A6 C6 headlight removal

[ac606]

Hi, picked up my '06 A6 Avant on Saturday, now I need to make a few changes to the car. I installed HID's on my last Audi (A4) without too much problem, however on looking at the A6 this could be a bit more fun!!

In order to access the offside light, I'm not too sure if I can just remove the airbox or do I have to remove the bumber then headlight.

Has anybody tried retrofitting HID's to an A6 C6, I see the headlights are not projector like the A4 was, I presume this is not a problem, just put the retrofit HID bulbs in along with the ballast ans starter and off I go?

[aj84]

I have a huge thread "somewhere" - just cant remember where

You don't have to remove the bumper but yes, the airbox does need to be removed

It's very easy to do this...few clips and you need a flat head screwdriver to remove the pipe

Thats the drivers side done... for the passenger, you will need move to the side the power steering bottle but apart from that, it should be easy enough to get into it.

If you do get stuck, please do ask and I can send you some diagrams - spent days on this to initially replace to hid lighting but I didn't like it as it flooded the area too much - and then secondly, to replace the entire housing with original xenon lighting - this looked great but reduced the functionality as it would not auto-level (obvious reasons as I did not have sensors)..so I've spent a hell a long time around that area!

[ac606]

Cheers AJ, that would be great if you had some info you could send me some more info. I had a look again last night, it looks as if there is enough room to work with the n/s headlight still in place, hopefully with stripping the airbox back there is enough room behind the o/s also.

So did you add aftermarket HID bulbs then remove them on your car??

[aj84]

Yup removed them after and luckily got a refund too

The main problem was that while they looked good - I felt it flooded the area too much - too much to not gain attention from the plod

The other reason was that when the lights were on, I got radio interference. now these HID's were known to suppress any interference however, after trying several other brands, they all had the same issue.

In the end, I pulled them out. I did try moving the ballast around but as you will find when you fit yours, there is not that much space (suitable space bearing in mind the ballast gets very hot!)

I'll dig them out and send them your way

[nobbyuk]

... just put the retrofit HID bulbs in along with the ballast ans starter and off I go?

Absolutely not.

There's a reason the factory fit Xenons use projector lenses. The reflector housing for halogens is not designed for the light output of a xenon bulb. There is far too much light scatter in that configuration and you'll blind oncoming traffic.

If you want a xenon retrofit, you should use the OEM projector lenses designed specifically for that purpose. And to be completely legal you should have washers and self-levelling. But I guess if you've previously retrofitted xenons you already know that.