought, but then I drove my 2013 Fusion (projector headlights that aren't HID, don't rotate) and the difference is noticeable. I love having the pivoting headlights.

+1 I notice it the most when I switch to a vehicle without the adaptive headlights.

[nok]

The absence of the cornering lights is very obvious for me, even in the brightly lit streets of the city. Didn't notice how useful they are until they stopped working. The adaptive headlights are harder to notice because the movement is very subtle, but if you pay attention on a dark, winding road you can tell that the lights follow the movement of your steering. You don't realize until you hop into a car without them how much of a difference it makes.

Anyway, good news -- took a closer look into the headlight housing with a good flashlight and I think one of the cornering bulbs has a burn-out mark on it, so when I have the time I'll dig into getting the bulb out and see if replacing it helps. If it's really just a burnt out bulb then this error is totally ambiguous compared to the usual bulb error .

Hopefully OP just has a burnt out bulb too?

[GabrielSyler]

well the verdict is in...


a burnt out bulb. As nok said, the error is ambiguous. "Bulb needs replacing" would be a better translation.


Both bulbs were working after Audi changed the control module the first time around, so whether the bulb caused the failure in the module in the first place and the new module caused the bulb to go pop I don't know. It doesn't help that both lights stop working.

So for anyone else that has this problem try changing the bulb.

[jmac1]

I had the same about two weeks ago, light came on just before my service appointment. Was a bulb, covered under warranty.

[nok]

So now the question is... has anyone tried replacing the bulb themselves? Doesn't look like there is any easy way to get to the opening in the headlight housing with all of the air intake bits in the way.

I suppose I could go and have the dealer do it but I'd rather not waste my morning for a bulb change.

[14S4GWM]

I don't have the adaptive headlights but changed my HID bulbs and both were pretty simple. 20 min tops for both sides.

[nok]

Just finished replacing the cornering bulb. Quite a bit of frustration involved but got it done.

Had to remove the entire headlight housing to get at the bulb. Followed these instructions to remove it: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...dlight-install
Broke 2 out of 4 plastic retainers holding the radiator cover trim and lost one to the belly pan underworld. Hate those things.
The only thing that other walkthrough doesn't mention is that there is a rubber breather hose attached to the inside corner of each housing that needs to be pulled off before you're able to pull the housing out.

Inside the housing



It's tight but fortunately you just pull on the bulb holder and it pops out. Note the orientation of the metal tab on the old bulb, pull it straight out, replace with new in same orientation, and push back into the hole. Replace housing using the same steps in reverse.

And here's the kicker: you apparently need to clear the error out with a VAGCOM or something, because the error hasn't gone away and the lights still dont work. I don't have one. Annoying.

The cause of all this grief:

[14S4GWM]

Those retainer clips are pretty easy if you know what your doing with them. You can use Carista to clear your codes. Cheaper then vcds cable. Plus you can do a bunch of other shit with Carista.

[nok]

Those retainer clips are pretty easy if you know what your doing with them. You can use Carista to clear your codes. Cheaper then vcds cable. Plus you can do a bunch of other shit with Carista.

I had them figured out by the 3rd one, which I then promptly dropped into the engine bay . Oh well, they're cheap to replace.

Carista looks like a good option, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

[GabrielSyler]

Carista looks like a good option, thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Let us know if Carista does the trick.

[14S4GWM]

Let us know if Carista does the trick.

Carista will definitely clear clodes. No problem there.

[nok]

Worked out great. The 8 dollar Philips bulb I got from Amazon is noticeably brighter than the stock.

Bought the BAFX OBDII scan tool for half the price of the official Carista one ($23 vs $40 ATM), and it works with the Carista app just fine (gotta pay an extra $20 in-app for Audi specific features even with the official scan tool).

[waxxonMTL]

hey guys!

is that stuff covered under CPO ? or first 80k km ? how much is the bulb ?

[GabrielSyler]

hey guys!

is that stuff covered under CPO ? or first 80k km ? how much is the bulb ?

my control module was covered under the 3year waranty, the bulbs were not as they were classed as consumable.

[Rippin]

I had the same adaptive headlight error, and it was the bulb that was out. It was replaced free of charge under the original warranty (and I do have the CPO warranty which starts in a years time).

[waxxonMTL]

Worked out great. The 8 dollar Philips bulb I got from Amazon is noticeably brighter than the stock.

Bought the BAFX OBDII scan tool for half the price of the official Carista one ($23 vs $40 ATM), and it works with the Carista app just fine (gotta pay an extra $20 in-app for Audi specific features even with the official scan tool).

and was is the name of this bulb so i can buy a set while I do the xtreme vision at the same time ? lol

cheers :)

[waxxonMTL]

I believe I found it ; H7-55w right ?

[nok]

I believe I found it ; H7-55w right ?

H7 bulb, yep.

[waxxonMTL]

I ordered the xtreme vision +50 4.8k for the D3S. If they improve the vision by only 10%. I would say for 150$ it was worth it. Some say the ecode improve by about 15-20% but they cost over 1k.

And to match the little cornering, I went xtreme vision +130 H7 55W which are 3.7k.

Looking forward to see if theres an improvement or not.

[Nitrousbird]

Just finished replacing the cornering bulb. Quite a bit of frustration involved but got it done.

Had to remove the entire headlight housing to get at the bulb.

I realize this is an old thread, but one many folks will likely reference for this bulb replacement. This post threw me off and should not be listened to AT ALL. There is zero reason to remove the headlight housing, and I can't imagine how that would assist in replacing the bulb. Luckily I never considered pulling the housing after giving everything a good look.

For the driver's side, simply pop the rubber cover. The bulb pops straight out with the connector attached. Pull the connector off of the bulb and slide onto the new one. The trick (which wasn't mentioned here but very important) is that the tab on the bulb needs to be straight up (pointing to the sky). There is a notch in the housing for this. Once you have it lined up like that, pushing the bulb back in isn't all that hard.

The passenger side is the same way, except you have to remove the air filter housing box. The plus is once that is out you have way more room to work than you do on the driver side.

[saxon]

I realize this is an old thread, but one many folks will likely reference for this bulb replacement. This post threw me off and should not be listened to AT ALL. There is zero reason to remove the headlight housing, and I can't imagine how that would assist in replacing the bulb. Luckily I never considered pulling the housing after giving everything a good look.

For the driver's side, simply pop the rubber cover. The bulb pops straight out with the connector attached. Pull the connector off of the bulb and slide onto the new one. The trick (which wasn't mentioned here but very important) is that the tab on the bulb needs to be straight up (pointing to the sky). There is a notch in the housing for this. Once you have it lined up like that, pushing the bulb back in isn't all that hard.

The passenger side is the same way, except you have to remove the air filter housing box. The plus is once that is out you have way more room to work than you do on the driver side.

It's like 3 or 4 bolts to remove the whole headlight, about the same as the air box except easier to work on while it's out

[Johnson]

I just did this recently and didn't remove the headlight housings. Took maybe 15 minutes. I've never removed the headlight housings before so I just stuck with what I knew (removing intake).

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[icemiko]

Old thread but just wanted to let people that may encounter this problem in the future know that I fixed mine without removing the headlight housing.

Driver's side pop the rubber cover off and you should be able to pull the connector and bulb out. Passenger side, I had to remove my CTS intake filter and was able to unplug the connector and pull the bulb out.

I have a Panlong WiFi OBD2 OBDII Scanner (you can buy this on Amazon for like $20) and paired it with the Carista app (had to pay $13 for the 1 week pass) and was able to reset the error code.

[SharkToronto]

So now the question is... has anyone tried replacing the bulb themselves? Doesn't look like there is any easy way to get to the opening in the headlight housing with all of the air intake bits in the way.

I suppose I could go and have the dealer do it but I'd rather not waste my morning for a bulb change.

I did replace one burnt bulb under air filter and after error is still there, check fuses and they all good but no power to both corner bulbs . I don’t know how to erase that error

[purelife]

I believe you have to clear the code before it will work.

[opsx]

has anyone been able to successfully clear the code for this after replacing the bulbs using odb11?