Fitting S4 Headlights

[Jimmy TDI]

Am I correct in thinking all that is needed to fit S4 headlights is one of THESE adapters, and to change the coding in VCDS?

I know you need auto levelling and washers for the MOT, but I'm just asking about getting them in and working.

Jim

 

[SmoothAssault]

They work without the adapter but your manual beam level control won't work. The adapters get manual levelling working again. I'm going to order a set and see if that's enough to get me though an MOT, I imagine it probably will be fine.

 

[Jimmy TDI]

Ah right I thought the loom was needed to get the ballasts working. That's good as it's something that can be added at a later date to spread the cost a bit.

Do you not need to change the coding with VCDS either then?

This isn't a problem for me as I have it, but it would be useful info for anyone else that comes across this thread as I found nothing when searching.

 

[SmoothAssault]

Nope, no coding at all. I Just plugged them in and they worked. Fortunately the beam level was about right so I didn't have to get the adapters straight away. As I'm probably already pushing my luck with my local MOT garage having HIDs without auto-levelling or washers I think I'll order a set before I take it back to them in January.

It is actually possible to retrofit auto-levelling, someone in the states has done it. But it's a lot of work and money when I could just manually adjust the beam level once I have those adapters. I don't think it's worth the effort.

 

[Töm]

I fitted S4 headlights a few months back with the adapters and the headlight level adjuster didn't work. Removed the adapters and nothing changed. A friend and I looked into the wiring and the motor on the S4 headlights is 4 wire and the standard headlights is 3. From what we found in wiring diagrams the 4th wire is for the auto leveling. Thats as far as we have got so far. Hopefully with a bit of modification to the wiring we will be able to get the level adjustment working. Not exactly sure what the adapters do but they certainly don't get the manual leveling working.

 

[mattyboyc]

I did this a couple of years ago now and ideally you need to do a couple of mods to get a decent functioning headlight, firstly remove the self levelling motor and replace it with your manual levelling motor but you will notice that the "ball" on the end of the manual motor is slightly smaller than the auto levelling ones ( I inishally found the lights seem to jump a little ) I cured this by putting some heat shrink over the ball and this gave it a nice tight fit, then cut the plug for the auto levellers off, then using the plug off your original manual levellers do a bit of soldering, I will list them as old and new, old being your original wiring on your manual levelling motors and new being the S4 wires.
Connect the old blue to the new black
Connect the old brown to the new blue
Connect the old black to the new brown
You will also need to change the sidelight bulb holders if you want to use your original 501 sidelights, you should then have fully functioning headlights with manual levelling via the original switch, I've never had a problem with mot's but loads will say it's not legal but I can't be ***** with that argument I just wanted to be able to adjust the headlights if needed,hope this helps you.

 

[Jimmy TDI]

Good info there, but I got outbid on the set I was watching in the last second

 

[mattyboyc]

Good info there, but I got outbid on the set I was watching in the last second

I was watching them also as my o/s one gets slightly misty in damp conditions, more anoying than a problem and the more research you do the more of a common problem it seems to be with factory xenons, it clears very quickly but just bugs me, the set on ebay went for very strong money I only paid £100 for mine and I got a spare for £30 so I have a spare bulb and ballast pack.

 

[Jimmy TDI]

I put a bid in at £162 as I was local today and would have picked them up for cash, but someone put a bid in on literally the last second of £169 so I missed out.

Such is life, but at least now I have some info for the future.

 

[chasdrury]

I have a set in my cellar with ballasts that I never fitted!! d'oh!

Must get round to it sometime

 

[SmoothAssault]

I fitted S4 headlights a few months back with the adapters and the headlight level adjuster didn't work. ... Not exactly sure what the adapters do but they certainly don't get the manual leveling working.

Thanks Tom, that's really good to know. I've always been told the adapters were to solve the auto-levelling issue, and given that I found that the lights work perfectly well without them it seemed to add up (apologies Jimmy if I've given you incorrect info).

I've just sent Kufatec an email asking them them to confirm what the adapters should actually do before I go ahead and order a set. At least then if they claim levelling should work and it doesn't I'll be able to send them back.

Will report back with what they say.

 

[Jimmy TDI]

I have a set in my cellar with ballasts that I never fitted!! d'oh!

Must get round to it sometime

Feel free to pm me with a price if you decide to sell them, rather than fit them.

Thanks Tom, that's really good to know. I've always been told the adapters were to solve the auto-levelling issue, and given that I found that the lights work perfectly well without them it seemed to add up (apologies Jimmy if I've given you incorrect info).

I've just sent Kufatec an email asking them them to confirm what the adapters should actually do before I go ahead and order a set. At least then if they claim levelling should work and it doesn't I'll be able to send them back.

Will report back with what they say.

No dramas

 

[mattyboyc]

The kufatec adapters are for fitting bi-Xenons, standard xenons use the same plug as standard headlights but as I said in an earlier post you will need to re-wire the levelling plug to get your standard manual levellers to work.