Difference with these rear LED lights...??

nad

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I've found a set of original facelift rear LED lights for the A3 Sportback which exclude the inner tailgate lights. The design of the lights are slightly different than usual, as you can see from the below photo the section with the reverse lamp is not a clear lens as found on the standard facelift lights.

3112-led-lights.jpg


The part number for these lights is 8P4 945 095 F and 8P4 945 096 F. I contacted several Audi dealerships and even Audi customer services to ask if apart from the obvious design difference is there anything else that make these lights different to the standard ones but nobody can give me an answer! The only information their system told them is so rare are these lights that Audi have only one set in stock! Someone else said they don't have fog lights (which of course would make them illegal in the UK) but that doesn't make sense as the fog lights are on the inner tailgate lights?? I can't even find any information on the internet about them! Hoping someone on here can help shed some light?
 
the fog light are on the inner light (boot lid) and only diffrence i see is that the chrome has been replaced by black tint, so you got nuffin to worry about mate..
 
Hmm, I quite like them actually! Would look nice on my Dolphin Grey.
Has the person selling them got the inner lights too, otherwise it'll look a bit odd if the inners have got clear strips and the outers have smoked ones?
By the way, it's the indicators that are in the dark strips above, the reverse lights are in the inners.

It's got me thinking though. I wonder it I could Lamin-X the clear strips on mine :think:
 
They're not something like Euro or U.S. spec are they? The GTi spec MK4 Golfs had different tinted lights for the states and Europe so I wonder if it's something like that? I don't know how the part numbers work to be honest, but maybe someone with the catalogue thingy can see if that's a posibility.
 
They must be a non-UK spec because on my sportback there are reflectors where the black strips are shown in the photo.

All UK vehicle rear light clusters must include a reflective strip so these would not be road legal in the UK.
 
That's weird. Mine have got the clear indicator lenses where the black strips are on the ones in the photo. My reflectors are in the same place as the ones in the photo - below the black strip.
 
You've got LED rears on yours though haven't you Mike?

No mate - just the old fashioned bulbs !

Maybe I should have read the original post more carefully - but for the UK each of the clusters (all four in the sportback) must have reflectors in them somewhere and I didn't spot any in the photo.
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I think both 'danb986' & 'NHN' are right that they are for the US cars. I did find a photo showing how the lights look and got to say they do look really nice on an Ibis white A3....

Review: 2009 MTM Audi A3 Sportback -- Autoblog

It's a shame they are not legal here!
 
Sorry, just had another closer look at the photos from the above link and also the following Youtube video with the same lights....

YouTube - ‪2011 Audi A3 2.0 Quattro‬‏

If you pause the video at 0:26, below the indicator it does actually appear to have reflectors? Also, the indicators flash amber and so cannot think of anything else that might make these illegal in the UK? Can I be wrong??
 
The reflectors on mine are definitely at the bottom, in the large area underneath the indicator strip and also on the sides, which looks exactly the same as the ones above. Pretty much everything that is outside the LED ring part on the outer lights is reflectors. I remember these reflecting a lot when I was try to take a photo of my new LED's. I had to turn off the cameras flash otherwise all you could see was reflector.

Why wouldn't they be legal? The only difference is that the indicator part is tinted a darker colour, much like a lot of other cars on the road. They still flash amber, so surely that part is legal. Everything else is the same as my UK spec ones.
I'm not disputing what you're saying, just trying to find out why these might not be legal over here.

What is odd is that the dark band is only on the outer lights. You would've thought it'd look better if the dark band continued into the inner lights for a bit of continuity. Like our UK spec ones do.
 
Presumably Audi have complied with the regulations in both UK and US.

Why would they produce different light clusters for each country if they could get away with the same ones for both countries ?

That is why I cannot imagine they would be legal in the UK !
 
Presumably Audi have complied with the regulations in both UK and US.

Why would they produce different light clusters for each country if they could get away with the same ones for both countries ?

That is why I cannot imagine they would be legal in the UK !

Mike, you have a good point but I'm finding it hard to see what these different regulations could be? Audi themselves don't know!! In fact, according to Audi, their system does not even specify if these lights are meant for any particular country/region, only that they don't have fog lights, but we already know that as neither do the UK ones. What confuses me even more, I have actually seen some A3's in the US with LED lights same as here in the UK like in this Youtube video....

YouTube - ‪Audi A3, JL Audio Install. HD 5 channel, JL W3, AVIC-Z110bt‬‏

I think I'm going to risk it. The lights are less than half the price of what the dealers here charge and that is with delivery. Once I get them I will take them to an MOT centre before fitting and see what they make of them. As long as they will pass the MOT, it's all I care about. Thanks to everyone for their comments.
 
I honestly don't think you'll have a problem. It may be that in California or somewhere like that where the rules are stupidly strict, that all indicators have to be tinted rather than clear, or some crap like that. I bet that even if they aren't E marked they'll perform just the same as UK spec ones and even Audi or the strictest MOT tester won't notice that they're not the normal ones.

Go for it. I think they look smart.
 
From the application of the type of view, LED lamps and lamp each division, the single power LED light is small,
 
Hey guys, long time reader here but first time posting. I'm in the US, so I think I can offer some help on these lights. They are US spec as stated above. The turn signals are not amber, the dark strip where your signals are is empty. These lights flash the red brake bulbs as signals. I'm not sure what you're seeing in the video, but there are no amber bulbs in the US tail lights. I recall reading that the reflector is a different design as well, supposedly the Euro tails don't meet US DOT standards where the reflectors are concerned.

The Euro tails are a popular mod here, laws regarding headlights and tail lights are rarely enforced. For that matter, many states don't even test emissions! The inner lights are identical on US and Euro spec, so many people with the facelift models purchase just the outer Euro lights, thus finding only a pair of outer US lights for sale is somewhat common. Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for clearing that up with such a comprehensive answer. We were all just guessing, but it's nice to get a definitive answer.
It all makes sense now you say it. Lets hope the OP hasn't taken the plunge and bought them yet.
 
Thanks for the info. I did actually find this out a few days ago after emailing a dealer in the US and therefore did not purchase them.
 

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