Xenon Headlights? I've seen brighter candles!

2006 so they're probably still the original bulbs, xenon bulbs degrade over time so consider changing them.

Pretty sure those are D2S and in 4300k form.

Also what condition are the headlights in, covered in tiny stone chips? Changing the bulbs & machine polish of the head lights may help.
Also how is the alignment as that could be out, or it could be the self leveling system, both front & rear leveling mechanisms when sized solid with rust on my car.

You may also have issues with the ballasts, whose job is to "strike" the xenon arc light into life. Once you've gone xenon (or LED) you will never want to go back to regular halogen.

Sounds like you have an issue, either bulb or ballast related. If the ballast goes, the lights never go bright. I had one go and the symptoms were as you describe.

A good test would be to stand in front of the car and have someone turn the headlights on and see what happens.

Xenon pulse into life then settle down to full brightness. If that's not happening the id suspect the ballast. If a bulb goes, 9 times out of 10 it will stay dark.

That is just the motor going through diagnostic, what I'm taking about is the arms/sensors that are on the front & rear axles, these control the level of light while driving, so if yours are in the same condition as mine were then your lights could be point more towards the road rather that straight ahead.

Both ball & cups were solid with rust, so the sensors were stuck in the incorrect position.

It's a while since l had my A6, but if I recall correctly, removing the airbox gets you better access to at least one side.

I've just replaced and upgraded my original xenon bulbs in my 2009 facelift A6
The reason being, they were very bright, but didn't throw much light forward where you need it ! (If that makes sense)

Xenon bulb lose around 200 lumens per year on average

My car is equipped with D3S bulbs from factory.
I opted for a pair of Morimoto 5500k xenon bulbs from @t8ups on here.
I also upgraded my cornering lights to Cree LED units to match the rest of the car (you have DRLs where these are on my car)

To gain access, on the O/S, remove the air box (complete), if you take the MAF and pipe to the turbo off in one it's simpler
This gets you plenty of space, the xenon bulb is right their, unclip the cable and twist to remove.

The N/S has alittle less space, but still do-able.
Unbolt the power steering reseviour - make sure you don't drop eithe the bolt (T30 IIRC or the spacer ring the is sandwiched in their too.
Open up the bracket, push and wiggle the reseviour DOWN until it's behind the intercooler

You know what access, all be it slights more fiddly due to the bracket remaining in place and the ABS pump.


You'll need really small hand to access the cornering light/DRL bulb (depending on spec) - these two bulbs alone took me 20 mins to replace as my xenons are directional (point left and right as well as up and down) so I have allot of motors and wiring tucked into the headlamp unit itself.


The end result, for me, ALLOT better !!

I have a positive throw of light in the centre, no light bleed and a very slightly whiter colouring, the overall performance of the headlights has been returned to standard if not better


Hope this helps


Tom

Definitely something wrong with your lights. Just picked mine up last night and I'm very impressed with the xenon lights, even better than the OEM ones that I had previously retrofitted to my previous Bora and Octavia.