Result of A6 headlamp upgrade project.

[dmiller@iea.com (Doug Miller)]

Upon delivery, our A6 headlamps were found to be a little lacking in output
for the rural driving conditions and long winter darkness in our area.  I
was also peeved to own a vehicle whose foglights could only be used when
the headlamps were on (thus rendering them near useless).  The following
post details the results of my upgrades and wiring changes.

First off, I went to the Audi dealership right away while the blush was
still on my being a new customer and asked for a photocopy of the headlamp
wiring diagrams.  Surprisingly, I got them with little question. They're
labeled "Audi of America, Inc. Service Publications 96-07, pages 1 of 3, 2
of 3, and 3 of 3". Also on the page is "Front and Rear Fog Lights".

First off is changing the wiring so the fogs operate without the headlamps on:

Using a new standard foglight relay, wire it as follows (the relay will be
placed into the auxiliary relay panel next to the existing foglight relay).
The auxiliary relay panel is near the left hood hinge, and has a wire clip
over the removeable cover.  Here goes:

#30 - 14ga or greater wire from the remote battery terminal (it handily
unscrews, just watch the wrench end if you live on the edge and have not
yet disconnected the battery). Fuse it, of course.
#86 - light guage wire from an ignition switched wire.  I tapped into such
a wire on the relay labeled 214 adjacent to the existing foglight relay,
which is labeled 204. Leave this splice until later, as you will have
another wire to tap in here also and its easier at the same time.
#85 - ground.  I used the screw at the bottom of the auxiliary relay panel.
#87 - From terminal S16 on the fuse panel at the dashboard's left edge.
This is the tricky one. Take the lower dash kick panel off, remove the 2
screws holding the fuse panel in place and push the fuse panel into the
dash and downward. Happily, there is enough wire to end up with the entire
fuse panel hanging into the driver's footwell and easily accessible.  At
the back of the panel is a protective black plastic cover which slides off
somewhat stubbornly.  By the way, before starting this step, I *highly*
recommend disconnecting the battery. Locate the yellow wire on fuse S16 and
cut it.  Tape off the end that leads away from the fuse.

Now, put a bright light in the driver's footwell to guide the wire destined
to attach to this yellow wire. You can easily drop it through the bottom of
the auxiliary relay panel with the bright light guiding your way to the
carpet in the footwell. Once you get it into the driver's footwell, splice
it to the remaining end of the yellow wire you've cut so this wire now
connects to fuse S16.

Back at the auxiliary relay panel, pull the existing foglight relay
(labeled 204) out of its connector in the panel.  Then release the clips
holding this connector to the panel and pull it up as far as the wires
allow.  With some determined fiddling and prying, the purple retainer
holding the individual female terminals in place can be pulled off to allow
the female spade connectors to be pulled individually out of it.

Remove the female spade connector in position #86 by inserting a fine
screwdriver to push the tab back and pull it down out of the connector - it
can be cut and pulled up and out if you haven't the patience. It is the
brown wire with yellow stripe.  Tape it off and push it out of the way.
Replace it with another female spade connector and a wire long enough to
tap into the same ignition switched wire I referred to above for terminal
#86 on the new relay. Very simple if you crimp on the female spade
connector, then feed the other end of the wire down into the connector
until the female connector snaps down in.  After this is accomplished, snap
the connector's purple retainer back on, shove it back into the panel, and
replace the existing foglight relay #204 back on the panel. (whew)

After you put everything back into place, your foglights will work whenever
the ignition is on. Take that, Feds!  Nothing else will be disturbed - the
rear foglight switch still turns the fronts on, they go off when the high
beams are turned on, etc.

I then upgraded the foglights to 85w from 55, the low beams to 85w from 55,
and the high beams to 100w from 60w (I think they were 60).  The fogs are
common H1's and the low beams are somewhat less common H3's - both from
PIAA.  The high beams are 9005 from Competition Limited in Troy, MI and I
don't know of any other sources.

Having just completed a 3500 mile trip with the upgrades, I have the
following comments:

Foglights - Easily the most dramatic impact. They are actually powerful
enough to be usable now and the beam pattern retains its sharp cutoff.

Low beams - Strong impact.  The amount of light is strong enough now to
drive at freeway speeds without leaning toward the windshield and squirming
around in my seat.  I was really disappointed initially, given the
reputation of PES design lights like these. One slight negative is that
there is a little too much light on the road in the first car length - a
fault with the original 55w bulbs as well that is slightly increased.  The
light beyond this area definitely makes up for it, however.  Just thought
I'd mention it.

High beams - Moderate impact.  They are notably stronger, but were actually
quite good to begin with. I am now able to regularly make out highway
reflectors 1.6 miles away vs about 1.1 miles with the original bulbs.
Since these were also the most expensive and difficult to find, I'm not
sure the value is there for everyone. But where we live, missing only one
extra deer in a lifetime is worth it.

I am not sure, but the A4 lamps look very similar to mine and the bulb
comments may apply there, also.

The usual disclaimers apply.


Doug Miller
dmiller@iea.com
97A6Q Wagon, 93 LandCruiser w/diff locks (and well used skidplates), 71
LeMans Sport V8 Convertible. Cannondale Super V 900 Comp.