03+HID Leveling Motor Wiring *NEW*

[GTI_Matador]

I'm tired of the picture hosting sites so I made a PDF of the instuctions and put them up on a buddies server. He is always working on the server so its down sometimes. i suggest that people download the PDF and save it for future reference.

HID Leveling PDF

Edit: Skr4tCH was cool to give me some space on his server and his how to site for you guys to download the files. Visit his site and add to the content.
http://vwmod.net/


Modified by GTI_Matador at 9:01 PM 9-2-2005

[Imola Yellow GTi]

Do you have a DIY on the auto-level sensors?

Is rewiring only required for rheostat usage?


Modified by Imola Yellow GTi at 2:56 AM 2-28-2004

[Vapormike]

auto-leveling is virtually impossible in the newer version headlights. Apart from just mounting the sensors, you need to actually modify the ecu i believe.

[Fugee]

Very nice write up

[Imola Yellow GTi]

Can I run the newer OEM HID without rewiring?

[Vapormike]

Yes but i believe you'll have to aim them manually, with a screwdriver.

[klee]

you'll need to aim them manually anyway. the levelling motors only adjust a very small angle, vertically.

it's primarily used for compensating for extra load on the rear suspension, when you have passengers or heavy luggage.

[20AE #0911]

For those interested I am doing my auto-leveling install this weekend. Will have the detailed install guide available by the first of next week.

[OEMplus.com]

Once again Louis, an impressive how to!

[Imola Yellow GTi]

Quote, originally posted by 20AE #0911 »

I am doing my auto-leveling install this weekend.

Do you have the latest version?

[GTI_Matador]

The auto leveling costs in the ball park of $200-$300 for the sensors and the ECU, you then have to make your own wiring harness. I'm not sure about its intergration with the factory ECU but I do think they have to be linked. On the Audis the lighting system can be adapted with VAG-COM which is hooked up to the ECU and then sends the signals to the sensor's ECU so its tied in somewhere.

These instructions are for by-passing the auto leveling system that the 03+ lights are pre-wired to use. If you have older lights then internally they are hooked up the same way as explained above and you just have to do the work outside of the lights with the harness and switches.

I did this mod for several reasons. 1 is I don't like messing with the adjustments ont eh lights they are fragile as hell and break very easily so the less I have to touch them the better and since I raise and lower the car often throughout the year I can use the leveling motors to correct the height for me. 2. sometimes I do have people in the back or carry heavy things in the trunk so being able to adjust the lights manually through a switch is great and also I sometimes drive in rural areas with little to no lighting and being able to kick the lights up is great.

[Vorsprung]

GTI Matador: Great write-up

One more thing id like to add: For those who buy OEM HIDs and want to level them i suggest you take the advice that Mike Zimmerman gave me, which will lower the chance of not breaking your adjustment screws (they are very very very very fragile, can be explained by the fact that Depo makes the housings). This is what you do.

1)Take the "cage" off the adjustment screw that holds the white up-pointing adjuster.
2)use a HEX to turn the black side-pointing adjuster...turning very slowly andwithout force.

One more thing I want to add. Everyone knows that when you try to bring the drivers side projector up sometimes it pops out of the ball joint that holds it. Another solution to this is to add some plastic epoxy to the inside of the ball joint then pop the ball back in by rotating the adjustment screw backwards. Once its in you can again add some epoxy around the ball joint so secure it even more.

Now once you do this let it dry or use a hair dryer to harden it. When this dries you can level the projector up to a desired height without having the ball pop out and go back to the lowest setting. Also using the epoxy fix you can stop worrying about the ball poping when you hit potholes or hard bumps. (this happenes to me and my projector fell down).

Warning: Just because you epoxy the ball joint always STOP turning the screw when you begin to feel the smallest amount of presure on the screw.

[ike]

Great How-to Louis. FAQ link updated!

[GTI_Matador]

I added the part numbers for those that asked for them.

[20AE #0911]

Quote, originally posted by GTI_Matador »

The auto leveling costs in the ball park of $200-$300 for the sensors and the ECU, you then have to make your own wiring harness. I'm not sure about its intergration with the factory ECU but I do think they have to be linked. On the Audis the lighting system can be adapted with VAG-COM which is hooked up to the ECU and then sends the signals to the sensor's ECU so its tied in somewhere. These instructions are for by-passing the auto leveling system that the 03+ lights are pre-wired to use. If you have older lights then internally they are hooked up the same way as explained above and you just have to do the work outside of the lights with the harness and switches. I did this mod for several reasons. 1 is I don't like messing with the adjustments ont eh lights they are fragile as hell and break very easily so the less I have to touch them the better and since I raise and lower the car often throughout the year I can use the leveling motors to correct the height for me. 2. sometimes I do have people in the back or carry heavy things in the trunk so being able to adjust the lights manually through a switch is great and also I sometimes drive in rural areas with little to no lighting and being able to kick the lights up is great.

I bought a complete auto-leveling retrofit kit for $368 from Germany.
Installation took about 5 hours from opening to closing the hood. The harness is set up to be tied into your OBDII port so that you can hook up VAG-COM and enable the lighting ECU (contained on 2003+ xenons). It also has a tie into the speed sensing circuit - not sure why that is yet. I just got my VAG-COM instructions today to enable the system (Its not block 55 for those who responded to my earlier questions). Hopefully it will fire up tonight and I will have the complete install guide posted later this week.

[emumtl]

Excellent Write Up...

An additional mod that you may want to do, since you have the bumper off and need access to the OEM HID Headlamp assembly... Is to add Two, equally thick, WASHERS on the bottom two assembly screws holding the headlamps in place, In between the CAR and the Headlamps.

For me, anyways, I found that with the Headlamps fully adjusted manually up, and with the in car dash pod set to "max up", there simply wasn't enough Upward light output for those times when you need a little bit more "light down the road" reach (especially if you travel in the US where most highways commuting from rural suburbabs to the the next, are Just not lit).

For most commutes, i have my manual rheostat set at 1 3/4 setting (thanks to the washers) and if it's in the city (pothole heavan) I like to sometimes lower to 2 - 2 1/2 to better locate those nasty craters.

But, on the open road, where it's pitch black (and yes, i respect the drivers who are ahead of me) and I'm running at Highway speeds, I like to seek out a little more heads up lighting and cranking the manual rheostat to max up.

[GTI_Matador]

Quote, originally posted by emumtl »

Excellent Write Up... An additional mod that you may want to do, since you have the bumper off and need access to the OEM HID Headlamp assembly... Is to add Two, equally thick, WASHERS on the bottom two assembly screws holding the headlamps in place, In between the CAR and the Headlamps. For me, anyways, I found that with the Headlamps fully adjusted manually up, and with the in car dash pod set to "max up", there simply wasn't enough Upward light output for those times when you need a little bit more "light down the road" reach (especially if you travel in the US where most highways commuting from rural suburbabs to the the next, are Just not lit). For most commutes, i have my manual rheostat set at 1 3/4 setting (thanks to the washers) and if it's in the city (pothole heavan) I like to sometimes lower to 2 - 2 1/2 to better locate those nasty craters. But, on the open road, where it's pitch black (and yes, i respect the drivers who are ahead of me) and I'm running at Highway speeds, I like to seek out a little more heads up lighting and cranking the manual rheostat to max up.

Its always been odd. I never had a problem with the lights aiming to high in fact I have to lower them to a 2-3 setting because the Flatline setting is way too high. I really have to properly aim them now.

I think that they should be aimed at the flat line setting so you can then tune down when there is extra weight in the trunk or alot of people in the back seat. Then when the car is back to the normal weight kick them back to the flatline setting. What do you guys think?

Also, I wouldn't suggest adding washers to the mounting tabs. The tabs are fragile and if you add washers to the lower tabs your going to put stress ont eh top one because they will now have a slight angle and eventually can break. Luckliy, these are the cheapest things that can be replaced on these lights so if you were to break one it wouldn't be the end of the world, but still you really shouldn't need to do that


Modified by GTI_Matador at 1:12 PM 3-1-2004

[GTI_Matador]

Quote, originally posted by 20AE #0911 »

The harness is set up to be tied into your OBDII port so that you can hook up VAG-COM and enable the lighting ECU (contained on 2003+ xenons).

So this just ties into the port itself? are there empty slots in that port? or does it splice into a wire that is already there? also does the VAGCOM cable address that new wire? What features can you adapt through the VAGCOM? can they be adjusted though VAGCOM?

[Nik S.]

Quote, originally posted by GTI_Matador »

So this just ties into the port itself? are there empty slots in that port? or does it splice into a wire that is already there? also does the VAGCOM cable address that new wire? What features can you adapt through the VAGCOM? can they be adjusted though VAGCOM?

I'll jump in here quickly, I helped 20AE #9011 with his install last weekend, and we configured the lights monday night via vagcom. I'm translating the docs that will be posted in the writeup soon, still a little troubleshooting left to do. The harness diagnostic wire taps into pin7 on your OBD plug, which already has a wire in it. You change the soft-coding on the lights to your model and then do the leveling initialization with the VAG-COM. Stay tuned....

[GTI_Matador]

What is everyone's thought on the position they should be in when adjusting them? Should they be set to the flat line position on the rheostat? or a numbered position.

[Milen_P]

Hei Louis ,
I tried to send an e-mail, but probably did not go thru.
Anyway, I just managed to lock the 12 pin housing before I put all the wires in, while trying to make the wiring for my new HIDs.
Is there a way to unlock it? Does it matter if I just plug the rest of the wires in or I need to get one more 12 pin housing ?

Anybody who could have an idea...................

[GTI_Matador]

you can unlock/lock the harness as often as you like by sliding the pink internals to the side. Getting wires out once they are slid into their slots is close to impossible, at least for me. So I have no idea what the locking mechanism does.

On another note I'm really loving the leveler it makes a huge difference. Today we had a really thick fog and I adjusted the lights a bit lower to help cut through it. I love it.

[Milen_P]

Thanks a bunch. I'll try to unlock it although the first attempt was not so good .

[Milen_P]

OK, according to the diagram, the wire for Low beam comes from pin #6, and Ground - from #7.
On my HIDs, there is a yellow wire that comes out of #6 and goes into the ballast (pre-03 HIDs). The Ground for the leveling motor comes out of pin #7.
My question is - what should I do with the wire between pin #6 and the ballast. techically, the ballasts are for the low beam (HID) headlight, so probably I should leave it as is .
Anybody with oppinion?

[Milen_P]

A little correction - on the written pinout - #6 is assigned for the Low beams. On the diagram though, the wire from #6 goes to the motors and is assigned as "ground". Is this just a typo .

[GTI_Matador]

if you have pre-03 lights disregard everything mentioning internal light wiring, they are different. These instructions are for 03+

[Milen_P]

OK, I will. Though, the only diference I actually found was this grounding the levelers - comming from #7, instead of #6 and the wire from #6 to the ballasts. Anyway, again - thanks a lot for all the help. I'll keep searching the forums for somebody with pre-03 HIDs like mine
ANYONE

[GTi 1.8Turbo]

Good job!

One question... After i do this, how do i aim the headlights?? In other words, if i need number 1 (not zero) is my everyday aim set... Should i set the rehostat to level 1 then aim the headlight using the srewdriver or what?

Thanks!

[GTI_Matador]

Quote, originally posted by GTi 1.8Turbo »

Good job! One question... After i do this, how do i aim the headlights?? In other words, if i need number 1 (not zero) is my everyday aim set... Should i set the rehostat to level 1 then aim the headlight using the srewdriver or what? Thanks!

That's a good question. In theory the adjuster is designed to aim the headlights down, since these lights already have been known to break from people overly adjusting their height, it would be safe to say that you should start at the highest setting (flat line) and then adjust down according to extra weight you ever load into the rear.


Modified by GTI_Matador at 12:05 AM 4-4-2004

[klee]

Quote, originally posted by GTi 1.8Turbo »

Good job! One question... After i do this, how do i aim the headlights?? In other words, if i need number 1 (not zero) is my everyday aim set... Should i set the rehostat to level 1 then aim the headlight using the srewdriver or what? Thanks!

correct.

but yea, GTI_Matador is right when he describes how the rheostat was intended to function

[GTi 1.8Turbo]

One more question to understand how it works... If i aim the headlights as the manufacture's setting (0 with no load, 1 with light load...etc), and then i set the reostaht to number 2 for example and then disconnect the wires from the back of the rhostate, change the number to 0 (while it's un-plug) and then connect the rhostat... What will happen?? will the headlights be aimming like before with the new number or they move-up since i changed the number to 0 or what??

[VR6 Kid]

Quote, originally posted by GTi 1.8Turbo »

One more question to understand how it works... If i aim the headlights as the manufacture's setting (0 with no load, 1 with light load...etc), and then i set the reostaht to number 2 for example and then disconnect the wires from the back of the rhostate, change the number to 0 (while it's un-plug) and then connect the rhostat... What will happen?? will the headlights be aimming like before with the new number or they move-up since i changed the number to 0 or what??

I too would like to know

[GTI_Matador]

The motors know how to respond according to the setting. It knows its limit so when its set to 0 it goes to the extreme highest level, when its set to 4 it goes to the other extreme. no matter how many times you unplug the lights.

Each setting has a distinct voltage. If you hook up a volt meter to the wires and play with the adjustment you will see what I'm talking about.

[VR6 Kid]

cool thanks!

[GTi 1.8Turbo]

Quote, originally posted by GTI_Matador »

The motors know how to respond according to the setting. It knows its limit so when its set to 0 it goes to the extreme highest level, when its set to 4 it goes to the other extreme. no matter how many times you unplug the lights. Each setting has a distinct voltage. If you hook up a volt meter to the wires and play with the adjustment you will see what I'm talking about.

Cool, so to aim the headlights, make sure your rehostat is on number zero before starting...