GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

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Robint
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by Robint »

I am sure they are static


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monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

Robint wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 2:35 pm I am sure they are static


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I thought they probably would be (not sure if Facelifted Golf mk7 performance models still have dynamic lights since they switched to LED from Xenon). The Golf's Xenon headlights do a little dance at their pivots when you put the ignition on (up, down, left, right, centre). If the Polo GTI+ doesn't do that then they wont be dynamic. Not having seen my headlights come on in start-up, in the dark, I can't confirm either way.
barrywi
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by barrywi »

I could not work out what"Static cornering lights" were, but after a bit of playing around I have found out that the appropriate fog lamp lights up on one side when the car wheel is turned so far in that direction. Not seen the effect actually in use yet.
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

I have found the likely manual adjustment for the LED's "zero setting":-

See the green arrow and the adjustment screw (hex with Philips insert) which is just over the rear of the tube which houses the LED array.

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I'd suggest taping a piece of paper to the front light housing with electrical tape or something that will easily peel off, tracing around the light spots of the LEDs in pencil (looks like 2 horizontal rows of 8 or so LEDs behind the "cats eye" lens and then adjusting a quarter turn either clockwise or anticlockwise to see which way the spots move. Spots move up and you'll increase your range. Do that in the same direction on the other side.


Either accessing the rear indicator bulb for removal or the fixings for the whole rear cluster housing (probably a big plastic thumbscrew or 2) to lift out and provide access (probably the latter also looks easy to do. Only one problem, the felt covered lining behind the cluster isn't flapped on a hinge with a plastic turn screw (like the Golf is), it is one piece and perforated, you will have to puncture it to gain access. For that reason i'll not bother changing for an LED bulb until the bulb pops. That is very cheap of VW not t provide a snugfit lift out cover or closeable flap. Boo VW! :(

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Last edited by monkeyhanger on Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
barrywi
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by barrywi »

No dont turn that one it drops the engine out! :D
Only kidding, let us know if it works.
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

barrywi wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:16 pm No dont turn that one it drops the engine out! :D
Only kidding, let us know if it works.
The black bolts around it are metal and look to be holding the housing, an adjustment screw like that is always plastic as it's not put under any stress. There's another plastic crew adjacent to the rear of the inner light fitting tube, which is redundant (just a reflector) on the LED lights, but almost certainly houses separate halogen H7 bulbs for main beam on the halogen lit cars (the LED set just has one array which tilts between dipped and full beam.

How far is too far? How long do people want their beams on dipped before they end up becoming full beams and then full beam setting ends up pointing up and dazzling the high cab of a truck? I haven't seen the range of mine in the dark yet, but i'd probably add 15% to the beam pattern length at most, and i'd adjust in quarter turn increments so it's easy to keep track of the factory position and how far you have adjusted away from it.
RUM4MO
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by RUM4MO »

The access apertures for changing bulbs on Polo rear clusters has moved down market quite a bit over the years, on the 2002 9N Polo there was just a "tear open" for first use flap in the trim which was large enough to use and reach I think 2-off large plastic wing nuts that were retained with a rubber tether, very easy to use and to be able to push/knock the cluster out. On the 2015 6C Polo the same arrangement but the access flap is a lot smaller and the cluster is retained with a single plastic more complex sprung loaded bolt assembly, which in too many Polos was impossible for a normal person to unscrew - so once I had become aware of that I removed the bolts from both sides using long nosed wise grips, took these spring loaded bolt assemblies apart and applied some silicon and PTFE super lub, then reassembled and refitted them.

One thing to watch out for, or check in advance, is that many modern car headlights and rear clusters are best removed using bespoke tools like the kit that Laser Tools sell - without having that sort of tool, you might just not be able to remove these clusters, or at least be able to remove them without causing some paintwork damage.
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

Just looking back at my 2nd picture above, at about 4 o'clock position from the arrowed plastic screw, there's a recess that looks to have a thick clear sticker over a hole. Is it a tamper-evident seal for simething adjustable or just covering what might be a drain hole? Might have to have another look at that.
alandbess
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by alandbess »

monkeyhanger wrote:Just looking back at my 2nd picture above, at about 4 o'clock position from the arrowed plastic screw, there's a recess that looks to have a thick clear sticker over a hole. Is it a tamper-evident seal for simething adjustable or just covering what might be a drain hole? Might have to have another look at that.
VW usually use those when a rubber component interference fits to a metal component to stop the paint wearing off. There may be a rubber bung that sits in the bonnet that sits on it. More than likely to set shut line or gap correctly

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roywolfey
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by roywolfey »

monkeyhanger wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 5:12 pm I have found the likely manual adjustment for the LED's "zero setting":-

See the green arrow and the adjustment screw (hex with Philips insert) which is just over the rear of the tube which houses the LED array.

Image

Image
I’ve been investigating this as I also feel that the LED lights are set at a level where it makes driving in the dark dangerous as I’m naturally looking in the pitch black beyond where the beam pattern stops on the road ahead..

Just a word of caution. There are two screws like the one above, one inboard, and one outboard like the one you have arrowed above^^^

Looking at posts of other VAG lamp units, typically, the outboard screw arrowed above adjusts tow (left / right) and the inboard screw not pictured above adjusts height (up / down)
barrywi
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by barrywi »

Maybe time to have a word with the garage and ask them to adjust the lights. There is definitely a problem with the brightness of the led headlights. Came home in the dark from an event in my 07 Jaguar tonight with HID dipped beams and two seperate halogen main beam lights. So much brighter than the Polo . I know originally the Jag was an expensive car but the lights on it are not exactly cutting edge technology. I would not be surprised if the Polo Led bulbs are integrated into the headlamp unit and cannot be changed for brighter leds, but I will ask the garage unless anyone out there knows.
Leds theoretically have a very long life but as someone else said I have had failures of both interior led bulbs and led security lights after quite a short time. I hope if one headlamp led goes it does not mean you need a new headlamp unit and I bet "bulbs" are not covered by the three year warranty. More questions to be answered I think.
SRGTD
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by SRGTD »

barrywi wrote: Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:42 pm Maybe time to have a word with the garage and ask them to adjust the lights. There is definitely a problem with the brightness of the led headlights. Came home in the dark from an event in my 07 Jaguar tonight with HID dipped beams and two seperate halogen main beam lights. So much brighter than the Polo . I know originally the Jag was an expensive car but the lights on it are not exactly cutting edge technology. I would not be surprised if the Polo Led bulbs are integrated into the headlamp unit and cannot be changed for brighter leds, but I will ask the garage unless anyone out there knows.
Leds theoretically have a very long life but as someone else said I have had failures of both interior led bulbs and led security lights after quite a short time. I hope if one headlamp led goes it does not mean you need a new headlamp unit and I bet "bulbs" are not covered by the three year warranty. More questions to be answered I think.
I have LED headlamps on my previous generation Polo GTI and I find them to be pretty good. I had xenons on my previous car (mk6 Golf GTD), and I can’t say I noticed any discernible difference in performance of the LEDs compared to the xenons. So, maybe yours do need adjusting.

Failure of light bulbs is covered under VW’s new car (factory) warranty for the first 6 months or 6,500 miles, whichever is sooner. After that, failure of bulbs are considered to be as a result of wear and tear, unless it can be demonstrated the failure was due to a manufacturing defect. VW’s new car warranty terms and conditions are at the link below;

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/war ... conditions
barrywi
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by barrywi »

Maybe they have reduced the power of the led headlights. Usually old fashioned bulbs wattages would be mentioned in the handbook , but have not seen any indication in my handbook yet.
monkeyhanger
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by monkeyhanger »

SRGTD wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:42 am
Failure of light bulbs is covered under VW’s new car (factory) warranty for the first 6 months or 6,500 miles, whichever is sooner. After that, failure of bulbs are considered to be as a result of wear and tear, unless it can be demonstrated the failure was due to a manufacturing defect. VW’s new car warranty terms and conditions are at the link below;

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/war ... conditions
Hopefully that limit only applies to halogen bulbs which are meant to be consumables and have a short finite life. Xenon bulbs are not, and I suspect that LEDs are not either. Plenty of people on the Golf GTI forum have had their xenons go on their GTD/GTI/R and had them replaced at 2+ years. I'd not consider an LED headlight to be a consumable item not reasonably expected to last many years if not the life of the car.
richl123
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Re: GTI and GTI plus owners experiences

Post by richl123 »

SRGTD wrote: Fri Sep 07, 2018 1:42 am I have LED headlamps on my previous generation Polo GTI and I find them to be pretty good. I had xenons on my previous car (mk6 Golf GTD), and I can’t say I noticed any discernible difference in performance of the LEDs compared to the xenons. So, maybe yours do need adjusting.
Did your older Polo have headlamp washers with those lights? Maybe the older ones were higher power
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