Replacing Headlight assemblies on wifes car - options?

[ajg617]

Wife has been complaining about her headlights not lighting up the road well on her 05 Cab. I drove it the other night and she's correct. We did purchase it used and its first life was on Cape Cod so everything was sandblasted - there are pits in the plastic headlight lenses that I cannot get out. I've had them professionally cleaned 2 times now but they yellow in months and even when clean, the lights aren't very bright (about 138K on the car). The Xenon's are on and don't flicker but they do appear dim compared to my 08 Avant. I've had a Xenon bulb go bad on my old Avant, but it turned to pink light. The replacements (from Audi) were much brighter and I was told at the time, that Xenon's do dim over the lifetime of the bulb.
That said, I'm figuring on replacing the entire headlight assemblies on both sides with new OEMs unless I can find a quality aftermarket (haven't yet). Anyone have suggestions on replacement Xenon bulbs? Don't want blue - just nice bright headlights.
Thanks,
AJG

[dulux72]

The dimness is caused by the reflective surface within the headlamps breaking down. The original reflectors are poor quality and can’t stand the heat generated. Overtime the light reflected forward becomes less and less resulting in poor road illumination.
You can either replace the headlamp assembly completely or replace the reflectors
There is a company based in Holland which offer a kit for such a purpose
Just search google for replacement HID assemblies if you want to go down that route


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[Scarabrae]

Wife has been complaining about her headlights not lighting up the road well on her 05 Cab. I drove it the other night and she's correct. We did purchase it used and its first life was on Cape Cod so everything was sandblasted - there are pits in the plastic headlight lenses that I cannot get out. I've had them professionally cleaned 2 times now but they yellow in months and even when clean, the lights aren't very bright (about 138K on the car). The Xenon's are on and don't flicker but they do appear dim compared to my 08 Avant. I've had a Xenon bulb go bad on my old Avant, but it turned to pink light. The replacements (from Audi) were much brighter and I was told at the time, that Xenon's do dim over the lifetime of the bulb.
That said, I'm figuring on replacing the entire headlight assemblies on both sides with new OEMs unless I can find a quality aftermarket (haven't yet). Anyone have suggestions on replacement Xenon bulbs? Don't want blue - just nice bright headlights.
Thanks,
AJG

Try here, may be the Dutch company mentioned. I'm thinking of picking up a set if I can't clean the reflectors on mine. https://www.retrofitlab.com/blog/the...adlights-page/

[Crasher]

Front bumper (sorry, fender) off to replace....

[Crasher]

I am losing the plot, meant to post a reply to my error and ended up deleting the message, sorry! If you post it again I will do what I meant to do...

[FrenchAudi]

I don't know if you are referring to my post.

It was a link to a picture of some fenders - the American name for what you would call a wing, not a bumper. A bumper is called a bumper.

[Crasher]

Yes I made a humble apology about being and messed up your post instead It is a shame we don't get dagmar's any more....

[HalfAudio]

Bulbs will become less effective in time yes. The reflectors inside wont be that bad i have yet to see a real bad ones no matter how much heat there is.
Sand down your headlights and after all the sanding process polish them out and buff to super shine. THEN apply clear film (same as tint on headlights just a clear one) This will protect them from rocks and some films protect even from UV and they wont become yellow. If you do this right once you will be good for a very long time just remember that the film gets bad and it need to be reapplied every year or every two years.

[ajg617]

Bulbs will become less effective in time yes. The reflectors inside wont be that bad i have yet to see a real bad ones no matter how much heat there is.
Sand down your headlights and after all the sanding process polish them out and buff to super shine. THEN apply clear film (same as tint on headlights just a clear one) This will protect them from rocks and some films protect even from UV and they wont become yellow. If you do this right once you will be good for a very long time just remember that the film gets bad and it need to be reapplied every year or every two years.

Not sure I will be able to get the plastic clear. Have sanded them down and polished twice before but the pitting is very deep. Looked at replacing the entire assembly but Audi's prices are over $900 US per side and without xenon bulbs.

[FrenchAudi]

I can't provide a link, but there are/were several suppliers offering lenses separately.