The D2 Forums

I've had Audrey since October with no lighting issues. I've managed to replace any missing bulbs.
The other day I notice the offside headlight has drooped. presumably they are self-levelling. I took it to my local Audi dealer and they said it may have broken and it wasn't worth my while getting them to dismantle it - very honest, I'm lucky to have an excellent dealer down the road in Chandlers Ford.
Question: Does it just need a thump, lots of rotations of the adjuster screw or is a replacement required?

Thank you.

Gary

Any ideas anybody?

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Mar 31, 2025 5:15 pm I've had Audrey since October with no lighting issues. I've managed to replace any missing bulbs.
The other day I notice the offside headlight has drooped. presumably they are self-levelling. I took it to my local Audi dealer and they said it may have broken and it wasn't worth my while getting them to dismantle it - very honest, I'm lucky to have an excellent dealer down the road in Chandlers Ford.
Question: Does it just need a thump, lots of rotations of the adjuster screw or is a replacement required?

Thank you.

Gary

Have you checked whether this a self levelling system? Generally if there is a levelling system issue you would have a warning on the central cluster. Otherwise it would appear to be mechanical failure at the headlight.

The are clever people on here that may have the answer.

Strummagnet wrote: Sat Apr 12, 2025 3:46 pm

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Mar 31, 2025 5:15 pm I've had Audrey since October with no lighting issues. I've managed to replace any missing bulbs.
The other day I notice the offside headlight has drooped. presumably they are self-levelling. I took it to my local Audi dealer and they said it may have broken and it wasn't worth my while getting them to dismantle it - very honest, I'm lucky to have an excellent dealer down the road in Chandlers Ford.
Question: Does it just need a thump, lots of rotations of the adjuster screw or is a replacement required?

Thank you.

Gary

Have you checked whether this a self levelling system? Generally if there is a levelling system issue you would have a warning on the central cluster. Otherwise it would appear to be mechanical failure at the headlight.

The are clever people on here that may have the answer.

No warning on the central cluster, but I would assume as it's FL model that the lights are self levelling(?). I did find the second outer adjustment screw and I have raised the beam as high as possible. The wau I parked it wasn't possible to assess the beam height - I'll get out tonight and see what's going on in the dark. Thank you.

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:29 pm No warning on the central cluster, but I would assume as it's FL model that the lights are self levelling(?). I did find the second outer adjustment screw and I have raised the beam as high as possible. The wau I parked it wasn't possible to assess the beam height - I'll get out tonight and see what's going on in the dark. Thank you.

Self-levelling typically only comes with xenon headlights. If you have halogens then they are manually levelled. Do you have a level adjuster in the dash to the right of the steering column? If so that's manual. My first D2 was a 3.7 FL which looked identical to yours - that had halogens.

The unfortunate thing is that these days halogens are rarer than xenons. Pop the rear cover off and see if you can move the internal gubbins by wiggling the back of the bulb holder. If so, likely an internal failure. Depending on what, I might have parts in my headlights pile.

MikkiJayne wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:36 pm

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:29 pm No warning on the central cluster, but I would assume as it's FL model that the lights are self levelling(?). I did find the second outer adjustment screw and I have raised the beam as high as possible. The wau I parked it wasn't possible to assess the beam height - I'll get out tonight and see what's going on in the dark. Thank you.

Self-levelling typically only comes with xenon headlights. If you have halogens then they are manually levelled. Do you have a level adjuster in the dash to the right of the steering column? If so that's manual. My first D2 was a 3.7 FL which looked identical to yours - that had halogens.

The unfortunate thing is that these days halogens are rarer than xenons. Pop the rear cover off and see if you can move the internal gubbins by wiggling the back of the bulb holder. If so, likely an internal failure. Depending on what, I might have parts in my headlights pile.

Thank you, I'll have a poke about tonight.

I don't know what I've been smoking, but for some reason i thought you were on about headlining.. nevermind!

As far as one of the lights sagging, there are motors inside which adjust it, they are driven by a signal from 2 sensors on the passenger side (front and back control arms) you can test the sensors with VCDS.

When changing bulbs its quite easy to unplug the motor by accident, and also due to car's age insulation on the wires inside the headlight crack and perish so you have multiple things to check.

New motors are available and quite cheap on ebay, xenon and xenon plus motors are the same, halogens are different.
Febi are the OEM for sensors.

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:53 pm

MikkiJayne wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 4:36 pm

Lancia 2000 wrote: Mon Apr 14, 2025 12:29 pm No warning on the central cluster, but I would assume as it's FL model that the lights are self levelling(?). I did find the second outer adjustment screw and I have raised the beam as high as possible. The wau I parked it wasn't possible to assess the beam height - I'll get out tonight and see what's going on in the dark. Thank you.

Self-levelling typically only comes with xenon headlights. If you have halogens then they are manually levelled. Do you have a level adjuster in the dash to the right of the steering column? If so that's manual. My first D2 was a 3.7 FL which looked identical to yours - that had halogens.

The unfortunate thing is that these days halogens are rarer than xenons. Pop the rear cover off and see if you can move the internal gubbins by wiggling the back of the bulb holder. If so, likely an internal failure. Depending on what, I might have parts in my headlights pile.

Thank you, I'll have a poke about tonight.

It looks like I have halogens. I twiddle the dial and the nearside light wurred and dropped, but the light dodgy light didn't move. The beam level is now good, I'm tempted to leave it, unless you know what might be causing the fault?

This would need looking into.
I would gert someone to operate the adjuster in the cabin, and see if you get any movement from the headlight, if not the first thing i would try is a replacement motor:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145265840714 ... BMsJD4sMll

I vaguely recall having a similar problem long ago on a Ford Focus.
First thing I did was swap the motors between the headlights as that was actually very easy.
And that proved it was the motor so I replaced it. The Audi unit looks very similar to what I remember.

Definitely worth checking if that's easy on an A8. You're probably going to have the suspect one out anyway.