A3 Reverse lights?

[MJR]

So i realised the other night that my A3 reverse lights are pretty rubbish, i was in a narrow dark country lane with a car coming towards me, one of us had to reverse and it ended up being me, however i literally couldn't see anything behind me as i moved backward, has anyone else had this issue and is there a fix for it please?

Any and all help is appreciated, thanks.

 

[sabers]

Seen some people fit a HID reverse light on mk5 golfs , just a shame it blows the wiper motor on our

 

[Artimus]

If you have a rnse or other head unit with screen, get a reversing camera! Mine works fine with only the reversing lights as illumination.

 

[c_w]

Unfortunately the reverse light is a signal to other drivers, rather than an illumination light.

 

[Gazwould]

12 Cree led bulbs, don't know if error free.

 

[MJR]

Bit of stupid design to say the least really isnt it! Audi should have made them user friendly, in the situation i found myself in the other night it was extremely difficult to reverse without hitting anything, i did it but i think it was more luck than anything, i might email audi and ask them why the light isn't user friendly, in the meantime maybe led is the way to go, i could do with someone who has led reverse lights to post here and let me know if they illuminate behind the car, thanks again guys!

 

[higgi]

Terrible design, just got my a3 and love it but trying to reverse up my drive is a nightmare sometimes would love to hear a fix. Cheers

 

[Geoffads]

Doesn't help that it's only on one side, a 2nd light would be an improvement. I've got a Cree LED bulb and it certainly helps.

 

[MJR]

Smeds.... Thank you mate, those Cree leds some good, Do you think you could take a pic from inside your car of the back windscreen to show any illumination against a wall or car, that would help a lot if we could see, ill order one and fit it ASAP if i know it works, thanks again!

 

[Geoffads]

This is from my Blackvue, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1rZfmj5vu8&feature=youtu.be it's not a perfect fix but good enough.

 

[MJR]

Awesome, thats 100 times better than what mine show which is diddly squat, lol thanks for posting that mate!

 

[Paul-RS6]

I tried a 9w Cree led from t8ups in my 2011 S3, we hoped it would be error free due to the high wattage led , but still got a bulb warning error on the dash.

So success may be dependant on age of vehicle.

 

[Tonka Toy]

12 Cree led bulbs, don't know if error free.

I installed one of these 382 P21W WHITE 60W XBD CREE SMD 12*5W CANBUS INDICATOR LED - EXTREME BRIGHT LED | eBay and it dramatically improves visibility without canbus error. Seller flexible and sold me single unit and definitely worth doing, even though single bulb for reverse is plain daft.

 

[Gazwould]

That's the ones I've got albeit from another seller.

Totally bonkers as cars get bigger and they take away a useful reversing light.

On some cars it's possible to retro fit another reversing light within the cluster.

 

[Tonka Toy]

That's the ones I've got albeit from another seller.

Totally bonkers as cars get bigger and they take away a useful reversing light.

On some cars it's possible to retro fit another reversing light within the cluster.

Totally agree. Audi dropped a clanger by designing a pretty light cluster that isn't practical. Why not at least place reverse lights on BOTH sides and double the output? It really doesn't make sense!!

 

[s3_trev]

Totally agree. I have the same issue. Thanks to those who shared those links to improved bulbs I think im gonna buy one!

 

[Tonka Toy]

Totally agree. I have the same issue. Thanks to those who shared those links to improved bulbs I think im gonna buy one!

Definitely change the bulb to LED canbus cree as it does make a difference. Sure, it's not gonna give you 20/20 vision when reversing but it improves things considerably from what is basically zero.

I attach pix of standard bulb v LED, before and after: