H4 To H7 Upgrade

[Ed Webb]

The document that Loz uploaded says two but I did it on my own with the wheels on and without jacking the van up. I also did it on my drive with a fence on one side and neighbours Ford transit on the other. Note the hidden clip on the side of the bumper behind arch trim, I managed without tyre removal but removing it would make it easier as you can peel it back further.

 

[Ed Webb]

As I did it on my own I placed a big cardboard box on the floor underneath to catch the bumper if it all went wrong. It didn't and was actually rather easy.

 

[Pauly]

I would agree with the above but would say a second pair of hands just for 5 minutes when your lifting of the bumper and putting it on the ground is definitely helpful

 

[Ed Webb]

I would agree with the above but would say a second pair of hands just for 5 minutes when your lifting of the bumper and putting it on the ground is definitely helpful

I do agree a pair of hands is always a good thing. Tea runs are another good use for them.

 

[.50]

I too am going to do this headlight upgrade and wonder if anyone canhelp answer a question I have ?.

On vehicles with factory fitted H7 lights, does the main/low beam stay on when full beam is on ?.

Way back in 2004 I fitted twin reflector lights in my T5 174 and modified the wiring so that the main/low beam stayed on when full beam was on, as the original lights were wired for H4 bulbs where themain beam/low element went out when tthe full beam element went on.

In the picture above showing the H7 high beam it does seem as though the dark area infront of the van should be lit up by the H7 main/low beam !!!.

I've done a bit of research but cant really find an answer.

Cheers.

 

[.50]

I might of actually found my answer on this very forum.

There is a member who has responded to someone asking for a picture showing his H7 light units at night, and it appears that BOTH the main and high beams are on at the same time, and also interestingly, another member who had done the H4 to H7 upgrade mentioned the dark area infront of the van once fitted.

So perhaps a wiring modification is needed to get the H7 units to function, ' as factory '.

 

[Buggirl]

Changed my bulbs and much better now. Got first fog I have driven in in the van this morning so will get a proper test!

 

[Pauly]

I might of actually found my answer on this very forum.

There is a member who has responded to someone asking for a picture showing his H7 light units at night, and it appears that BOTH the main and high beams are on at the same time, and also interestingly, another member who had done the H4 to H7 upgrade mentioned the dark area infront of the van once fitted.

So perhaps a wiring modification is needed to get the H7 units to function, ' as factory '.

That's a good point and it's the same on the LED headlights main comes on with dip so you have them both
This is controlled by the coding of the BCM so no wiring mods required

 

[Ed Webb]

Interesting, when the full is on the dipped goes off.
I did ask this when I had a t4 and not sure if it still applies. In the t4 the dipped went off when the full been comes on, I was lead to believe this is because of heat generation from the bulbs that can impair the headlight unit itself.
Interesting point though @.50

 

[Dave Coughlan]

@Ed Webb can you please attach a picture of your van with full lights on ? @.50 might be onto something... The dipped and the main should be on together. I am about to order H7's myself and the dark area in front looks wrong...

 

[Ed Webb]

 

[Ed Webb]

Only one lamp lit + sidelight

 

[.50]

There wouldn't be any problems with heat build up as the H7 lenses are separate.
Sounds good if it might just be a case of recoding the body control module !!!.
Cheers.

 

[Ed Webb]

My personal view is that the full beam on the H7 with 1 lamp lit is better than the H4, once/if we can get the dipped beam lit when on full beam is on will be a massive success and IMHO will majorly improve the H7 once again putting them miles ahead of the H4. The proof however is in the pudding.

 

[Ed Webb]

@.50 really good spot on the dipped beam. I'm super excited about getting a VCDS on my lights.

 

[.50]

Back in the early, ( and very dark days ), of T5 ownership, me and quite a few of my VW buddies did the Carravelle twin lamp conversion but only a few of us did
wiring mod that made both bulbs light up on full beam.

I don't find the H4 units are a dissaster, but its obvious, from Edds pictures, that the twin lamp H7 units are a definate upgrade !!.

 

[Ads_Essex]

modified the wiring so that the main/low beam stayed on when full beam was on

I guess it would be too much work to modify the DRL lamp to also work as the high-beam on the H4 headlights? Or their cast wouldn't be sufficient?

On another note I was looking at my H4's recently and wondering if the indicator and the DRL could be swapped around so that the indicator lights up a larger space and the DRL lights up a more compact space.. probably not worth the hassle for a bit of uniqueness, mind.

 

[Pauly]

Just want to point out to anyone reading this thread and it's going in capitals to emphasise the point DO NOT CODE H7 HEADLIGHTS USING THE TICKBOX IN VCDS
It will not work and you risk irreversible changes to your BCM, the tick boxes that VCDS offers you are wrong and are based on older VAG models any coding has to be done manually and will need to be figured out first

 

[Keeff]

Not sure about the t6 but if you have dipped on and use head light flash (blue light on) they both stay on . You could use this to see how much better it would be. I have done it on other car to get better light but you need to hold the lever all the time . Haven't got h7s so cannot test this .

 

[Ed Webb]

I shall leave my lights alone now. VCDS can wait