This is going to sound nuts, but it looks like I'll need to remove my Xenon lights and install regular Halogens in order to import a US spec car into Switzerland. In the EU all Xenon equipped cars require self-leveling AND a washer system. My US spec '10 A4 has auto-leveling but no washers and I think the retrofit would be very expensive. On top of it all, US spec Xenons would have to be swapped out for Ecodes, so going back to halogen housings and bulbs is going to be the most cost-effective option.

Does anybody know if the factory wiring for the factory HID lights will also work for the regular halogens? How difficult is the swap? This is a sad day. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.

 

HID need a special box and driver - very high voltage. But typically the wiring harness is the same. in other words, there iwll be a sperate pigtail from the harness that is specific for HID vs. Halogen. you would need the halogen housings, and the wiring pigtail. The only other thing I can think of is there will need to be a change in the computer or it will contstantly tell you a light is out.

 

Thanks for the reply and for the information!
So would the voltage converter (I assume) be attached to the back of the housing? Basically, do I unclip the harness and pull out the housing and just mount the halogen housing, reconnect and then reprogram? I'm not so technically skilled, and with $180/hour for labor, I would rather do as much as I can by myself. I guess I could always see what the conversion from halogen to HID looks like and go backwards...

 

When I worked for the DOD in Germany, people ran into a lot of problems when bringing US spec cars to Europe. Generally it was cheaper to fix the problem over there, only b/c there were shoips familiar with the conversions.

As for your headlights, take a look at the backside of the housings. Most of the voltage inverters are remote mounted that I have seen. I have not been in the setup on an A4, but for example on a Chrysler 300 (which can be had with Xenon) they remote mount the box to the radiator core support. It plugs into the wiring harness there, with a short pigtail that goes to the headlight housing.

I wonder how much fitting the washers would really be? They would just need a remote tank, washer nozzles and a button on the dash.

 

sthatz, try here: OEM European Audi Exterior, Interior & Lighting Parts for Audi Vehicles

They MAY have the perts you need, for your US-to-Euro headlight conversion

 

Thanks to both of you, ilovetrains and awdaholic. It looks like I have some exploring to do.