A3 8v facelift conversion guide

[BrummieLad]

Hi guys,

I facelifted my car last year and thought it might be useful to share some of the part numbers, as it will be useful anyone wanting to do a similar project. Apologies if any are missing, as i have misplaced some of the receipts.

S3/ s-line front bumper
S3/s-line front panel
S3 front centre grill- 8v4 853 651 ac
S3 front lower outer grills- 8v3 807 681 & 8v3 807 682
Rear Bumper- 8v4 807 067 P
Rear diffuser- 8v3 807 521
Rear exhaust (s3)- 8v4 253 609
Facelift washer jet- not strictly required, but the prefacelift don't seem to sit flush on a FL bumper
Front xenon headlights-8v4 941 006 & 8v4 941 007
Rear Tailights(dynamic)-

.right outer: 8v4 945 091
.left outer: 8v4 945 092
.right inner:8v4 945 093
.left inner:8v4 945 094

Also you will need the connectors for the rear lights for which the part numbers and a guide has been covered by another member on a seperate thread.

Thw conversion itself was quite straightforward, apart from wiring the rear lights which i"m still having issue with and hoping someone on here could assist me with them, who has already undergone the process.

And here is the end result.

 

[Jcbmally]

Hi guys,

I facelifted my car last year and thought it might be useful to share some of the part numbers, as it will be useful anyone wanting to do a similar project. Apologies if any are missing, as i have misplaced some of the receipts.

S3/ s-line front bumper
S3/s-line front panel
S3 front centre grill- 8v4 853 651 ac
S3 front lower outer grills- 8v3 807 681 & 8v3 807 682
Rear Bumper- 8v4 807 067 P
Rear diffuser- 8v3 807 521
Rear exhaust (s3)- 8v4 253 609
Facelift washer jet- not strictly required, but the prefacelift don't seem to sit flush on a FL bumper
Front xenon headlights-8v4 941 006 & 8v4 941 007
Rear Tailights(dynamic)-

.right outer: 8v4 945 091
.left outer: 8v4 945 092
.right inner:8v4 945 093
.left inner:8v4 945 094

Also you will need the connectors for the rear lights for which the part numbers and a guide has been covered by another member on a seperate thread.

Thw conversion itself was quite straightforward, apart from wiring the rear lights which i"m still having issue with and hoping someone on here could assist me with them, who has already undergone the process.

And here is the end result.

What sort of cost was involved ?

 

[BrummieLad]

What sort of cost was involved ?

The initial cost was in the region of 3.5k-4k including bodyshop charges but I sold my PFL bits and my leftovers from the FL front end for around 1800-2000, so total costs to me where around 1700-2000. However that said i did spend alot of time looking for the parts to get the best deal, as the parts are quite pricey unsurprisingly. The parts are a combination of Brand new from TPS and second hand from breakers. For example i didn't need the full front end, but found one at a good price due to cosmetic damage on some of the panels which then allowed me to resell the bonnet, wings etc..

Similarly the rear lights were bought at a decent price as the salvage yard only had the 3, which meant I had to buy one light from TPS and so on....

 

[BrummieLad]

Also worth mentioning you have to be willing to travel for the parts for the best prices as they can be all over for the country. I've not factored my time and travel costs in the above. Some of them you will need to buy brand new due to them being rare on the second hand market, however that might have changed now since I done my conversion as the facelift was pretty new at the time.

 

[Jcbmally]

Also worth mentioning you have to be willing to travel for the parts for the best prices as they can be all over for the country. I've not factored my time and travel costs in the above. Some of them you will need to buy brand new due to them being rare on the second hand market, however that might have changed now since I done my conversion as the facelift was pretty new at the time.

I was wondering if it might have been cheaper chopping it in for the facelift. You have a lot more patience than me mate, I would have give up after removing the number plate.

 

[BrummieLad]

I was wondering if it might have been cheaper chopping it in for the facelift. You have a lot more patience than me mate, I would have give up after removing the number plate.

Nah mate this was way cheaper. No way could I have got the facelift for a an extra 2k. Lol tell me about it, i did wonder why i bothered at times, but overall enjoyed the project. It never took long to be fair, alot of time was wasted on the bodyshop to get their *** in gear as it was just sat there for well over 4 weeks.

 

[Toonsoldier91]

Hi guys,

I facelifted my car last year and thought it might be useful to share some of the part numbers, as it will be useful anyone wanting to do a similar project. Apologies if any are missing, as i have misplaced some of the receipts.

S3/ s-line front bumper
S3/s-line front panel
S3 front centre grill- 8v4 853 651 ac
S3 front lower outer grills- 8v3 807 681 & 8v3 807 682
Rear Bumper- 8v4 807 067 P
Rear diffuser- 8v3 807 521
Rear exhaust (s3)- 8v4 253 609
Facelift washer jet- not strictly required, but the prefacelift don't seem to sit flush on a FL bumper
Front xenon headlights-8v4 941 006 & 8v4 941 007
Rear Tailights(dynamic)-

.right outer: 8v4 945 091
.left outer: 8v4 945 092
.right inner:8v4 945 093
.left inner:8v4 945 094

Also you will need the connectors for the rear lights for which the part numbers and a guide has been covered by another member on a seperate thread.

Thw conversion itself was quite straightforward, apart from wiring the rear lights which i"m still having issue with and hoping someone on here could assist me with them, who has already undergone the process.

And here is the end result.

Sorry to dig a old thread up but by front panel do you mean the crash bar?? Or the full frame for the radiator etc ??

 

[BrummieLad]

Sorry to dig a old thread up but by front panel do you mean the crash bar?? Or the full frame for the radiator etc ??

This will be the full frame, since the older one will not accomodate the new lights due to the shape being different

 

[cream2cream]

hello mate ive just had a light front centre crash in mine; 2014 sportback, and was lookin at this sort of conversion, so all changes was bumper/ lights and front panel? the bonnet/ wings are the same as the prefacelift models?

been lookin on the bay and seems alot more facelift parts than prefacelift for some reason

thanks

 

[BrummieLad]

hello mate ive just had a light front centre crash in mine; 2014 sportback, and was lookin at this sort of conversion, so all changes was bumper/ lights and front panel? the bonnet/ wings are the same as the prefacelift models?

been lookin on the bay and seems alot more facelift parts than prefacelift for some reason

thanks

Yes everything else is the same. Be warned though you'll need someone with electronics expertise, as there is some wiring modication required to get all the light functionality working.

 

[Connor McCafferty]

Hi guys,

I facelifted my car last year and thought it might be useful to share some of the part numbers, as it will be useful anyone wanting to do a similar project. Apologies if any are missing, as i have misplaced some of the receipts.

S3/ s-line front bumper
S3/s-line front panel
S3 front centre grill- 8v4 853 651 ac
S3 front lower outer grills- 8v3 807 681 & 8v3 807 682
Rear Bumper- 8v4 807 067 P
Rear diffuser- 8v3 807 521
Rear exhaust (s3)- 8v4 253 609
Facelift washer jet- not strictly required, but the prefacelift don't seem to sit flush on a FL bumper
Front xenon headlights-8v4 941 006 & 8v4 941 007
Rear Tailights(dynamic)-

.right outer: 8v4 945 091
.left outer: 8v4 945 092
.right inner:8v4 945 093
.left inner:8v4 945 094

Also you will need the connectors for the rear lights for which the part numbers and a guide has been covered by another member on a seperate thread.

Thw conversion itself was quite straightforward, apart from wiring the rear lights which i"m still having issue with and hoping someone on here could assist me with them, who has already undergone the process.

And here is the end result.

Hi mate new here and was just wondering if there was any coding involved or just wiring ?

 

[cream2cream]

thanks for the advice,

parts so cheap for these a3/ s3 off ebay

thanks alot

 

[BrummieLad]

Hi mate new here and was just wondering if there was any coding involved or just wiring ?

From what I remember it was just wiring (it's been a while), as this was done by a family member who speacialises in VAG/ BMW electronics and mechanics. He's currently away on holiday, otherwise I could have got him to confirm. But i do remember him plugging in the laptop on a few occasions. I'm guessing this is because some coding required as the facelift headlights have extra features such as fog lights, whereas on the PFL they are traditionally located in the front bumper.

 

[Ali Aktar]

Hi brumilad sorry to come back to this old post but a quick question did you buy a headlight wiring harness for the headlight conversion as the original one in your car would have been 10pin to the new one with 14. Any info and some pictures would be much appreciated as I have done my conversion just struggling on the lights any long coding numbers would be really helpful thanks in advance

 

[BrummieLad]

Hi brumilad sorry to come back to this old post but a quick question did you buy a headlight wiring harness for the headlight conversion as the original one in your car would have been 10pin to the new one with 14. Any info and some pictures would be much appreciated as I have done my conversion just struggling on the lights any long coding numbers would be really helpful thanks in advance

I did get a new wiring loom with the headlights, but the plug was essentially the same. However it does have some extra wiring on it, i'm presuming it's for the extra features in the facelift headlights, but I'm no electronics expert.

I haven't got any pictures, but they are very hard to get to on the car (wheel has to come off) , in order to take the pictures unfortunately. I appreciate this ain't much help for you, bit electronics isn't really my area sorry.

 

[BrummieLad]

Hi brumilad sorry to come back to this old post but a quick question did you buy a headlight wiring harness for the headlight conversion as the original one in your car would have been 10pin to the new one with 14. Any info and some pictures would be much appreciated as I have done my conversion just struggling on the lights any long coding numbers would be really helpful thanks in advance

Just looked st your other posts and it appears you are going from halogen to xenon? If so that would explain why you have different plugs, and this thread isn't relevant since my car already had xenons, but were upgraded to the FL versions.

 

[Jack0230]

Hi everyone, just want to bump this thread again, I have a PFL s-line and looking at changing the rear bumper to the FL spec. Is this a direct swap? As in matching up to PFL taillights and gapping up to the boot and rear arches?

Any info on this would be great, thanks!

 

[Ali Aktar]

Hi jack it is a straight swap from your old parts to the new parts . Are you going for the dynamic tail lights

 

[Jack0230]

Hi jack it is a straight swap from your old parts to the new parts . Are you going for the dynamic tail lights

Thanks Ali, I'm going to stick with the PFL taillights, do all the fittings for the bumpers match up as well?

How much of a pain is it to change if you have any experience with this?

Thanks

 

[Ali Aktar]

It’s pretty much straightforward if you are a hands on person. Saying that I have a body so have been doing this for years . I have recently done a a3 to s3 conversation on a 1.8 TFSI. All the fitment is the same all nuts and bolts line up at the same place

 

[Ali Aktar]

That is the PFL rear bumper I had the facelift Bumper but decided to use this as it was in the same Color but again it was a direct fitment

 

[Jack0230]

It’s pretty much straightforward if you are a hands on person. Saying that I have a body so have been doing this for years . I have recently done a a3 to s3 conversation on a 1.8 TFSI. All the fitment is the same all nuts and bolts line up at the same place
View attachment 177361

View attachment 177360

Looks so good in that colour too!

Thanks for the info Ali, looks like I'm buying a new bumper!

P.S - you might be hearing from me again when there is one last bolt keeping the bumper on and I can't find it

Cheers mate

 

[Ali Aktar]

Remove the outer tail lights. you will have some T20 screws on both **** guards(arch covers) also remove the inner plastic cover inside the boot there are 4 10mm nuts you will need the long 10mm sockets also a magnet would be handy as these are known to drop down . Also a couple of screws under the bumper that would be it. And no problem Wer here to help. Also if you want to sell your old sline bumper send me a private message with what you want I might be interested thanks

 

[BrummieLad]

Thanks Ali, I'm going to stick with the PFL taillights, do all the fittings for the bumpers match up as well?

How much of a pain is it to change if you have any experience with this?

Thanks

Jack it’s a straight swap, but if I was you I’d do the taillights aswell. The bumper on it’s own will not make much difference to the appearance of your car.

 

[Jack0230]

Jack it’s a straight swap, but if I was you I’d do the taillights aswell. The bumper on it’s own will not make much difference to the appearance of your car.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the taillights, I'm not to biggest fan of the sweeping indicators on them, is there a way to make them static? I'm just wanting the rear to look abit more boxy and I prefer the larger diffuser on the FL

 

[BrummieLad]

Yeh you can make them static if you hardwire it rather then use the adaptors. Don’t connect the pin that powers the dynamic sweeping module to any source of power, and you will have no sweeping motion.

 

[Martin2411]

Hello guys i have question if somebody can help me, i have a3 salloon pre facelif which have ben is light damage and my back bumper is crashed littlebit, so the insurance is going to change my back bumper and the question is if i can fit facelift sline bumper to my car withou other changes, it is a sallon/limusine, basically fit S-line facelift back bumper on pre-facelif non sline. Thank you, i know i will need to change the botton skirt , is it only that ? Thanks

 

[Ali Aktar]

Facelift s line diffuser is different to the se model. If you buy the facelift sline bumper complete with the diffuser it will fit perfectly without any modifications the shape of the bumper is the same just the styling is different

 

[Martin2411]

Thank you very much. ok so i understadnt that is different but the question also is is the facelift bumper goona fit to pre face car ? without lights change or anything , ? Thank you very much.
Now i found out the sline bumpers red lights (dont know the right word) on the sides is different also am i right ? Thanks

 

[BrummieLad]

Thank you very much. ok so i understadnt that is different but the question also is is the facelift bumper goona fit to pre face car ? without lights change or anything , ? Thank you very much.
Now i found out the sline bumpers red lights (dont know the right word) on the sides is different also am i right ? Thanks

To answer your question, yes it should be a straight swap. Regarding the “red lights” these are called reflectors which the PFL has built in to the rear tail lights. On the FL they are separate hence they are on the rear bumper.

 

[Martin2411]

well on sedan/limo u have that reflectors also in bumper so thats why im asking i can see hatchback fl bumper fit to pre face but if there is nothing changed on limo/sedan version. I think ill do it hopefully will fit, thanks guys

 

[Octano]

Hello guys, I know its been a while since someone thouched this post, but I have some questions about upgrading my Rear and Front Bumper from my white A3 8V PFL. So not long ago I it came to my mind that the bumper that comes with the S-Line PFL its a bit boring and plain (First Picture, not my car but you get the idea, its the same bumper) and I want to replace it with the Rear Bumper that comes with the facelifted version of the A3, and correct me if im wrong, that change is just "Plug n Play" not major changes from replacing or adding connections from any sort, because I have the parking sensors.

So from this one to

this one.

I also want to change my Front Bumper to the S3 PFL one, but from what I can recall that one doesnt have the Fog Lights, and mine has... so what do I do with them? If theres no other choice than deleting them I prefer staying with my current Front Bumper and not "loosing" the fog lights.

And from this one to

this one

Sorry if the post was long

 

[Octano]

Hello guys, I know its been a while since someone thouched this post, but I have some questions about upgrading my Rear and Front Bumper from my white A3 8V PFL. So not long ago I it came to my mind that the bumper that comes with the S-Line PFL its a bit boring and plain and I want to replace it with the Rear Bumper that comes with the facelifted version of the A3, and correct me if im wrong, that change is just "Plug n Play" not major changes from replacing or adding connections from any sort, because I have the parking sensors.
So from this one to this one.

I also want to change my Front Bumper to the S3 PFL one, but from what I can recall that one doesnt have the Fog Lights, and mine has... so what do I do with them? If theres no other choice than deleting them I prefer staying with my current Front Bumper and not "loosing" the fog lights.

And from this one to this one

Sorry if the post was long, and I reupload it beacause the images werent showing off

 

[BrummieLad]

Hello guys, I know its been a while since someone thouched this post, but I have some questions about upgrading my Rear and Front Bumper from my white A3 8V PFL. So not long ago I it came to my mind that the bumper that comes with the S-Line PFL its a bit boring and plain and I want to replace it with the Rear Bumper that comes with the facelifted version of the A3, and correct me if im wrong, that change is just "Plug n Play" not major changes from replacing or adding connections from any sort, because I have the parking sensors.
View attachment 192404 So from this one View attachment 192405 to this one.

I also want to change my Front Bumper to the S3 PFL one, but from what I can recall that one doesnt have the Fog Lights, and mine has... so what do I do with them? If theres no other choice than deleting them I prefer staying with my current Front Bumper and not "loosing" the fog lights.

View attachment 192406 And from this one to View attachment 192407 this one

Sorry if the post was long, and I reupload it beacause the images werent showing off

In short the back bumper will just be plug and play. Regarding the front bumper I would suggest you check if a set of S-line lower front grills fit your S3 bumper, as the S-lines do cone with fog lights. They will most likely fit since it’s the same bumper, you can then keep your fog lights.

 

[A3SLine2014]

Are the pre facelift and facelift tailgates the same?

 

[BrummieLad]

Are the pre facelift and facelift tailgates the same?

Yes they are.

 

[A3SLine2014]

That widens my search options

Would you know how to remove the airbag ecu?

 

[BrummieLad]

That widens my search options

Would you know how to remove the airbag ecu?

Yes it’s under the centre console if you approach from drivers side. You will need to remove the panels to it.

If you need a tailgate I have one off a S3 in Nardo Grey comes with the roof spoiler. You can have it for £130 cash on collection from Birmingham.

 

[A3SLine2014]

Have you got to the ecu to remove yourself?

Yes it’s under the centre console if you approach from drivers side. You will need to remove the panels to it.

If you need a tailgate I have one off a S3 in Nardo Grey comes with the roof spoiler. You can have it for £130 cash on collection from Birmingham.

 

[BrummieLad]

Have you got to the ecu to remove yourself?

Yes I have changed a couple of these over for people. If you’re not a diy person or this is your first time having a go, then I’d recommend you don’t go it as it easy to break trims or plastics if you’re not careful.