Changing RHD T6 LED headlight pattern for Switzerland

[SailSki]

Hello all,
Can anyone help clarify 2 questions for me please:
1: Is the beam pattern of the T6 LED headlights adjustable to give a “kick up” to illuminate the verge?
2: Do any Swiss members have LED headlights and if so, are the beams flat or kicked up to the right?

I have to import my UK 2016 RHD T6 Ocean into Switzerland and it just failed the technical assessment as the LED lights have a flat beam pattern rather than a definite kick up in the right hand side to illuminate the verge.
I have the travel mode enabled in the doashboard settings, but I honestly saw no difference between standard UK setting and travel mode setting even when parked facing a wall - stayed flat in both cases.
i’m trying to clarify with my UK dealer whether the LED lights have an adjustable pattern before I go and talk to the big local dealer in Geneva (AMAG) as the other local dealer seemed to know nothing about the lights.
Many thanks in advance for your assistance.
Mike

 

[Loz]

If you wanted the kick up you should not have enabled travel mode.
The normal EU lamps are flat, so it's a surprise to hear that the swiss also have this.

 

[SailSki]

If you wanted the kick up you should not have enabled travel mode.
The normal EU lamps are flat, so it's a surprise to hear that the swiss also have this.

Hi Loz, thanks for your quick reply.
As it is a UK car the “non TravelMode” standard setting would normally have the kick up on the left to illuminate the verge in the UK, but it needs to be on the right for Switzerland.
However my LED beams have always been flat and the pattern stays the same whether I select travel mode or not

 

[Loz]

Hi Loz, thanks for your quick reply.
As it is a UK car the “non TravelMode” standard setting would normally have the kick up on the left to illuminate the verge in the UK, but it needs to be on the right for Switzerland.
However my LED beams have always been flat and the pattern stays the same whether I select travel mode or not

I'm with you now, according to the parts catalogue, there is only EU(flat) and UK variants listed.
So you would need the headlight part number or VIN from a swiss member's Cali to compare or ask a swiss dealer to look up the replacement headlights.

 

[SailSki]

Thanks Loz, I will be hugely frustrated if I have to replace these expensive parts because VW haven’t built them to be able to be legally driven in different countries.....but hopefully it won’t come to that.

 

[SailSki]

Exactly what I was hoping NOT to hear from the UK dealer....
I have looked into the headlight issue you have experienced and can confirm the following. Vehicles that are designed for left side traffic (RHD) have the kick up to the left and when in travel mode this kick up is flattened off to prevent glare to right hand side traffic (LHD) this is a temporary measure designed for leisure use, and so will not pass a statutory inspection in many LHD countries.

I have checked parts availability for your vehicle, and it appears the only option available to you is complete replacement of the headlights for those designed for LHD traffic, this would then provide a kick up to the right as required in Switzerland. Theoretically, when in travel mode this would then allow for temporary use within the UK.

Unfortunately, VWG do not support the retro-fitting of any components not specifically designed for that vehicle Market, meaning there could be unforeseen software or hardware problems associated with conducting such a conversion, and we would not be able to gain support from the Brand technical department to rectify any problems encountered.

I have not prepared a quote for you on the basis of the statement above as any cost involved in fitting of the new headlights would be at your own risk and of the complete understanding that the parts may not work as intended, and once you have agreed to the work being conducted and the headlights purchased, you would be liable for these costs even if a suitable outcome is not achieved.

 

[Loz]

Typical response tbh.
Not difficult to do yourself if you can get the parts ordered.

 

[andyinluton]

Is it an ebay job, to get LHD ones and flog the RHD ones?

 

[KGCali]

My friend had the same issue with his Volvo when he moved to Germany. He just purchased and fitted LHD lights secondhand on eBay or similar in Germany, no issues with any software. T6 forum has a thread on this..

https://www.t6forum.com/threads/moved-to-europe-how-to-fit-lhd-headlamps.21393/

 

[SailSki]

Great thank you for the feedback.
A shout out to Adam the Master Tech at Lookers Guildford for feedback and Tony the Parts Manager at Breeze in Poole - very helpful in clarifying that the parts numbers are subtly different for LHD and RHD LEDs, but also that LED lights across Europe now seem to have a flat beam pattern. No different part number visible for Switzerland which for me implies that there is likely to be a software fix to make the beam kick up (although I may still need the LHD part as a start point to get it to kick up on the right).

Parts in UK GBP 918 +vat per light plus 3 hours labour
Part numbers for reference:
UK car (RHD):
Left: 7E2941773
Right: 7E2941774

European car (LHD):
Left: 7E1941773
Right: 7E1941774

 

[SailSki]

An update on the lights situation - despite my best efforts including proof that the LED lights in the vans sold in Switz have flat beams I have no choice but to change the LEDs for LHD units or re-export the car to the UK and buy a Swiss Cali.
The Swiss VW dealer recommended going to France for the parts as should be so much cheaper, but the French dealer quotes 1350 euros per light (well above the 915 GBP per light from UK dealer) and massively more than the 515 per unit euros from a German motor factor for the same Valeo units.(I understand that I’ll then need to swap the power units across from the old LED light units as these aren’t supplied with the lights from Valeo)
The French VW dealer also quotes 5 hours labour to change the lights and still cautions that they will be to French requirements not Swiss norms.
I’m very sceptical as from watching some YouTube videos it seems that the light unit replacement is a relatively straightforward unbolt of the bumper and swap the light units out.
I’m concerned about 2 things if doing it myself:
- I have ACC and the radar sensor is in the middle of the grille - don’t want to screw that up.
- whether swapping the lights to LHD will need any software recoding that everyone will walk away from.
I would appeeciate any thoughts from the collective wisdom on the forum....
Thanks, Mike

 

[dripster]

An update on the lights situation - despite my best efforts including proof that the LED lights in the vans sold in Switz have flat beams I have no choice but to change the LEDs for LHD units or re-export the car to the UK and buy a Swiss Cali.
The Swiss VW dealer recommended going to France for the parts as should be so much cheaper, but the French dealer quotes 1350 euros per light (well above the 915 GBP per light from UK dealer) and massively more than the 515 per unit euros from a German motor factor for the same Valeo units.(I understand that I’ll then need to swap the power units across from the old LED light units as these aren’t supplied with the lights from Valeo)
The French VW dealer also quotes 5 hours labour to change the lights and still cautions that they will be to French requirements not Swiss norms.
I’m very sceptical as from watching some YouTube videos it seems that the light unit replacement is a relatively straightforward unbolt of the bumper and swap the light units out.
I’m concerned about 2 things if doing it myself:
- I have ACC and the radar sensor is in the middle of the grille - don’t want to screw that up.
- whether swapping the lights to LHD will need any software recoding that everyone will walk away from.
I would appeeciate any thoughts from the collective wisdom on the forum....
Thanks, Mike

Someone else will answer this with greater knowledge, but removing the bumper and grill from my T6 to swap from H4s to H7s didn't move the radar sensor, it stays put, as show in the middle of the front here:

 

[Chris_BLG_Ocean]

In the latest video from California Chris he answered the question about LED lights and driving in Europe, he said LED don’t need adapting to drive in Europe due to the flat beam pattern


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SailSki]

Someone else will answer this with greater knowledge, but removing the bumper and grill from my T6 to swap from H4s to H7s didn't move the radar sensor, it stays put, as show in the middle of the front here:View attachment 74542

Thank you - very helpful confirmation

 

[SailSki]

In the latest video from California Chris he answered the question about LED lights and driving in Europe, he said LED don’t need adapting to drive in Europe due to the flat beam pattern


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s right for tourist trips, but for importing the car the very slight steps up to the left in the beam pattern from each light unit are in contravention of the requirements at least in Switzerland, where they can be either totally flat or with slight steps up to the right.The différence is only a few centimetres at a distance of say 4 car lengths but it is noticeable and enough to be rejected despite lengthy arguments/discussions.
It seems totally illogical as I just got a “computer says no” response when I asked about setting the lights themselves fractionally lower overall so they were effectively stepping down to the right rather than stepping up to the left. Not acceptable.
Such a shame that VW couldn’t make them totally flat

 

[Tarquers]

Can confirm that. The LHD lights whilst flat, do point more to the right as standard. When selecting the drive on the right option, the lights lower, not change alignment so while they dazzle less, still not the right beam pattern for U.K. The RHD lights point left and again the LHD setting lowers the lights but does not change the angle so a change of lights is required to pass local registration in LHD countries.

 

[andyinluton]

An update on the lights situation - despite my best efforts including proof that the LED lights in the vans sold in Switz have flat beams I have no choice but to change the LEDs for LHD units or re-export the car to the UK and buy a Swiss Cali.

I would appeeciate any thoughts from the collective wisdom on the forum....
Thanks, Mike

Have you considered seeing if normal halogen lights would fit just for the test? might even be worth buying just one on ebay to try?

In your position I would be speaking to someone like Hazzy Dayz Ltd - a uk company that specialise in upgrading Vw and other makes electronic systems, one of their off the shelf upgrades is to put in factory LED lights into Halogen vans. If nothing else they will know what fits & what needs doing electronically. If you do need to buy LHD LED units they may be a buyer for your RHD units or be able to source your new ones cheaper.

Other than that do you use ebay ? you can set up an alert & see what's available second hand - some LHD units were sold at about £200 a side fairly recently.

 

[SailSki]

Have you considered seeing if normal halogen lights would fit just for the test? might even be worth buying just one on ebay to try?

In your position I would be speaking to someone like Hazzy Dayz Ltd - a uk company that specialise in upgrading Vw and other makes electronic systems, one of their off the shelf upgrades is to put in factory LED lights into Halogen vans. If nothing else they will know what fits & what needs doing electronically. If you do need to buy LHD LED units they may be a buyer for your RHD units or be able to source your new ones cheaper.

Other than that do you use ebay ? you can set up an alert & see what's available second hand - some LHD units were sold at about £200 a side fairly recently.

 

[SailSki]

Hi Andy, many thanks for your feedback and I like both eBay and Hazzydayz ideas.
Unfortunately both I and the van are currently in Geneva and I need to get it done and retested by next Friday otherwise my registration plates are seized and the car is off the road.
I’ll try to have a chat with Hazzydayz tomorrow

 

[SailSki]

Update - registration in Switzerland now done - thank you all for comments and suggestions.

- Headlights now replaced with European ones by a good garage using VW-supplied light units - the garage were unable to source original Valeo LED lights from any other route including AutoDoc (and have had prior experience of ordering original parts and a copy version made in the Far East is delivered).

Local VW dealer quoted 5 jours labour for what was clearly a much shorter job - it took the garage a little over 2 hours.

- Lights were a direct replacement, no coding was needed.

- I expect to have some European LED units for sale as and when Snoopy returns to the UK in a few years....

 

[andyinluton]

Update - registration in Switzerland now done - thank you all for comments and suggestions.

- Headlights now replaced with European ones by a good garage using VW-supplied light units - the garage were unable to source original Valeo LED lights from any other route including AutoDoc (and have had prior experience of ordering original parts and a copy version made in the Far East is delivered).

Local VW dealer quoted 5 jours labour for what was clearly a much shorter job - it took the garage a little over 2 hours.

- Lights were a direct replacement, no coding was needed.

- I expect to have some European LED units for sale as and when Snoopy returns to the UK in a few years....

Good to hear you are registered.
I understand that someone has managed to register a van with LHD lights in the uk without changing them, would suggest you could sell your RHD ones now as you shouldn't need them?

 

[SailSki]

Good to hear you are registered.
I understand that someone has managed to register a van with LHD lights in the uk without changing them, would suggest you could sell your RHD ones now as you shouldn't need them?

From what I have seen the testing process can be pretty random. Having had the van checked 3 times before, yesterday the tester accepted the new lights (but bitched about the pattern) but also insisted that I remove my Heko wind / rain deflectors which had been passed by all the previous testers.
I think I’ll hold onto the old headlights in storage and sell whichever ones I don’t need once back in the UK....
I couldn’t possibly comment whether the Heko deflectors are back on the van......very pleased how painless they are to remove and install though )

 

[GollyOlly]

In the latest video from California Chris he answered the question about LED lights and driving in Europe, he said LED don’t need adapting to drive in Europe due to the flat beam pattern


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Do you recall the episode of this video? I'm planning a trip to Europe and would like to review what Cali Chris said. Many thanks!

 

[andyinluton]

Do you recall the episode of this video? I'm planning a trip to Europe and would like to review what Cali Chris said. Many thanks!

T6 are adjustable via travel mode in the multi function display.
T6.1 are not adjustable.

 

[GollyOlly]

T6 are adjustable via travel mode in the multi function display.
T6.1 are not adjustable.

Thanks Andy! I've owned the Cali for over two years (never made a trip to Europe) and have never seen the travel mode in the MFD. I'll look tomorrow but it's like looking for a snowflake in Antarctica! I'll check the manual. Thanks for the help!