To install factory Xenon headlights into a car that did not come with xenons fitted you need a wiring adapter loom as the standard headlights use a 10 pin plug and the xenons use a 12 pin one.

There are really two options:

1. Buy a ready made loom from Kufatec but remember that postage is about €12
2. Make the loom from parts available from VW

To make the loom you will need the following parts:

To wire up the adapters you will need to cut each repair wire in half and solder it to the corresponding repair wire for each pin location, use heat shrink tubing to insulate the join, if the wire will be too long then adjust as necessary.

Rheostat mod

By default the xenons are designed to work with the auto leveling system on cars that have been factory fitted with xenon headlights. However it is possible to modify the wiring so they can be adjusted manually via the headlight height adjustment wheel on the dash.

This involves cutting two wires internally inside the lights and adding two wires to the adapter loom if you bought it from Kufatec, if you made the loom then the wires are already present. They are highlighted in red in the above wiring instructions.

Internal re-wiring on 03+ xenons.

INSIDE the headlight cut the yellow wire that comes from pin 11 of the 12 pin connector and goes to the ballast pack, cut the black wire that comes from the leveling motor connector and goes to the ballast. Join these two wires and insulate the connection and the cut ends of the other wires.

Be carefull NOT to cut the black wire from the leveling motor that goes to pin 1 of the 12 pin connector

The holes in the plugs will need sealing to prevent water ingress into the assembly, this can be done with silicone

Other threads discussing the adapters: 1 - 2

 Help needed, I understand the cutting of wires inside the headlight to enable the rheostat to work, but my adapters I have are from Kufatec...

Do I need to add two extra wires to my Kufatec adapters, of do I add three??

T10  Pin 1 = Level Motor Power (+)  -->    T12  Pin 1 = Level Motor Power (+)

T10  Pin 5 = Level Motor Control (+)  -->   T12 Pin 11 Level Motor Control (+)

BUT... do I need to add a wire from T10  Pin 3 which is Level Motor Power (-) and If so does it go to  T12  Pin 8 as there is already a wire into this pin in the Kufatec adapter????

Very confused.  Any help would be appreciated =) ?

Here are some pics of the internal wiring modification: -

The other side: -

Thought this might help.

Hooked one up to test tonight. Fantastic!

Sheds more light and nice and white (6000k).

Rheostat working perfectly to

A big thank you

Good to hear its working mate!

Now after some white LED side lights before Saturday so I can get the Xenons fitted then.

I have the "blue" white ones in my current lights, but really think I need LEDs for these to get a better match.

NooNoo... will the mod work with the mk5 xenons too?

Sorry mate, I don't know. I just followed this guide for the mk4 ones.

You need a mk5 expert really. I see no reason why it shouldn't be possible though.

 He are some pics of the modified Kufatec loom.

Light end: -

Car loom end: -

Connections.

Car end.                                 Light end.

1                     to                   1

5                     to                   11

Hope this helps.

Big thanks to Neil for his excellent guide.

Ooooh that looks tidy!

Did you clock my bits and bobs i got for my xenons on my thread?

Just looked. I presume it's proving difficult to get info on a mk5 rheostat mod?

It has to be possible. Somebody must have done it. With a wiring diagram it should be quite easy...

Yeah... it seems that people dont mod mk5 golfs!

I think it may be a brick wall tho if this info is accurate!!

Hmmm, blimey didn't realise they have got so advanced. Looks like a PITA to be honest.

As you said just run unadjustable. Shame though.

Sorry I can't help.

Edit: So no full beam for you?

Not sure mate.... ill run them without to start then i might feed the wires up when i can be arsed!!!

Quick question - on the Mk4 post '03 xenons is it okay to unscrew the ballast from the inside of the cover? I cannot insulate one of the cut wires  at the moment.

Yes it's ok. I removed mine also, just to "park" the insulated cut wires neatly. Just make a mental note of the bracket fitment.

NooNoo, cheers for that. All done now and cut ends also similarly parked!

Cheers.

Well, would you need to insulate the wires that have been cut as im assuming that there is no power going through them.

p.s. Im not referring to the ones that have been joint for the levelling to work.

Um, there is still power isn't there? I may be well wrong but I insulated mine to be sure

Also, does it usually take a few seconds for the xenons to light up? My driver side xenon usually lights up later than the left.

Sometimes, the right side does not come on at all straight after i start up the car. I have to turn the lights off and then on to get it to work.

Is this normal?

Hi Mah.

No it's not normal. Mine light simultaneously but then get brighter over a period of about 5 seconds.

What could be causing this? What should i check?

Well, I'm not sure to be honest. There are only two modules though really, the ballast itself and the internal high voltage module.

So I'm guessing it's one of those

You could try elimination but that would require both lights to be off the car.

I powered my xenons from an old leisure battery before fitting them, just to make sure they were working.

Mine strike instantly.

 As said, it can only be a couple of things - ballast or bulb generally, the easiest way to see which one is causing it is to swap the ballasts over and see if the problem swaps sides with it. If it does then the ballast its the problem and if it doesn't it may be the bulb so swap them over - if it is still the same side not working after swaping both the bulb and ballast over then it is the ignitor that is faulty .

Neil

Woke up this morning and the driver siIde wont power up at all now. dont think its the bulb because there new, appart from switchiNg the ballast around, how else can i check them? Also, how would i test the ignitor?

 ?

Got an update guys, put my lights on and this time the right one started working and the left stopped (the right one wasnt working for a good 4 days and the left side was). After about half an hour, switched the lights off and then on and they both light up. Dont understand what could cause this

The headlights playing with my head

I would take them off and refit your standard lights.

Then you can swap the ballasts, ignitors and bulbs over at leisure and find out the cause.

I know it's not what you wanted to hear but I think you have limited options.

Yea i was considering that. If i get some time on sunday, I'll take the headlights off and check what the problem is.

What i dont understand is why each side of the headlight decides to randomly stop working for a few days and then start working?

Currently, both lights are working so im just hoping they dont start playing up again

p.s. im currently using aftermarket 6000k bulbs instead of the OEM ones, could this be causing the problem? Or the rheostat mod could that be affecting the headlights?

I very much doubt it's the 6000k bulbs, I'm using them (ebay £23) and they are fine on my setup.

I am going to buy some 4300k though (ebay again) as I find the 6000k extremely poor in bad weather and under street lighting.

The rheostat wiring should have no influence whatsoever on the light function.

I really can only think it's dodgy ballasts or ignitors.

 Are they cheaply and easily replaced?

 And what are the ignitors and how would i test them?

I'm not sure they can be bought seperatly but I don't know. We need someone else to comment.

Im sure the xenonmeister can get hold of ignitors for the mk4! 

The ignitor looks like this... pic courtesy of bazmcc.

I presume the ignitor is driven by a pulse train which is then transformed up to 90V ish.

The ballast is the bit that provides the drive signal to the ignitor.

I've not looked into xenon technology before but I'm qualified in electronics!