Replacing HID or LED in factory lighting package headlights (2024)

Hello fellow MK7 owners, I’m new to the group. Recently bought a slightly used 16’ GTI Autobahn that does that the Performance Package and the HID Lighting Package, and have some questions about the ability to swap out the HID bulbs in mine.

First of all, my personal opinion is the factory HID bulbs are good, definitely whiter than halogens, but I do like the 5500K to 6000K look of most of the newer HID and LEDs on the market.

I went to my VW dealer in PA, and I talked to a women who did parts and warranty. While she was no help in giving me info about what my current headlights were, she said that they were made by VW, 50W bulbs, and are proprietary to the vehicle and all VW models that are equipped with them. She said that a lot of people blow the ballasts and wiring harnesses when they retrofit an aftermarket bulb into the factory setup.

I thought though I would take such a topic here to gain insight from people who have actually done it. I thought the factory bulbs were Osram bulbs, not factory VW ones. I found some options for the D3S bulb size (links below) but have any of you swapped yours out for these or similar? What problems have you had? Have you blown ballasts, wiring, fuses, etc.? Or have you retrofitted LED into your lightning package projectors?

Thanks!

HID Replacement Options:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/bulbs/d3s-morimoto-xb-hid.html

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/b...HID+Equipped)&preselect=&preselect_restrict=1

It's 35w D3S.
OSRAM CBI is popular choice. Check this thread:

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?p=421503

16AutobahnGTI said:

Also, does anyone know what the factory bulbs that come in the GTI lighting package are? What brand, what color temperature, etc?

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They are OEM Osram HBI bulbs. D3S 35w and about 4100k or so.

Here's a comparison I did with two friends. OEM HID bulbs on the left, my Osram CBIs (5000-5500k) in the middle, and Morimoto 6500k on the right.

Our D3S is inbetween OSRAM CBI and morimoto 6500k - a cleaner white with no blue and you can tell that you upgraded to a cleaner white without any blue color (CBI is a lot more yellow and close to OEM - many will not even know you upgraded from OEM due to the color it produces - this is from customer feedback - but if anyone is saying they are HAPPY with this setup we ARE NOT saying otherwise, only sharing customer feedback and what we have personally seen and some actually might want this color temperature, others want more white, it all is preference because we do now offer a 4800k color temp for the d3s but the 5500k sells more frequently):
http://deautokey.com/product/new-d1...te-no-errors-fits-many-volkswagen-audi-models

customer feedback in a CC - clean white with no blue:

BORA RSI said:

5500k looking great!

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16AutobahnGTI said:

AdamSheikh, have you had any issues with the factory ballasts with the CBI bulbs? VW tells me I shouldn’t swap out the bulbs because of the possibility of incompatibility with the ballasts and wiring already in place.

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We never seen any issues and had many of our d3s installed in the mk7 and we doubt AdamSheikh had any problem as he has been sharing the CBI bulbs for years now without mention of this problem with the CBI, and when we tested the CBI next to our D3S we did not see any issues.

Can you let us know why VW says it would not be incompatible or did they show you examples?

16AutobahnGTI said:

AdamSheikh, have you had any issues with the factory ballasts with the CBI bulbs? VW tells me I shouldn’t swap out the bulbs because of the possibility of incompatibility with the ballasts and wiring already in place.

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No issues whatsoever over the last year or longer. Very happy with them. The Osram's are pricey compared to the alternatives, but well worth it in my eyes. Osram offers arguably the best quality HID bulbs. Be wary of replicas and fakes too - I recommend buying from TheRetrofitSource.com. And when it comes to installing, you don't necessarily need to remove the headlights. I went through the fender liners on each side.

I should note that my friend above with the Morimotos did a have a premature bulb failure (isolated to the bulb with no effect on the ballast, etc), so he's swapped back to stock for now. He will likely be going with the CBIs as well.

16AutobahnGTI said:

deAutoKey, VW just said they’ve had people come through with blown ballasts, wiring harness issues, I assume when retrofitting other bulbs. They said they strongly recommend not replacing the factory bulbs as if any problems occur the warranty is voided. So. I’m trying to find what replacements are proven to be authentic and trouble free.

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That is very interesting, we wonder if anyone ever made a post about it on a forum as we never seen it before but would be interested in learning more.

We have had customers tell us about bulbs going bad from morimoto, OSRAM CBI so bulbs can fail without ruining any ballast or OEM parts, but their warranty and how the company helps is what matters, we have a full lifetime warranty on all of our HID/LEDs so if you do have issues with the bulb going out we replace our D3S HID bulb for free.

IMHO do not go to LEDs. Too many people are running LEDs in halogen cars. they are blinding everyone and you can tell they are cheap eBay junk.

Perhaps someone can speak for us with the lighting package but my previous LED experience was low beams too bright and high beams not enough.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

AdamSheikh said:

They are OEM Osram HBI bulbs. D3S 35w and about 4100k or so.

Here's a comparison I did with two friends. OEM HID bulbs on the left, my Osram CBIs (5000-5500k) in the middle, and Morimoto 6500k on the right.

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Hi. Can you confirm that the Morimoto's are 6500k? I'm looking on Morimoto website right now, and I'm only seeing 6000k (and lower) for DS3. The color temp of the car on the right is exactly what I'm looking for. I realize this thread is old, perhaps Morimoto discontinued those bulbs?

The Creator said:

Hi. Can you confirm that the Morimoto's are 6500k? I'm looking on Morimoto website right now, and I'm only seeing 6000k (and lower) for DS3. The color temp of the car on the right is exactly what I'm looking for. I realize this thread is old, perhaps Morimoto discontinued those bulbs?

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This was a blast from the past lol. If memory serves me correctly, these were 6500k at the time, yes. To your point, it's possible they have updated their lineup for any number of reasons.

That said, I recently swapped my bulbs (previously the Osram CBI) to the new Osram CBB and have been very pleased with the color and brightness. They advertise them as "7000k", but they're really 6000k and brighter than the CBIs. Perfect match for to the LED fogs.