I just got done installing a HID kit from Polarian. I get the "left dipped headlights" and "right dipped headlights" error displayed on my instrument panel. How do I get rid of this? Please Help me.

Thanks in advance.

A piece of black electrical tape will fix that

What do I do with the black electrical tape?

LOL!

No, I was just kidding. The tape can be used to cover up your message.

In all seriousness, The reason your message indicators got tripped is because since you put ballasts in there, your message center thinks the lowbeam bulbs (dipped beam bulbs) are both burned out since the resistance is different. The way I'd fix that on many cars is to find the sense wires that tie into the lowbeam left and righthand circuits to the message center processor (using a wiring diagram), and then once you identify those to wires (for each side, respectively), then disconnect those 2 wires from the headlight circuits, and put the correct sized resistors onto those wires to ground so they hook to the message center and they will give correct resistance as a filament bulb would, which will make your message center think that your bulbs are fine.

BUT BEFORE TRYING THAT, if your car is new enough and has OBD-II for an ECM (Electronic Control Module), and if your car came from the factory with the option to have had xenon lights, then you can go to the dealer and they can plug the OBD scan tool in and reprogram your ECM to see the correct resistance for having ballasts (since the message center has been integrated into the ECM on many newer cars). This works on many newer BMWs, but not sure about Audi. If your car does not meet the criteria then you have to manually 'fool' the message center module as stated in the prior paragragh.

Thanks for the help!

Hey Sonny, Post some picture! I have a halogen 02 A4 too! I wonder what the retrofit will look like.

I will try to put some up this weekend.

Josch or anyone,

What size resistors do I use to fix this?

Thanks

Did you go by your local Audi dealer first, to make sure they can't program your PCM to see the correct resistance? Have you posted a question about this whole topic on the AudiWorld forums? I'm sure they have a ton of guys over there who could give you the EXACT procedure to fix your lights FAST!

http://www.audiworld.com/forum/


And if you've seen all that and still don't know how, then I could tell you exactly what needs to be done after studying a wiring diagram for your car. The resistor would need to be the same resistance as what your filament bulb had in there before. But you need to see the diagram so you know if the message center circuit is looking for the resistance to 'pull up' the voltage or 'pull down' the voltage at the message center. (in other words, will the resistor go to ground or to positive voltage. I guess I'm having a harder time explaining it than it is in my mind, let me know if that sounds confusing)

Yes, I did talk to a guy at the Audi dealership. He told me if it is not OEM that they weren't going to reset anything for me. I did post the same message at the Audi forum but didn't get much help.

If you can give me detailed instructions that would be nice of you. Trying to find the different wires is way beyond my knowledge.

Thanks!

where is your post on audiworld?

It is under the A4(b6) forum. The user name is phrommas it is about 6 deep.

people in audiworld suggest you to hook the ballast directly into the original circuit without connecting it to battery separately....

I am still not sure if the factory wire can handle this or not. But I have researched to show that the connector connecting to the xenon headlight is the same as the halogen headlight. i.e. if you buy xenon housing, then you just need to take out the halogen housing and put that in and re-plug the connector and it will work... chances are the wiring may be the same.

If that is the case, then everything is good. All you need to do is to take a H7 bulb and crash it, then connect the ballast into that crashed part so that it plug right into the original H7 female socket.

The thing is, that the ballast has a different resistance across the power terminals as the filament has across it's terminals. So I'm sure there is an easy fix for this since the car has the OEM xenon feature as an option, but since I don't know this procedure, then the best way I'd know how to fix it is by disconnecting the sense wires for the message center's right and left sides, and put a resistor that produces the same resistance as the old filament H7 halogen bulb did, and that would always tell the module (or PCM- which type it uses) that the bulbs are fine. BMW had an actual manual suppliment that tells you (for dealerships) how to upgrade to xenon (with autolevelers and all) and the suppliment tell them how to reprogram the PCM to see correct resistance. That's why it surprises me to see Audi dealer give you the cold shoulder and tell you to go take a hike. I'd go find a different Audi dealer, or maybe get online and find other Audi dealers in big cities that you could call to figure out what is the correct procedure to fix your message center status control. Then if all that didn't work, you need to buy a manual for your car that shows a WIRING DIAGRAM and you need to figure out where the PCM or message center ties into the right and left headlight circuits, so you know which wires to clip and soldier in your resistors for each side. It's not very hard to do if you got the diagram. If not, you may never figure it out.

But a lot of people reported on audiworld that when they hook up the ballast into the original H7 socket, then the light would not come up...

Hm.....

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments. I am still not sure what I will do yet, but should do something quick, the beep that it gives me is very annoying. In addition, the spot were the error is at also displays other things but of course not displaying due to this (or else I would've used the black electrical tape ).

I did find a wiring diagram for the Audi A4 02, but looking at that pdf is as good as me reading Arabic, it is way beyond me. Hopefully, this will mean something to you guys.

Thanks for the help again!

http://www.bentleypublishers.com/tech/audi/audi.b6.wd.02.pdf

.

Hey guys, is it possible to use VAG-COM to reset it myself?

Actually, I think I have answered my own question.

Below is from
http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/audiB6.html

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
09-Elec. Ctrl. Mod. K1 – KWP1281
VAG-COM works fine.

Tweak: Coding options for lighting Coding is 000XY.

X=1 for Xenon Headlights,
X=0 for conventional Halogens.

Country DRLs: Fogs w/o low beams:
Y=1 RDW (Rest of World) No Yes
Y=2 NDL (Netherlands) Yes Yes
Y=3 USA No No
Y=4 KAN (Canada) Yes Yes
Y=5 DAN (Denmark?) Yes Yes
Y=6 SON (Other?) Yes Yes

I am not sure why there are so many Yes/Yes combinations; there must be some other features controller by this. The state of the Radio and Climate Control lighting is affected by this coding as well.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So you guys think this VAG tool will work?

Try it? But you might make sure you are not using relays and that your ballasts are plugged into regular H7 halogen harness power, is probably how it should be. Since your car came with xenon as an option then the stock harness was probably built good enough for it, because if you program the PCM to see xenon resistance then it would need to see that actual resistance and not just a relay trigger's resistance.

ProtoColD, here are the pics.




Josch, my friend and I hooked up 4 resistors to trick the computer and it worked. The 4 resistors did generate a lot of heat, he recommended 9 resistors for each headlight to reduce the heat. I did order the VAG tool from obdtool.com. So hopefully it will do the trick, instead of having to build something with 18 resistors.

ProtoColD, if you plan on getting HIDs, I would recommend getting OEM.

Thanks for all the help again guys!

Yeah. i have ordered a pair of e-code hid housing with ballast and bulb in there.. I just need to take mine headlight out and swap the e-code in that that would be it.

No no no no no no no, Sonny, you don't want to have them like that or you will draw the load of your HID PLUS the load of those resistors which would be similar to the heat of your old bulbs? This is why you want to cut the sense wires to the message center to the headlight circuit, so you can give the correct resistance to the message center without actually drawing all the current through those resistors. Does that make sense? I would take out your resistors that you put in for now, because that may likely draw excess current through your headlight circuit. One of the benefits to having HID in the first place too is that they draw less power because they are more efficient at converting electrical energy to light energy. You just want to provide the correct resistance to the message center without actually running a load through your resistors. But you were on the right track. I still haven't had time to look through your .pdf wire diagram, but I will try to look at it and identify the correct leads to clip and from where and to where to wire in the resistors as soon as I get some extra time.

Here's a good example of "over thinking" the problem:
http://www.markviii.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=656&forum=DCForumID14

When I retrofitted mine ('94 Lincoln Mark VIII), I found the warning signal wire to the message center, cut it in two and taped over the ends. Same result, no message.

I found this link.. not sure if it is helpful.. but take a look.

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/tips_pages/xenonfix.htm

Josch,

I some what get what you are saying. We hooked up four resistors to see if it would work but didn't leave them there. It was way too hot to leave there. I do have one question though. Why does it make a difference where I put the resistor? You are saying after I clip the wire to the message center, I still have to put a resistor there?


ekooke & ProtoColD - thanks for the links, I might not need 18 some resistors now.

Josch, the links that ekooke & ProtoColD sent me I assume is not the way to eliminate the light error? Or is it a correct way?

Thanks again!

Josch or anyone,

After resetting my ECM for xenon using the VAG-Com tool it still gives me the light error. I didn't hook the ballast straight to the factory wires. My friend told me since there is a 30amp fuse from the relay to the battery, the factory wires might not be able to handle it.

Not sure really what to do.

Never mind the last post, the VAG-COM tool eliminated the error! I guess you have to turn off the engine and restart it again. Thanks guys for everything!

Cool, I'm glad it worked!

so how did you program the thing using your VAG????

Did you have to turn it off or do you re-program the thing?

ProtoColD, I programmed it so the soft code is 00013 like the example from above.

Josch, I spoke to soon, the light error doesn't show up when the lights are off (it did before) but they do show up after having the lights on for 3 minutes or so. Why do you think that is? Is it possible that my grounding is wrong? Also on audiworld.com some people suggested to go straight to the factory wires and others warn not to do so, is that safe? Here is a picture of what they did. I assume they use the 30 amp fuse that was once between the relay and the battery.


Thanks guys!

resetting offset..

slackyaw, resetting offset due to reprogramming the car? Can you explain more. Thanks.

lol, no
all the messeges in this thread started driffting off my screen...

Yeah, I would use the vehicle harness so your vehicle's harness can 'see' the actual resistance of the ballasts. I would feel fairly confident that the factory car harness is built good enough since xenon came as an option on that car. They wouldn't put 2 different circuit on the car for the 2 options. Just plug your ballasts up straight to the vehicle without the relay harness. Let me know if that is better

actually i have tangent question

are the stock wiring for high beams, most 9006/9005 setups, able to handle HID current load?

or are they the same wiring as 9006?

slackyaw, I am not sure what you are asking but I am replacing my H7 bulbs.

It all depends on the car itself. Audi A4 have xenon as an option so that wiring circuit is probably the same with/without this options.

Now, if you ask me, e.g. a corolla where it use 9005/9006 and if the wire can survive in the HID setup, then I would say NO. It never designed to be used with HID.

Sonny, I think you may want to try to go straight into the original H7 female socket and see if it will work. My E-code arrived and I havent put that in yet, but as far as I know, it is just a plain swap. So technically, it is also a straight connect into the original circuit. (i have the same car as you)

ProtoColD, I will try it this weekend. Where did you order your E-code with the HID? You will have to tell us how the installation goes.

Sure.

no, the car does not have HID as an option (if it did.. life would be so much easier)

it's a 9006/9005 halogen setup on a 02 camry.

i would Like to add HID to highbeam but not sure if stock wiring will handle current draw. i already have a harness for the low beams, just curios to know if i could consider them for high beams as well...

whoa...NO. I dont think you can get high beam to work if you want to flash highbeam.

You can install it on your highbeam, it will take a few seconds for the hid to lite up. But flashing it will likely to kill the bulb :P

The stock wiring will NOT be good enough to support HID. So if you were to do it, you need to hook the ballast directly to the battery and go from there.

my lows kick on too when highs go on. it would just mean that i no longer flash people, not that i do that anyway.

with harness, i would lose my DRL funtion through my highs. actually, i would lose DRL's completely i guess either way.

Finally got the time to swap in my E-code. Everything went smooth. Only took 20 mins total (10 mins on each side).

Now I need to figure out a way to align the E-code.

Maybe I should just take it the dealer and ask them to do it.

ProtoColD, did you get the light error? I assume you didn't, does this mean that you wouldn't need the VAG tool?

I just got done hooking it up to the factory wires. Everything is working like it should! This was quite the learning experience, thanks guys for everything!

well... when you did not reply my message when I ask you to see if i can borrow the vag tools, I assume you wont lend it to me...



I still need to VAG it though... but...

but.... what?