led lights A3 LED Headlamp Upgrade: Need MOT, Washer & Insurance Advice

[NizA3Sport]

Hey everyone,

I recently upgraded the original OEM halogen headlamps on my 2016 Audi A3 2.0TDI Sport (8V) Saloon (pre-facelift) to the new headlamps with LED lights, Bi-xenon main beams, and those fancy dynamic indicators. An experienced auto electrician did the install, and the new lights look absolutely stunning.

However, I jumped into this without doing as much research as I usually would, and now I have a few questions I hope you can help with:

1. MOT Issues: I've read that converting halogen headlamp unit bulbs (H4/H7) to HID or LED bulbs can cause MOT issues, but I can't find much info about replacing the entire headlamp unit itself. Will I run into any problems with my MOT (due at the end of Sept)?

2. Headlamp Washers: I've heard that cars with LED headlamps require headlamp washers. My car has the cutouts, but I can't seem to get the headlamp washers to work (tried following some YouTube tutorials) or they may not have them at all (and Audi just left those cutouts in there). I'm hesitant to pry them open and risk breaking something. Any advice?

3. Insurance: Do I need to inform my insurer about the headlamp upgrade? I’m concerned that not doing so might void or affect my insurance - oh and I also replaced my tail lights while I was at it, so the same goes with that.

I usually do a ton of research before anything major on my car (or in life haha), but I got a bit carried away with these amazing lights—they really make the car look awesome! Any thoughts or advice from those who have done similar upgrades or know more about this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Edited July 24 by NizA3Sport
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[cliffcoggin]

40 minutes ago, NizA3Sport said:

 

1. Insurance: Do I need to inform my insurer about the headlamp upgrade? I’m concerned that not doing so might void or affect my insurance - oh and I also replaced my tail lights while I was at it, so the same goes with that.

 

Tell the insurer. If the insurer tells you it makes no difference to your policy and premium you have lost nothing.

[Stevey Y]

1 hour ago, NizA3Sport said:

Hey everyone,

I recently upgraded the original OEM halogen headlamps on my 2016 Audi A3 2.0TDI Sport (8V) Saloon (pre-facelift) to the new headlamps with LED lights, Bi-xenon main beams, and those fancy dynamic indicators. An experienced auto electrician did the install, and the new lights look absolutely stunning.

However, I jumped into this without doing as much research as I usually would, and now I have a few questions I hope you can help with:

1. MOT Issues: I've read that converting halogen headlamp unit bulbs (H4/H7) to HID or LED bulbs can cause MOT issues, but I can't find much info about replacing the entire headlamp unit itself. Will I run into any problems with my MOT (due at the end of Sept)?

2. Headlamp Washers: I've heard that cars with LED headlamps require headlamp washers. My car has the cutouts, but I can't seem to get the headlamp washers to work (tried following some YouTube tutorials) or they may not have them at all (and Audi just left those cutouts in there). I'm hesitant to pry them open and risk breaking something. Any advice?

3. Insurance: Do I need to inform my insurer about the headlamp upgrade? I’m concerned that not doing so might void or affect my insurance - oh and I also replaced my tail lights while I was at it, so the same goes with that.

I usually do a ton of research before anything major on my car (or in life haha), but I got a bit carried away with these amazing lights—they really make the car look awesome! Any thoughts or advice from those who have done similar upgrades or know more about this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi if you have converted a halogen lamp to HID/LED it probably wont pass a vehicle inspection for the following reasons, HID bulbs need a washer system and will need a levelling sensor with the associated wiring, LED bulbs tend to destroy the beam pattern unless the lamp has a fisheye lense but even then you may not get a beam cut off line which will also fail.

Steve.

[NizA3Sport]

57 minutes ago, cliffcoggin said:

Tell the insurer. If the insurer tells you it makes no difference to your policy and premium you have lost nothing.

Well, I'll be ringing up my insurer tomorrow morning - why didn't I think of that already.  I guess if it's meant to be, it's meant to be.

[NizA3Sport]

22 minutes ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi if you have converted a halogen lamp to HID/LED it probably wont pass a vehicle inspection for the following reasons, HID bulbs need a washer system and will need a levelling sensor with the associated wiring, LED bulbs tend to destroy the beam pattern unless the lamp has a fisheye lense but even then you may not get a beam cut off line which will also fail.

Steve.

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the response! Just to clarify, I didn’t convert the halogen bulbs to HID/LED; I actually replaced the entire headlamp unit with Replacement LED headlamps.

Regarding the levelling, it works fine with the current controls. The auto electrician was surprised too, but these new units were plug-and-play and didn’t require any coding adjustments. The lamps do have a fisheye lens, and the beam cutoff line takes a "Z" shape, effectively directing the light beam onto the road and minimizing glare for oncoming drivers (they're designed for the UK, so they protect drivers on the right side).

As for the washers, that's where I'm stuck. I've read that headlamp washers might only activate if the washer fluid is above half full, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Does anyone know if that's true or just a myth? I don’t want to pry open the cutouts and risk damaging anything.

Any insights or further advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!

[Stevey Y]

2 minutes ago, NizA3Sport said:

Hey Steve,

Thanks for the response! Just to clarify, I didn’t convert the halogen bulbs to HID/LED; I actually replaced the entire headlamp unit with Replacement LED headlamps.

Regarding the levelling, it works fine with the current controls. The auto electrician was surprised too, but these new units were plug-and-play and didn’t require any coding adjustments. The lamps do have a fisheye lens, and the beam cutoff line takes a "Z" shape, effectively directing the light beam onto the road and minimizing glare for oncoming drivers (they're designed for the UK, so they protect drivers on the right side).

As for the washers, that's where I'm stuck. I've read that headlamp washers might only activate if the washer fluid is above half full, but I'm not sure if that's accurate. Does anyone know if that's true or just a myth? I don’t want to pry open the cutouts and risk damaging anything.

Any insights or further advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks again!

Hi if as you say the lights are a British design you should be ok as they will comply with the road laws in this country, as for the washer system you wont have any as the original units were halogen, washer system not required, the manufacturers produce all bumpers with the caps for this function it saves making two types of bumper, those with and those without.

Steve.

[NizA3Sport]

6 minutes ago, Stevey Y said:

Hi if as you say the lights are a British design you should be ok as they will comply with the road laws in this country, as for the washer system you wont have any as the original units were halogen, washer system not required, the manufacturers produce all bumpers with the caps for this function it saves making two types of bumper, those with and those without.

Steve.

Yes I thought it would be the case regarding the covers. Okay, hopefully it'll be okay and I won't have issues. I might pop into the garage to book the MOT with the car and show it to the mechanic (hopefully he'll say it's okay too).

Again thanks for the replies and for your assistance with this. Much appreciated 👍

[NizA3Sport]

17 hours ago, cliffcoggin said:

Tell the insurer. If the insurer tells you it makes no difference to your policy and premium you have lost nothing.

Update: Upgrading my headlights from Halogen to LED isn’t an issue and doesn’t count as a modification. It doesn't add any additional premiums to my insurance. So, all good there.

NOTE: If the original OEM headlamps were not DRL, then it would have affected the premiums, however as my previous version had DRL, it doesn't count as an upgrade.

[Magnet]

Many thanks Nizam for updating us on the good news regarding the insurance implications 
I guess it now only leaves the potential MOT implications to be considered. 
Kind regards,

Gareth.