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Do you have an error light on your dashboard that looks like above with a yellow bulb pointing down?

That is known as a “dipped headlight” and this post is written to help you troubleshoot and fix it.

The truth is that even Audi dealerships are notoriously bad at fixing this problem.

Their remedy is typically to suggest replacing the bulbs and ballasts at full retail price, costing you several thousand dollars for a job that is something you could fix yourself for a tenth of the price.

After reading all of my favorite Audi forums, I found a host of information, some of it helpful, some of it conflicting, and some if it misguided. But piecing together the consistent recommendations as well as a little educated guessing and fact checking, I’ve figured out a good approach for anyone who gets this problem in their 2002-2008 Audi A4, S4 or RS4 and wants to try to fix it themselves. The steps listed here will probably also work for other Audis as well, although may differ somewhat.

Since originally posting this I’ve gotten hundreds of comments (literally) with others experiencing this issue on a variety of Audis.

Unfortunately, the dipped headlight warning appears to be a super common issue, and can also point to any number of issues with your headlights.

I’ve also updated this post with revised ideas to help you fix the problem easier, after years of helping others I’ve refined my approach.

First of all, what does “Dipped Headlight” even mean?

Simply put, “Dipped Headlight” is Audi-speak for “there is something wrong with your low beam headlight” and can mean a number of things.

This is part of why it is so difficult to troubleshoot and fix on your own, as the error doesn’t give you much information about what the problem is.

If you have a VAG-COM cable, or know someone who does, the cable can read your car’s computer and tell you the exact error code which will help tremendously. For some people this error message only comes on intermittently, such as when they’re driving slow, when the car first starts up, or in cold weather – for others, it comes on every time.

You can also pickup a cheaper OBD2 scanner on Amazon which can read codes and at least give you a specific error code and message to troubleshoot, like this one for $23.

Regardless this error light is a catch-all warning and therefore not very helpful – which is why this issue is so frustrating to have.

Typically there are several major culprits:

• Bad headlight bulbs – the bulb has gone bad, but isn’t completely out.
• Bad xenon ballasts – the ballast has started to malfunction, causing the error and likely harming your bulbs too
• Bad wiring in the headlight or xenon motor – the wiring and modules within the headlight is somehow damaged
• Bad ride height sensor or calibration – if the car can’t sense the right height level of the car, this will trigger an error

What to Check First

There are several things that most commonly cause this error after reading dozens of owners messages on Audizine, Fourtitude, Audiforums and other message boards. I’ve listed them below in the order of how’d I’d recommend checking and testing the problem.

It seems the most common issue is that a ballast has gone bad…the bad ballast then causes damage to the headlight bulb, requiring you to change the bulb too. If you only change one or the other, you do run the risk that you’ll have to replace it again due to damage that occurred.

If you are getting this issue only on one side, i.e. Dipped Headlight Left or Dipped Headlight Right, then this is a big clue for troubleshooting.

To isolate if it is the headlight bulbs, ballasts, or something internal in the headlight itself, simply swap both the bulbs and ballasts from left to right headlight. If the dipped headlight error on your dash changes from “Dipped Headlight Left” to “Dipped Headlight Right” (or vice versa) then you know that the issue lies in either the bulb or ballasts.

If this is the case, you should order one new bulb and one new ballast (using the links in this post) and replace the bad side and you should be good.

I strongly recommend changing both bulbs and ballasts – even if only the ballasts were faulty, the bulbs likely suffered damage from the bad ballasts and will need replaced soon, and replacing bulbs requires the bumper to come off so its best to do this all at once. It also eliminates all possible sources of the dipped headlight error, as this can be a tricky problem to resolve and it’s better to be aggressive on the treatment of it.

If the problem isn’t isolated to one side or another, and the above trick didn’t work, then you’ll need to troubleshoot the problem one by one in the order listed below:

Headlight Bulbs

Typically the best place to start is new headlight bulbs, as they are often the culprit and one of the cheapest and easiest things to fix – even if new headlight bulbs don’t fix the problem, you’ll eventually need to replace them anyway, so consider it preventative maintenance.

If you get the “headlight bulb out” message, see your headlights “flicker” on/off occasionally, or notice that your dipped headlight error only comes on in cold weather or at first start up, it’s likely your headlight bulbs may be on their way out.

Follow this DIY for tips on picking the right bulbs and how to install them: https://www.nickscarblog.com/diy/replacement-d1s-headlight-bulbs-for-b7-audi-a4s4rs4

Headlight Ballasts

The ballasts are also known to fail, which can cause this issue – even worse, the failed ballast burns through bulbs, so if you’ve had a bad ballast for a while then you’ll need new bulbs too. Rumor has it some ballasts have been recalled by Audi, in which case you can check with your dealer to see if your car qualifies for the recall, in which case the service and replacement should be free – problem solved! However, if you’re not covered by recall and your ballasts are indeed bad, then you have a few options:

1. Have your Ballasts Rebuilt – Contact Phil at tbm850 @ gmail.com – he can rebuild your factory ballasts to fix whatever is wrong, and actually strengthen them so it doesn’t happen again. He only charges $170 per pair for this and can turn it around in about a day then overnight ship it back, so you’re downtime is minimal. I’ve worked with Phil before and he knows the B7 Audi headlights better than pretty much anyone out there, and he’s an airplane mechanic so it’s a professional job.
2. Buy New OEM ballasts – the ballasts are shared by a lot of manufacturers, so don’t order through Audi. You can pick up the ballasts on Amazon for about $110 a piece:

B6 Ballasts (2002-2005)

B7 Ballasts (2005.5-2008) WITHOUT AFS:

B7 Ballasts (2005.5-2008) WITH AFS: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-magneti-marelli-parts/xenon-bulb-ballast-priced-each/8p0907391~mm/

Either way, I strongly recommend new bulbs if you had a bad ballast, as that bad ballast likely caused premature wear on the bulbs and they’re likely to burn out soon – best to replace both while you already have the headlights off the car!

This is also a great time to do the clear corner mod, LED DRLs, and/or LED City Lights since you’ll have the headlights off the car anyway…

Auto Leveling Sensor

If you recently lowered your car, or hit a really hard bump to your drivers side front or rear wheel, this could be the problem. For cars equipped with auto-levelling sensors, the sensors themselves are located in the wheel wheels near the lower control arms so they can adjust the headlight aiming based on the suspension load. For some people when they lower their car, the sensor is out of range as the suspension has been altered. For others, a hard bump to the front wheel could potentially break the sensor or cause it to become unplugged. To access the sensor, take off your drivers side front wheel and look near the bottom of the suspension. The sensor bridges the lower control arm to the body and looks like this:

If it is damaged or the wires have frayed, you can order a new one here: http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B6_S4–V8/Lighting/Headlights/Leveling/ES440960/. If you are lowered, you may just need to bend the upper part of the bracket so the top of the sensor is higher again. Once you have inspected and either repaired or replaced the sensor, you will need to recalibrate it using vag-com. Follow this DIY for instructions on how to do that: http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page=webcontent/pages/autolevel.html&category=6

Headlight Swivel Module

This is the issue I had after replacing the bulbs and ruling out that issue. It turns out that while I was replacing my DRL bulbs, I must have knocked the main headlight swivel out of place, preventing the headlights from being able to aim correctly. The swivel is VERY sensitive, so if you’ve been in accident, or were tinkering inside of your headlights too aggressively, it’s possible you broke a swivel arm or knocked it out of alignment. Looking closely at the headlight I could see the projector lens on my driver side was pushed forward and not aligned the same way my passenger side was, so I reached inside the headlight housing (much the same way I did when replacing the bulbs) and pulled the projector lens “back” away from the front of the housing until it clicked back into place. I then recalibrated the headlight adjustment using the DIY on A4mods and cleared the codes and the problem went away:  http://www.a4mods.com/index.php?page=webcontent/pages/autolevel.html&category=6

If you run the vag-com on your Xenons and find error code 02769 or 02770, it is likely your projector lenses are out of alignment and you may be able to manually push or pull them back into place. It is also possible the motor inside the headlight has malfunctioned or stopped working altogether, in which case you’ll need to buy an entire new headlight housing – like mentioned earlier, eBay is your best bet for that, and expect to pay about $200-300. But hopefully you may just be like me and have to massage the projector lens back into place and reset the headlight adjustment via VAG-com and the problem will go away 🙂

VAG-com adjustments (reset to factory spec)

If you change anything other than the bulb, you may also need to recalibrate your headlights and reset the adjustments to factory. To do this, follow the A4mods.com DIY mentioned earlier. For me, I fixed the projector lens being knocked out of place then recalibrated the headlight adjustments using VAG-com to fix my errors.

The last resort is to pull Fuse #10 if you have adaptive or auto-leveling headlights – this disables the feature entirely, which should also disable the warning light. This isn’t the best way to fix it as your headlights might be out of alignment still, and you lose the adaptive features, but hey – at least it gets rid of that pesky warning light and beeping 🙂

The Last Resort – Replace the Whole Darn Thing

At a certain point, you may be better off replacing the entire headlight assembly as you can usually find complete headlights (including ballasts and bulbs) used on eBay for a reasonable price.

This also covers you in case the problem lies elsewhere in the headlight housing, and since you’re going through the trouble of removing your headlights this is probably worth the extra $100 over the cost of a ballast to not have to remove all of these parts more than once.

If your car is older, chances are it’s pretty easy to find used headlight assemblies on eBay from wrecked cars that work just fine, and they’re usually pretty cheap, or you can pick up a new set on Amazon here:

Make sure you have the right part number prior to ordering – the part number can be found on a white sticker on top of your headlights which you can see simply by opening the hood – compare this to the eBay listing to confirm you’re swapping “apples to apples” with the replacement housing. The biggest thing to watch out for is AFS vs non-AFS, as you can’t mix these up. AFS is Audi’s “curve lighting” system which has its own wiring to power this motor, and switching between them is not easy to do.

To swap out the headlight housings, follow this DIY: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/234131-B7-A4-S4-Clear-Corner-Mod-Removal-of-Bumper

Still stumped? Leave a comment, I’ll do my best to help…

1. 04-05-2012 01:04 PM

   
   

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   One Ring

   

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   A4 RNS-E Problems with Button Lights and Diagnostic Errors
   

   Hey all,

   so I managed to swap out my Symphony II+ head unit for the RNS-E navigation system and the unit turns on with no problems, but the first thing I noticed is when I put the cars lights on, the buttons on the unit do not glow red like the rest of the buttons in the car. I thought maybe this is because I haven’t entered the radio pin code yet so I took it to my local dealer this morning as a walk-in appointment to retrieve the code . Unfortunately they weren’t able to retrieve the code after working on it for a half an hour with their diagnostic tools and told me Id have to make an appointment for a later date because the RNS-E unit kept throwing them an error with their diagnostic tools. They told me it would cost a few hundred dollars to do and that it wasn’t even guarenteed that they would be able to retrieve the code or get the error to go away. So now I think I might even have a faulty unit seeing as the dealer can’t even get it to work and because the buttons do not light up.

   I did make sure to move the K-Line from pin C7 to B5 on the wiring harness so in theory the dealer should be able to diagnose stuff with the radio on their vagcom. Only difference is I have a Dice Electronics iPod adapter in place of the what ever the blue or B plug is so maybe that is causing an issue?

   The unit was purchased from an auto dismantler so perhaps the unit is internally damaged? It would be a shame because the unit on the outside is in mint condition and the screen is flawless even when turned on.

   The units is an 8H0 035 192 D, made in 2005 and came from a 2006 A4 and is now housed in a 2007 A4.

   There is no AUX serial number on the side so the dealer tried to take another approach to getting the code but they were unsuccessful.

   Would it be worth the trouble of going back to the dealer to get it thoroughly diagnosed for hundreds of dollars with no guarentee it will work? Is there some other approach I could take? Can the issue with the button lights be easily resolved (I hope this is only because the unit needs to be unlocked first)? Or should I just return it where I got it from?

   Any help on the matter is greatly appreciated!

   (BTW sorry if this may be in the wrong section!)

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2. 04-05-2012 01:27 PM

   
   

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   Two Rings

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   shouldnt have to do with the lock (i dont think) because if it did then the unit wouldnt work at all. You’d get an enter code message. I’ve gotten those before on regular radios.

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3. 04-05-2012 01:49 PM

   
   

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   So everything works but the lights give you and issue on startup?

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4. 04-05-2012 02:17 PM

   
   

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   When the unit is turned on, the screen turns on just fine. Because I haven’t entered a pin code yet, it turns on to the screen where I need to enter a code, which is expected.

   It is when I turn on the parking or headlights and all the instrument cluster and dash button lights come on, only the buttons on the head unit do not light up at all. I do not know why this would be and when I brought it to the dealer to get the radio unlocked, I told them to check out the issue with the lighted buttons but they cant even do that because they can’t retrieve the code to unlock it due to some sort of radio error.

   I am curious if the iPod adapter has something to do with it

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5. 04-05-2012 02:25 PM

   
   

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   I dont know a ton about this stuff but do you need to VAGCOM to tell it to make the other pins active? and that could possibly be because you havent activated it.

   I also heard of one guy loading an .iso to make the key code 0123 or soemthing like that because when he bought it, it didnt come with the code. Try searching around for that.

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6. 04-05-2012 04:37 PM

   
   

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   so I called back the dealer to ask specifically what the issue was in retrieving the code and he said when they ran the diagnostic that no radio was found. As for the lights behind the buttons, he said that because the radio is not being found with the diagnostic tools, it is possible that the car’s computer is not communicating with the head unit, thus the signal to turn on and off the button lights is not being retrieved by the head unit.

   While a fix is not guarenteed, he advised bringing it back in for thorough diagnostics to upgrade the software, and try to get the car’s computer to communicate with the head unit. If they can get the cars computer to communicate with the head unit, they should be able to retrieve the serial number to get the pin code.

   Any ideas on how to do any of this without going back to the dealer and spending hundreds of dollars? (aside from vagcom stuff)

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7. 04-07-2012 03:00 PM

   
   

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   I contacted the auto dismantler from which I bought the unit from to confirm whether or not it functioned properly. The company told me it was tested prior to removal and everything worked correctly so I dont want to return it if it actually works.

   If these units are supposed to be plug-and-play, even when upgrading from the Symphony II+, and the unit is a US version being put into a US car, what could be causing the «no radio connected» error? Has anyone else had suck difficulties or something else aside from wiring that prevented the unit from working as soon as it was installed?

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8. 04-08-2012 07:09 PM

   
   

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   Two Rings

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   If the dealer can’t read it with the VAG unit or Vagcom then your k-line is not in the correct spot or connected correctly. K-line also is how the car tells the nav to turn on the button lights.

   ACNA Member
   17 R8 V10 Plus Dynamite Red
   03 A3 E-tron
   23 RS6 Tango on order
   Former;
   17 A4 2.0TQ Prestige S-line
   08 A4 2.0TQ Titanium S-line
   02 A4 1.8TQ
   03 RS6
   03 A4 1.8T

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9. 04-09-2012 11:20 PM

   
   

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   Originally Posted by marklar182
   

   If the dealer can’t read it with the VAG unit or Vagcom then your k-line is not in the correct spot or connected correctly. K-line also is how the car tells the nav to turn on the button lights.

   I had a feeling it would possibly have something to do with the K-line. I know I moved it to the right spot and followed some directions I found on here word for word, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to verify or even try plugging in the K-line into the original blue harness (which ever one that is) since the K-line is plugged into the B5 pin socket on the iPod adapter harness.

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10. 04-10-2012 07:15 AM

    
    

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    I don’t have any experience with the Dice Adapter, but I take it that the original blue «B» connector is removed from the quad lock and sits disconnected correct? The Dice plug is in the quadlock now correct?

    If that is the case you should have to move the C7 (Green w/Blue stripe wire) to the B5 in the Dice connector that is in the quadlock. (If you have Bose B5 (Brown wire) to B7 first)

    If all else fails, remove the Dice, return to stock config and try the wires as above. If you get the buttons to light up with the car lights it is communicating correctly.

    

    ACNA Member
    17 R8 V10 Plus Dynamite Red
    03 A3 E-tron
    23 RS6 Tango on order
    Former;
    17 A4 2.0TQ Prestige S-line
    08 A4 2.0TQ Titanium S-line
    02 A4 1.8TQ
    03 RS6
    03 A4 1.8T

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12. 04-10-2012 06:25 PM

    
    

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    Originally Posted by marklar182
    

    I don’t have any experience with the Dice Adapter, but I take it that the original blue «B» connector is removed from the quad lock and sits disconnected correct? The Dice plug is in the quadlock now correct?

    If that is the case you should have to move the C7 (Green w/Blue stripe wire) to the B5 in the Dice connector that is in the quadlock. (If you have Bose B5 (Brown wire) to B7 first)

    If all else fails, remove the Dice, return to stock config and try the wires as above. If you get the buttons to light up with the car lights it is communicating correctly.

    Yep the dice plugs into the quadlock where the original blue «B» connector used to be plugged in and the K-line was movedto the B5 slot as pictured above. Where ever that image came from is the exact tutorial I followed. Guess I will remove the Dice connector and put the original blue one back in to see if it makes any difference.

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13. 04-15-2012 01:26 AM

    
    

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    Well, i tried to put the K-Line back into the original blue connector in the B5 pin slot, but this didn’t make any difference. I also noticed that when the K-Line is moved to B5 and the Symphony II+ head unit is put back in for the meantime, the radio buttons still light up as normal and all radio functions work correctly. I’ve tried this in C7 and B5 to verify and the original head unit still lights up and functions just fine. With the RNS-E however, the problem still persists, though I did notice that when the car’s parking lights or headlights are turned on, the screen of the RNS-E dims slightly, which I would imagine is normal.

    I’ve looked at the wiring harness in my car and compared it with the image from above and it looks the same except for a light brown/tan plug. I have no idea what it is, but I tried removing that too but it didnt make any difference.

    The RNS-E also came with the original harness with quadlock with the wires still attached but unfortunately the auto dismantler was too lazy to take it out properly and simply cut the wires. Looking at the quadlock connections, i noticed an extra connector on mine verssus the one that came with the RNS-E. Does this extra connection make a difference? I attached an image below which identifies the differences. I don’t know if any of these highlighted things should make a difference.

    

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14. 04-15-2012 06:57 AM

    
    

    #13

    

    
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    If the radio can not be seen with vag-com then its something with k-line I think. Check the fuse too

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15. 04-15-2012 11:40 AM

    
    

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    Two Rings

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    Brown/Tan is the «A» connector. It is the speaker/bose outputs. Nothing to do with this issue.

    The wire missing from the other connector, «D» #16, is a 12V pass through, again, not related.

    You really need a VAGCOM to troubleshoot the communication. If the SYM II communicates with the car and the RNS-E does not it is a RNS-E issue or connection issue.

    Try wiggling the K-line wire in the connector while the lights are on to see if it is a physical connection issue. I have seen this issue before on other wires in the harness.

    ACNA Member
    17 R8 V10 Plus Dynamite Red
    03 A3 E-tron
    23 RS6 Tango on order
    Former;
    17 A4 2.0TQ Prestige S-line
    08 A4 2.0TQ Titanium S-line
    02 A4 1.8TQ
    03 RS6
    03 A4 1.8T

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16. 04-15-2012 12:58 PM

    
    

    #15

    

    
    Established Member
    

    Two Rings

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    Out of curiosity which DICE do you have? Since you said that the Symphony still works when you plug it back in removing the dice and putting the old connecter is probably moot.

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17. 04-15-2012 02:43 PM

    
    

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    One Ring

    

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    the DICE kit I have is an i-Audi-R DL-2401.

    I checked the fuse and it looks like its fine.

    I tried wiggling the k-line to see if it made a difference and even took the B connector out completely and only connected the k-line directly to the B5 pin and still nothing.

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18. 04-15-2012 04:45 PM

    
    

    #17

    

    
    Established Member
    

    Two Rings

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    RNS-E is probably hosed.

    I would return and get one from a reputable source with a pin code and pre-coded correctly for your car. (the one you have now is for a A4 Cabrio BTW, so you will need to be recoded with a VAGCOM if you keep it and get it working)

    ACNA Member
    17 R8 V10 Plus Dynamite Red
    03 A3 E-tron
    23 RS6 Tango on order
    Former;
    17 A4 2.0TQ Prestige S-line
    08 A4 2.0TQ Titanium S-line
    02 A4 1.8TQ
    03 RS6
    03 A4 1.8T

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19. 04-15-2012 07:38 PM

    
    

    #18

    

    
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    One Ring

    

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    well if that is the case, which model RNS-E’s should I be looking for that are specifically for the B7 Sedan? I’ll be returning the unit I have now, and if they will not accept returns since its been over 30 days, then I will sell it.

    Last edited by LAX2YYZ; 04-15-2012 at 10:33 PM.

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20. 05-29-2012 09:09 PM

    
    

    #19

    

    
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    One Ring

    

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    UPDATE:

    I managed to return the RNS-E unit I bought and purchased another one which was tested and fully functional. However, the exact same problem occured again! It is an 8E0 035 192 J made in 2006 and it came with an AUZ number but the service guys were still not able to ge the car to communicate with the head unit. The service department verified that this unit is in fact compatable with my car but they do not know why the car can’t see that anything is connected. They called Audi of America and they said that it would be impossible to add a navigation unit in my car, which I believe is complete BS seeing as many others have been able to do what I would like to do without problems. I have no clue what to do at this point regarding this issue other than maybe replacing the wiring harness. Any other ideas?

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The ! error light is flashing slowly A paper jam or a double feed has occurred. Remove any paper loaded in the input tray. If the light continues to flash, a scanner error may have occurred. Turn the scanner off and then back on again. If the error continues, contact Epson for support. The ! error light is on The scanner cover is open. Make sure the scanner cover is closed and there is no jammed paper inside. The following lights are flashing quickly:

• ! error
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A fatal error has occurred. Try the following:

• Check the scanner connection to your computer to make sure it is secure.
• Turn the scanner off and then back on again. If the error continues, the scanner may be malfunctioning. Contact Epson for support.

The  ready light is off and the following lights are on:

• ! error
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•  AP mode (ES-500W/ES-500WR)
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The firmware update has failed and the scanner is in recovery mode. Try updating the firmware again. The  Wi-Fi and ! error lights are flashing slowly (ES-500W/ES-500WR) An access point settings error (security error) has occurred. Press the  stop button to clear the error, restart the devices you want to connect to the network, then reconnect to the network. The  Wi-Fi light is flashing slowly and ! error light is on (ES-500W/ES-500WR) The  Wi-Fi (white) and ! error lights are flashing slowly (ES-500W/ES-500WR) A network connection error has occurred (the date and time have not been set correctly). Reset the date and time in Web Config. The ! error and  ready lights are on and the  Wi-Fi light is flashing (ES-500W/ES-500WR) Wireless scanning from the scanner button has failed. Wait for the lights to go off or stop flashing, restart the devices you want to connect to the network, and reconnect to the network.