Headlight bulbs (D3S)

Darmok

Darmok

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Just wondering what make and model are people using? Had a drive recently on an unlighted motorway in quite crap conditions (rain, wind etc) and the journey was quite harrowing. I could hardly see the road ahead the majority of the time. There is a D3S sticker on the lamp fitting under the bonnet so I assume that's the bulb type although when searching on some websites they keep pointing me to either H7 or D1S so a bit confused. The car is:

2012 A3 SLine 2.0 TDI Special Edition
 
leonwilliams said:
Look in your manual. I think most are H7

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Click to expand...

Had a look at the table in the manual and that does say H7 but guess the best way would be to take one out and check assuming that the previous owner used the correct ones.
 
audi upgrades
First step is to find out whether your car has xenon headlamps first as xenon bulbs are different (and more expensive!) than ordinary halogen bulbs .
If car does have Xenon headlamps then H7 bulbs (which are halogen) won’t be much help .
An easy indicator for a xenon headlamp equipped car (apart from the sticker under the bonnet!) is that such cars always have headlamp washers....
H7 = halogen bulb
D1S,D2S,D3S= different types of xenon headlight bulb
 
you likely have D3S. I've been through a few bulbs. Its a minefield on any forum. I always say support forum friends who advertise their products so try TRUPS at EM tuning. My favorite setup is using DeautoLED D3s bulb which is very bright and the brightest so far for me. I pair them with their 360 fog lights which have a combination of white and yellow which you can change using the headlight switch. They are plug and play. Using their D3S in combo with the white or yellow fog has given me a clear path
 
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Nessy said:
First step is to find out whether your car has xenon headlamps first as xenon bulbs are different (and more expensive!) than ordinary halogen bulbs .
If car does have Xenon headlamps then H7 bulbs (which are halogen) won’t be much help .
An easy indicator for a xenon headlamp equipped car (apart from the sticker under the bonnet!) is that such cars always have headlamp washers....
H7 = halogen bulb
D1S,D2S,D3S= different types of xenon headlight bulb
Click to expand...
tcardio said:
you likely have D3S. I've been through a few bulbs. Its a minefield on any forum. I always say support forum friends who advertise their products so try TRUPS at EM tuning. My favorite setup is using DeautoLED D3s bulb which is very bright and the brightest so far for me. I pair them with their 360 fog lights which have a combination of white and yellow which you can change using the headlight switch. They are plug and play. Using their D3S in combo with the white or yellow fog has given me a clear path
Click to expand...


Cheers guys for the info. Yes the car has washers that pop out of the bumper. Here is a few pics I took that may or may not help. Access to change them though looks a bit tight to say the least!
 
Definitely xenon headlights using D3S bulbs .
On my older A3 with D1S bulbs it’s bumper off and headlamps removed to change the xenon bulb (unless you’re a contortionist ) , not sure about a later car such as yours , though I suspect it’s the same!
 
Best route is to remove the front bumper & fit, trust me the time fiddling in the arch liner is probably longer than bumper route, the connector is fun but it's the twist is awkward if you don't know the makeup as such.
 
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If you're not going through the wheel arch liner way, another way is to undo the grille top bolts and pull the grille slightly forward to be able to remove the headlights.
 
Given how the headlights fit into the brackets that are front bolted to the lock carrier & the lower part of the headlight is sunk into the bracket, I do not advise this at all as things can break or split easily doing this.
 
Thanks everyone. Is there a video or a guide to getting in via the wheel arches or the bumper method? Have tried searching with no luck.
 
Just take bumper off and go from there....
It sounds a massive job but it really isn’t, after you’ve done it once you realise that trying to do jobs in other ways eg by going via arch liners can actually take longer .
Now that I’ve done the bumper a few times I can get it off in about 30 minutes , and I’m a very slow and careful worker , LOL.
I’m sure there are YouTube videos , that’s what I learnt from....
 
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Nessy said:
Just take bumper off and go from there....
It sounds a massive job but it really isn’t, after you’ve done it once you realise that trying to do jobs in other ways eg by going via arch liners can actually take longer .
Now that I’ve done the bumper a few times I can get it off in about 30 minutes , and I’m a very slow and careful worker , LOL.
I’m sure there are YouTube videos , that’s what I learnt from....
Click to expand...
^^^this and Nessy, this definitely has more than 4 bolts :tonguewink:
 
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I have no idea what the DS3 bulbs are like to change in comparison to the DS1 bulbs in mine, but I know for a fact there is no way I could change that bulb without removing the headlight cluster from the car as it's almost impossible to get the power lead connected to the bulb without some long nose pliers.
Taking the Bumper off is the only way on my car.
 
You have D3s bi xenon bulbs, same as my Facelift A3. The bulbs will be well stuck in with the metal spring clips if they have never been touched before so remove the bumper and take out the whole headlight.
The factory bulbs do degrade over the years and loose their brightness. Best xenon bulbs are The Osrams if your feeling Rich @ around £100 each, next best are Philips Xtreme 4800 kelvin. @ around £70 each.
Once you go over 5000 kelvin the light may be very white but does not mean more useful light on the road. I have the Philips version which work well for 3 years now, they are still as bright as when I bought them.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/223036109389
Then buy some cheap Chinese white H11 fog bulbs to match. Take about 4 weeks to arrive but only about £3 inc post for 2.
 
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Cheers for all the input guys. I am going to tackle it tomorrow. I got the Phillips Xtreme vision Gen2 bulbs cost £130 for the pair from powerbulbs.
 
Managed it eventually. I didn't realise I had to take the washers assembly off with the headlight at the start so was wondering what the hell was holding the headlight in but glad it's all done and 100 times better than what was in there. They were Osram Xenarc's but no idea if they were pucker or fakes.
Received 215422796303143 Received 223506255477523
 
I've just got an S3 8P Sportback and looking to change the bulbs to the phillips ones I've seen linked a few times.

My beam pattern seems fine with the factory xenon's but they don't seem bright at all - so I suspect they're old bulbs.

Be interesting to see how much better your lights are now with the new ones!
 
I have the same headlights and went for a ballast boost kit from Trups at EM Tuning with some new Osram bulbs, works a treat!
 
tcardio said:
didn't know it fit the 8p as its not listed in the info
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it definitely does as I have it in my car and did make a nice difference too.

I think I should have gone for some yellower bulbs with a lower Kelvin rating, but there we are. I think the ballast boost kit with some Philips Extreme Vision Gen2 (maybe they're on gen 3 now I don't know) would be perfect imo.
 
Sayam said:
I have the same headlights and went for a ballast boost kit from Trups at EM Tuning with some new Osram bulbs, works a treat!
Click to expand...
Was the ballast a good job much better light output how much were they? I have xv2 bulbs in mine but still not great.
 
david mcintyre said:
Was the ballast a good job much better light output how much were they? I have xv2 bulbs in mine but still not great.
Click to expand...

The kit was in the region of £300. DIY fit. Trup adapts the lighting system to accept a D1S bulb which runs at higher voltage and can supply a 55W ballast in the kit rather than 35W to bump up output a bit more.

Made a big difference on my car.
 
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