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LED taillight coding now possible for 2008's

22K views 50 replies 17 participants last post by  Ben  
#1 ·
Early/Mid 2008 cars come with modules that could not be accessed with the same coding and methods I used for the newer cars. Tonight it happened, after a fair amount of time and work I have cracked he master code for the 2008 modules.

These modules end in part number 289 instead of 064. So now those owners can do LED conversions without getting a new module or having to go through the dealer hell. the wiring may have to be little different depending on light options and so forth but a nice little break through. I know it doesn't apply to most but I'm sure those that it does are happy to hear about it :)

You can always contact Alex @ Europrice if your looking for a kit.
 
#2 ·
Hi Davidb8,

just wanted to find out if i wanted to swap my 2011 LED tailights with fogs to the 2012 facelifted ones FOR A RIGHT HAND DRIVE car, can it be done.??

places like kufatec and bks are selling this kit but only for LHD cars.
 
#3 ·
Excellent work David, I would be interested in doing this modification and what put me off was having to change the convenience module/SVM removal on a new one etc etc (££$$)

rgds
JB:thumbsup:
 
#4 ·
I too am very interested in doing this mod!

I have a 2008 3.0tdi and would like to know what I now need, I guess I'd need lights (obviously!), shouldn't be a problem, but what wiring harness will I need??

Also, so I can tell what convenience module I have - can you tell me where I can find it??

Finally, once I have module number, lights and harness, is it simply plug and play with the new coding?? Do I need someone to hook in with vagcom to code??

I'm pretty excited about this as its the one mod I've not been willing to bite the bullet on as I feel it's a rip off from the stealers!!

Sorry one last question, the re-coding won't affect my map will it??

Cheers

Jim!!

Ps how much is a harness if anyone has bought one??

Too many questions - sorry :-0
 
#6 ·
I'm also interested, will keep an eye on this thread to see total costing and parts needed.
 
#7 ·
I'll try and answer a few questions.

First of all, 2009 and up have been possible for some time now even RHD cars. Since I do coding myself I can adjust values on the fly to compensate for any oddities. All coding is done live via a program called teamveiwer and your VCDS/Vag com cable.

Now some insight. There are only so many adaptation channels that control lighting. The 2008 modules do not have access to an extra pair of channels we use for things like fog lights. Not to worry though still can be done, the only thing is you may have to connect some extra wiring to connect inside and outside lights together to get enough channels. So for example the inside turn signal would be joined to the outside turn to save some channels. This is already done on some conversions we do but would most likely need to do one extra on the 2008's to obtain full functions. Not a huge deal.

I'd really like Alex from Europrice to step in here since he makes the kits for these conversions. He would be able to say what for sure what is going to be needed for wiring.

At the end of it all though, there will be a solution for everyone now. Just need to work out the logistics.
 
#8 ·
Just rememeber US and Euro/UK lighting are different (US side markers for example) so the adaptor would need to be tailored for US and for UK/Euro and the pin allocations are slightly different.

When I lived in the US as a kid on turning the rear lights (red ones flashed) - not sure if the orange indicator lights do like in the UK - I cant remember 30 years ago. - so there are differences.

JB
 
#9 ·
Many thanks David,

Ok this now looks like something I won't be able to do myself.

So, who in the UK (preferably close to Manchester) can actually do this?? I would of course pay for services!!

I really want this mod, hate the bog standard ones, but can't justify nearly £700 from the dealers!!

Thanks again David

Jim
 
#10 · (Edited)
Hi Jim,

I am in contact with Alex at Euro but to be honest I need to look at making an adaptor myself as its proving a bit costly even with a cheap set if rear leds for me anyway. I too would pay a few quid for some advice if need be on how to do it.

I have all the wiring diagrams so know which wire goes where, I can understand what David says about linking the rear tail lights together to provide another channel as there's not enough pins on the older convenience modules for all the led functions. Just need a bit of help in making the harness and what wires go where and what pins.

I know T8UPS is good with wiring, let me see if he can help us with this one maybe?

Ater this hurdle it would then be down to David to make it happen with the coding, need to weigh up the total price first though as no point going down a route to find it costs alot in the long run.

So from Elsawin which alot of us have anyway here are the wiring diagrams for both lights.



rgds
JB:thumbsup:



 
#12 ·
Hi Jim,

I am in contact with Alex at Euro but to be honest I need to look at making an adaptor myself as its proving a bit costly even with a cheap set if rear leds for me anyway. I too would pay a few quid for some advice if need be on how to do it.

I have all the wiring diagrams so know which wire goes where, I can understand what David says about linking the rear tail lights together to provide another channel as there's not enough pins on the older convenience modules for all the led functions. Just need a bit of help in making the harness and what wires go where and what pins.

I know T8UPS is good with wiring, let me see if he can help us with this one maybe?

Ater this hurdle it would then be down to David to make it happen with the coding, need to weigh up the total price first though as no point going down a route to find it costs alot in the long run.

So from Elsawin which alot of us have anyway here are the wiring diagrams for both lights.



rgds
JB:thumbsup:

View attachment 15400

View attachment 15401
You have ALL the data necessary - just now need to compare your pinouts with those of what you want (i.e. the LED wiring in ElsaWin). You'll need to buy a few plugs, wiring ends (that go into the plugs) so you can build the exact pinout connectors you need. The ElsaWin dwgs show these clearly. That's all K-tec did, and now Alex, too. It's not hard but is "busy work", a bit laborious - and requires good quality control. David's genius on the other hand is quite marvelous... Please let him code your hardware once installed.
 
#11 ·
Cheers JB,

So, that's 2 of us from the North West who are up for this mod, we just need more info I guess!!

I'm up for it if the price is right!!

Cheers

Jim
 
#13 ·
Yes, more technical info on the wiring side and what connector part numbers to buy etc.

An adaptor at Kufatec is £200 plus the postage costs, I have emailed them as they also include the dongle which is not required so perhaps they will just be able to sell the harness itself which may need some adjusting splicing of rear tail light cables to free up some pins on the module etc.

Ideally Alex could help us with this or advise maybe? (perhaps wanting a few quid for the advice which I dont mind). I got the impression he can make up harnesses but is v busy so it wont happen overnight and again its over my budget but perhaps not for others.

rgds
JB
 
#16 ·
Btw, there is NO need to worry about "resistance" in these wirings with David's coding - he takes care of that in his channel adaptations. And as I've noted in other threads, K-tec's dongle has been known (in at least two cases following their instructions precisely) to damage a BCM II irreparably - an expensive proposition that they did NOT help.
 
#18 ·
The dongles apparently dont work on RHD vehicles as well.

My concern is the older module, there may be resistance issues as he has told me. I think the newer modules can handle this.
 
#19 ·
Hey Jonnie,

Where is the module situated?? I guess it's in the boot somewhere??

I'd like to check my part number too!!

Hopefully we are going somewhere with this ;-)


Cheers

Jim
 
#20 ·
Jim, open the boot and on the right you will see a panel that opens, open it, folds down. Look up towards the wheel arch and you will see it, the part number visible just under the main bulk of wires.

Rgds
JB
 
#21 ·
I unclipped mine today just to weigh it up, see pics attached.

I had to tap into the black and white reverse wire for the reverse camera I've installed.





:thumbsup:
 
#22 · (Edited)
That's great You finally find it. I have this conversion on my previous car, we did it in July 2009.... :cheers:

Address 46: Central Conv. (J393) Labels: 8K0-907-064-46.clb
Part No SW: 8K0 907 289 C HW: 8K0 907 289 C
Component: BCM2.01 H38 0253

My previous car produced November 2007 had 289 module, my current car produced February 2008 already has 064 module.
So I think older module was only on cars produced till December 2007 or till January 2008.
 
#23 ·
Ok mine is the same, just checked , 289 C!!

Look fwd to seeing where this goes, really want to do this mod!!

If I can get the RHD harness for the right price and the LED's too I'll be very greatful to David for his coding (and of coarse pay for all his hard work).

Let's get this on boys, there must be literally hundreds here in the UK up for this mod!!

Cheers

Jim
 
#24 ·
The harness needs to be adapted as theres not enough pins on the older 289C module. Basically rear tail and brake wires need joining together as theres two independent ones for each side for both lights on each side if this makes sense. As the LED lights use more pins joining the brake and tail light wires to one pin frees up one pin on each side.

I am also told that due to resistance some of the LED segments need joining together (to overcome this resistance issue)now only Alex can advise what to do here unless someone else knows what to do and can advise?

David suggested using the US wiring diagram as this is what he has tried and tested, the UK spec being enabled by swapping a few bulbs around and so forth.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who can advise on the led segment joining, what exactly needs to be done so we can progress this further.

Alex can make a harness up, maybe if theres a 'group buy' this may be more economical?

rgds
JB:thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
Count me in for a group buy!!

Anyone else interested in this mod???
 
#26 ·
Thats if Alex is willing to do a group buy of harnesses, I will have to ask him.

Gutted as the set of LEDS I was bidding on went for £265 so looks like this mod is on hold.:thumbsdown:
 
#27 ·
Tried salvage yards JB??

Worth a punt! And always some going on eBay - I saw those ones, was going to have a bid too, at least I know of one other who will be bidding on the next set :-0
 
#28 ·
Jim,

I have been weighing up the costs

£300-400 for the led lights 2nd hand
£200 harness
£100 say for coding?

Total £600-£700

I am getting a price from Audi today but expect it to be circa £650 coded including component protection removal from the new convenience module.

If I cant find the rear tail lights incredibly cheap then its a no brainer from my point of view to get them installed next time the car is in for a service like Derboy has done. On the other hand if I can pick up a set of tail lights cheap then go down this route with David to code the old module and bespoke harness from Alex.

JB
 
#29 ·
Jim,

I have been weighing up the costs

£300-400 for the led lights 2nd hand
£200 harnessSounds a bit high to me, should be able to be built for about £30 and bought for twice that - anything more is just opportunistic, but hey, we ARE in a demand economy
£100 say for coding?Ditto - David is much more modest than this (less than half) - even though he probably deserves this amount (he's a very fair guy, and we SHOULD appreciate that)

Total £600-£700

I am getting a price from Audi today but expect it to be circa £650 coded including component protection removal from the new convenience module.

If I cant find the rear tail lights incredibly cheap then its a no brainer from my point of view to get them installed next time the car is in for a service like Derboy has done. On the other hand if I can pick up a set of tail lights cheap then go down this route with David to code the old module and bespoke harness from Alex.

JB
In the end, my guess is your last choice is still the best choice
 
#31 ·
Audi will charge you £575 for the retrofit kit and another £200 for install and coding so all in you're looking at circa £900 all in. However I was quoted £100 for install and coding from an independent with the VAS system so they can update Audi's servers and remove component protection.

The retrofit kit included, harnesses, lights & a new convenience module (all the required parts).
 
#32 ·
Just to weigh in a few things.

First off I have coded two of the older modules now with no issues.

Joining the LED segments just refers to wiring inner and outer lights together, pretty well what has to be done on the older modules anyways, no actual alterations to the lights.

There is no way you care going to build a cheap harness unless you find parts on ebay to start with. Go and price the cost of the wires and plugs from Audi. I'm not saying it would cost 200 pounds but I think 30 is a bit low to build your own.

Not sure about the retrofit kit pricing from Audi. To my knowledge they don't have a Face lift kit for older cars but I'm in the wrong part of the world to talk definitively on that. I do know that most new kits are more than that not including a module or shipping.
 
#33 ·
Not sure about the retrofit kit pricing from Audi. To my knowledge they don't have a Face lift kit for older cars but I'm in the wrong part of the world to talk definitively on that. I do know that most new kits are more than that not including a module or shipping.
You're correct David. The Retrofit kit from Audi upgrades halogen rear lights to pre-facelift LEDs.
 
#34 · (Edited)
Audi have quoted me £624 for the kit including new module/harness, excluding SVM removal and coding.

The kit without module is not much cheaper as I asked them this question too.

I've seen led lights on ebay for £400 but then you would need the harness and then coding existing module....

I'd love to do this mod but its so damn expensive at the moment.
 
#35 ·
OK so I have the led rear lights and the older module and now thinking about it do I really need the start/stop button to work (which means new module/svm removal and coding £££). I think I will keep my existing older module, make up a loom and get DavidB to code it for me, no new module, now svm removal, no hassle or not as much anyway.

The problem I am having is whilst I have the wiring/pins and wiring diagrams I dont know how to adapt the loom for the older module with fewer pins. apparently some of the lights cabling such as right stop light and inner right stop light can be joined together to free up pins to enable all the functions (the older module hasnt got enough pins you see for the new leds)

Any guidance appreciated

JB
 
#36 · (Edited)
I carried out the facelift led mod to my 2007 a5 a few months ago

Lights and looms were supplied by Ben, I did all the fitting myself and then got
David to do all the coding. Big thanks to both for sorting this.

Ben maybe able to help with the wiring as he made my looms