I have installed the European OEM LED tail lights in my GTI. Lacking specific instructions and a DIY, I had to figure out how to do it using information on the 'Tex, my Bentley manual, and some help from Rich at Oempl.us.
Since a specific DIY does not yet exist, I thought I would share the information I used to install my taillights. The installation can be divided into three parts. The first is removal and installation of the new lights. The second is wiring and the third is coding using VAG-Com. Please note that I removed the rear fog light lens and did not enable the rear fog function.
Removal of the Old and Installation of the New
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. My lights came with instructions from Oempl.us that were more than adequate.
Wiring
The European wiring harness has 4 wires (Turn, Brake, Parking, Return/Common) running from the central electronics control module (J519) to each of the taillights. The US wiring harness only has 3 wires (Turn, Brake, Return/Common). To get the LED's to function properly, you need to provide a signal to the 4th pin. I know of two ways to do this. One results in a "bulb out" message on the MFD and the other (adding a 4th wire) does not. I'll cover both below:
The pin configurations at the taillights are:
Stock Left (Driver's side)
1. Not used
2. Black/white (turn signal)
3. Black/red (brake light)
4. Brown (common/return)
Stock Right (Passenger side)
1. Brown (common/return)
2. Black/purple (brake light)
3. Black/green (turn signal)
4. Not used
The wires need to be moved in the connector using the method described in the Jetta LED DIY instructions (Thanks to those who wrote the Jetta DIY http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif )
LED Left (Driver's side)
1. Black/white (turn signal)
2. Black/red (brake light)
3. New Wire (Parking light)
4. Brown (common/return)
LED Right (Passenger side)
1. Brown (common/return)
2. New Wire (Parking light)
3. Black/purple (brake light)
4. Black/green (turn signal)
The new wire should be VW part 000 979 141 (I have been told that wire 000 979 151 works better, but I have not verified this). This VW wire has a connector on each end. This allows you to cut the wire in half to have a pigtail for each side.
The two new wires need a signal to activate the parking lights. The first choice is to splice wires 2 and 3 together as shown in the R32 taillight DIY. The lights will work just fine if you do this (after VAG-Com changes), but you will have an error message in the MFD that you won't be able to clear.
The second method is to run two new wires, one to each side, from the central electronics controller (J519) to the taillights. To do this, you need access to the central electronics controller. I found the Jetta rear foglight DIY to have better instructions than my Bentley manual. To connect the wires to the central electronics controller, you will need VW part 000 979 025. This wire works just like the one for the taillights. Cut this wire in half and install the wire for the left (Driver's) side to connector C, terminal 10. Install the wire for the right (passenger's) side to connector B, terminal 9. (Thanks to oripaamoni for this information http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif )
You must then run wires from these pigtails to the pigtails in the back. One suggestion for routing the wires is to read the GTI sub DIY for routing ideas. I used the instructions in my Bentley manual for removing the trim, as I thought they were a little better.
VAG-Com Instructions
Once you have connected wires to all four pins and reinstalled the connectors into the taillight housing you are ready to recode your central electronics module. This coding appears all over the Jetta LED threads, so I don't know who to credit for this information. Using a VAG-Com, you need to make the following changes to the Central Electronics Module (09).
Change Bytes 9 through 13 from 14 00 00 00 14 to 0A 00 00 0F 00
Change Byte 18 by unchecking the cold diagnostic bits 1, 3 and 5
Change Byte 19 by unchecking the cold diagnostics bits 2 and 3
Hopefully this helps, but as always YMMV.
Modified by jimb at 12:58 PM 1-9-2009
Since a specific DIY does not yet exist, I thought I would share the information I used to install my taillights. The installation can be divided into three parts. The first is removal and installation of the new lights. The second is wiring and the third is coding using VAG-Com. Please note that I removed the rear fog light lens and did not enable the rear fog function.
Removal of the Old and Installation of the New
There is no need to reinvent the wheel. My lights came with instructions from Oempl.us that were more than adequate.
Wiring
The European wiring harness has 4 wires (Turn, Brake, Parking, Return/Common) running from the central electronics control module (J519) to each of the taillights. The US wiring harness only has 3 wires (Turn, Brake, Return/Common). To get the LED's to function properly, you need to provide a signal to the 4th pin. I know of two ways to do this. One results in a "bulb out" message on the MFD and the other (adding a 4th wire) does not. I'll cover both below:
The pin configurations at the taillights are:
Stock Left (Driver's side)
1. Not used
2. Black/white (turn signal)
3. Black/red (brake light)
4. Brown (common/return)
Stock Right (Passenger side)
1. Brown (common/return)
2. Black/purple (brake light)
3. Black/green (turn signal)
4. Not used
The wires need to be moved in the connector using the method described in the Jetta LED DIY instructions (Thanks to those who wrote the Jetta DIY http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif )
LED Left (Driver's side)
1. Black/white (turn signal)
2. Black/red (brake light)
3. New Wire (Parking light)
4. Brown (common/return)
LED Right (Passenger side)
1. Brown (common/return)
2. New Wire (Parking light)
3. Black/purple (brake light)
4. Black/green (turn signal)
The new wire should be VW part 000 979 141 (I have been told that wire 000 979 151 works better, but I have not verified this). This VW wire has a connector on each end. This allows you to cut the wire in half to have a pigtail for each side.
The two new wires need a signal to activate the parking lights. The first choice is to splice wires 2 and 3 together as shown in the R32 taillight DIY. The lights will work just fine if you do this (after VAG-Com changes), but you will have an error message in the MFD that you won't be able to clear.
The second method is to run two new wires, one to each side, from the central electronics controller (J519) to the taillights. To do this, you need access to the central electronics controller. I found the Jetta rear foglight DIY to have better instructions than my Bentley manual. To connect the wires to the central electronics controller, you will need VW part 000 979 025. This wire works just like the one for the taillights. Cut this wire in half and install the wire for the left (Driver's) side to connector C, terminal 10. Install the wire for the right (passenger's) side to connector B, terminal 9. (Thanks to oripaamoni for this information http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif )
You must then run wires from these pigtails to the pigtails in the back. One suggestion for routing the wires is to read the GTI sub DIY for routing ideas. I used the instructions in my Bentley manual for removing the trim, as I thought they were a little better.
VAG-Com Instructions
Once you have connected wires to all four pins and reinstalled the connectors into the taillight housing you are ready to recode your central electronics module. This coding appears all over the Jetta LED threads, so I don't know who to credit for this information. Using a VAG-Com, you need to make the following changes to the Central Electronics Module (09).
Change Bytes 9 through 13 from 14 00 00 00 14 to 0A 00 00 0F 00
Change Byte 18 by unchecking the cold diagnostic bits 1, 3 and 5
Change Byte 19 by unchecking the cold diagnostics bits 2 and 3
Hopefully this helps, but as always YMMV.
Modified by jimb at 12:58 PM 1-9-2009