I am posting this to hopefully share the information that I have regarding the ambient lighting delete that a lot of members and our customers have experienced, I have seen that there are many thread about this however I am going to try and summarise this in this post as clearly as I can. The following information is based on the 8Y's we have worked on and there may be some exceptions so please feel free to correct me if I am incorrect and I will update this thread accordingly.
The A3 8Y was released from 2020 although most were 2021 by the time they were registered on the UK roads.
There was many options available on the 8Y as with any other Audi and those options also included 2 levels of ambient lighting packages:
QQ1 - Front footwell white lighting, rear footwell white lighting, centre console cubby hole white lighting, interior door handle white LED lighting and door puddle lights.
QQ2 - Front footwell white lighting, rear footwell white lighting, centre console cubby hole white lighting, interior door handle white LED lighting, door strip (silver trim) ambient multicolour lighting, door card panel multi colour lighting, dashboard multi colour lighting and door puddle lights.
QQ5 - None of the above.
Due to covid, chipset shortages, the war etc the optional interior lighting package was available to tick when customers spec'd their A3's but when they were delivered there was no lighting package fitted and all there was was a box of Audi puddle lights in the glovebox. Many people questioned this with Audi UK and some dealers didn't know that this was the case.
There was also another twist to the above, early 8Y's had door control modules fitted to the front and rear doors, this allows puddle lighting to be retrofitted, later 8Y's had no rear door modules and even the most recent 8Y's we have seen have no rear door modules fitted so it looks like its a cost cutting exercise and will be a permanent deletion - this means that puddle lights cannot be fitted to the rear doors.
Another point I’d like to share is that Audi have deleted the red warning lights on the end of the door card regardless of whether puddle lights are fitted as standard or not, these were a part of the door lighting package on previous A3’s. This a common retrofit for owners as it relatively straight forward to carry out.
The good news is that all the above can be retrofitted varying in price from simply fitting puddle lighting for £40 to a 4 figure price for the QQ2 package. Sadly to retrofit rear door modules is not simple and is expensive to do so - many people simply live without the option of having puddle lights fitted to the rear doors to an OEM level, there will be people who will splice into various wiring in the door latch to make them work to a certain degree but its certainly something that we would not recommend. We have also mixed and matched with door strips from the QQ2 package and fitted them with white QQ1 lighting to bring the costs down - there are many different options available to suit all budgets.
Hopefully this information gives owners a good insight into the 8Y ambient lighting package or the lack of! I have been a long serving member on here and have helped many 8P and 8V owners out and I hope that the above information is of use and help to 8Y owners - please feel free to correct me on anything as this is an information share post so happy to be corrected on anything of the above from owners who have 8Y's.
The A3 8Y was released from 2020 although most were 2021 by the time they were registered on the UK roads.
There was many options available on the 8Y as with any other Audi and those options also included 2 levels of ambient lighting packages:
QQ1 - Front footwell white lighting, rear footwell white lighting, centre console cubby hole white lighting, interior door handle white LED lighting and door puddle lights.
QQ2 - Front footwell white lighting, rear footwell white lighting, centre console cubby hole white lighting, interior door handle white LED lighting, door strip (silver trim) ambient multicolour lighting, door card panel multi colour lighting, dashboard multi colour lighting and door puddle lights.
QQ5 - None of the above.
Due to covid, chipset shortages, the war etc the optional interior lighting package was available to tick when customers spec'd their A3's but when they were delivered there was no lighting package fitted and all there was was a box of Audi puddle lights in the glovebox. Many people questioned this with Audi UK and some dealers didn't know that this was the case.
There was also another twist to the above, early 8Y's had door control modules fitted to the front and rear doors, this allows puddle lighting to be retrofitted, later 8Y's had no rear door modules and even the most recent 8Y's we have seen have no rear door modules fitted so it looks like its a cost cutting exercise and will be a permanent deletion - this means that puddle lights cannot be fitted to the rear doors.
Another point I’d like to share is that Audi have deleted the red warning lights on the end of the door card regardless of whether puddle lights are fitted as standard or not, these were a part of the door lighting package on previous A3’s. This a common retrofit for owners as it relatively straight forward to carry out.
The good news is that all the above can be retrofitted varying in price from simply fitting puddle lighting for £40 to a 4 figure price for the QQ2 package. Sadly to retrofit rear door modules is not simple and is expensive to do so - many people simply live without the option of having puddle lights fitted to the rear doors to an OEM level, there will be people who will splice into various wiring in the door latch to make them work to a certain degree but its certainly something that we would not recommend. We have also mixed and matched with door strips from the QQ2 package and fitted them with white QQ1 lighting to bring the costs down - there are many different options available to suit all budgets.
Hopefully this information gives owners a good insight into the 8Y ambient lighting package or the lack of! I have been a long serving member on here and have helped many 8P and 8V owners out and I hope that the above information is of use and help to 8Y owners - please feel free to correct me on anything as this is an information share post so happy to be corrected on anything of the above from owners who have 8Y's.
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