Pre facelift to facelift REAR light swap - 8L S3 - Little spoon feeding required ;-)

[Routledge]

Good moaning all.

I have taken delivery of a set of facelift rear lights, which have been sat in my living room for a couple of months now, so it's probably about time I do something with them.

I believe I've been told that I would need to change the bulb holders, as the pre facelift indicator bulb is clear, and the facelift lights need an amber bulb, which won't fit into the pre facelift holder as it's bigger??

I've been scouting the web trying to find a set of facelift bulb holders that won't cost me more than the lights themselves, but haven't been particularly successful.

If I find a set, are they simple enough to wire in in place of the existing bulb holders? Is there any way to just get an amber bulb that fits the pre facelift bulb holder to save me all the hassle and expenditure?

This is why they've been in my living room so long....

Thanks in advance for any help

James

 

[s3mad_dude]

I had a pre-facelift S3 back in the days and I did this mod. No bulbs needed swapping it was just a direct replacement. Really simple.

 

[Routledge]

Just looked back over my posts and found who/when I was told:

You need the holders and swop the indicator bulbs for orange ones, or they blink white. The orange bulbs don't fit the original holders as the pins to lock them down are different.

Did you not find that happened?

 

[kwistof]

I changed my pre-facelift lights to facelift rear lights last year and I also stumbled across this issue.

I couldn't use my current pre-faeclift bulbs as they weren't the correct fitment for the facelift holders so had to buy some more.

I think you also get an extra reversing light with rear facelift lights which is why I didn't use my pre-facelift holders as well.

I also think i have some holders at home randomly so will take a look.

Btw - you need tiny hands or a very flexible tool set to get to all of the screws- properly cut my hands up on the amplifier when i changed mine

 

[Routledge]

Well my friend has just said that his one year old son has small hands, so maybe that will be useful.

Alternatively, I think I'll have to give it a go myself.

Is the wiring a PITA to sort out, or is it a simple case of unplugging, and plugging in to the new holders? With the extra reversing light did you need to split and splice in a separate wire?

I was thinking of buying this orange spray and just spraying the bulb on either side in the hope that it'll replicate the amber indicator bulb from the facelift, and prevent any need for messing around. #bodge #hopingitworks #blindoptimism

I'd hope that I could get a set of bulb holders for around £20 posted, but I've not been fortunate so far.. There's these on eBay, but they don't state whether they're for a pre or a facelift.

 

[Dani_B19]

You dont need to buy bulb holders, i didnt, just goto the local motor spares and youll be able to buy a orange bulb, i did, just take the old clear one for reference?

 

[kwistof]

As far as I can remember it was all really simple and I didn't have to modify or re-wire anything.....

The facelift lights I purchased had the bulb holders with them so I literally took the holder and bulbs out of mine then realised the amber bulbs didn't fit as they are a different fitment. Pre-facelift bulb pins were opposite one another (6 o clock) and on the facelift they require them at about a 4 o clock fitment.

So I had to put my old lights back in and drive down to Halfords to buy the correct ones. The white bulb you had as an indicator before can then be used for the additional reversing light you gain from the facelift lights as well, so only need to buy two amber bulbs.

I'm assuming that the facelift lights did not come with any bulb holders then?

I mean I managed to do it for a start and it all worked - and I by no means confident when it comes to working on my own car....Worth noting though to make sure you use a magnetic screwdriver as it's really tight and if you lose a screw, it could result in taking other parts off to get to it.

 

[Routledge]

Oh ok - So they do actually produce one of the bulbs in orange then.

I think I'll see about getting bulbs before I do any fiddling on the car then. Cheers bud!

 

[Routledge]

Little further investigation has been done.

From what I can gather.. The pre facelift and facelift indicator bulbs are both 15mm but pre facelift is 'opposite' pin format, whereas the facelift is 'offset' which means I need to find a set of 15mm 'opposite' orange bulbs rather than 'offset', which is the standard.

More digging and I found these orange 'opposite' bulbs on eBay for only £3.85 a pair posted. They are P21W BA15s 382 12 volt bulbs, the same as the clear indiciator bulbs I have at the moment.. But just orange.

Eureka!? lol

 

[kwistof]

Little further investigation has been done.

From what I can gather.. The pre facelift and facelift indicator bulbs are both 15mm but pre facelift is 'opposite' pin format, whereas the facelift is 'offset' which means I need to find a set of 15mm 'opposite' orange bulbs rather than 'offset', which is the standard.

More digging and I found these orange 'opposite' bulbs on eBay for only £3.85 a pair posted. They are P21W BA15s 382 12 volt bulbs, the same as the clear indiciator bulbs I have at the moment.. But just orange.

Eureka!? lol

Get down to Halfords or another parts place and get some today and fit them now you've worked it all out

Think I paid around £3 for mine.

 

[Routledge]

Haha I'd love to but I wouldn't have the time to get them fitted until the weekend anyways; too much beer & football this week after work.

I've ordered the set from eBay and hope they'll be here by the weekend so I can fit them on Saturday whilst I retro fit my parking sensors

 

[s3mad_dude]

I bought mine from vag parts online before they went out of business and I think they must have sold the light clusters already converted for a straight swap. Soz for the duff info lads!

 

[Danno57]

I done this last week, the only thing I had to do was buy some silver coated amber indicator bulbs. You don't need to change the bulb holder.

When fitting the new light units make sure to use some sealant on the rubber.

 

[Routledge]

Good call, I'll be sure to use some sealant. Cheers for the tip!

 

[jojo]

I fitted mine last year and drove to the MOT station on the same day, the guy said your rear indicators are white, so I had to change the bulb holder to get the orange bulbs to fit to pass the MOT! lol

And if anyone is interested in a pair of facelift rear lights with holders, I have a spare set, PM me for price. :sign_plug: