Cheap German Headlights: Quality & Review

Hi,
Question for teileklaus and everyone else as well:
Does anyone have experience with aftermarket headlights, like the ones offered for the A6 by companies such as Hella +Co., which are available for around €100 instead of €200?
I had already bought similar ones for my old C4 and retrofitted the German-market headlights. The quality was okay, but they were misaligned compared to the high beam, so you couldn't really use the headlight as it came from the factory. This wouldn't have been a problem with the C4, but with the 4B, you first have to put the headlight in the oven if you want to remove the front lens.

I can only explain the differences between the G4 Hella and the G4 Saturnus (?). There's a huge difference between them.
The G4 is sometimes known for having poor lighting. However, this isn't a problem if it has xenon headlights or Hella H7 headlights.
Mine has Hella headlights. After an accident, I was sold a non-Hella headlight (not Hella) as a replacement for the damaged one (an original VW part). The light output was disastrous. It was completely patchy and dim. That's why I insisted on getting a Hella headlight, just like the ones that were originally installed.

I can't tell you if that applies to your Audi headlights as well.

Regarding the quality of the light, I can't really comment due to my lack of experience. I only noticed that some cheaper models had a black back instead of "silver," but this didn't seem to bother customers much because of the significantly better price and the fact that it was an older FZ model.
It would depend on trying.

I can only speak from experience with the Passat 3B.

The budget brand has a processing quality that is sometimes appalling. They are not even remotely pre-adjusted and cheerfully illuminate the moon after installation. In some cases, they also cannot be properly adjusted. If you want to point them downwards, they simultaneously turn sideways, and vice versa - a mechanical disaster. You have to do this three times, and then the cheap plastic gears will also strip their teeth.
The fit is satisfactory for both the bracket, the body, and the actuator motor.
In my case, there's nothing to complain about regarding the light output. It seems everything depends on which Chinese manufacturer produced the parts.

Despite the original inflated prices, I would definitely make that decision again. You can buy twice as much and it's still cheaper.

Do Saturnus still exist? They weren't very good even with the G1 models. It would be somewhat tolerable if they were pre-adjusted, but it's not acceptable if the high and low beams shine in different directions or the focusing element is misaligned in the DE version, which seems to be the case here. Ultimately, I wanted to improve the lighting, but mine aren't completely broken. So far, this doesn't sound very promising.

Do German headlights absolutely necessary? A friend of mine who owns an Audi 100 (C4) converted to H4 headlights. The original German headlights were also very dim, with reflectors that had become cloudy.

The H4 headlights that were purchased as replacements immediately provided a significant amount of light on the road. The only thing that needs to be changed is the connection. It's necessary to ensure that the low beam turns off when switching to high beam - with the German headlights, it continues to stay on. If this isn't changed, the H4 bulbs will eventually explode.

While the H4 headlights, with their structured lens cover, may appear somewhat outdated compared to the DE headlights, the fact that you don't always have to drive "blind" in the dark provides a significantly greater sense of security.

However, when converting to H4 headlights, the fog lights are lost. The fog lights that were sometimes installed on the gasoline models cannot be used on the TDIs because there simply isn't enough space. However, with the H4 headlights, you don't necessarily need the fog lights anyway. Many C4 drivers kept the DE headlights permanently switched on because they provided a little more light on the road.

I just remembered that our A6 from 1999, with the German-spec headlights, had poor lighting, even with the original equipment. The H7 bulbs in the Astra were definitely better.

Halogen headlights with a clear glass cover represent the maximum performance achievable with conventional halogen technology today. The H7 bulb also offers potential that allows for good light output even with small reflector surfaces.


The C4 series (whether as the 100 or A6 models) were always known for having poor headlights. Even the first xenon versions of the DE headlights in these vehicles had below-average light output. However, it must also be considered that the DE headlight systems in the C4 headlights are very small in design.

Furthermore, particularly with the halogen versions of these headlight systems, there were problems caused by the deteriorating reflective coating on the reflectors and by the clouding of the lenses. Anyone who tried to get more performance out of these systems by using higher-wattage halogen bulbs would quickly damage the plastic reflectors. Even legally approved +50% brighter bulbs, which emitted significantly more heat than standard bulbs, were enough to cause this. This was a direct consequence of the undersized headlight housings, which had no thermal reserve. They eventually failed due to overheating. The deteriorating or peeling reflective coating also contributed to the problem. Residue from the evaporating coating would then deposit on the lenses, further reducing light transmission.

"The H4 headlights aren't good; I now drive a 4B (pre-facelift model), and even after cleaning, the lights are still worse than those of the C4. I can't think of any current car that has such bad headlights. The only positive thing about the lights is that they don't blind anyone, neither other drivers nor the driver themselves, even in fog."

Similar to the poor quality of the C4 headlights, the headlights on the first generation Opel Calibra are also very bad. They offer extremely poor visibility in wet conditions, fog, and rain.

Another very dark chapter involves many aftermarket headlights based on German (DE) models, which are available for retrofitting onto the favorite vehicles of hobby tuners. The keyword here is: "Angel Eyes"... What some people screw into their cars and then throw away perfectly good original equipment manufacturer (OEM) headlights... It's unbelievable!