idale

Looking forward to the results!

Crazy, I would've thought someone would've taken him up on it by now. Someone with a pre-facelift get those things already!

abcabc

Do you have insight into how the coding for the proper blinking works?

Wunsch

David from AudiEnthusiasts.com is going to look after that for me. It's dark magic to me, I'm afraid

Wunsch

I'll just leave this here...

JaXeN

Very nice man, congrats!

Now, do tell... Was it truly plug and play?

Wunsch

Swapping the lights was pretty straightforward. I'll write up some tips in a couple days when I have more spare time.

Once the lights were in, though, some VCDS coding was required to get them to behave properly. On the North American lights, the brake segment and turn segment both light up together, so we needed to separate them. David at AudiEnthusiasts.com helped with that part (he offers remote coding services for a small fee).

I must say, they look really good.

idale

Awesome, glad you've got them on and that David was able to do the coding for you, presumably fairly painlessly. I've seen some of the coding threads where it took a bit of doing, but I expect the coding for the 2013s probably hasn't changed much (if any) from pre-facelifts.

Daisame

That Rocks!

I need to get mine done. I am sure the small fee David charges is worth it. Assuming you still do not need purchase the VCD interface and software yourself. If you still have to purchase those, AND then he charges to do the coding and send you a file or something, that can be a little pricey.

Look forward to reading your complete write up of the project. Definitely interested in doing this. Part numbers, prices, and other details like contacts for obtaining them, will be invaluable.

Daisame

Wunsch,

Have you had a chance to write up something more formal about this conversion?

I would still like to do it myself. Not sure of the part numbers and the process of replacing the lighting assemblies. Would like to hear your lessons learned and insight.

Wunsch

Apparently I don't have the spare time I thought I did . But really, if this is something you want to do, just do it!

The actual job of swapping the light assemblies is very simple: on each side, there are two panels to pop off, three bolts to loosen, and one connector to disconnect. Then the old light slides out and the new one slides in. Do it with the hatch open, so you're working from underneath, and lifting the lights straight up to remove them. When you put the new lights in, make sure you tighten the one bolt that's over in the same opening as the connector first; that'll make it easier to get the light to sit flush on the first try. I took a few quick pictures with my phone while I was doing it, so I'll post those for reference in a bit.

As for part numbers, I think they're earlier in this thread; if not, I can look them up (or spijun will jump in). You could also just email Alex@Europrice.us and tell him you want European taillights for your 2013 Q5. He sold me mine, so he'll know what you need, and can quote you a price.

Once you have the lights installed in your vehicle, you'll discover the annoying thing that Audi did for 2013: they changed which segments of the lights are used on North American models. You'll find that both the brake segment and turn signal segment light up when you step on the brakes, and both blink when you use your turn signal. This is where some coding with a VAG-COM is required. I wasn't able to find any documentation on Q5 light coding, because nobody has really needed to do it before, so I paid David@AudiEnthusiasts.com to figure it out and make the necessary changes for me. He simply took control of my computer using TeamViewer to do it.

Admittedly, it's a rather expensive mod for something that will never be noticed except by people who know Audis, but I think it looks better, and I'm also of the opinion that orange turn signals are a good safety feature