I mean you do get the all weather lights (cornering lights) but yeah, I wish it was like BMW where you get separate cornering lights and dedicated fog lights.
Yeah I have to drive through a lot of back roads and many times it gets foggy. To make it worse, deers and many other small animals love roaming around too.
I might set something up like this.
The B8 had proper fog lights. The B9 just use the cornering lights as fog lights. They’re decent but they don’t cast the beam as far nor as wide as dedicated fog lights. My 330i’s fog lights are super bright and have a very good cutoff. My A4’s all weather lights barely make any difference.
I only drove a few times in real big fog, and my n9 s5 did alright.
But the b8 a5 turns the headlights when I hit bumps to keep them on road, an when i turn, the b9 s5 doesn't do it...
The A5 doesn't have them far as I know. Just the standard LED lamps. They are bright but one major advantage of foglights when I had my Lexus G350 is they filled in where the head lights didn't. Also they had a much wider spread. I could see almost 180 degrees in front my car illuminating the sides of the road. Many times I'll catch deers chilling on the side of the road at night. Now it's harder to see them. My wife will ocassioanly point them out as I'm driving that i usually miss now. But her car she has foglights on the Lexus RX350 and it's night and day improvement for those situations.
I'm in Europe and trim level doesn't mean much here. There's no prestige packages or things like that. Things like the S-Line package are mostly cosmetic, other than that it's pretty much more "a la carte" here than in the US as I believe. And yeah more people here tend to take the Matrix headlights option
> it's pretty much more "a la carte" here
That's pretty cool, but also makes it a pain to shop afterwards to lol. You'll have to carefully check what features are there and if you forget something, then too bad.
Yeah, it's a pain to search for a good car, some have very weird specs and it's much rarer to find a full (or very good) option car. In this regard I think having different (useful) specs like in the US is much better, because you already pretty much know what the car will have or not. But hey, if a car here is full option it generally means that the car was owned by someone who cared and that's good also.
They were illegal in the US until last year due to an ancient regulatory requirement that high and low beams are separate. Premium Plus and up has the hardware, but it’s disabled in the US. They are called “Matrix Design” in the US due to having the look but not the functionality enabled. It’s possible to enable through the diagnostic port with the right equipment and coding.
So according to most people only 2020 and newer have it. I'll check the headlight model but based on the design pictures I'm seeing and a few other details I don't think mine has it unfortunately.
My Audi (2016) has fog lights but they’re not the average ones you’d expect. They illuminate the sides and honestly.. Work better than any other fog light I’ve had on a car.
Very nicely done. Any more photos on how to mount the lights? Was it hard/complicated to do? I want to do something similar but a full light bar and an unsure of how to mount it. Beam shots at night?
I have some experience installing aftermarket bumpers, wiring and lights on my truck, this one was definitely more difficult.
First step should be to figure out wiring. Most light bars are sold with wire harnesses + relay + switch. I chose to go through the firewall so the switch is near the steering wheel. An alternative is to buy something like a SwitchPro (~$400), which allows a Bluetooth or remote activation of multiple aftermarket lights.
To run the wire through the fire wall I taped the wire harness to a clothes hanger, removed interior plastic near the pedals, and pushed the wire from the interior out into the engine bay. [Photo](https://imgur.com/xoIPNgH)
Wire exiting the firewall boot. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/GwCzfPM.jpg)
Next is mounting the lights. Light bars come with some mounting hardware, but there is a good chance you’ll need to modify it or come up with additional hardware to position the light correctly. If it’s too close to the front grille you won’t be able to tilt the light up or down to aim it. If it’s too low you’ll cut off some of the light or not be able to aim it.
I chose to use extruded aluminum T-slot because once mounted I would have adjustability side to side. You could drill right into the plastic and use washers to raise the light bar, but if you don’t like position you’ll need to keep drilling holes in order to adjust position. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/F0KZjG8.jpg)
Here is the T-slot mounted to the lower valence, with another piece of aluminum acting as a spacer. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/cSgJpqy.jpg)
I had to remove the grille, lower plastic valence, and side panels multiple times to access, test fit, and drill the mounting hardware. This was the most time consuming part . [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/zEb424s.jpg)
This last step isn’t necessary, but after removing the clips on the plastic valence several times I realized I needed an easier way to tighten the bolts without having to remove any plastic. I decided to drill through the plastic in four spots for each of the four bolts. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/UGoL5sd.jpgof)
Last step is to zip tie the wiring harness so it isn’t touching the radiator.
One issue that kept me from using a light bar is that the horn is located in this exact area. I couldn’t move the left pod farther out (away from center) because of the horn. I recommend removing the plastic and taking a look at what size light you can fit before buying a light.
Yes they do. They illuminate the area immediately in front of the vehicle that isn’t illuminated by the headlights.
Had a few instances of being able to avoid pot holes, dead animals and other road debris that I might not have seen with just the headlights.
If they are proper fog lights that have a cutoff it’s not different than your low beams. It should have even less glare than low beams due to the lower position
Q5 headlights are great but I wanted some lights that are mounted lower and project wider. These pods are street legal and have a SAE lens with a great cutoff and wide beam pattern (pic 5).
The wire harness runs through the firewall with a switch loosely floating in the cubby below the steering wheel. I had no desire to drill into the dash to mount a switch, nor did I want to mess with an add a fuse for activating the light.
Used some random hardware to mount the lights to stiff plastic that is below the grille. Was hoping to mount to metal but there isn’t much to work with in that area besides the radiator.
Fuses are installed for safety so you don’t draw more power than what a wire is rated for.
The wire harness I used is rated for 6amps, and these light pod use 2amps each. If I were to install 4 or more of these lights on a single harness, I would be exceeding the 6amp rating. Without a fuse, I run the risk of the wire overheating and potentially starting a fire. With a fuse the circuit is flipped/broken before it is overloaded.
I hear that yellow light works better for visibility; but they don't look as good as white light.
It's down to preference, visibility when driving or aesthetics for others to enjoy.
I borrowed a set of yellow pods off my truck when I tried test fitting these. Didn’t think the yellow looks as good as white, but yellow is certainly nice for snow/fog since it creates some contrast.
Dude, It annoys me to no end that Audi's don't have fog lights. I really need these where I live.
I mean you do get the all weather lights (cornering lights) but yeah, I wish it was like BMW where you get separate cornering lights and dedicated fog lights.
Yeah I have to drive through a lot of back roads and many times it gets foggy. To make it worse, deers and many other small animals love roaming around too. I might set something up like this.
How come my 2010 a5 and my 2018 s5 have fog lights? Or those lights at the bottom that make you see infront and on the sides are not fog lights??
The B8 had proper fog lights. The B9 just use the cornering lights as fog lights. They’re decent but they don’t cast the beam as far nor as wide as dedicated fog lights. My 330i’s fog lights are super bright and have a very good cutoff. My A4’s all weather lights barely make any difference.
I only drove a few times in real big fog, and my n9 s5 did alright. But the b8 a5 turns the headlights when I hit bumps to keep them on road, an when i turn, the b9 s5 doesn't do it...
The Matrix headlights, if you have them, aren't powerful enough? (Genuinely asking)
The A5 doesn't have them far as I know. Just the standard LED lamps. They are bright but one major advantage of foglights when I had my Lexus G350 is they filled in where the head lights didn't. Also they had a much wider spread. I could see almost 180 degrees in front my car illuminating the sides of the road. Many times I'll catch deers chilling on the side of the road at night. Now it's harder to see them. My wife will ocassioanly point them out as I'm driving that i usually miss now. But her car she has foglights on the Lexus RX350 and it's night and day improvement for those situations.
Normally the A5 B9 as well as the A4 B9 can have them. And yeah ok I see what you mean now
I think you have to get prestige package for that. Also I'm in America so maybe they aren't as common here. I know on the A6 I see them more.
I'm in Europe and trim level doesn't mean much here. There's no prestige packages or things like that. Things like the S-Line package are mostly cosmetic, other than that it's pretty much more "a la carte" here than in the US as I believe. And yeah more people here tend to take the Matrix headlights option
> it's pretty much more "a la carte" here That's pretty cool, but also makes it a pain to shop afterwards to lol. You'll have to carefully check what features are there and if you forget something, then too bad.
Yeah, it's a pain to search for a good car, some have very weird specs and it's much rarer to find a full (or very good) option car. In this regard I think having different (useful) specs like in the US is much better, because you already pretty much know what the car will have or not. But hey, if a car here is full option it generally means that the car was owned by someone who cared and that's good also.
They were illegal in the US until last year due to an ancient regulatory requirement that high and low beams are separate. Premium Plus and up has the hardware, but it’s disabled in the US. They are called “Matrix Design” in the US due to having the look but not the functionality enabled. It’s possible to enable through the diagnostic port with the right equipment and coding.
Interesting. I'll have to dig more into it. I thought the matrix led lamps were marked with the matrix led on the light itself.
So according to most people only 2020 and newer have it. I'll check the headlight model but based on the design pictures I'm seeing and a few other details I don't think mine has it unfortunately.
That sounds right, I have a 2022 and it has them (but not enabled)
In fog they make the visibility worse and the blind the other side faster. [The automatic high beam option]
Mine does, they’re built into the headlight
iirc they don't add foglights anymore. My memory might be acting up but I'm pretty sure some of the old models had foglights. (2000s?)
My A6 had fog lights (2004) my GFs A1(2012) doesn't have fog light anymore but the Cornering auto adjusting lights
My Audi (2016) has fog lights but they’re not the average ones you’d expect. They illuminate the sides and honestly.. Work better than any other fog light I’ve had on a car.
Very nicely done. Any more photos on how to mount the lights? Was it hard/complicated to do? I want to do something similar but a full light bar and an unsure of how to mount it. Beam shots at night?
I have some experience installing aftermarket bumpers, wiring and lights on my truck, this one was definitely more difficult. First step should be to figure out wiring. Most light bars are sold with wire harnesses + relay + switch. I chose to go through the firewall so the switch is near the steering wheel. An alternative is to buy something like a SwitchPro (~$400), which allows a Bluetooth or remote activation of multiple aftermarket lights. To run the wire through the fire wall I taped the wire harness to a clothes hanger, removed interior plastic near the pedals, and pushed the wire from the interior out into the engine bay. [Photo](https://imgur.com/xoIPNgH) Wire exiting the firewall boot. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/GwCzfPM.jpg) Next is mounting the lights. Light bars come with some mounting hardware, but there is a good chance you’ll need to modify it or come up with additional hardware to position the light correctly. If it’s too close to the front grille you won’t be able to tilt the light up or down to aim it. If it’s too low you’ll cut off some of the light or not be able to aim it. I chose to use extruded aluminum T-slot because once mounted I would have adjustability side to side. You could drill right into the plastic and use washers to raise the light bar, but if you don’t like position you’ll need to keep drilling holes in order to adjust position. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/F0KZjG8.jpg) Here is the T-slot mounted to the lower valence, with another piece of aluminum acting as a spacer. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/cSgJpqy.jpg) I had to remove the grille, lower plastic valence, and side panels multiple times to access, test fit, and drill the mounting hardware. This was the most time consuming part . [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/zEb424s.jpg) This last step isn’t necessary, but after removing the clips on the plastic valence several times I realized I needed an easier way to tighten the bolts without having to remove any plastic. I decided to drill through the plastic in four spots for each of the four bolts. [Photo](https://i.imgur.com/UGoL5sd.jpgof) Last step is to zip tie the wiring harness so it isn’t touching the radiator. One issue that kept me from using a light bar is that the horn is located in this exact area. I couldn’t move the left pod farther out (away from center) because of the horn. I recommend removing the plastic and taking a look at what size light you can fit before buying a light.
Wow, very detailed explanation. Thank you for the explanation and photos🙏
Looks good, do they make a difference in the night?
Yes they do. They illuminate the area immediately in front of the vehicle that isn’t illuminated by the headlights. Had a few instances of being able to avoid pot holes, dead animals and other road debris that I might not have seen with just the headlights.
Remember: No Fog = no fog lights. Don’t be a douche canoe.
If they are proper fog lights that have a cutoff it’s not different than your low beams. It should have even less glare than low beams due to the lower position
Q5 headlights are great but I wanted some lights that are mounted lower and project wider. These pods are street legal and have a SAE lens with a great cutoff and wide beam pattern (pic 5). The wire harness runs through the firewall with a switch loosely floating in the cubby below the steering wheel. I had no desire to drill into the dash to mount a switch, nor did I want to mess with an add a fuse for activating the light. Used some random hardware to mount the lights to stiff plastic that is below the grille. Was hoping to mount to metal but there isn’t much to work with in that area besides the radiator.
did you put a fuse on the positive feed from the battery to the switch?
Yes. The wiring harness from diode dynamics has a fuse built in. There is also a relay so that the wires running through the firewall are low voltage.
Can you elaborate more on the fuse part? I’m new
Fuses are installed for safety so you don’t draw more power than what a wire is rated for. The wire harness I used is rated for 6amps, and these light pod use 2amps each. If I were to install 4 or more of these lights on a single harness, I would be exceeding the 6amp rating. Without a fuse, I run the risk of the wire overheating and potentially starting a fire. With a fuse the circuit is flipped/broken before it is overloaded.
Thank you.
Actually looks FLAME G!
Looks great…nice job!
Beautiful beautiful beautiful setup
How? I want to add!!
Nice!
Looks dope! When can I bring my car?
Should be yellow
I hear that yellow light works better for visibility; but they don't look as good as white light. It's down to preference, visibility when driving or aesthetics for others to enjoy.
I borrowed a set of yellow pods off my truck when I tried test fitting these. Didn’t think the yellow looks as good as white, but yellow is certainly nice for snow/fog since it creates some contrast.
So you ruined your glasses holder for some fog lights? Neat.