HID Conversion in a 2002 Passat SW

Dealer oversold the car. Claimed it had HID lights as well as 4 wheel drive. We decided to keep the car if we got a deep discount from the original price - the dealer agreed. It was an honest mistake but...

The wifey really wanted HID lights.

Are there any conversion kits that are legal?

Can I retrofit the OEM HID lights into this car?

Rob

Reply to
Robert Tamlyn
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Yes, you can buy them aftermarket and install yourself. Not inexpensive ($900 and up or so), and supposedly you have to drop the front bumper to install, and then disable DRLs as they cannot be used with HIDs. Check out the Passat World forums for lots of info:

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Another option are HID conversion kits that include wiring, add-on ballasts and HID capsules that replace the stock bulbs. Check Passat World for this also.

Reply to
CS

Yes, you can buy VW OEM HIDs aftermarket and install yourself. Not inexpensive ($900 and up or so), and supposedly you have to drop the front bumper to install, and then disable DRLs as they cannot be used with HIDs. Check out the Passat World forums for lots of info:

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Another option are HID conversion kits that include wiring, add-on ballasts and HID capsules that replace the stock bulbs. Check Passat World for this also.

Reply to
CS

I wouldn't recommend option b...

Daniel, feel free to jump in at any time.

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

You can definitely retrofit the OEM HID headlamps into this car. Won't have automatic headlamp levelling or headlamp lens cleaning unless you add them, too, but this equipment is only mandatory in Europe, not in North America where glare is ignored.

The "HID kits" (or "Xenon kits") involving adaptive-base HID bulbs, ballasts, wiring harness, etc. meant for use with your existing headlamps are dangerous and illegal, every one of them; see

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Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Thanks!

I suspected that this was true. I am willing to spend ~400 to put them in. Not likely to find and install for that price. The halogens are not that bad.

Rob

Reply to
Robert Tamlyn

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The halogens on that car are actually rather decent. Very good low-beam focus with extremely low glare -- assuming proper aim, of course. Osram in Germany makes a special H7 65w 2100-lumen bulb (stockers are 55w and 1400 lumen) that works quite nicely in those lamps to boost the performance without negative consequences.

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

If it was a W8, yes it would have.

Good they sort of made good. But not an honest mistake. The dealer was simply uneducated and/or lying. They should know their product better.

As would I. There are good halogens out there but HID trumps halogen in every implementation I know of.

Reply to
Matt B.

yes and no. HIDs can't be used at DRLs if it's less than full voltage. So you'd just have to find out how VW dealt with HIDs on Passat W8 models and modify a non-W8 the same way.

Reply to
Matt B.

That's my point. VW's DRL scheme reduce the voltage to the low beam headlamps to 80% of full voltage. If you retrofit OEM HIDs to a VW Passat, you must disable DRLs, as the HIDs will either not light or light sporadically.

BTW, the OEM VW HIDs sold for retrofit to US-spec Passat are usually not W8 HIDs, but rather HIDs that were available for non-W8 Passats in Europe. W8 HIDs are available, but much more difficult to find.

Reply to
CS

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