Hello C6 section, Here is my 3.0TDi Quattro and I have a new C6 newbie questions.

[bentwenty]

Hello all, I'm no stranger to ASN or indeed Audi ownership. This was my 8P which I owned and loved for 2 years.

Unfortunately She went pop in spectacular fashion (turbo oil seals, then seized) on Monday night. (side note, I'm now breaking her, message me for bits)
http://imgur.com/u348y8D
I couldn't afford to be without a car for even a day, so a mate of mine drove me 3h to collect this lovely on Tuesday. Its a 2004 3.0TDi quattro on 110K miles with FASH, and I payed a very good price


I am extremely happy with the car, It has met and exceeded my expectations. But I am a fiddler, so I am never happy with things as they are, so i have a few questions:

1) I believe I have the MMI 2G system, It works extremely well, but I would really like to be able to browse the music on my iPhone and play it via the Bose (which will have a high fidelity sub added to it a later date). I don't mind if this is Via bluetooth or the lightning cable. What is the most cost effective way of doing this? I'm not shy of a bit of soldering... Is this http://a6retrofit.com/ami-retrofit-audi-music-interface/ the best way of doing it? does it add the functionality I want?

2) It has Xenons, which are great, but what do the big bulbs in the reflector next to the projector (in the same reflector as the 5W5 sidelight bulbs) do? mine don't ever come on, not on sidelights, main, high fog etc...

3) Is there an easy way of retrofitting a reversing cam? It has rear parking sensors already.

4) It has coming home leaving home lights, when they are enabled, the lights only come on if I press the unlock button twice, can they be set to come on on the first click?

5) The drivers window is a little slow going down and up, is this a common fault? Is there an easy fix?

6) The alcantara on the drivers seat is all bobbly, it looks nasty, can they be retrimmed easily? The leather is fine. Also its a little hard on my bum, I think the foam may be past it, can this easily be replaced?

7) Any other top tips/things I might not know?

Cheers all

 

[RoyC]

2) It has Xenons, which are great, but what do the big bulbs in the reflector next to the projector (in the same reflector as the 5W5 sidelight bulbs) do? mine don't ever come on, not on sidelights, main, high fog etc...
7) Any other top tips/things I might not know?

Cheers all

2) It has Xenons, which are great, but what do the big bulbs in the reflector next to the projector (in the same reflector as the 5W5 sidelight bulbs) do? mine don't ever come on, not on sidelights, main, high fog etc... They come on when you flash your headlights -

7) Any other top tips/things I might not know? - Make sure that you keep the plenum chamber drain holes clear or you will have water in your car.

 

[bentwenty]

Thanks very much for the info on the drain holes. Do I need to remove the plastic cover by the wipers to get to them.
So those bulbs should be coming on with the high beams? I will check later, but I don't think mine do.
Do I have bulb monitoring? Will it tell me on the dash if a bulb is out?
What type of bulb is that one?
Cheers

 

[RoyC]

Thanks very much for the info on the drain holes. Do I need to remove the plastic cover by the wipers to get to them.
So those bulbs should be coming on with the high beams? I will check later, but I don't think mine do.
Do I have bulb monitoring? Will it tell me on the dash if a bulb is out?
What type of bulb is that one?
Cheers

Plenum chamber drain tubes, there are two tubes, one is under the heating valves (shown on the video) and the other is under the brake res. -

Those lights only come on when you use the headlight flashers, you can't have them on continuously, try them when you are faceing a shop window and you will see how they work.

On my 2009 A6 it will tell me on the dash if I have a bulb out.

 

[bentwenty]

Brilliant, thanks for that! Will check on them tomorrow.
Ah that explains why I have never been able to see them on... I want to replace all the bulbs at the front with something a bit closer in colour to the xenons, I know the dogs are h7, the sidelights 5w5, what are the high beams?
Cheers

 

[RoyC]

This is my front lights.

My main beams are also dipped beams (xenons)
My side lights are LED's.
For the fogs I used (yours are H7's mine are H11's) and these give a white light -

 

[Darren92]

you have bi-xenon so the dipped and main beam is a shared bulb but controlled by a shutter. the higher the K rating you go with D2S bulbs (which yours is) the lower the usable light so try and stick to 4300k (oem) or 5000k at a push.

 

[bentwenty]

Thanks very much for the info chaps! I'm very happy with the colour of the xenon main and dipped beams, I just want to get the other bulbs to match as they are a nasty yellow at the moment! Is it possible to run LEDs without massive load resistors to fool the bulb monitoring?
I wouldn't do LEDs for the fogs, tinted blue halogen will do fine there, but led flasher and sidelights would be nice!
On my 8P I had to solder up a special Harness to allow me to run led sidelight and a normal bulb in parallel

 

[rallymangtb]

Hi all

How did u get on with running Leds in yr sidelights ????

Dave

 

[bentwenty]

Hi all

How did u get on with running Leds in yr sidelights ????

Dave

Very well actually!
I am now using the 10SMD version of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151636940...49&var=450845454044&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT . They actually consume enough current on their own to fool the bulb monitoring, so they fit right in with no resistor, and they look great!
I tried a set of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361305859752?_trksid=p2057872.m2748.l2648&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT for the P21W DRL bulbs, again they also use enough current to not require a resistor, but they blew within a day!
I have now bought a set of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/P21W-382-...-CREE-LED-REVERS-CAR-BULBS-PUCH-/251227711423 from T8UPS on ASN, he sorted me out a good deal on them! they will probably arrive today, so I'll get them in in the next day or two. They are much better quality LEDs in them, and a better design, I'm hoping they well consume enough current as well!
I am running blue tinted halogen H7 bulbs for the fogs, they are pretty much the same colour temp, as the xenons.
I will update with pics when its all done.

Also the headlight bulbs are a complete pig to fit! about 1.5h for both sides!!
When I took the air box out to do the drivers side, I what looks like a secondary air intake in the box with a vacuum actuated flap opening ad closing it. It's before the air filter! Anyone know what this is?
Does anyone know if tis possible to do those bulbs without removing the air box on the drivers side, and that hydraulic fluid reservoir (power steering? on the passenger side?
Cheers

 

[rallymangtb]

I've got some sidelight led,s the were in my bmw and they didn't put the bulb gone symbol on so I'd like to imagine there be fine in the audi.going to get some hid,s for it as it has normal h7,s in it at the min and there usless going to put some aftermarket drl,s on it .don't know what to do with the fog lights as yet

 

[bentwenty]

I've got some sidelight led,s the were in my bmw and they didn't put the bulb gone symbol on so I'd like to imagine there be fine in the audi.going to get some hid,s for it as it has normal h7,s in it at the min and there usless going to put some aftermarket drl,s on it .don't know what to do with the fog lights as yet

I would avoid putting HIDs in non projector housing as for three reasons, 1) they blind oncoming cars as they cannot be correctly setup. 2) they are illegal to fit in a non projector housing, to eh legal they must be self levelling as well for the above reason. 3) if they are anything like the 8P, it will blow the wiper motor, may not be an issue with the C6, but very common on the A3.
At the end of the day though mate it's your car, so feel free not to listen

Anyway, anti HID rant over, here are the pics of my completed setup
Thanks to T8UPS for the fast postage and advice! They are all fitted and working! Both the eBay t5w sidelights and TRUPSs p21w DRL bulbs draw enough current to fool the bulb monitoring, so they are fitted right in with no resistor.

DRL

Sidelight

Sidelight and main beam

All

Pic may not be very clear as the iPhone camera sets the exposure automatically, so it doesn't show the difference between them, will get some better pics in the morning.

 

[bentwenty]

Here is a better pic of the DRLs from earlier.

 

[MarkWizard]

Is it only the HID lamp units that have DRLs? My 2007 car has halogen but no DRLs

 

[bentwenty]

Is it only the HID lamp units that have DRLs? My 2007 car has halogen but no DRLs

From what I can tell, yes only the Bi-xenon lights have DRLs. I expect the housing where my DRL is is probably your high beam.
My DRLs can be enabled via the car menu on the MMI.

 

[MarkWizard]

Thanks Ben - do you / anyone know if any halogen unit DRLs? Presuming it would be from an FL car