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thanks , cant find much on youtube for the ballast , just 1 video and its not that clear

thanks Where are the ballast units ? thought they where on the back of the bulb

Hi I have a A3 2014 reg , and the dipped beam buld intermittently goes - I got the warning about it - which was on all the time - BOTH the dipped and headlight do not work I popped into halfords to get a bulb change - which i have done on other cars - as its just as easy for them to put the correct bulb in BUT they say its a HID bulb and they cannot change as its a wheel arch removal on the way home , switched the lights on and it worked ok for about a mile and then went again purchased the bulb DS3 (they checked the reg) - £50+ looking at youtube videos , it does appear wheel off, arch out and then either an anticlockwise twist or some complicted spring assembly got a low level jack and axle stands , garage cant get to it for weeks , been waiting for the rain to stop long enough to start on the job , as i cannot get it into my garage and jacked up with enough room to work on. just a little concerned it may not be the bulb And i purchased 2 bulbs as i read something about colour changes etc , so i may get around to doing both sides Also supposed to be some high voltage on the bulb BUT my question , DO these bulbs go intermittent , I assume a problem with the ballast thing on the back of the bulb - hope so , and should you change in pairs thanks

yep, thats exactly what its supposed to be, BUT, they said that the remote cord would not work if the solenoid was broken. from the conversation, this happens frequently, he even said often, when he gets the calls ,they usually don't have any petrol or very little, but if i could get to the garage they can pop the flap. They would not tell me how they did it, but it must be easy, they do not have the wheel lock, and the wheel stayed on the car and i dont think they took any interior trim as it had a child seat in, and nothing moved. They must have a tool, that breaks the plastic lock, the plastic part attached to the flap itself. know they had to break the plastic inner surround to replace the solenoid I was surprised at the price , i thought that would be the cost of the solenoid alone. Then they did a full car check and video , and i was really surprised that the cam belt needs replacing every 5 years or 140,000 and apparently the time scale has been increased from 4 years. Plus various other things, full service, brakes , brake fluid , almost £2K , so thats when they make the money.

Discussions with Audi, and based on the call its a known issue, and I had it fixed this morning, they even offered for me to POP in and they would manually open so i can use and get petrol in. Not sure how they got in, but they had to replace the plastic on the flap, hinge etc, no need to remove interior or remove the wheel. £96 all fitted parts labour vat included, 2yr warranty on solenoid , fitted while i waited about an 1hr, good covid safety too. Must be a very easy way in , possible breaking the plastic on the flap, not sure how. This should really be a "NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE" as the remote cable should work, but they said if the solenoid is faulty, the remote cable does not work.

thanks, yep, garage said it was a big job, so expensive I suspect

thanks Steve, Yea suspected that maybe a fight Any clues on removing the interior, been trying to find a youtube on how it all comes apart , not done a lot of that, and usually loads of hidden clips I can see just 2 screws near the rear, but nothing at the front...... and if i do get the interior out , i'm wondering how that may help , or is a metal box with the solenoid screwed in from the front ? and so nothing to be accessed from the rear anyway.

no problem, thanks for trying to help

thanks , ried that as mentioned

Hi, Went to petrol station and could not release the petrol filler flap Dropped the back seat, and the emergency release cable , also did not work tried a bit of WD40 around the side of the flap near to the solenoid no change tried opening the car locks , waiting a minute and unlocking again (shown as a fix on A6 same issues) Garage say they will have to take the interior out and its quite a big job any suggestions ? I have a quote for a new flap, hinge , solenoid and sticker from Audi main dealer for under £100 - NOT Painted so i'm thinking maybe cheaper to break off the flap, maybe cut off with a multitool m BUT sparks will be a big issue around petrol filler, so not likely a goer, any more unders how to break without damage to the rear panel itself, I could live with a slight mismatch in colour on the flap, rather than spray the entire rear quarter All ideas welcome

The paint work has a black fleck in it , which is not really noticeable in the photo spent most of today playing in it / driving it , managed to get Playlists to work on the SD card , so now I have most of my music on a 16GB SD card The CD player although works well, is in the glove compartment, so not so great, but reads MP3 added a gallery, put further images there

2014 A3 Cabriolet, 1.4TFSI S-line

yes very pleased thanks been out most of the day today still working out how all "STUFF" works

I just purchased a 2014 A3 Cabriolet, 1.4TFSI S-line and will pickup on Friday 7th Sept 2018 very excited about the car. Its replacing a Saab 93 convertible I have had since it was new in Oct 2007 , but has been very unreliable all summer, and spent most of its time in the garage. Today I emptied the car and SORN, we are really sorry to see that car go , toured france in it a few years. A new chapter in my convertible career, i hope the A3 is as good as the Saab, the version I have is certainly loaded with goodies. I have been looking at the online user manuals for the car, and the CD player is in the glove box!!!! seems a strange thing to do....I guess anticipation most people will connect an ipod or phone to the car No Photos of the car were taken, as it was still being prepped when i purchased it from an Audi Dealer. I will take a few on Friday when I pick the car up