A6 Ambient Lighting Retrofit

[a6duke]

Couldn't find a good guide anywhere to retrofit ambient lighting in door cards so thought id make one.
Parts are all available from dealer and it works out about £110 for the 4 doors.
This retrofit can be done without vcds, and so no coding is required. Brightness is controlled via knob on light switch panel.

Parts needed -
Driver door: 4G0919174A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Passenger door: 4G0919173A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832
Rear right door: 4G0919178A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Rear left door: 4G0919177A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832

For the wiring you will need 2x 000979009E, they come in packs of 5.

You will also need T25 screwdriver, trim tools, flathead screwdriver, heat shrink tubing, insulating tape, something sharp to cut wires.
Optional things would be cloth tape to give oem look and stop wires from rattling inside door and would definitely recommend some spare door clips as some tend to break when taking door card off.

33759

Start by prying off trim and speaker cover to reveal 2 screws, final screw is located under handle.

3376033761

Once screws are removed there is a tab you need to press, as shown in the picture, which undoes a clip inside the door. Then use a trim tool to pry door card off. Some clips can be really reluctant to come off, best thing to do is use trim tool to pry door card off enough to get your fingers under and pull. You will need to roll down the window, then push up to slide the door card off.

3376233763

Once door card is removed, unplug connector from door module and disconnect wire from door handle. The door card should now come off completely.

3376433765

There is a small gap that you slide the end of the light bar through, then push each of the clips into their slots, you should not be able to see the light bar at all when clipped in, if you can you haven't pushed it in enough.

3376633767

Now to the wiring: You will need 2 wires for each door. Mark one wire with tape at each end, so you can identify this as your ground wire. Strip one end of each wire and twist the end.
Plug the other end of each wire into the connector. The ground wire (with the tape on) goes into plug 1 on the connector. Once this is done you can tape up with cloth tape.

33768

You are going to tap into the wires for the door handle led so remove the connector, then remove wires from connector. To remove the wires the top of the connector slides off, then use the flatheaded screwdriver to release wire from connector. Strip part of the cable to reveal wire, use the screwdriver to part the wires in the middle. One wire will be solid brown, this is the wire you will put your ground wire through.

3376933770

Slide your wire through and twist round. Do the same with live wire. Then slide heat shrink tubing over and heat up to seal cable. Put wires back into connector, brown wire goes to plug 1 on connector. then connect back up to door handle led.

3377133772

Now plug the other end of your wiring to the led and then attach your led to the light bar. There is a small clip on led that goes into a slot and secures it to the door card.
Connect everything back up, take care to make sure wire for door handle is put back properly.

3377333774

Each door will take about 30mins, takes very little effort, I am a complete novice at wiring and found this pretty easy.
I will be doing ambient lights in centre console soon so will do a guide for that too.

[darich]

I wondered what ambient lighting was.....but I know I've got 2 small LEDs in my interior light and I have the red light bars in my door handles....so I'm guess that's it.

I didn't realise the variable brightness control also controlled the ambient lighting.....I wondered.....Is it possible to brighten the small light bars in the door handles a bit without the dash becoming too bright and distracting? Can they be independently controlled?

[a6duke]

Ambient lighting includes the light bars in door cards and pockets along with the centre console. If you have it from factory you control it in the mmi.
Because you tap into wires for door handle lights for this retrofit it makes it possible to dim them like you'd dim the other interior lights. Whether you can brighten the door handle lights.. I'm not sure, maybe with vcds?

[A6S]

That's a good effort.
Are you planning to fit the illuminated sill/kickplates? Would love to see how they are wired up. I have the lighting pack and the only thing missing is the illuminated kick plate from the ambient pack.

[darich]

Ambient lighting includes the light bars in door cards and pockets along with the centre console. If you have it from factory you control it in the mmi.
Because you tap into wires for door handle lights for this retrofit it makes it possible to dim them like you'd dim the other interior lights. Whether you can brighten the door handle lights.. I'm not sure, maybe with vcds?Yeah....fitted from factory.
I'll search through mmi and I also have vcds so I'll see what I can find out regarding that...cheers

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[Rzv83]

Hi! Did you fit ambient lights in the central console?

[Carlopaloni123]

Where do you recommend buying the parts from? I can’t seem to find them available anywhere?

[artheb]

I just priced the parts with my local dealer. It’s 114euro. I think ill give it a shot! I may as well fit rear door warning lights once i have the side boards out.


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[artheb]

I got all the parts and attempted the installation. I have completed the front doors and will do rear doors tomorrow. I started from the passenger front as a sandbox and unfortunately broke one of the plastic strips. I’ll check later on if you can notice that during the night.

Ps: by reversing the wires you can change the led colour to red. I connected them to light red. I think it will match interior colours better. I’ll take pictures and post them here later on.


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[artheb]

Here is the driver door

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190119/76efec0b98782fc735c3acda14a222b9.jpg


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[Q7quattro]

......reversing the wires to achieve the red colour, looks good!

[artheb]

......reversing the wires to achieve the red colour, looks good!

Maybe I just connected them the right way by mistake [emoji23]


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[da303hooligan]

Here is the driver door

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190119/76efec0b98782fc735c3acda14a222b9.jpg


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Hi, I saw where you said if you switch the wires in this mod that the light bar turns red. Dou you know if this is also the case if light bars are already installed in the vehicle? I have a 2012 A6 Prestige with the ambient lights but they are only white. Would love to figure out how to turn them red. Thank you for any info on this!

[artheb]

Hi, I saw where you said if you switch the wires in this mod that the light bar turns red. Dou you know if this is also the case if light bars are already installed in the vehicle? I have a 2012 A6 Prestige with the ambient lights but they are only white. Would love to figure out how to turn them red. Thank you for any info on this!

I would try to take one of the door cards and reverse the wires of the led strip. If it turns red then you can do the same with the rest of them.


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[da303hooligan]

I would try to take one of the door cards and reverse the wires of the led strip. If it turns red then you can do the same with the rest of them.


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Thank you for the quick reply! I'll give it a shot. Might also try the lighting in the center console. May be a bit of a pain to get to though..

[Chelsealoyal]

What do you do to get them red mate

[Chelsealoyal]

What you me mean by reversing them mate

[Chelsealoyal]

What do you mean by reversing the wires

[Chelsealoyal]

I just priced the parts with my local dealer. It’s 114euro. I think ill give it a shot! I may as well fit rear door warning lights once i have the side boards out.


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What do you mean by reversing the wires to get it red

[Chelsealoyal]

I would try to take one of the door cards and reverse the wires of the led strip. If it turns red then you can do the same with the rest of them.


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hi mate what do mean by Reversing the wires to get red how do I do it


I just priced the parts with my local dealer. It’s 114euro. I think ill give it a shot! I may as well fit rear door warning lights once i have the side boards out.


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I got all the parts and attempted the installation. I have completed the front doors and will do rear doors tomorrow. I started from the passenger front as a sandbox and unfortunately broke one of the plastic strips. I’ll check later on if you can notice that during the night.

Ps: by reversing the wires you can change the led colour to red. I connected them to light red. I think it will match interior colours better. I’ll take pictures and post them here later on.


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Here is the driver door

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190119/76efec0b98782fc735c3acda14a222b9.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[artheb]

Led strip has a led light attached to it. It has a two connectors for red and black wire.

Let’s assume your current connection is:
Connector 1 red wire
Connector 2 black wire

You need to connect them as:
Connector 1 black wire
Connector 2 red wire


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[Chelsealoyal]

Cheers mate

[Chelsealoyal]

Led strip has a led light attached to it. It has a two connectors for red and black wire.

Let’s assume your current connection is:
Connector 1 red wire
Connector 2 black wire

You need to connect them as:
Connector 1 black wire
Connector 2 red wire


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In middle of this here mate confused how to get the red how you know what ref and what’s black

[artheb]

In middle of this here mate confused how to get the red how you know what ref and what’s black

Dude,
You have two wires connected to the led light. I don’t know what actually 2 colours you have . It does not matter. Just cut them and connect opposite to what they are at the moment. Or remove them from the connector block and reverse them that way.


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[Chelsealoyal]

Dude,
You have two wires connected to the led light. I don’t know what actually 2 colours you have . It does not matter. Just cut them and connect opposite to what they are at the moment. Or remove them from the connector block and reverse them that way.


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Got it sorted mate cheers

[Chelsealoyal]

Think i pushed my lighting bar to far u can’t see to u look under it if u know what I mean

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190119/76efec0b98782fc735c3acda14a222b9.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]

[artheb]

You are not supposed to see them from the eye level. You just see the glow.
My picture is taken from the arm rest level hence the the led strip is fully visible.


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[Chelsealoyal]

You are not supposed to see them from the eye level. You just see the glow.
My picture is taken from the arm rest level hence the the led strip is fully visible.


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When it’s pushed in to pllace u can’t see the glow at all

[Chelsealoyal]

36317
not very bright from about half way down the bar

[Chelsealoyal]

Couldn't find a good guide anywhere to retrofit ambient lighting in door cards so thought id make one.
Parts are all available from dealer and it works out about £110 for the 4 doors.
This retrofit can be done without vcds, and so no coding is required. Brightness is controlled via knob on light switch panel.

Parts needed -
Driver door: 4G0919174A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Passenger door: 4G0919173A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832
Rear right door: 4G0919178A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Rear left door: 4G0919177A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832

For the wiring you will need 2x 000979009E, they come in packs of 5.

You will also need T25 screwdriver, trim tools, flathead screwdriver, heat shrink tubing, insulating tape, something sharp to cut wires.
Optional things would be cloth tape to give oem look and stop wires from rattling inside door and would definitely recommend some spare door clips as some tend to break when taking door card off.

33759

Start by prying off trim and speaker cover to reveal 2 screws, final screw is located under handle.

3376033761

Once screws are removed there is a tab you need to press, as shown in the picture, which undoes a clip inside the door. Then use a trim tool to pry door card off. Some clips can be really reluctant to come off, best thing to do is use trim tool to pry door card off enough to get your fingers under and pull. You will need to roll down the window, then push up to slide the door card off.

3376233763

Once door card is removed, unplug connector from door module and disconnect wire from door handle. The door card should now come off completely.

3376433765

There is a small gap that you slide the end of the light bar through, then push each of the clips into their slots, you should not be able to see the light bar at all when clipped in, if you can you haven't pushed it in enough.

3376633767

Now to the wiring: You will need 2 wires for each door. Mark one wire with tape at each end, so you can identify this as your ground wire. Strip one end of each wire and twist the end.
Plug the other end of each wire into the connector. The ground wire (with the tape on) goes into plug 1 on the connector. Once this is done you can tape up with cloth tape.

33768

You are going to tap into the wires for the door handle led so remove the connector, then remove wires from connector. To remove the wires the top of the connector slides off, then use the flatheaded screwdriver to release wire from connector. Strip part of the cable to reveal wire, use the screwdriver to part the wires in the middle. One wire will be solid brown, this is the wire you will put your ground wire through.

3376933770

Slide your wire through and twist round. Do the same with live wire. Then slide heat shrink tubing over and heat up to seal cable. Put wires back into connector, brown wire goes to plug 1 on connector. then connect back up to door handle led.

3377133772

Now plug the other end of your wiring to the led and then attach your led to the light bar. There is a small clip on led that goes into a slot and secures it to the door card.
Connect everything back up, take care to make sure wire for door handle is put back properly.

3377333774

Each door will take about 30mins, takes very little effort, I am a complete novice at wiring and found this pretty easy.
I will be doing ambient lights in centre console soon so will do a guide for that too.
36318

hi mate I fitted them there but there not very bright and and half way down really bad

[Harvy23]

This is very useful thread, I look forward to trying it!

[Whippy53]

I blame RGB for all this.

[doppelganger]

Hi a6duke, i am a new member here. i am looking to add the ambient lighting and this post is exactly what i needed.
did you do the centre consol as mentioned?

if i follow the way same route to wire the leds in, will the brightness be adjusted by the dial beside the headlight switch?
is there a way to control them via the mmi?

Thanks in advance and great post :D

[nevbadger99]

if i follow the way same route to wire the leds in, will the brightness be adjusted by the dial beside the headlight switch?
is there a way to control them via the mmi?


Standard fit has the brightness controlled from the MMI, not sure if that would be replicated by a retrofit.

[doppelganger]

I have activated the background lighting control in my mmi via vcds (registered version). this was done to control the brightness of the footwell lighting. i was wondering if there was an additional module, or different way of wiring so it was controlled through the mmi and not the dial beside the healight switch
3690436905

[doppelganger]

Standard fit has the brightness controlled from the MMI, not sure if that would be replicated by a retrofit.

please see the message above. i messed up and forgot to quote you!

[SBJ]

Hi,
I'm researching this retrofit and this afternoon tried various adaptations using VCDS (also registered version) but couldn't get that option to appear in the MMI. My A6 Avant Black Edition is a 2018 (facelift) model, why version is yours?

Thanks

[SBJ]

I have activated the background lighting control in my mmi via vcds (registered version). this was done to control the brightness of the footwell lighting. i was wondering if there was an additional module, or different way of wiring so it was controlled through the mmi and not the dial beside the healight switch
3690436905

Hi,
I'm researching this retrofit and this afternoon tried various adaptations using VCDS (also registered version) but couldn't get that option to appear in the MMI. My A6 Avant Black Edition is a 2018 (facelift) model, why version is yours?

Thanks

[doppelganger]

Hi,
I'm researching this retrofit and this afternoon tried various adaptations using VCDS (also registered version) but couldn't get that option to appear in the MMI. My A6 Avant Black Edition is a 2018 (facelift) model, why version is yours?

Thanks

I remember having difficulty getting this to work, however try this:
37607

let me know how you get on buddy

[SBJ]

I remember having difficulty getting this to work, however try this:
37607

let me know how you get on buddy

Thats brilliant, I will take a look. Out of interest, how did you wire in the door bar lights? Can only see the guide on here that taps into the interior door handle LED and dimmed via the rotary knob by the headlight switch. Can't find how to wire into the door module to then be controlled by the MMI. Any pointers would be welcomed!

Once I know that, I'll then order parts.

Thanks

[doppelganger]

Thats brilliant, I will take a look. Out of interest, how did you wire in the door bar lights? Can only see the guide on here that taps into the interior door handle LED and dimmed via the rotary knob by the headlight switch. Can't find how to wire into the door module to then be controlled by the MMI. Any pointers would be welcomed!

Once I know that, I'll then order parts.

Thanks

After I activated the footwell lighting in the mmi I sadly fell away from going any further. It is now added to my “to do” list.

I would need the brightness controlled by the mmi and not the dash light switch. I’m not sure what else is needed to make this happen.

keep me posted how you get on yourself and hopefully I get back to doing this retro fit myself.

good luck ��

[szymek]

Take look if everything connected to door module only need adaptation to get brightness control by centre console .See my video
Add ambient lighting (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/196524-Add-ambient-lighting)

[19ryanh93]

Couldn't find a good guide anywhere to retrofit ambient lighting in door cards so thought id make one.
Parts are all available from dealer and it works out about £110 for the 4 doors.
This retrofit can be done without vcds, and so no coding is required. Brightness is controlled via knob on light switch panel.

Parts needed -
Driver door: 4G0919174A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Passenger door: 4G0919173A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832
Rear right door: 4G0919178A, 4G0947355C, 8W0971832
Rear left door: 4G0919177A, 4G0947355B, 8W0971832

For the wiring you will need 2x 000979009E, they come in packs of 5.

You will also need T25 screwdriver, trim tools, flathead screwdriver, heat shrink tubing, insulating tape, something sharp to cut wires.
Optional things would be cloth tape to give oem look and stop wires from rattling inside door and would definitely recommend some spare door clips as some tend to break when taking door card off.

33759

Start by prying off trim and speaker cover to reveal 2 screws, final screw is located under handle.

3376033761

Once screws are removed there is a tab you need to press, as shown in the picture, which undoes a clip inside the door. Then use a trim tool to pry door card off. Some clips can be really reluctant to come off, best thing to do is use trim tool to pry door card off enough to get your fingers under and pull. You will need to roll down the window, then push up to slide the door card off.

3376233763

Once door card is removed, unplug connector from door module and disconnect wire from door handle. The door card should now come off completely.

3376433765

There is a small gap that you slide the end of the light bar through, then push each of the clips into their slots, you should not be able to see the light bar at all when clipped in, if you can you haven't pushed it in enough.

3376633767

Now to the wiring: You will need 2 wires for each door. Mark one wire with tape at each end, so you can identify this as your ground wire. Strip one end of each wire and twist the end.
Plug the other end of each wire into the connector. The ground wire (with the tape on) goes into plug 1 on the connector. Once this is done you can tape up with cloth tape.

33768

You are going to tap into the wires for the door handle led so remove the connector, then remove wires from connector. To remove the wires the top of the connector slides off, then use the flatheaded screwdriver to release wire from connector. Strip part of the cable to reveal wire, use the screwdriver to part the wires in the middle. One wire will be solid brown, this is the wire you will put your ground wire through.

3376933770

Slide your wire through and twist round. Do the same with live wire. Then slide heat shrink tubing over and heat up to seal cable. Put wires back into connector, brown wire goes to plug 1 on connector. then connect back up to door handle led.

3377133772

Now plug the other end of your wiring to the led and then attach your led to the light bar. There is a small clip on led that goes into a slot and secures it to the door card.
Connect everything back up, take care to make sure wire for door handle is put back properly.

3377333774

Each door will take about 30mins, takes very little effort, I am a complete novice at wiring and found this pretty easy.
I will be doing ambient lights in centre console soon so will do a guide for that too.

Hi mate

What are the seat occupancy connectors for?


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