Dynamic Headlight Range Control & Bulb Monitoring

OEM HID’s and many aftermarket HID’s such as those from VXTuning come with leveling motors. To use them, you can remove the interior dimmer switch and replace it with a combo dimmer/leveling switch which has three positions for the motors (additional wiring is required.) However, the OEM headlights and, potentially, aftermarket headlights with a 12-pin connector, support an auto-leveling system called DHRC or Dynamic Headlight Range Control. This system uses sensors in the front and rear of the car to determine what is “level” and adjust the motors accordingly based on car load or other factors. This system was never offered on VW’s in the US, but it can be added. Also, an instrument cluster upgraded with the ColorMFA product can display error messages related to DHRC.

VW also offered a bulb monitoring system on some cars including Passats in the US. A FIS/MFA cluster can show these alerts, as can a ColorMFA-modded cluster.

By default, a VW clusters cannot show unique alert messages for both monitoring systems. With some soldering, a VW cluster can be modified to support both systems, but a VW car wired for DHRC will show a bulb icon because it doesn’t have the extra image for a leveling motor. However, a ColorMFA cluster can enable a unique alert image for the DHRC system via a secret menu.

This page will discuss how to enable all of these features.

Parts
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1J5920946C – Full-Pixel Euro Sport Instrument Cluster (Diesel)
4B0919471A – “393” Relay
4A0937529 – Double-Wide Relay Socket
ColorMFA Cluster Upgrade
Diodes x 2 (Part number TBD)
Kufatec Wiring Harness and Sensors for Auto-Leveling (or the following individual sensor parts)
4B0907503A – Level Sensor x 2
TBD – Front Parts
1J0941275B – Rear Guard Plate (Front Wheel Drive)
1J0941299 – Rear Linkage (Front Wheel Drive)
1J0941453B – rear Bracket (Front Wheel Drive)
1J0941299B – Rear Linkage (4Motion)
1J0941447A – Rear Clamp (4Motion)
1J0941453D – Rear Bracket (4Motion)

This guide assumes you already have Xenon HID headlights and leveling motors, the parts for which are listed on the “Headlights” page.

Cluster Modifications
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To support both monitoring systems, some soldering is required. These links have more info:

Bulb Monitoring Diode – https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6131253-DIY-Audi-bulb-monitoring-system-in-a-MKIV!
DHRC Monitoring Diode – https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/diy-audi-bulb-monitoring-system-in-a-mkiv.6131253/post-85449927
DHRC Monitoring Extra Wiring – http://colormfa.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?t=462

The 3rd link is only needed by ColorMFA. If you do not have a ColorMFA cluster, you do not need this wire.

Notes
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A VW FIS/MFA cluster modified with both diodes will show a single image for either type of failure.
A VW cluster upgraded with ColorMFA and modified with both diodes and the extra wire will show unique images for bulb and DHRC failures. However, you also need to enable DHRC in a ColorMFA secret menu (see below.)

ColorMFA Secret Menu
====================
To enable: Go to Menu->System->Screensaver-> and then press and hold the “down” button for around 30 seconds. In the left bottom corner, you will see “Debug On.” Afterwards, the “Debug” menu will be listed in “System.”
To disable: Go to Menu->System->Screensaver-> and then press and hold the “down” button for around 30 seconds. In the left bottom corner, “Debug On” will disappear.

3rd Party Resources
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To purchase ColorMFA, search for ClustersByLitke on Facebook.
If you don’t want to do any of the extra soldering work for the two monitoring systems, you might be able to pay him to do the those extra jobs as well.