Inner headlights on US market GTI (Bi-Xenon equipped) - function and settings

[hughsey82]

o man i want 4 headlights with the highs on.....soo damn nice for country roads i bet

 

[JetTurbo]

Superb write up.

I still put the over/under at 20 hours until the next person asks "What are the inner headlights on my GTI?"

:thanks:

it would seem the presence of this topic on the first page of DIY + Maintenance + Tips/Tricks has momentarily quashed FTP threads.
By now I would have expected to see another FTP thread in GTI / Rabbit / Golf MkV General Discussions since the last one started on 11-Oct (Headlight Question).
20 hours? :lol: 12 days and counting ... :bellyroll:

I hope its not a sign of the recent economic changes, i.e. no new car purchasers joining and asking the ultimate neophyte GTI question :yikes:

 

[leo delarge]

dammit i really want my FTP lights as my DRLs

 

[LFC RTK]

dammit i really want my FTP lights as my DRLs

That's a terrible idea, you'd even blind people in the daytime.

 

[Dredknut]

dammit i really want my FTP lights as my DRLs

I dream of this as well, however dimmed to match the brightness of my fogs... I am just too chicken to go out and start snipping wires and such.

 

[LoyalSage]

@JetTurbo:

Thank you very much for this writeup. It is very well put together, clear concise and full of very useful information.

Can someone please sticky this or add it to the list of DIY? I checked and did not find it in there.

Thanks!

 

[pdxa4]

Tks for your post once again, I fitted my Euro switch this evening then turned off the DRL's and recoded it to UK config...

 

[LoyalSage]

can someone give me one good reason why this thread is not a sticky? its an awesome thread, please sticky it!

 

[stanchion]

i still have a question

Okay so like, my apologies if I'm an idiot and just haven't interpreted all the information correctly here.. someone please point out where I'm off though. =)

I have an 08 GTI, and just got a friendly guy to VAG-COM for me... great stuff so far but I don't understand something... i have DRLs off, fogs on with high beams and FTP enabled.... so..... when I get in the car and turn on the headlights, the xenon's come on...but obviously they dont do their little shutter dance.. they just click on ... isnt that the same as the stock high beam setting? isnt it bad if turning on the xenons normally is now equivalent to using xenon HIGH BEAMS all the time??? with the normal night lights isnt everyone going to think im high beaming all the time now?

yeah, of course i want all 6 lights as FTP and super high beams... but, i also want to be able to have just normal xenon output ... or am i wrong, *is* that a normal xenon output ? and IF IT IS, doesnt that mean you still could have one brighter setting? (fogs, halogens, and xenons *with* high beam) ???

(and oh yeah +1 to sticky this thread in tips n tricks)

 

[stanchion]

okay possible update.. i just went and checked my car after letting it sit for a few hours...

i notice now if i have headlights off, all is off. if i turn headlights on, it *DOES* do a little shutter dance, then the xenons heat up after a second.

now, when i turn on the highbeams i hear a shutter 'clunk' and of course the middle halogens come on as well while the outside is lit... i jump out of the car and LOOK at the headlights and, to be honest, its really hard to tell.. MAYBE the xenons ARE getting brighter (shutter clunk is the sound of them going to high beams) .. i guess the thing is, at close range its hard to tell that the xenons are in fact brighter .. and with the halogens casting light as well its hard to see that difference...

any comments? ;-)

 

[VandalRG]

Tks for your post once again, I fitted my Euro switch this evening then turned off the DRL's and recoded it to UK config...

What is this Euro switch you speak of? Is it the Euro headlight switch that would enable me to turn on the "city" lights without having my headlights on (after turning off the DRLs)?

 

[JetTurbo]

What is this Euro switch you speak of? Is it the Euro headlight switch that would enable me to turn on the "city" lights without having my headlights on (after turning off the DRLs)?

Yes, it is a switch sold in the European market. Yes, it includes a parking light position that will light the city lights. Providing DRL is off the city light postion will illuminate only city lights. OR if instruments is set to non-US country, even with DRL on, the city light position will extinguish the headlights and only illuminate the city lights.

euro switch for automatic headlights ...

 

[VandalRG]

Thanks! That's great news, definitely going to pick one of those up.

 

[LI_HXC_VR6]

okay possible update.. i just went and checked my car after letting it sit for a few hours...

i notice now if i have headlights off, all is off. if i turn headlights on, it *DOES* do a little shutter dance, then the xenons heat up after a second.

now, when i turn on the highbeams i hear a shutter 'clunk' and of course the middle halogens come on as well while the outside is lit... i jump out of the car and LOOK at the headlights and, to be honest, its really hard to tell.. MAYBE the xenons ARE getting brighter (shutter clunk is the sound of them going to high beams) .. i guess the thing is, at close range its hard to tell that the xenons are in fact brighter .. and with the halogens casting light as well its hard to see that difference...

any comments? ;-)

First, the "little shutter dance" you mention is actually the lights self levelling. This occurs at times and doesn't occur at other times, I think it has to do w/ how they left off last time they were on.

Second, the xenons don't have different light output levels, they have 1 level of output and when you turn on the brights the shutter adjust to allow more light shine higher and farther (the distinct shutter cutoff can be seen if you face a wall and turn your lights on, it looks something like: __/ __/ , those sharp cutoffs are created by the shutter and when you turn the brights on you'll see the pattern gets thrown more up top without the distinct sharp cutoff). I can't find the threads and websites I've seen that explain it all in further detail but afaik that is how they work. I'm sure there's something about it on the Daniel Stern lighting site.

Yes, it is a switch sold in the European market. Yes, it includes a parking light position that will light the city lights. Providing DRL is off the city light postion will illuminate only city lights. OR if instruments is set to non-US country, even with DRL on, the city light position will extinguish the headlights and only illuminate the city lights.

Also the euro switch enables the foglights to be turned on in the parking light (city light) position and has rear fog capabilities as well.

 

[stanchion]

Thanks for the clarification LI_HXC_VR6 . You're right. I had a friend stand at a distance when I flipped the high beams on and he confirmed they "appear brighter" (by moving the shutter obviously). It was just hard for me to tell in a reflected window or by jumping out of the car.

I want this euro light switch now!!!!!!