muski

A couple of years back I replaced all the interior bulbs on my A5 with LEDS and really like it. So I recently decided to replace all the bulbs on my wife's Q7. It's a little tricky, but not too bad. (BTW, the seatwell bulbs in the 2010 Q7 are already LEDs). I mentioned that I was going to do this in another post and a few people asked me to do a writeup.

I got my bulbs from www.tunerdomes.com. There were a couple of discrepancies between 2009 Q7 kits and what was needed for the 2010, but they figured it out and sent me the right bulbs quickly. As a result, they have a new 2010 kit up that now looks to have all the correct bulbs:

http://www.tunerdomes.com/index.php?...d&productId=93

Here's some pointers...

A DISCLAIMER -- ANYTHING MENTIONED BELOW YOU DO AT YOUR OWN RISK! AUDI SPECIFICALLY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU HAVE THE DEALERSHIP REPLACE ANY BULBS. ALSO, THE INCANDESCENT BULBS CAN GET REALLY HOT AND BURN YOUR FINGERS - BEWARE!

I read some stuff on other posts about people blowing their ECUs by swapping out light bulbs when they were on. I wasn't into pulling out the battery and couldn't find the right fuse, so I ONLY CHANGED BULBS WHEN THEY WERE OFF. I either closed the doors, or waited until they 'timed out' and went off.

Also, the gap between the front seats and the console leads to a black hole. If you lose anything down there you'll never see it again. I lost two bulbs down there in the first five seconds of this project. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND PUT A TOWEL ACROSS THE SEATS/CONSOLE TO BLOCK THIS OFF.

So starting at the front, I did the front dome & front map lights first. Turns out the manual explains how to get to these bulbs -- in the section about manually opening the sunroof. It's not too difficult.

Replacing the front dome bulbs is easy -- TURN THEM OFF, then replace one, TURN THEM ON and check it's polarity. If it doesn't light, TURN THEM OFF, reverse the bulb and try again. (This polarity thing applies everywhere in the car).

The map light bulbs are really tricky, by far the hardest ones, I found. In fact, you may want to save these to last as they can be a big time sink. They have two little lumps at the bottom that have to be released. You kind of need to push the bulb in and rotate them at the same time. It took many tries to get one out and a new one in, so be patient (this was the bulb I lost down below the seat). I think I used a pair of needle nose pliers to help with this.

Then I moved to the second row reading lights -- much easier. To get this lamp holder out I used a credit card to gently pry the rear down (see pics in the next post). Support it with your other hand when you do this as it will drop suddenly and you don't want the cable to get yanked. You'll see white bulb holders in there -- turn them anti-clockwise to release. TURN OFF, replace with a regular LED wedge bulb, TURN ON and check the polarity. If it doesn't come on, rotate the bulb 180 degrees in the fixture. Repeat. (If I remember correctly, if you get the polarity of the second bulb wrong I think neither bulb will come on properly -- so do them one at a time.)

When you put this unit back, remember that the shade control button goes on the driver's side.

Onto the third row reading lights. Do them basically the same way as the second row, but these lights need two of the error canceling wedge bulbs (otherwise they flash).

Now into the rear hatch. There are three bulbs: one on either side and one in the gate. DO THEM ONE AT A TIME SO YOU GET THE POLARITY CORRECT. I did this all with the hatch closed so they weren't on. I used a REGULAR wedge bulbs for the left and right, and an ERROR CANCELING bulb for the hatch (otherwise they don't come on.)

Prying out the hatch light units can be difficult. These same fixtures are in the doors and the glovebox. When I did my A5 I invested $25 in a really nice set of plastic Bojo pry tools (technically, called spudgers). See:

http://bojoinc.com/catalog/index.php...=27_1_16_69_30

I find lots of uses for them. They have one tool that is perfect for prying these light fixtures out (see pic in next post). They also have a nice pointy one for pulling the bulbs out of the fixture.

Do one hatch bulb, and get the polarity correct. In my car the polarity was the same for every wedge bulb (including all of the doors). Do the other side and then put the error canceling one in the hatch door.

After the hatch, there are 2 wedge bulbs in similar fixtures for each door (total 8). WHEN YOU PULL THESE FIXTURES OUT BE CAREFUL NOT TO PULL HARD ON THE CABLES. I have read stories of people pulling connectors out that can only be reconnected by taking the door apart. Also, if you detach any fixtures from the wires be careful not to lose them in the door. Again there are stories...

Ensure that these wedge bulbs are properly installed in the fixture. If they don't quite go in straight, you can end up with the connector and wire not touching each other.

The last interior bulb is in the glove box. Same kind of fixture. Don't pull to hard on the fixture/cable. Polarity should be the same as the doors...

That's it!

muski

Hope these help.

xman2i380

For the second row and 3rd row, when you turn them on, doesnt it flick?
I did mine and they flick rapidly. I got the bulbs from tunerdomes too but the glove bulb didnt fit and didnt include the 3rd row center.

muski

With the regular wedge bulbs I got flickering, but when I used the error canceling bulbs it stopped happening. My glovebox bulb is just a wedge bulb like the ones in the doors...

I would email tuner domes. I'm sure they'll help you sort everything out.

xman2i380

I did, but he said the bulbs are not in stock. I was the first one to try his new bulbs for the 2010 models and when i got the bulbs, most of them is mess up so i return them for refunds and he still charge me for restocking fees. I was like "you serious, i get charge for your mistake".

muski

Just had time to install a couple of more bulbs. First, I installed the license plate bulbs. They were easy -- just unscrew one screw for each of the two lights. These are really bright bulbs and look great. Also, TunerDomes sent me some better bulbs for the map lights that give brighter, more even light.

So my project is done and looks very cool.

I've found Dave at Tunerdomes to be really responsive and easy to work with. Given I originally ordered the 2009 kits and only found a couple of bulbs were wrong, "most of them is mess up" is probably an exaggeration. Unless there are somehow differences between interior lights across the 2010 Q7 line (I have a Prestige S-Line TDI) the kit he has up on his site should now be totally dialed in.

muski

RAD2

Could you write up the product ref #s for all the bulbs?.
Thanks

bozack

so whe all was said and done you weren't getting any errors or got all the bulbs working?

muski

Yes. Everything works -- no errors.

(RAD2: sorry, I don't have part #s. I just installed what tunerdomes sent me.)

Hasser

very useful thread.

i have changed mine with help from this info.

those map lights are a right pain!!

but those are the ones i am having trouble with.

what is the spec for these lights?

bayonet fitting - yes
5W - yes
BA9's - yes

but what is the code number? 233, 433, etc. ???

i have tried two sorts of LED's for these but neither work, suffer from the flickering, one was canbus and one not. both 233 T4W type bulbs.

any one help on these?