VW R32: LED City Lights and DRLs

Earlier this week I replaced the LED city/parking lights on the HIDs with new ones. Only the passenger's side had actually died, but I decided to replace both because the old LED on the driver's side was noticeably dimmer than the new ones.

See below the fold for additional information.

Prior to importing my R32 to Canada I had the city/parking lights wired to the ignition so that they would work like DRLs, a Canadian requirement. Why didn't my 2004 VW R32 have DRLs? Actually, the 2004 R32 did have DRLs stock... with the stock halogens. I'd originally disabled the DRLs in preparation for installing OEM HIDs (I'm still irritated that VW decided that only 2004 R32s sold in the United States would have halogens -- everywhere else in the world they were sold the R32 came with HIDs). 

Anywhoo, I'd decided having the city lights work as DRLs was a much better choice than having the HIDs suffer at partial power while running in DRL mode (not good for HID life, I gather). So... the original LEDs lasted almost 11,300 miles and 42 months. That's not bad, I guess? I don't know what the life span is supposed to be, but at $8.50 each I'm not too disappointed. Disappointment will be if I subsequently learn they're supposed to last 100,000 miles and 10 years.




The city/parking lights are below the high beam bulb.


City light LEDs on, in poor light.


City lights LEDs and HIDs on, in poor light.

By the way, if you're looking for 2004 VW R32 stock bulb types/sizes, follow the link.

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