[holson]

Hi All!

it’s time to upgrade our 2019 beetle S’s headlights. I have searched the forum but there isn’t a definitive answer on feasibility so I have found this kit by kufatec

KUFATEC

Bi-xenon headlights Complete kit for retrofitting bi-xenon headlamps with integrated daytime running lights for VW Beetle 5C

www.kufatec.com

looks like it comes as a complete set with wiring and the leveling hardware. I am ready to get these and ask a local VW shop to install but there’s a note by kufatec to confirm

• Only suitable for vehicles with the selectable PR no. (Please check with your local VW dealer)

any one know what this means And or if it’s possible to confirm myself?

I tried asking a local dealer during an oil change but I got no answer..

Thanks!

 

[ZERO815]

0N4 = Multi Link Rear axle
0N9 = Rear axle lightweight

The Kufatec-set you're referring to comes w/ Auto-leveling. The rear axle height sensor needs to be attached to the Multi Link rear axle. Kufatec keeps telling (and selling) that aLWR is required on HID retrofits (in Europe). But that's not the case for 5C Beetle's. 5C Beetle's have the 25W Xenon and for them aLWR and Headlight washers aren't mandatory by European law.

My wife's '14 NA Beetle R came w/ HID headlights, but no Auto-leveling, and no headlight washers from the factory. It has a manual adjuster instead. After our move to Germany it passed the TÜV inspection w/o aLWR.

I'm not sure if your Halogen Beetle has the manual headlight-leveling dial. Because in NA Auto-leveling or manual-leveling it's not necessary you could skip it at all. If so I guess you need the HID headlights, an adapter like in the following link, and coding.
KUFATEC

Before you order any parts, please check on your BCM if you have the pins 5&6 in plug B.

 

[holson]

thank you so much @ZERO815 !

I assume the US Beetle is 0N4. The other is what a torsion beam setup.. yikes

no headlight level adjuster in our Beetle S cabrio. It has the most basic headlight switch I’ve seen in a modern car not even auto light

is that plug B the one I have to unplug from under the dash? (See attachment) do I need to disconnect battery or do anything before I just yank it out?
thanks again

 

[ThatBlueBeetle]

thank you so much @ZERO815 !

I assume the US Beetle is 0N4. The other is what a torsion beam setup.. yikes

no headlight level adjuster in our Beetle S cabrio. It has the most basic headlight switch I’ve seen in a modern car not even auto light

is that plug B the one I have to unplug from under the dash? (See attachment) do I need to disconnect battery or do anything before I just yank it out?
thanks again

I don't think all US beetles are 0N4 - I know that in 2012-16 (at least) that the Beetle (with either a 2.5L or a 1.8T) had a torsion beam rear suspension set up and Beetle Turbo/R-Line (with the 2.0T making 200-210 hp, NOT the 170hp 2.0T) got the multi-link rear suspension.

I do not know what rear suspension setup was in convertibles or if the 2017+ bugs got multi-link rear suspension following the death of the R-Line.

The headlight adjustment switch, if I'm following this correctly, would actually be its own switch. It would be a thumbwheel next to the gauge brightness dimmer and the interior color accent lighting switch. (Look for a little oval pod down and to the right of the headlight switch, no bigger than 1in by 3in.)

I do not have an answer to where Plug B is or if you need to disconnect the battery to do that. Hopefully ZERO815 might know the answer to that (or someone else on the forums).

Best of luck with this!!

 

[ZERO815]

thank you so much @ZERO815 !

I assume the US Beetle is 0N4. The other is what a torsion beam setup.. yikes

no headlight level adjuster in our Beetle S cabrio. It has the most basic headlight switch I’ve seen in a modern car not even auto light

is that plug B the one I have to unplug from under the dash? (See attachment) do I need to disconnect battery or do anything before I just yank it out?
thanks again

Retrofitting a trailer hitch to my NA MK7 the company I bought the harness from adviced to disconnect the battery before removing the Plugs from the BCM. Don't be surprised that a lot of warning lights come on on your dash once you reconnect the battery. In my wife's Beetle the go away as soon as you start driving and the BCM recognizes the steering wheel angle sensor, ABS sensors, ... again.

If my documents are right you should look for the marked Pins 5 & 6. At least on my MK7 BCM some pins have a numbering molded into the plastic.

 

[holson]

Thanks again @ZERO815 - another newbie question here. How do I get the plug out or does the whole bcm cover come off like the picture you showed?

thanks!

 

[Jules_r]

Hi, I'm in the UK and fitted Bi Xenon headlamps to my 2016 Bug earlier this year.

I almost bought the whole self leveling set up from Kufatec until I found out that it was dropped by VW in 2013.

Everything above is correct, and the first thing to do, as ZERO815 suggests, is check that your BCM has the two pins (B5 & B6) that are needed (they control the shutters in the lamps). Providing you have them it's fairly easy to fit the lights and get them working properly.

I did disconnect my battery and the one bit of advice I was given was to make sure the wheels were in the straight ahead position before disconnecting.

The plugs on the BCM have a white leaver you have to throw, but it needs releasing first, there is a tab at the bottom that you push in, and then you can swing the leaver. It is fiddly, but it's not hard. There must be a vid. on You Tube. I believe all BCM's across the VW range work in the same way.

I had quite a few problems with Kufatec, and their manual was terrible with lots of mistakes including errors with the coding. I helped them correct everything so now it's spot on.

I'm not familier with US spec cars, but I suspect the light's work slightly different to European cars.

I found there are different headlamps depending weather you have self leveling of manual leveling.

I investigated it all for Kufatec.

These are the Part #'s I found for US cars but please DOUBLE CHECK before ordering because I might have made a mistake.

US Cars up to June 2013 (Self leveling)
5C1 941 031/032 or 5C1 941 031B/032B

US Cars from July 2013 onwards (Manual leveling)
5C1 941 031D/032D

Good luck with your install, I'll keep an eye out for any more questions!

 

[ZERO815]

Thanks again @ZERO815 - another newbie question here. How do I get the plug out or does the whole bcm cover come off like the picture you showed?

thanks!

I only have a picture of my MK7 BCM but you have to unlock the white lever by pushing on the black tap. Does that make sense?

 

[holson]

Thanks @ZERO815 and @Jules_r!

I was able unclip the connectors but there was barely any room to wiggle the connectors out to take a picture so I can inspect the pins. Will try again tomorrow...

 

[Jules_r]

Thanks @ZERO815 and @Jules_r!

I was able unclip the connectors but there was barely any room to wiggle the connectors out to take a picture so I can inspect the pins. Will try again tomorrow...

The way I did it was to remove the BCM, but if you can manage to get a picture I guess it would be easier.

If you decide to take it out once the two plugs are free you can just un-clip the BCM from it's housing and carefully lower it down and bingo, it's out. It might need some gentle wiggling.

The clips are at the bottom and if I remember you access them from the side nearest the back of the car, the fuse box side. I think there are two tabs to gently push down while pushing the bottom of the BCM towards the front of the car.

If you remove the small coin pot that covers the fuse box it makes it a bit easier to see whats going on.

My car is Right Hand Drive so it might be slightly different to yours.

Good luck and take your time, it's not hard!

 

[blscargo1]

Hi, I'm in the UK and fitted Bi Xenon headlamps to my 2016 Bug earlier this year.

I almost bought the whole self leveling set up from Kufatec until I found out that it was dropped by VW in 2013.

Everything above is correct, and the first thing to do, as ZERO815 suggests, is check that your BCM has the two pins (B5 & B6) that are needed (they control the shutters in the lamps). Providing you have them it's fairly easy to fit the lights and get them working properly.

I did disconnect my battery and the one bit of advice I was given was to make sure the wheels were in the straight ahead position before disconnecting.

The plugs on the BCM have a white leaver you have to throw, but it needs releasing first, there is a tab at the bottom that you push in, and then you can swing the leaver. It is fiddly, but it's not hard. There must be a vid. on You Tube. I believe all BCM's across the VW range work in the same way.

I had quite a few problems with Kufatec, and their manual was terrible with lots of mistakes including errors with the coding. I helped them correct everything so now it's spot on.

I'm not familier with US spec cars, but I suspect the light's work slightly different to European cars.

I found there are different headlamps depending weather you have self leveling of manual leveling.

I investigated it all for Kufatec.

These are the Part #'s I found for US cars but please DOUBLE CHECK before ordering because I might have made a mistake.

US Cars up to June 2013 (Self leveling)
5C1 941 031/032 or 5C1 941 031B/032B

US Cars from July 2013 onwards (Manual leveling)
5C1 941 031D/032D

Good luck with your install, I'll keep an eye out for any more questions!

Do you know where the gateway is in the car

 

[Jules_r]

Do you know where the gateway is in the car

I'm sorry, I don't know because so far I haven't had to find it.
The only mods I have done is fit the Zenon lamps and an OE reversing camera (which European cars do not have).
For both of those mods all I had to find and wire was the BCM.

 

[holson]

Thanks again @Jules_r and @ZERO815 for the detailed instructions and help! I got the BCM out with some fiddling and sliding myself under the dash looking up into it. I did end up taking it out as it was easy enough to get it out once the plugs are taken out.

looks like I have both pins B5 and B6 and I am pretty sure the 2019 NA beetle cabrio S has multi link rear suspension (see picture) but it doesn’t matter since we don’t care about auto leveling now

ECS tuning has the lights
left - 5C1 941 031 H

HID Headlight Assembly - Left

Genuine replacement HID headlight assembly with LED DRL's

www.ecstuning.com

right - 5C1 941 032 H

HID Headlight Assembly - Right

Genuine replacement HID headlight assembly with LED DRL's

www.ecstuning.com

Few follow up questions..
- part numbers are slightly different (H vs D) - are these auto leveling ones and I want the manual leveling ones?

- anyone know if these lights for $2800 a pair come complete with the ballasts, bulbs or are those separate?

- is the adapter from Kufatec just a pigtail on the existing halogen harness or do I need to run wires back to the BCM plug B for pins 5 and 6?

- last.. if I plug everything in and don’t reprogram do the lights come on without the hi-lo flasher working?

Thanks a bunch folks and Hope you are all having a great Christmas holiday

 

[Jules_r]

Thanks again @Jules_r and @ZERO815 for the detailed instructions and help! I got the BCM out with some fiddling and sliding myself under the dash looking up into it. I did end up taking it out as it was easy enough to get it out once the plugs are taken out.

looks like I have both pins B5 and B6 and I am pretty sure the 2019 NA beetle cabrio S has multi link rear suspension (see picture) but it doesn’t matter since we don’t care about auto leveling now

It's not very easy getting your head in there and looking up, but once you have done it once it's quite easy, just fiddly.
Great that you have the all important pins. Well done!

ECS tuning has the lights
left - 5C1 941 031 H

HID Headlight Assembly - Left

Genuine replacement HID headlight assembly with LED DRL's

www.ecstuning.com

right - 5C1 941 032 H

HID Headlight Assembly - Right

Genuine replacement HID headlight assembly with LED DRL's

www.ecstuning.com

Few follow up questions..
- part numbers are slightly different (H vs D) - are these auto leveling ones and I want the manual leveling ones?

No, D are manual leveling so H is likely just a supersession.
A quick Google found this website..... and it states that H replaces D, cheaper, too!

2014-2019 Volkswagen Beetle Headlamp Assembly 5C1-941-031-H | VW Parts Vortex

Save Big On This OEM VW Headlamp Assembly, Part #5C1-941-031-H for 2014-2019 Volkswagen Beetle. Wholesale Prices, Fast Shipping, Order Online or Call 888-667-8938.

www.vwpartsvortex.com

There is a system on that site where you can check if it's right for you, you need to be 100% sure!

- anyone know if these lights for $2800 a pair come complete with the ballasts, bulbs or are those separate?

I think generally Xenons do come complete with ballasts and bulbs. The picture on that link ^^^ shows them, and mine, which came direct from the manufacturer (Hella) came complete. Mine were even adjusted correctly.

- is the adapter from Kufatec just a pigtail on the existing halogen harness or do I need to run wires back to the BCM plug B for pins 5 and 6?

You do have to run a thin cable (2 wires) from the headlamps to the BCM so it has to go through the bulkhead, that was the bit that worried me most, but it's no big deal, really nothing to worry about.

The wires to the BCM have pins already attached. All you do is push them into that big plug. As long as you get them in the right holes your sorted!

- last.. if I plug everything in and don’t reprogram do the lights come on without the hi-lo flasher working?

I'm not familier with US spec cars, but I'm pretty sure the lights work slightly different so I'm not sure what would, and what wouldn't, work. @ZERO815 would probably know the difference USA vs. Euro

There were 4 or 5 things (Bytes) that needed to be re coded on mine. I didn't try Hi/Low until it was coded so not sure about them but I do know the DRL's didn't work until the coding was right.

If you are going to do it you have to code it right. OBDEleven is cheap and works great for this kind of thing.

When I did mine the coding supplied by Kufatec was wrong. The DRL's are super bright, they obviously need to be because they are for day time. When you switch to side lights (not sure if you have them, or maybe you call them something different) the DRL's should dim..... if they didn't they would be way too bright at night.

That was the problem with the Kufatec coding..... they didn't dim as they should so anyone out there with Kufatec coding will be dazzling other drivers when it gets dark. I worked out how to fix it and Kufatec did amend their manual.

 

[holson]

Thanks @Jules_r !

thanks also for the link to that site - does confirm fit on wife and I’s 2019 and about $500 cheaper per side. I do see the ballasts and bulbs in the pictures too. Since these are 25w lights

we think alike on not liking these extra wiring! Glad to hear it was not a big deal to line up

good to know about obdeleven- I was under the impression that I’d have to find a friendly VW shop who will reprogram those bytes for me.

looks like in summary all I need is that obdeleven pro pack, a pair of headlights and the kufatec harness (I assume that comes with the coding necessary?)

while On the topic of the bulbs, are they d5s or d8s bulbs? Look like those are the two 25w bulbs available.

thanks again and looking forward to seeing better!

 

[ZERO815]

D8S 25W to my knowledge.

Bought used headlights in Germany and shipped them to the US. There I replaced our factory fitted HID headlights w/ the European headlights. To be honest I didn't notice a difference in functions or light pattern. All I needed was the e-approved stamp for the registration in Germany.

 

[ZERO815]

The NA headlight factory part numbers from our Beetle were:
5C1 941 031 D
5C1 941 032 D

 

[holson]

not sure if it‘s a bug in Kufatec‘s site but I guess no shipping to California? 😂

lights ordered, I might see if a local shop will do the coding for me instead of purchasing the programmer since I don’t foresee additional mods.

 

[Jules_r]

not sure if it‘s a bug in Kufatec‘s site but I guess no shipping to California? 😂

lights ordered, I might see if a local shop will do the coding for me instead of purchasing the programmer since I don’t foresee additional mods.

If you struggle with the harness I have a spare one that I could sell you.

There is however a bit of a story with it.......

The length of cable between the two lights is too short. I fitted it to my car and it worked fine, the problem is that the section of cable in question had to go the most direct route from one light to the other, basically a straight line across the engine/rad rather than neatly cable tied around the edge of the engine bay.

They told me that it's not the cables that are wrong, it's the way they have been wrapped in that cloth tape they use. So, it just needs unwrapping and then re-wrapping correctly with new tape, which is easily available.

 

[holson]

Thanks @Jules_r - I was able to order. Their cust support pointed out that Kalifornien is California. I feel pretty dumb now lol