So I thought I had the hid headlights in my 01 a4 1.8t... but my neighbor says they aren't. .. how do I tell what kind of headlights I have and if my car is the post or pre facelift. ... pictures would be greatly appreciated. ... thanks in advance. ..

 

Your car is Post-facelift (aka facelifted), as far as hids go if you're headlights are pure white or white with a blueish tint then they are hids. They were an option that not all a4s had, also look for the ballast on the rear of the housing (I believe it's inside the cover or under)

 

ballasts are not visible and inside the fixture itself. I guess the easiest way to tell if you have HIDS is if there is a yellow warning sticker on the rear of the lens that warns of high voltage

 

Well they do have a slight blue tint to them. .. that's why i assumed they were hid. I would really like to get something a whole look more bright though. .. maybe even more blue. ... All I would need is new bulbs. .. is that correct? And how difficult is it to change the bulbs.. I've read that you need to take the whole headlight assembly off the car. ..

 

Bulbs are a piece of cake, just take the back cover off and pull the bulbs out. You might need to move the airbox to get the passenger side light out but that's it.

Blue lights are for ricers that don't know any better, you get the most light out of 4300K bulbs, maybe go 5000K for a slight blue tint. If you do have HIDs I'd highly recommend you get Philips or Osram bulbs, they're a great deal more expensive than the common Chinese bulbs but will last a decade rather than a week to a year or two depending on how lucky you get. I got my headlights out of an '01 and when I checked the bulbs were both original according to the date code, they're getting a bit dim and pinkish now but still do the job.

 

agree with the 4300k recommendation. disagree on replacing the bulb. you might as well just take the light out. its only three bolts and you want to take it easy on the buld when replacing. certainly don't touch it to your skin, but you also don't want it coming into contact with anything else. I just think its easier doing it with the whole thing removed and its not very difficult to remove it.

 

That's true too, but then you have to deal with that corner screw that always falls out of your socket into the dark depths of the rad support.

 

Magnetic tools.. they save us some grey hairs and a little time.

 

yup. take screw out and snag it with a magnet.