Front fog lights retrofit - Audi A3 8V 2015 US

[kc1174]

Edit: Forgot to mention - mine is the Premium Plus model. Please check the pins on your ECM's A2 connector (see the ECM section below) first and make sure pins 5 and 45 are there before trying this as I'm not sure all US 2015 A3s have the same ECM. They might, but I don't know.

Here's a write up to install front fog lights on an Audi A3 8V 2015 US model that has regular non-adaptive bi-xenon headlights with those tasteful faux grilles we got. Might work on a 2016 too, but can't be sure if the ECM is the same. If you have an all weather light button above the rear fog button, or the S-line front end, stop reading

Oh, and if you choose to do this yourself, it's at your own risk and I'm not responsible etc..

Originally I wasn't going to bother with this retrofit as no grilles seemed to match our bumper. Then the other week, after the TDI thing broke, I was on the UK A3 build page having a look to see if TDIs were still being sold back home and noticed their new 2016 model front bumper matched our 2015 front bumper My fellow Brits get front fogs as standard, so then I went to find the part numbers. Note that I wanted to do this as I live in a swamp and it does get foggy here some mornings and the rain is sometimes heavy too. It's not to drive with them on all day like most seem to round here..

New parts are $381.74 (ish) total including shipping, not including the cost of a light switch which you can source pretty easily off eBay for around $70 or thereabouts. You need vag-com to code. No vag-com, add $58 ish for a dongle that codes for you from Kufatec who you get the harness from, but I don't know if the dongle works as I have vag-com. Dealers should be able to code them too at a guess. Could be less overall if you source the parts off eBay too. The grilles are new it seems to the market. The fogs were made in 2013, so seem to have been used on other models so may be around on eBay.

I got lucky and found someone in Hungary selling a new passenger side grille and fog light set for $40 and $10 ish in shipping on eBay, so figured I'd take a risk and see if they fit and if they did, I'd carry on. They did, so I went ahead and ordered the rest of the stuff I needed.
Other than the harness from Kufatec and the passenger side from eBay, I got the other parts from Bernardi in MA ($18 shipping) and it took a little over a week to get them.
On the Kufatec harness, yes you get instructions to download, but they're pretty vague. They tell you to remove the front bumper for example which doesn't apply, and on the subject of passing the harness through the firewall - "The wires have to be laid into the interior through the boot marked in the figure 9.". Not much use since it was a photo of a Golf.

Parts:

Harness: $70.90 (that price includes express FedEx Shipping).
https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/volkswagen/golf/golf-7-5q/fog-light-wiring-harness-mqb?tab=cross

If no vag-com to code, you might want to buy the dongle at the same time unless you want your dealer to code: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/diag...lkswagen-audi/coding-interface-fog-lights-mqb ($58).

Front fog lights ($63 each) and come with Osram H8 bulbs in them:
Passenger/right 8V0-941-700-B
Driver/left 8V0-941-699-B

Grilles ($80 each):
Passenger 8V5-807-682-A-9B9
Driver 8V5-807-681-A-9B9

Screws (x4) ($1.14 each):
WHT-005-764

New light switch (needs auto lights and front and rear fog):
8V0-941-531-AE-5PR is the official one apparently, but it's $180 new, so eBay is your friend here. Just need an auto headlight setting and front and rear fog buttons. Even if the switch has a manual headlight dipping button like mine has that connects to nothing, it'll work (I think the UK non-LED headlights have the manual dip switch too according to their 2015 manual pdf that was posted on here). The switch I got off eBay was $50 (8V0-841-531-Q). **Note: There's a lot on eBay without the Auto lights setting, so get one with**

Bulbs: Regular H8s came with the fogs but I got these and they seem ok: $25/pair for LED 6k
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00N5BAWYK/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Prep:

Before starting, test the harness and bulbs. Plug the H8 bulbs into the harness sockets, and using a 12v source, connect ground to the harness spade connector and then positive to one of the gray wire connectors, then check the other gray wire connector for the other bulb.
If the bulbs don't light, either the harness is a dud, or the 12v source is, or the bulb is. On the end of the grey wires mark which one is the passenger (right) side (if you plan to code the fogs for cornering too - if not, I don't think it really matters). I didn't code mine for the cornering, so that's not here, but the coding is here on the forum.

Wiring:

Under the steering wheel, pull up the black piece above the brake pedal and you'll find an unused pear shaped grommet. I didn't take a photo of it before I put the harness through and sealed it off, so here it is afterwards - along with the black part you need to move..

Remember which way the grommet was around (thick edges face engine bay, thin faces inside the car). Pull that out to the inside of the car. Look up inside the hole and you'll see daylight and a thick brown earth wire (and some other stuff I couldn't identify).

Under the hood, drop the 2 gray wires on the kufatec harness behind the battery near the thick brown ground wire. No real need to remove the battery. I could have, but there's not much need.

Look inside the grommet hole for the grey wires and hook them through (may take a couple of goes to get them near the hole).

The grommet is thin rubber so poke a small hole in the grommet and push through the 2 gray wires one at a time, (while remembering which way the grommet will need to go back in the hole - I didn't at first...). You'll end up pulling the grey wires through past the cloth tape on the harness and that's ok.

Remove the side trim near the door and have a look inside - you'll see 3 largeish connectors with white levers on them - this is the vehicle central electrical control system module/CECM/ECM/aka J519.

Pull through only enough wiring to get to the middle one of those 3 connectors on the ECM with a little slack.

Replace the grommet and although it should be good as it is, seal it up around where the wires are with some silicone adhesive anyway. I didn't find any dirt on the back of the grommet when I first took it out, so assume it's pretty well out of the way of the elements, but just to be sure...

Replace the black part and cover the grommet back up.

Leave the 2 gray wires in the cabin where they are for now.

For the new harness wiring in the engine bay, route it all round the back and to the right of the battery and connect the harness ground spade connector to the ground behind the battery - the white nut.

Remove the existing faux grilles:

The erwin body manual says you have to remove the bumper to get these out. I didn't.
Start at the bottom corner closest to the center of the car and pull it out clip by clip. Once that's unclipped, do the same at the top and pull.
Once those are unclipped, pull the whole thing in the direction of the center of the car and they're out.
Clean up all the gunk in there..
Use the clips on the new grilles' clips as a guide so you can see how the old grilles clip in and out.

Harness Route:

Feed the shorter one to the drivers side to the left of the washer fluid reservoir and zip tie on the way down.
Feed the longer to the passenger side. You can go through the bottom of the front grille as there are rubber pieces you can feed through to the passenger light, so no need to go under the car.

If you have front parking sensors, you'll find its wiring harness already in the front underneath the center grille. I zip tied my passenger side wire to that in a couple of spots on the way to the passenger fog (it sits behind the lip here below the center grille).

Fog lights and Grilles:

Make sure the fog bulbs are in the fog light housings first. (Note - you have to remove the harness connector from the bulb to remove the bulb from the fog housing. You can't remove them with the harness still connected).
When the bulbs are in the fog lights, connect the fog harness connectors.
Install the fog lights (there's 2 preexisting pieces each push onto, and 2 holes per side to fit them).

Fit the grilles.

ECM etc.:

Disconnect the car battery negative (you'll lose trip info and the time on MMI..).
Unplug the existing light switch from its wiring.
Remove the driver's side lower panel (hex screw on the left side and two small nuts on the bottom) and remove the existing light switch.
This next step I probably should have removed the panel where the hood release lever is at the bottom of the A pillar, but I found it had enough flex to access the ECM connector I needed.. Just unclips from behind the dead pedal and bend it back enough... If you're not comfortable doing this, ask your dealer to help access the ECM. The hood release lever won't come off, or shouldn't..

Unplug the middle ECM connector. Under the end of the white lever, press down and pull up the white lever and it unplugs the connector from the ECM. Make sure it's out and then slide it vertically down and away from the ECM.
Here's the middle connector pin assignment (A2) and what our A2 looks like inside too (pins highlighted):

Undo the zip tie on the connector then unclip the 2 sides of the connector from the connector housing.
The pins are labelled well on the sides:
Left/driver's side connector to pin 45.
Right connector to pin 5.
The new harness connectors just go straight in - nothing else to unclip. Just look at the orientation of the existing pins in the connector to know which way in the new ones go. If it won't go in, don't force it, it's probably just going in the wrong way round. Should just clip in with little effort.
Put the two sides back into the connector housing and zip tie the harness back up and plug the connector back to the ECM.
Bend the lower A pillar panel back and behind the dead pedal...
Install the new light switch into the panel and plug it back in.
Put the panels back on and reconnect the battery negative.

After reconnecting the negative to the battery, set the time on MMI, start the car, raise and lower all the windows a couple of times (I read it helps). A crap load of warnings go off about ESC and TPMS etc. Just drive the car round the block and they all go away.

VCDS Coding:

09 Central Electronics.
Security code 31347.

Original US Setting:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 not active
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 0
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 0
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 not active
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 0
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 0
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 not active
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 0
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 0
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 not active
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 0
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 0

Changed to:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 38
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 22
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 Nebellicht links
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 100
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 100
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 42
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 23
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 Nebellicht rechts
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 100
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 100

Coding for the new light switch to tell the car there's a front fog light button:
Module 09 Code: 31347 Long Coding Helper select Byte 7 and enable Bit 3 and save.

That's it. You should now have front fog lights and a slightly different looking front end
Also, if you're in the Tampa Bay area and don't have vag-com, give me a shout. Am on the map.

 

[veeeight]

Nice write up

@Bristle Hound can you add it to FAQ post #77 please?

 

[kc1174]

Nice write up

@Bristle Hound can you add it to FAQ post #77 please?

Cheers

 

[Rob2k68]

Yeah I second that !! Good work !! - well worth the effort for the OEM look and functionality.

 

[Bristle Hound]

@kc1174 - Great write up buddy

@Bristle Hound can you add it to FAQ post #77 please?

@veeeight - Added

 

[HappyRican]

what is the finish on the fog light grilles? are they grey like the front grill or gloss black?

 

[kc1174]

what is the finish on the fog light grilles? are they grey like the front grill or gloss black?

Hi, they're black like the existing faux grilles we have in the fog location now. There's only 2 colors for the fog grilles - satin black and gloss black. Haven't seen any gray ones. Forget now which is which but the part numbers you want end 9B9 like I mentioned in the original post up above.

 

[HappyRican]

Hi, they're black like the existing faux grilles we have in the fog location now. There's only 2 colors for the fog grilles - satin black and gloss black. Haven't seen any gray ones. Forget now which is which but the part numbers you want end 9B9 like I mentioned in the original post up above.

I'm actually changing the main grille to the gloss black so I'd want them to be gloss also, do you know what the color code is for them?

 

[kc1174]

I'm actually changing the main grille to the gloss black so I'd want them to be gloss also, do you know what the color code is for them?

I don't sorry - best bet is just to check with your dealer and have them search their parts database. The 9B9 code is matte black like the side fog grilles. Not sure what the gloss black code is or what the part number is for the main front grille.

 

[DJAlix]

Fantastic write up! I remember you telling me that you were thinking about this retrofit. I have a 8V0-841-531-Q switch in my tool box doing nothing, would have sent it over

 

[HappyRican]

No problem, I'll have the dealer look them up. I'm working on this project this week!

Thank you for the awesome write up!

 

[949]

I have the 205 S3 prestige with led headlights. will this work with that too? I have been wanting to do this for a while now.

 

[kc1174]

I have the 205 S3 prestige with led headlights. will this work with that too? I have been wanting to do this for a while now.

Hiya - I don't think so - I think the S3 lower grilles where fogs would usually go I think have a different purpose for air intake (someone here may be able to confirm - edit seems I confirmed that below anyway ). Also, you have front LEDs so the all weather button on the switch is where the front fog light button is on mine, and the all weather lights on yours I think serve the purpose of front fogs and for cornering anyway, so I don't see there being a need sorry.
I just checked the UK Audi S3 site wording and it says "S design body styling comprising: S3 front bumper with new air intake grilles in a honeycomb structure and double chrome bars. Also includes additional air intake funnels in place of the front fog lights and aluminium-look blades defining the lower edge of the bumper; Rear diffuser incorporating dual-branch oval twin tailpipes and double chrome bar at the top of the diffuser; Door sill trims with S3 logo - S3 rear spoiler"

 

[949]

oh ok, thanks for the info. that sucks for me then.

 

[kc1174]

oh ok, thanks for the info. that sucks for me then.

Nah mate, you have an S3 Prestige - I've got an A3 premium plus TDI with bi-xenons

I just had a look too at the configurator.audi.co.uk site to see if there were front fog options on the S3, and there aren't. I use the UK site as a reference as they get more options than where I am in the US where we basically get what we're given, and it's in English which always helps.

Enjoy the S3!

 

[gamegenie]

I still want to retrofit LED headlights.

I notice Audi's Genuine Parts sells not just the LEDs (that you can get cheaper 2nd hand instead), but they also sell the light switch harness.

Problem would be putting your faith in your Audi dealer to get it done.

 

[White-T]

Excelent writeup kc1174, thanks a lot!!! Based on your post I completed my modification today. Here's my changes: I purchased the harness and oem switch from Kufatec for $142 US (which included shipping from Germany). I sourced the rest ofthe parts for $315 from Mid Atlantic Audi in Richmond, VA and that includes shipping to California.
I removed the battery to cleanly route the harness out of sight and the rest matches your directions. Thanks again, it's just starting to get really foggy here in Central CA.

Edit: Forgot to mention - mine is the Premium Plus model. Please check the pins on your ECM's A2 connector (see the ECM section below) first and make sure pins 5 and 45 are there before trying this as I'm not sure all US 2015 A3s have the same ECM. They might, but I don't know.

Here's a write up to install front fog lights on an Audi A3 8V 2015 US model that has regular non-adaptive bi-xenon headlights with those tasteful faux grilles we got. Might work on a 2016 too, but can't be sure if the ECM is the same. If you have an all weather light button above the rear fog button, or the S-line front end, stop reading

Oh, and if you choose to do this yourself, it's at your own risk and I'm not responsible etc..

Originally I wasn't going to bother with this retrofit as no grilles seemed to match our bumper. Then the other week, after the TDI thing broke, I was on the UK A3 build page having a look to see if TDIs were still being sold back home and noticed their new 2016 model front bumper matched our 2015 front bumper My fellow Brits get front fogs as standard, so then I went to find the part numbers. Note that I wanted to do this as I live in a swamp and it does get foggy here some mornings and the rain is sometimes heavy too. It's not to drive with them on all day like most seem to round here..

New parts are $381.74 (ish) total including shipping, not including the cost of a light switch which you can source pretty easily off eBay for around $70 or thereabouts. You need vag-com to code. No vag-com, add $58 ish for a dongle that codes for you from Kufatec who you get the harness from, but I don't know if the dongle works as I have vag-com. Dealers should be able to code them too at a guess. Could be less overall if you source the parts off eBay too. The grilles are new it seems to the market. The fogs were made in 2013, so seem to have been used on other models so may be around on eBay.

I got lucky and found someone in Hungary selling a new passenger side grille and fog light set for $40 and $10 ish in shipping on eBay, so figured I'd take a risk and see if they fit and if they did, I'd carry on. They did, so I went ahead and ordered the rest of the stuff I needed.
Other than the harness from Kufatec and the passenger side from eBay, I got the other parts from Bernardi in MA ($18 shipping) and it took a little over a week to get them.
On the Kufatec harness, yes you get instructions to download, but they're pretty vague. They tell you to remove the front bumper for example which doesn't apply, and on the subject of passing the harness through the firewall - "The wires have to be laid into the interior through the boot marked in the figure 9.". Not much use since it was a photo of a Golf.

Parts:

Harness: $70.90 (that price includes express FedEx Shipping).
https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/volkswagen/golf/golf-7-5q/fog-light-wiring-harness-mqb?tab=cross

If no vag-com to code, you might want to buy the dongle at the same time unless you want your dealer to code: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/diag...lkswagen-audi/coding-interface-fog-lights-mqb ($58).

Front fog lights ($63 each) and come with Osram H8 bulbs in them:
Passenger/right 8V0-941-700-B
Driver/left 8V0-941-699-B

Grilles ($80 each):
Passenger 8V5-807-682-A-9B9
Driver 8V5-807-681-A-9B9

Screws (x4) ($1.14 each):
WHT-005-764

New light switch (needs auto lights and front and rear fog):
8V0-941-531-AE-5PR is the official one apparently, but it's $180 new, so eBay is your friend here. Just need an auto headlight setting and front and rear fog buttons. Even if the switch has a manual headlight dipping button like mine has that connects to nothing, it'll work (I think the UK non-LED headlights have the manual dip switch too according to their 2015 manual pdf that was posted on here). The switch I got off eBay was $50 (8V0-841-531-Q). **Note: There's a lot on eBay without the Auto lights setting, so get one with**
View attachment 71714

Bulbs: Regular H8s came with the fogs but I got these and they seem ok: $25/pair for LED 6k
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00N5BAWYK/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Prep:

Before starting, test the harness and bulbs. Plug the H8 bulbs into the harness sockets, and using a 12v source, connect ground to the harness spade connector and then positive to one of the gray wire connectors, then check the other gray wire connector for the other bulb.
If the bulbs don't light, either the harness is a dud, or the 12v source is, or the bulb is. On the end of the grey wires mark which one is the passenger (right) side (if you plan to code the fogs for cornering too - if not, I don't think it really matters). I didn't code mine for the cornering, so that's not here, but the coding is here on the forum.

Wiring:

Under the steering wheel, pull up the black piece above the brake pedal and you'll find an unused pear shaped grommet. I didn't take a photo of it before I put the harness through and sealed it off, so here it is afterwards - along with the black part you need to move..
View attachment 71715View attachment 71716
Remember which way the grommet was around (thick edges face engine bay, thin faces inside the car). Pull that out to the inside of the car. Look up inside the hole and you'll see daylight and a thick brown earth wire (and some other stuff I couldn't identify).

Under the hood, drop the 2 gray wires on the kufatec harness behind the battery near the thick brown ground wire. No real need to remove the battery. I could have, but there's not much need.

Look inside the grommet hole for the grey wires and hook them through (may take a couple of goes to get them near the hole).

The grommet is thin rubber so poke a small hole in the grommet and push through the 2 gray wires one at a time, (while remembering which way the grommet will need to go back in the hole - I didn't at first...). You'll end up pulling the grey wires through past the cloth tape on the harness and that's ok.

Remove the side trim near the door and have a look inside - you'll see 3 largeish connectors with white levers on them - this is the vehicle central electrical control system module/CECM/ECM/aka J519.
View attachment 71717View attachment 71718

Pull through only enough wiring to get to the middle one of those 3 connectors on the ECM with a little slack.

Replace the grommet and although it should be good as it is, seal it up around where the wires are with some silicone adhesive anyway. I didn't find any dirt on the back of the grommet when I first took it out, so assume it's pretty well out of the way of the elements, but just to be sure...

Replace the black part and cover the grommet back up.

Leave the 2 gray wires in the cabin where they are for now.

For the new harness wiring in the engine bay, route it all round the back and to the right of the battery and connect the harness ground spade connector to the ground behind the battery - the white nut.

Remove the existing faux grilles:

The erwin body manual says you have to remove the bumper to get these out. I didn't.
Start at the bottom corner closest to the center of the car and pull it out clip by clip. Once that's unclipped, do the same at the top and pull.
Once those are unclipped, pull the whole thing in the direction of the center of the car and they're out.
Clean up all the gunk in there..
Use the clips on the new grilles' clips as a guide so you can see how the old grilles clip in and out.

Harness Route:

Feed the shorter one to the drivers side to the left of the washer fluid reservoir and zip tie on the way down.
Feed the longer to the passenger side. You can go through the bottom of the front grille as there are rubber pieces you can feed through to the passenger light, so no need to go under the car.
View attachment 71720 View attachment 71721
If you have front parking sensors, you'll find its wiring harness already in the front underneath the center grille. I zip tied my passenger side wire to that in a couple of spots on the way to the passenger fog (it sits behind the lip here below the center grille).
View attachment 71722

Fog lights and Grilles:

Make sure the fog bulbs are in the fog light housings first. (Note - you have to remove the harness connector from the bulb to remove the bulb from the fog housing. You can't remove them with the harness still connected).
When the bulbs are in the fog lights, connect the fog harness connectors.
Install the fog lights (there's 2 preexisting pieces each push onto, and 2 holes per side to fit them).
View attachment 71732
Fit the grilles.
View attachment 71733

ECM etc.:

Disconnect the car battery negative (you'll lose trip info and the time on MMI..).
Unplug the existing light switch from its wiring.
Remove the driver's side lower panel (hex screw on the left side and two small nuts on the bottom) and remove the existing light switch.
This next step I probably should have removed the panel where the hood release lever is at the bottom of the A pillar, but I found it had enough flex to access the ECM connector I needed.. Just unclips from behind the dead pedal and bend it back enough... If you're not comfortable doing this, ask your dealer to help access the ECM. The hood release lever won't come off, or shouldn't..
View attachment 71741
Unplug the middle ECM connector. Under the end of the white lever, press down and pull up the white lever and it unplugs the connector from the ECM. Make sure it's out and then slide it vertically down and away from the ECM.
Here's the middle connector pin assignment (A2) and what our A2 looks like inside too (pins highlighted):
View attachment 71745View attachment 71746
Undo the zip tie on the connector then unclip the 2 sides of the connector from the connector housing.
The pins are labelled well on the sides:
Left/driver's side connector to pin 45.
Right connector to pin 5.
The new harness connectors just go straight in - nothing else to unclip. Just look at the orientation of the existing pins in the connector to know which way in the new ones go. If it won't go in, don't force it, it's probably just going in the wrong way round. Should just clip in with little effort.
Put the two sides back into the connector housing and zip tie the harness back up and plug the connector back to the ECM.
Bend the lower A pillar panel back and behind the dead pedal...
Install the new light switch into the panel and plug it back in.
Put the panels back on and reconnect the battery negative.

After reconnecting the negative to the battery, set the time on MMI, start the car, raise and lower all the windows a couple of times (I read it helps). A **** load of warnings go off about ESC and TPMS etc. Just drive the car round the block and they all go away.

VCDS Coding:

09 Central Electronics.
Security code 31347.

Original US Setting:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 not active
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 0
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 0
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 not active
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 0
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 0
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 not active
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 0
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 0
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 not active
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 0
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 0

Changed to:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 38
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 22
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 Nebellicht links
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 100
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 100
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 42
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 23
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 Nebellicht rechts
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 100
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 100

Coding for the new light switch to tell the car there's a front fog light button:
Module 09 Code: 31347 Long Coding Helper select Byte 7 and enable Bit 3 and save.

That's it. You should now have front fog lights and a slightly different looking front end
Also, if you're in the Tampa Bay area and don't have vag-com, give me a shout. Am on the map.

View attachment 71747

 

[kc1174]

Excelent writeup kc1174, thanks a lot!!! Based on your post I completed my modification today. Here's my changes: I purchased the harness and oem switch from Kufatec for $142 US (which included shipping from Germany). I sourced the rest ofthe parts for $315 from Mid Atlantic Audi in Richmond, VA and that includes shipping to California.
I removed the battery to cleanly route the harness out of sight and the rest matches your directions. Thanks again, it's just starting to get really foggy here in Central CA.

No problem! Happy you got it sorted out! I'm actually going through a buyback now because my 2015 A3 is a TDI, so I'm now having to use my own guide to take everything back off again! There's no way they're having any of the mods I did I was going to go with the fix on my diesel originally but I decided to give it back and now have an S3. I was literally this week going to post on here that I have parts if anyone here needs them, so I'm sorry I'm a bit late on deciding this in your case, but I'm happy it's worked out well for you! Gives the car a whole new look up front and when you need them, they're pretty good, especially as cornering lights if you have them set up.

 

[hoppyjr]

No problem! Happy you got it sorted out! I'm actually going through a buyback now because my 2015 A3 is a TDI, so I'm now having to use my own guide to take everything back off again! There's no way they're having any of the mods I did I was going to go with the fix on my diesel originally but I decided to give it back and now have an S3. I was literally this week going to post on here that I have parts if anyone here needs them, so I'm sorry I'm a bit late on deciding this in your case, but I'm happy it's worked out well for you! Gives the car a whole new look up front and when you need them, they're pretty good, especially as cornering lights if you have them set up.

I sent you a PM.

 

[Rcord]

Thanks, kc1174. Great write up! I 've installed my fog lights successfully last week and everything worked perfectly. Purchased the lamps from Polland, harness from Germany, light switch from the UK. The grilles came from China, very unexpensive, purchased from Aliexpress.com. They seem to be made of a lighter, thinner plastic than the original ones but I've installed them on the car a couple of months before having the lights working and had no problems with the grilles up to now.

Instead of getting the haness from Kufatec i've purchased them from "Tuning Fanatics" on Ebay and now I see it was a terrible decision. They sent me a wrong cable, with MCP 2.8k terminals fitted to the wires, and these terminals are too big to fit the slots on the BCM connector. They seem to have no clue about the products they are selling, as I couldn't convince them that they sent me the wrong cable, even after sending them pictures of the terminals and the slots and they continued telling me that "the cable has worked for a lot of customers". After much futile discussion with the seller I finally gave up, purchased a pair of MCP 1.5k terminals, replaced them on the cable and then they fitted perfectly in the connector, but that delayed my project by weeks (I've also retrofitted a light/rain sensor and an auto-dimming mirror and finished them before the fog lights, that I started to do first).

I couldn't work on the BCM connector without removing the bottom trim so I had to remove the hood release lever (there is a clip behind it as shown in the picutre).

Audi manuals recommend to disconnect the other end of the hood release cable from a box located in the engine compartment before removing the lever, but I found it hard to reach the box since I would have to remove the air intake first (and also because I was afraid of forgetting that the cable was disconnected and ending up closing the hood and getting it stuck). I had no problems from removing the lever without disconnecting the cable but maybe someone finds it important to follow the manual. After removing the lever you can reach a torx screw that still has to be removed so the trim can come out. After that, I found it much easier to work on the BCM connector. After installation and programming, everything worked OK.

The only parts I've purchased from an Audi authorised service were the screws but I think that any ones wtih a large truss head, 5mm x 19 mm thread will work.

I also took some pictures of the BCM connector and the bottom trim area and I can post them in case someone finds them useful. Sorry for my bad english and again thanks a lot for the write up!

 

[wisconsinbrew]

Nice write-up, thanks! I'm ordering parts to retrofit fog lights to my 16 A3 S-Line sedan. Since the S-Line already has the appropriate honeycomb style foglight inserts with what appear to be knockouts to fit fog lights, i will forgo ordering the foglight grills. I have already ordered the Hella OEM foglights from Europe and am looking at ordering the appropriate light switch, wire harness and screws.

When viewing the AudiUSAparts.com diagram online, it appears that there are mounting brackets (right and left) that are also listed for use with the OEM fog light setup. Did you use any mounting brackets? If not, how do they mount? Does each fog light require 2 screws? Do they simple attach the fog light to the grill? Just curious, how have the LED bulbs been working out for you? Are they sufficient lumens or would you recommend going with a higher lumen output set?

Thanks,

Mark
Richfield WI

 

[Rcord]

Did you use any mounting brackets? If not, how do they mount? Does each fog light require 2 screws? Do they simple attach the fog light to the grill? Just curious, how have the LED bulbs been working out for you?

I didn't have to use any mounting brackets. Each fog light uses 2 screws and they attach it to the bumper, as shown in kc1174's "Fog lights and Grilles" pictures. I've used the original halogen bulbs, sorry for not being able to help, but I plan to replace them too, so any information you have on LED bulbs will be welcome.

 

[949]

any write up for 2015+ s3 sedan?
i think someone just did one for the s3, i think.

 

[rawrmcrawrrawr]

For those with the non S-line bumper, I do recommend getting the brackets. They snap in and hold the foglight more securely.

8V5-807-261
8V5-807-262

 

[CK87]

For those with the non S-line bumper, I do recommend getting the brackets. They snap in and hold the foglight more securely.

8V5-807-261
8V5-807-262

Do you have an example of how the mounting bracket should be attached to the fog lights? Still can’t seem to find the right spots

 

[rawrmcrawrrawr]

Do you have an example of how the mounting bracket should be attached to the fog lights? Still can’t seem to find the right spots

They don’t mount to the fog lights. They mount to the inside of the front bumper. There should be a few tabs that you can see that the slots on the bracket line up with.


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[CK87]

They don’t mount to the fog lights. They mount to the inside of the front bumper. There should be a few tabs that you can see that the slots on the bracket line up with.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oh i see thank you! but if its supposed to be attached to the bumper, how does it actually hold the fog lights more securely? But maybe i will see if when I’m installing it

btw i got the 8v3 part number that is for the non s line as far as I know

 

[rawrmcrawrrawr]

oh i see thank you! but if its supposed to be attached to the bumper, how does it actually hold the fog lights more securely? But maybe i will see if when I’m installing it

btw i got the 8v3 part number that is for the non s line as far as I know

You’ll notice that the posts that you screw the fog light into have some flex. The bracket holds the mounting posts more firmly.

Sorry I should’ve clarified. The 8V5 number is for non S-Line sedan. The 8V3 part numbers you have are correct for the non S-line sportback.


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[CK87]

You’ll notice that the posts that you screw the fog light into have some flex. The bracket holds the mounting posts more firmly.

Sorry I should’ve clarified. The 8V5 number is for non S-Line sedan. The 8V3 part numbers you have are correct for the non S-line sportback.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thank you very much for the additional information to help me out.

yes I do have the sportback. I thought the 8v5 was for the s line a3 8v as well but you must be correct.
For a second, i thought that maybe i looked up the wrong part number but I’m glad you confirmed it as well.

 

[rawrmcrawrrawr]

thank you very much for the additional information to help me out.

yes I do have the sportback. I thought the 8v5 was for the s line a3 8v as well but you must be correct.
For a second, i thought that maybe i looked up the wrong part number but I’m you confirmed it as well.

Hope this pic helps.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CK87]

Hope this pic helps.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I didn’t manage to find such a picture in the manuals yet, thanks! So if I’m correct, we’re looking from the inside of the left side of the bumper right?

I don’t plan to remove the whole bumper so lets assume i’ll be able to find the right spots to click the bracket in

appreciate your help

 

[rawrmcrawrrawr]

Yes from the inside of the bumper on the left side. I was able to install it without removing the bumper.


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[CK87]

Allright, after seeing that picture, it is clear to me now!

 

[bhanu]

Edit: Forgot to mention - mine is the Premium Plus model. Please check the pins on your ECM's A2 connector (see the ECM section below) first and make sure pins 5 and 45 are there before trying this as I'm not sure all US 2015 A3s have the same ECM. They might, but I don't know.

Here's a write up to install front fog lights on an Audi A3 8V 2015 US model that has regular non-adaptive bi-xenon headlights with those tasteful faux grilles we got. Might work on a 2016 too, but can't be sure if the ECM is the same. If you have an all weather light button above the rear fog button, or the S-line front end, stop reading

Oh, and if you choose to do this yourself, it's at your own risk and I'm not responsible etc..

Originally I wasn't going to bother with this retrofit as no grilles seemed to match our bumper. Then the other week, after the TDI thing broke, I was on the UK A3 build page having a look to see if TDIs were still being sold back home and noticed their new 2016 model front bumper matched our 2015 front bumper My fellow Brits get front fogs as standard, so then I went to find the part numbers. Note that I wanted to do this as I live in a swamp and it does get foggy here some mornings and the rain is sometimes heavy too. It's not to drive with them on all day like most seem to round here..

New parts are $381.74 (ish) total including shipping, not including the cost of a light switch which you can source pretty easily off eBay for around $70 or thereabouts. You need vag-com to code. No vag-com, add $58 ish for a dongle that codes for you from Kufatec who you get the harness from, but I don't know if the dongle works as I have vag-com. Dealers should be able to code them too at a guess. Could be less overall if you source the parts off eBay too. The grilles are new it seems to the market. The fogs were made in 2013, so seem to have been used on other models so may be around on eBay.

I got lucky and found someone in Hungary selling a new passenger side grille and fog light set for $40 and $10 ish in shipping on eBay, so figured I'd take a risk and see if they fit and if they did, I'd carry on. They did, so I went ahead and ordered the rest of the stuff I needed.
Other than the harness from Kufatec and the passenger side from eBay, I got the other parts from Bernardi in MA ($18 shipping) and it took a little over a week to get them.
On the Kufatec harness, yes you get instructions to download, but they're pretty vague. They tell you to remove the front bumper for example which doesn't apply, and on the subject of passing the harness through the firewall - "The wires have to be laid into the interior through the boot marked in the figure 9.". Not much use since it was a photo of a Golf.

Parts:

Harness: $70.90 (that price includes express FedEx Shipping).
https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/volkswagen/golf/golf-7-5q/fog-light-wiring-harness-mqb?tab=cross

If no vag-com to code, you might want to buy the dongle at the same time unless you want your dealer to code: https://www.kufatec.us/shop/en/diag...lkswagen-audi/coding-interface-fog-lights-mqb ($58).

Front fog lights ($63 each) and come with Osram H8 bulbs in them:
Passenger/right 8V0-941-700-B
Driver/left 8V0-941-699-B

Grilles ($80 each):
Passenger 8V5-807-682-A-9B9
Driver 8V5-807-681-A-9B9

Screws (x4) ($1.14 each):
WHT-005-764

New light switch (needs auto lights and front and rear fog):
8V0-941-531-AE-5PR is the official one apparently, but it's $180 new, so eBay is your friend here. Just need an auto headlight setting and front and rear fog buttons. Even if the switch has a manual headlight dipping button like mine has that connects to nothing, it'll work (I think the UK non-LED headlights have the manual dip switch too according to their 2015 manual pdf that was posted on here). The switch I got off eBay was $50 (8V0-841-531-Q). **Note: There's a lot on eBay without the Auto lights setting, so get one with**
View attachment 71714

Bulbs: Regular H8s came with the fogs but I got these and they seem ok: $25/pair for LED 6k
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00N5BAWYK/ref=yo_ii_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Prep:

Before starting, test the harness and bulbs. Plug the H8 bulbs into the harness sockets, and using a 12v source, connect ground to the harness spade connector and then positive to one of the gray wire connectors, then check the other gray wire connector for the other bulb.
If the bulbs don't light, either the harness is a dud, or the 12v source is, or the bulb is. On the end of the grey wires mark which one is the passenger (right) side (if you plan to code the fogs for cornering too - if not, I don't think it really matters). I didn't code mine for the cornering, so that's not here, but the coding is here on the forum.

Wiring:

Under the steering wheel, pull up the black piece above the brake pedal and you'll find an unused pear shaped grommet. I didn't take a photo of it before I put the harness through and sealed it off, so here it is afterwards - along with the black part you need to move..
View attachment 71715View attachment 71716
Remember which way the grommet was around (thick edges face engine bay, thin faces inside the car). Pull that out to the inside of the car. Look up inside the hole and you'll see daylight and a thick brown earth wire (and some other stuff I couldn't identify).

Under the hood, drop the 2 gray wires on the kufatec harness behind the battery near the thick brown ground wire. No real need to remove the battery. I could have, but there's not much need.

Look inside the grommet hole for the grey wires and hook them through (may take a couple of goes to get them near the hole).

The grommet is thin rubber so poke a small hole in the grommet and push through the 2 gray wires one at a time, (while remembering which way the grommet will need to go back in the hole - I didn't at first...). You'll end up pulling the grey wires through past the cloth tape on the harness and that's ok.

Remove the side trim near the door and have a look inside - you'll see 3 largeish connectors with white levers on them - this is the vehicle central electrical control system module/CECM/ECM/aka J519.
View attachment 71717View attachment 71718

Pull through only enough wiring to get to the middle one of those 3 connectors on the ECM with a little slack.

Replace the grommet and although it should be good as it is, seal it up around where the wires are with some silicone adhesive anyway. I didn't find any dirt on the back of the grommet when I first took it out, so assume it's pretty well out of the way of the elements, but just to be sure...

Replace the black part and cover the grommet back up.

Leave the 2 gray wires in the cabin where they are for now.

For the new harness wiring in the engine bay, route it all round the back and to the right of the battery and connect the harness ground spade connector to the ground behind the battery - the white nut.

Remove the existing faux grilles:

The erwin body manual says you have to remove the bumper to get these out. I didn't.
Start at the bottom corner closest to the center of the car and pull it out clip by clip. Once that's unclipped, do the same at the top and pull.
Once those are unclipped, pull the whole thing in the direction of the center of the car and they're out.
Clean up all the gunk in there..
Use the clips on the new grilles' clips as a guide so you can see how the old grilles clip in and out.

Harness Route:

Feed the shorter one to the drivers side to the left of the washer fluid reservoir and zip tie on the way down.
Feed the longer to the passenger side. You can go through the bottom of the front grille as there are rubber pieces you can feed through to the passenger light, so no need to go under the car.
View attachment 71720 View attachment 71721
If you have front parking sensors, you'll find its wiring harness already in the front underneath the center grille. I zip tied my passenger side wire to that in a couple of spots on the way to the passenger fog (it sits behind the lip here below the center grille).
View attachment 71722

Fog lights and Grilles:

Make sure the fog bulbs are in the fog light housings first. (Note - you have to remove the harness connector from the bulb to remove the bulb from the fog housing. You can't remove them with the harness still connected).
When the bulbs are in the fog lights, connect the fog harness connectors.
Install the fog lights (there's 2 preexisting pieces each push onto, and 2 holes per side to fit them).
View attachment 71732
Fit the grilles.
View attachment 71733

ECM etc.:

Disconnect the car battery negative (you'll lose trip info and the time on MMI..).
Unplug the existing light switch from its wiring.
Remove the driver's side lower panel (hex screw on the left side and two small nuts on the bottom) and remove the existing light switch.
This next step I probably should have removed the panel where the hood release lever is at the bottom of the A pillar, but I found it had enough flex to access the ECM connector I needed.. Just unclips from behind the dead pedal and bend it back enough... If you're not comfortable doing this, ask your dealer to help access the ECM. The hood release lever won't come off, or shouldn't..
View attachment 71741
Unplug the middle ECM connector. Under the end of the white lever, press down and pull up the white lever and it unplugs the connector from the ECM. Make sure it's out and then slide it vertically down and away from the ECM.
Here's the middle connector pin assignment (A2) and what our A2 looks like inside too (pins highlighted):
View attachment 71745View attachment 71746
Undo the zip tie on the connector then unclip the 2 sides of the connector from the connector housing.
The pins are labelled well on the sides:
Left/driver's side connector to pin 45.
Right connector to pin 5.
The new harness connectors just go straight in - nothing else to unclip. Just look at the orientation of the existing pins in the connector to know which way in the new ones go. If it won't go in, don't force it, it's probably just going in the wrong way round. Should just clip in with little effort.
Put the two sides back into the connector housing and zip tie the harness back up and plug the connector back to the ECM.
Bend the lower A pillar panel back and behind the dead pedal...
Install the new light switch into the panel and plug it back in.
Put the panels back on and reconnect the battery negative.

After reconnecting the negative to the battery, set the time on MMI, start the car, raise and lower all the windows a couple of times (I read it helps). A crap load of warnings go off about ESC and TPMS etc. Just drive the car round the block and they all go away.

VCDS Coding:

09 Central Electronics.
Security code 31347.

Original US Setting:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 not active
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 0
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 0
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 not active
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 0
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 0
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 not active
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 0
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 0
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 not active
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 0
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 0

Changed to:
Front Left Fog:
(1)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lasttyp 12 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lampendefektbitposition 12 38
(3)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 12 22
(4)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Lichtfunktion A 12 Nebellicht links
(6)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert AB 12 100
(10)-Leuchte12NL LB45-Dimmwert CD 12 100
Front Right Fog:
(1)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lasttyp 13 23 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer
(2)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lampendefektbitposition 13 42
(3)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Fehlerort mittleres Byte DTC-DFCC 13 23
(4)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Lichtfunktion A 13 Nebellicht rechts
(6)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert AB 13 100
(10)-Leuchte13NL RB5-Dimmwert CD 13 100

Coding for the new light switch to tell the car there's a front fog light button:
Module 09 Code: 31347 Long Coding Helper select Byte 7 and enable Bit 3 and save.

That's it. You should now have front fog lights and a slightly different looking front end
Also, if you're in the Tampa Bay area and don't have vag-com, give me a shout. Am on the map.

View attachment 71747

enlightening!

i have the same A3 premium plus now ready to do this retrofit ( thanks to the courage you had given )
got everything in hands now cable set from kufatec, switch from Ebay, and fog light set from alibaba
going to retrofit front parking sensors as well in one go witch are sourced from aliexpress,

will let everyone know how it goes.

again thanks for detailed write up