Q5 Q5 MY2018 facelift reverse light access

[mattyboy199]

Hi All,

My Dad has a Q5 face-lift MY 2018 with a reverse bulb out. I understand we need a long reach T25 driver but how long reach is long enough?

A real pain in the **** this is thought my S3 8L was bad.

TIA

 

[aj84]

I got the following from Amazon which did the trick - looks like 250mm

Neilsen CT2899 4PC 250MM Extra Long Star TORX Screwdriver T15 T20 T25 T30 X 250 4 Piece Set, Silver​

It was a pain to say the least especially for what it is. Certainly easier if you can get it on a ramp.
The first one (the left from memory) eventually popped out but had more scratches than an icerink on it. Luckily its all hidden once slotted back in.
The right one was easier as I knew what to look out for and also ended up getting one of those mirror torches to get to it properly. You can see the bolt from underneath looking between the bumper and the crashbar or whatever it is.

Also once the bolt is out and you pry the housing out, the corner of it is quite jammed in and there is a bit of a knack to it. Don't rush it! My left light and left corner (Closest to the wheel arch) snapped off... could hardly tell but I knew it was there.
Ended up buying two new units and replacing both (the right due to the short below). The left comes out right side first and then left from memory.

I also managed to somehow short my right one - I think it was the reverse bulb holder itself... no idea how but suspect I may not have let the car go fully into sleep after the first try post replacing the bulbs so maybe just watch out for that one too.
I was a little haphazard with it changing bulbs on the fly because I had purchased a number of LED replacement bulbs but could not decide which one fit the best and gave out the most light.

Finally go slow as per above - there is a red "housing" around the screw/bolt and enough times I thought I was hitting the screw when it was the housing.

Pictures attached may/may not help

 

[mattyboy199]

I got the following from Amazon which did the trick - looks like 250mm

Neilsen CT2899 4PC 250MM Extra Long Star TORX Screwdriver T15 T20 T25 T30 X 250 4 Piece Set, Silver​

It was a pain to say the least especially for what it is. Certainly easier if you can get it on a ramp.
The first one (the left from memory) eventually popped out but had more scratches than an icerink on it. Luckily its all hidden once slotted back in.
The right one was easier as I knew what to look out for and also ended up getting one of those mirror torches to get to it properly. You can see the bolt from underneath looking between the bumper and the crashbar or whatever it is.

Also once the bolt is out and you pry the housing out, the corner of it is quite jammed in and there is a bit of a knack to it. Don't rush it! My left light and left corner (Closest to the wheel arch) snapped off... could hardly tell but I knew it was there.
Ended up buying two new units and replacing both (the right due to the short below). The left comes out right side first and then left from memory.

I also managed to somehow short my right one - I think it was the reverse bulb holder itself... no idea how but suspect I may not have let the car go fully into sleep after the first try post replacing the bulbs so maybe just watch out for that one too.
I was a little haphazard with it changing bulbs on the fly because I had purchased a number of LED replacement bulbs but could not decide which one fit the best and gave out the most light.

Finally go slow as per above - there is a red "housing" around the screw/bolt and enough times I thought I was hitting the screw when it was the housing.

Pictures attached may/may not help

Thanks for the reply, we got a multi pack of total length 360mm trousers and the T25 is correct. Downside was that the bulb was fine and the unit itself is faulty. Fortunately dad got extended warranty so should be covered by that.

 

[aj84]

The same happened to mine too - ie it was the unit not the bulb but I put it down to potentially shorting it during removal of the bulb/testing bulbs as I was trialling an erroring various LED bulbs to see which ones errored and of course fit too as many are too big for the housing.

I will say that the LED changeover made a HUGE difference for reversing light. As you know, having the light so low down and quite a thin/narrow field, you don't get to see much behind you whereas "normal" cars tend to have a much bigger reverse light making it fairly useful as a guidance/spot light.

 

[jdp1962]

The bit you need should be in the car’s toolkit under the boot floor.