# Definitive on best set of new bulbs for a MkII?



## gordyw (Aug 27, 2017)

Good evening all,

new to the forum and new to the world of TT ownership - great resource here so a big thanks first of all to all concerned who contribute. 
I picked up a 2011 2.0 TFSi quattro with the auto box last week and am delighted with it. Spent a few quid getting the wheels refurbed just to tidy it up cosmetically but other than that really pleased with how it looks and runs.
My only real issue with it is the headlights. I'm not fussed for a massive changeover, not particularly bothered about DRLs or spending fortunes, but I would just like to improve the brightness and whiteness of the lights, which feel a bit on the dim side after running various cars - including an A5 cabriolet - with xenons. I've looked at the videos on bulb replacement and it doesn't seem to be overly taxing so is there a recommended set of replacement bulbs to improve what I have and tick the boxes I'm looking for?
Forgive me if I haven't found the solution in the search function but there are a few acronyms used to describe things I'm not familiar with! [smiley=help.gif]


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## qooqiiu (Oct 12, 2007)

Don't think you can get brighter than Osram's nightbreaker unlimited. Available in both halogeon and xenon.


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## gordyw (Aug 27, 2017)

Appreciate the reply, thank you. Forgive my ignorance but can you put xenon bulbs in these lights, or does that need some kind of extra work? Or would a replacement set of halogens do the trick anyway?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## nhs99v (Jul 18, 2017)

The Osram Nightbreaker ones mentioned above are very good - have them on my A3. IIRC - Eurocarparts did a deal when I bought them.

I have used these on my TT:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-TT-0...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

and these:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-TT-8...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

And I like them a lot although no idea on how long they will last as only fitted a few weeks ago.

Big change from stock ordinary ones.


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## qooqiiu (Oct 12, 2007)

You can't put xenon bulbs in your halogen units.

You can buy xenon units and additional wireing looms and then code the car for them
To
Work. Expensive!

You'll always be dissapointed with a halogen bulb when coming from xenon.


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## Andrew9758 (Feb 20, 2017)

An alternative to the osrams are the Phillips vision extreme 130% which auto car recommend. I have had them in my 1 series and the other halfs KA and they give a slightly whiter look but also offer a lot more light. The colour of the light depends on the Kelvin of the bulb


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## neilneil2000 (Feb 22, 2012)

I would also vote for Philips X-treme Vision. I have used multiple sets over the years and have always been impressed. I have tried the Osram Nightbreakers, but was very disappointed with the life (I'd estimate a third to a half of the Philips).


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## rajanm1 (Feb 1, 2014)

neilneil2000 said:


> I would also vote for Philips X-treme Vision. I have used multiple sets over the years and have always been impressed. I have tried the Osram Nightbreakers, but was very disappointed with the life (I'd estimate a third to a half of the Philips).


+1 for the Phillips


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## gordyw (Aug 27, 2017)

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated. Is fitting he bulbs as easy as it looks on the vids for those who have done it?


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## Barr_end (Oct 19, 2016)

gordyw said:


> Thanks for the replies - much appreciated. Is fitting he bulbs as easy as it looks on the vids for those who have done it?


Very esay, not ever watched a video but it takes around 30 seconds for me to remove a headlight :lol: remove the plastic trim, using the torque piece on the screwdriver from the boot, loosen the 2 lower bolts, one at the front inside (by the grill) of the headlight, one at the rear outside (inside the wing), remove the top 3rd bolt, unclip the wiring loom, gentally remove the headlight. Access through the appropriate bung for which bulb you are needing to change. Fit in reverse.
It took me about 5 times longer to write this reply that it would to have done it all, that's honestly how simple it is.


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## gordyw (Aug 27, 2017)

Then I greatly appreciate you making the effort!
Will get the bulbs and give it a bash.



Barr_end said:


> gordyw said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks for the replies - much appreciated. Is fitting he bulbs as easy as it looks on the vids for those who have done it?
> ...


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## neilneil2000 (Feb 22, 2012)

Top tip: DO NOT TOUCH the glass part of the bulb with bare hands. You will dramatically shorten the life


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

That was one of the first things I did in my TT too :lol:

I went for Osram Nightbreakers over the Phillips ones and I think they're great! 
Also, I upgraded the sidelights to LED ones and they look so much better!! Worth doing if you're going to change the lights anyway. Few pics of the LEDs below.

I get my bulbs from ABD - http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk


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## Derek Duvall (Jun 13, 2017)

AndreiV93, do the led sidelights match the Osram bulbs?

I want to change the sidelights because they look quite yellow and I want them whiter. They also don't really match the dipped headlights. I'd like to upgrade both to something whiter that matches if that makes sense?!


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## AndreiV93 (Mar 29, 2017)

Derek Duvall said:


> AndreiV93, do the led sidelights match the Osram bulbs?
> 
> I want to change the sidelights because they look quite yellow and I want them whiter. They also don't really match the dipped headlights. I'd like to upgrade both to something whiter that matches if that makes sense?!


Even tho the dipped headlights are Osram Nightbreakers, they'll never be as white as the xenon bulbs or LED. 
However, they are quite a bit whiter and brighter than the standard halogen dipped headlights on the TT and I think they work well with the LED side lights. I'll take a picture for your later this evening once it gets dark so you can see.


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

*@ AndreiV93* - I just ordered a set of P12W's for my DRL and H6W's front side markers from the same company you recommended. They've said they're Canbus friendly so I won't need to use a resistor, but we'll see. They did agree to accept a return if they don't work out on my TT (German spec) as I am not willing to splice in a resistor, so I'll be sure to comment when they arrive and I get them installed.

(1) 382 Twenty20 Cree LED 12V P21W Canbus Bayonet Bulb SKU: 382CRCANW, £16.50 
(2) 434 Twenty20 Cree LED 12V H6W Canbus Bayonet Bulb, SKU: H6WCANW, £4.99

If these work out, I may replace the fogs with the H11 Twenty20 Cree LED 12V Canbus Foglight bulbs.

*@ Gordyw* - The only tools you need to remove the headlight assembly are the long, double ended torx and the screw driver. Both are located in the spare tool kit in the trunk. You'll need the flat-blade screwdriver to release the connector clip. There's one screw on top center that you will have to remove, the other two just loosen.






If you pull the rear assemblies, you'll use the screwdriver handle to remove the retaining bolt (only one) that holds the rears in place. Then use the Phillips screwdriver to disassemble the housing from the lens to access the bulbs.






This link will give you a list of bulbs and has a few videos on how to remove the front, rear and fog light assemblies.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1609466&hilit=bulb

Instead of trying to fiddle with replacing the bulbs in the driveway, you will find it's much easier to just remove the entire front and/or rear assemblies and do the bulb replacements in the comfort of your workbench (aka - kitchen table). As noted previously, if your bulbs are all original, it might be time to replace them all as they do degrade over time. 
.


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## mickee92 (Mar 2, 2016)

Used HIDs direct myself https://www.hids-direct.co.uk and use the HID kits to get rid of the yellowish dull lights. Yeah osram and so on are "whiter" than others but the bottom line of it their still yellow. My lights are now white and a lot brighter.

Still yet to find a set of cree side lights that dont give errors and its a shame because the cree sides are really bright. Must have went through about 3-4 different sets of "canbus friendly" sides from hids direct and in the end settled for the MTEC 501 W5W Xenon Effect Super White Sidelight Bulbs... they aren't super at all and hardly noticeable in the daylight which is what most people use their sides for is DRLs??

If anyone uses cree side lights that work then please share as mine work for about 5-10mins together and then one goes out.

Also interested in brighter fog lights and the cree ones come to mind... do they work and are the brighter?


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

I received my order from ABD.co.uk today. Two LED-P21W's for DRL's and two LED-H6W's for side markers. The LED-P21W's worked great, no problems. The side markers unfortunately had two problems; one LED-H6W arrived with a broken solder joint and the one that I was able to install flickered out after about 5-seconds and went off. So yeah, I can at least enjoy brighter DRLs.

I have to say, I was not very impressed with the quality of the H6Ws. Both showed very poor quality control. For example, you'll notice the two B20 SMD devices are soldered on in reverse on one of the LEDs. Also, the cleaning is very poor on the PCB and I suspect the wave solder re-flow process was pretty dirty at the time these were produced. Yes, I know they're just cheap Chinese products, but still.

Seems my rear lights also have the earth ground problem many others are suffering, so that will be my next project.

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=162142
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=264435&start=15


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## gordyw (Aug 27, 2017)

Huge thanks for the detail in this post, Swissjetpilot - haven't carved out the time to tackle this yet but appreciate the step by step, provides a comfort level for me that it won't be beyond my limited technical prowess.



SwissJetPilot said:


> *@ AndreiV93* - I just ordered a set of P12W's for my DRL and H6W's front side markers from the same company you recommended. They've said they're Canbus friendly so I won't need to use a resistor, but we'll see. They did agree to accept a return if they don't work out on my TT (German spec) as I am not willing to splice in a resistor, so I'll be sure to comment when they arrive and I get them installed.
> 
> (1) 382 Twenty20 Cree LED 12V P21W Canbus Bayonet Bulb SKU: 382CRCANW, £16.50
> (2) 434 Twenty20 Cree LED 12V H6W Canbus Bayonet Bulb, SKU: H6WCANW, £4.99
> ...


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

Good news & bad news...

The good news is I just finished the rear light grounding (earthing) project for both rear light assemblies and discovered it wasn't that difficult to route the extra grounding wire back through the rear tail light wiring harness grommet-seal and into the trunk. This way I could tap off a nice clean interior ground point. It's a bit of a snug fit to work the wire through the seal (pushing from the outside inwards), but it looks nice and clean and I don't have to worry about fouling on an external ground at some point in the future.

Before I did it this project, the left out-board tail light would dim out and give me an error message. Now it stays on without any problems. In fact, all the lights work perfectly.

The bad news is even through all the lights worked, I was still getting an error message. So I pulled the front two new LED-P21W DLRs and put back the OEM P21W DLRs and the error went away. Damn! Looks like no LEDs for me! I contacted the ABD company in the UK and they had no problem taking them back.

So while I won't be running with LEDs as I had hoped, at least the extra-ground wire did resolve the fading outboard left tail light and should prevent the connector from burning out.

Oh, and one other note. I tried the LED P21Ws on the rear tail light assembly and they didn't work in the rears either.

C'est la vie!


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

I found an interesting post on an Audi A5 forum about re-coding with VCDS to over-ride the LED errors for a reverse light LED install.

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthrea ... ight/page2
http://www.a5oc.com/forums/a5-performan ... post296914

_"I have disabled the reverse light bulb error check with VAGCOM. Now running LED bulbs without any issue.
Here are the steps: 
Module 46 Central Convenience > Security Access 16 > 16017
Adaption 10 > Channel 181 > Convert your decimal number to binary (for example my default number in decimal is 65535, converted to binary = 1111111111111111), then change bit 10 and 11 from 1 to 0 (my new binary value becomes 1111001111111111, which is 62463 in decimal) > Enter the new binary value > Test > Save."_

I haven't tried it, but it might be worth looking into. I'd really like to use the Cree LED P21Ws for DRLs as they look much better than the OEM bulbs, so I would assume this type of change would be possible for other light positions as well.

Anyone familar with VCDS setting able to test and/or verify?

Also found this for anyone who needs to install and inline resistor for their LEDs:

Tip to you guys trying to figure out the correct resistors to use. You have to add a resistor in parallel (not in series) to the new LED bulb to increase the power/current going to the cable to the bulb.

To calculate how big the resistor should be you have to use Ohms law. P=U*I and R=U/I
Lets say that the new bulb is 5W and the standard one is 16W then we have the following calculation:
standard bulb:
I=16W/12V = 1,33A

LED bulb:
I=5W/12V = 0,417A this bulb only draws 1/3 of the current the standard bulb does. We now need to calculate what size resistor to use to draw an additional 0,913A(done below)
R=12V/0,913A = 13,14 ohm now we need to determine how much power this will have to last (done below)
P=12*0,913A = 10,9W

In this case the correct resistor is 13 ohm and 10W

Good luck =)


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## TT-driver (Sep 14, 2010)

That's a nice lesson in physics there  
Beware that dissipating 10W = dissipating heat. So pay attention where you'd fasten your resistor. Ensure it doesn't get into contact with plastics or fabrics. Smoking is a bad habit. Smoking car parts are to be avoided at all times.


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## SwissJetPilot (Apr 27, 2014)

Found a very simple fix to resolve this problem, at least for the DLRs, but you will need a VCDS to do it. 
Check my recent post here...

viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1643570


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