Coverting Halogen headlights for import to RHD

[StirlingBlue]

Hi all,

Frist time poster here looking for some help.

I moved from UK to Belgium in January and took my 2015 A3 SE Technik with me, I was supposed to spend 1 week out of every 8 back in the UK so my plan was to sell my car back in the UK at some point as you can only drive a car here for 6 months without having to register.

Due to Covid-19 my travel back to the UK for the year is cancelled and the 6 month window is coming fast. I won't be able to sell back in UK so I'm probably going to register the car here, in order to do so though it looks like it needs to have headlights suitable for the other side of the road. As I only have the basic Halogen bulbs there is no option in the MMI to switch, do I have to replace the whole lot or is there some way to adjust the direction? I have used Eurolites in the short term but they won't get it through inspection to register.

Also, if I am going to get this done is it possible to switch to a flat headlight so I don't have to do it all over again in a few years when I go back to the UK and want to sell it?

Cheers,

Alex

 

[Ormesome]

Ok so, I had an A3 and brought it to Switzerland. The lights needed to be changed and could be sorted from eBay.de very cheaply. However I don’t go through with it as the inspection here is super hard and even a bit of dirt in the engine bay would have failed it so I decided against the investment. This doesn’t answer your question, but here in Switzerland the local Audi dealer took my U.K. A3 in part exchange for a new Q2. He gave me around market value UK and for me I saved money and time having not had to go to U.K. to sell it and haggle with buyers. I would try this, you will be surprised at how many dealers are doing this.

failing this, source lights from eBay Germany or your local one, get a local cheap garage to fit and you should be fine. Your digital display should display KM/H so your fine, just change it in settings. That should be it.

Just a point, your original plan would have been illegal anyway as technically you would have been resident in Belgium and driving a U.K. registered car. The time you spent in U.K. which by my calculations would be 6 weeks a year, wouldn’t qualify you for being resident, it’s not about just going in and out of a country, it’s where you spend most time living & earning! What with Brexit coming I think you’re best off selling and getting a LHD car especially as most of you time is in the EU.

Another reason to sell is that LHD cars do not depreciate as much as in the U.K. Even if you buy a LHD car now and sell in 2yrs, I bet that depreciation is half of what your A3 will suffer over the same time period in the U.K.

 

[Ormesome]

Oh one thing, you will have to check that your rear fog lights are dual and not on one side, if they just light up on one side then you will prob have to change the rear lights in order to correspond to the Belgium/lhd regulations.

Also, don’t forget to change your UK license over to a Belgium one as you will not be allowed legally to reside in Belgium and drive a Belgium car on a UK licence.