Need a clip to fix your headlight self levelling system ?

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sideways steve

sideways steve

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Ok, the silly plastic t piece things inside your headlights which attach the levelling motor to the lense are known for being crap and breaking. Its also known that you cannot buy these as spares either.

I just had a conversation with Hella UK and as these light units are made for Audi they are not allowed to sell certain spare parts, one of which is this silly clip !

I am in the process of drawing up the clips in 3D cad and am going to get a batch made up, probably in Aluminium.

I wanted to see if anyone else would be interested in a pair ? due to the work involved I would imagine I could supply these for about £10 a pair. They will be slightly redesigned to make them stronger and hence prevent them from ever breaking again.

Please add your name to this thread if you would be interested in a pair so I can see if its worth my while going out to various companys to produce them rather than me just making a pair for myself.
 
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1) S3 Paul
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If peeps would copy the list adding themselves if they are interested rather than individual names etc that would be cool...

Steve, good to go for a group buy once you have enough interest... as for the material... any reason why you couldn't use nylon over aluminium?

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Good to hear,
Its a part nobody makes and alot of people need.
Not treading on anybodys toes and helping fellow owners into the bargin !
 
I managed to source some from megane headlights and supplied to as many people as i could, i still owe tuffty some which i promised. sadly I've not been able to get them recently, not even for my self, so what you're doing is excellwnt. Im down

Karl
 
good stuff :) Im not trying to make money, I just know how annoying it is since both mine have now broke so wanted to find a fix ! I could easily knock up a couple for myself from some scrap material in the workshop at my work but to do more than just a couple I will need to have them done outside hence where the cost would come in for material and labour.

I will explore the options for using both nylon and alloy but I personally feel alloy ones will be far better as the nylon goes brittle in cold weather and I think thats one of the reasons the standard ones keep snapping. Alloy ones would probably outlast the rest of the car !
 
superkarl said:
I managed to source some from megane headlights and supplied to as many people as i could, i still owe tuffty some which i promised. sadly I've not been able to get them recently, not even for my self, so what you're doing is excellwnt. Im down

Karl
Click to expand...

Funny you say that as I spent some time looking round various cars at the breakers to see if they used the same clips, as many cars use Hella light units. The only car I found that had the exact same clips were 2000-2001 VW Polo's but most of them were broken or cracked too. I defiantly think making them in aluminium is the way to go.
 
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sideways steve said:
The only car I found that had the exact same clips were 2000-2001 VW Polo's but most of them were broken or cracked too.
Click to expand...

This has sunk my heart as my Polo GTi had a broken one which caused the headlight to flicker, I got another xenon unit (not cheap) and put the new clip on, clipped in the motor... SNAP :( very bad times indeed! Tried so many things to sort it!

I do NOT want the same with my S3 if the clips are the same :( made me hate the car!

I'm down for a set 110%
 
45_CB said:
This has sunk my heart as my Polo GTi had a broken one which caused the headlight to flicker, I got another xenon unit (not cheap) and put the new clip on, clipped in the motor... SNAP :( very bad times indeed! Tried so many things to sort it!

I do NOT want the same with my S3 if the clips are the same :( made me hate the car!

I'm down for a set 110%
Click to expand...

Copy, paste, add yourself to the list... if you aren't on the list then you aren't coming in ;P

<tuffty/>
 
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Put my name down Steve i'll collect them whenever's good for you!

(EDIT) I'll do that for you then :) <tuffty/>

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Hi Steve ,
Just thought i'd mention i came up with a fix for this a few months ago . Basically if you take a plastic furniture block the type you use for screwing flat pack furniture together . Drill an 8mm hole down the centre 'the right bore for the ball end of the leveller motor' then on the top side of the block cut a 5mm gap with a hacksaw . The plastic is the perfect resistance to allow the motor to be clipped and unclipped without breaking yet maintaining a good grip . Finally make a countersink hole for the tork screw to hold your new clip onto the back of the lamp . Costs about 10p and a little time . The only thing you loose is the D shaped surround by the fixing screw ,
but worked fine for me . Just my two pence worth , lol .

Cheers , Ant
 
I'd still prefer an aluminium one as its going to be a fix and forget scenario
 
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Are these for both types of front lights? If so I would like a set please :)

1) S3 Paul
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6) S3 AUO
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Sounds like a common problem. Mines hasen't broke yet but i would be intrested in a set just incase. A problem i do have though is that the arm on the sensor that connects to the linkage under the car has broken (front and rear) right where the ball joint screws through it. I was wondering if there is a solution to fix these without buying new sensors as new ones are quite expensive.:unsure:
1) S3 Paul
2) S3featesv9
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Sorry i was a bit late wit my post, revised:
1) S3 Paul
2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8)S3Zek
9)spencer-s3
10) CRS3​
 
You can repair the level arms, I used Araldite. Been solid Ever since, which was like year and half ago or longer
 
Sounds good but where they have broke, the bits are missing. I was thinking about shaping a small piece of thin aluminium with a hole in the end for the ball joint and attatching it with small screws and nuts.
 
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2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8)S3Zek
9)spencer-s3
10) CRS3
11)Gops (if there's room for one more)
 
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2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8)S3Zek
9)spencer-s3
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11)Gops
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CRS3 said:
Sounds good but where they have broke, the bits are missing. I was thinking about shaping a small piece of thin aluminium with a hole in the end for the ball joint and attatching it with small screws and nuts.
Click to expand...

Probably best if you just buy a new one, yours sounds pretty shagged tbh
 
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2) S3featesv9
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4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8)S3Zek
9)spencer-s3
10) CRS3
11)Gops
12) sportstractor
13) StaceyS3
 
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2) S3featesv9
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4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8)S3Zek
9)spencer-s3
10) CRS3
11)Gops
12) sportstractor
13) StaceyS3
14) Cees48
 
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2) S3featesv9<br />
3) <tuffty/><br />
4) rhys1210<br />
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6) S3 AUO<br />
7) scottm4<br />
8)S3Zek<br />
9)spencer-s3<br />
10) CRS3<br />
11)Gops<br />
12) sportstractor<br />
13) StaceyS3 <br />
14) Cees48<br />
15) shariain <br />
 
Hey folks,

Just to clarify, this is for FACELIFT headlights, I cannot tell you if they will be the same on pre facelift as I have not seen one from a pre facelift.

I have managed to get hold of an un damaged clip and will be starting the drawing work on it this week. Hopefully by this time next week I will have spoken to a manufacturer and arranged to get some made and found out pricing etc so watch this space.
 
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2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8) S3Zek
9) spencer-s3
10) CRS3
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12) sportstractor
13) StaceyS3
14) Cees48
15) shariain
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I havnt got xenon lights, just the facelift standard projector ones, one of my dipped beams wobbles sometimes when going over a bump, will this be the clip that is causing this? Just wondering before putting my name down! Cheers

Edit: before anyone says anything xD yes, the light are secured in and are solid in the holder!
 
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1) S3 Paul
2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8) S3Zek
9) spencer-s3
10) CRS3
11) Gops
12) sportstractor
13) StaceyS3
14) Cees48
15) shariain
16) S3-Sandy
17) Dan-Jnr
 
metromaster said:
I havnt got xenon lights, just the facelift standard projector ones, one of my dipped beams wobbles sometimes when going over a bump, will this be the clip that is causing this? Just wondering before putting my name down! Cheers

Edit: before anyone says anything xD yes, the light are secured in and are solid in the holder!
Click to expand...

This is a possibility yes, I believe the xenon and non xenon facelift lights use the same clip. It will ether be wobbling due to the clip being broken or the manual adjuster has popped off. The easiest way to check is to park against a wall and use your in car adjuster to move the lights up and down. If the wobbly light doesnt move up and down then its the clip thats broken.

This of course is assuming you dont have self leveling and just have the adjuster beside the light switch on your car ? If you have self leveling you need to use vagcom and do an output test on the lighting system to make them move up and down.
 
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2) S3featesv9
3) <tuffty/>
4) rhys1210
5) 45_CB
6) S3 AUO
7) scottm4
8) S3Zek
9) spencer-s3
10) CRS3
11) Gops
12) sportstractor
13) StaceyS3
14) Cees48
15) shariain
16) S3-Sandy
17) Dan-Jnr
18) IrishDave
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Yeah, they adjust with a roller by the light switch. I'll have a look thus evening cheers
 
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