Condensation and water droplets inside headlight

[TheJimster]

Hi all, I've just read down this thread, most intriguing. The issue has happened on more than one vehicle and there is an assertion that it constitutes a failure of MOT. If the issue affects more than a certain percentage of vehicles surely there should be factory recall to replace the headlight units and address the root cause of the issue on all ID3s. If you have an accident because of poor visibility related to this then will VW end up in court?
LED lights are common on multiple vehicle models now, is this a problem elsewhere or unique to the ID range?
Ask for your dealer to provide details on the number of customers with the same issue, it might nudge their thinking. Or get onto Fully Charged or Which.

It certainly feels like potential MOT failure territory to me. I found that the light output from the affected headlight was noticeably affected by all the condensation and drips.

Interestingly, I see that Which have removed the ID3 from their best buy list, on the basis of below average reliability.

[DumfriesDik]

I think condensation in the headlights has happened on nearly every car I’ve owned.

And yet I have never had this issue on any of the many cars I've had!

I'd be hacked off at being given the run around by the dealer and/or VW. It is disappointing to learn of this kind of attitude is in any car group yet alone VAG.

[monkeyhanger]

I think condensation in the headlights has happened on nearly every car I’ve owned.

That used to be fine on cars with halogen headlights that put out enough heat to evaporate that condensation, and to a lesser extent, Xenon (putting out about half as much heat as halogens).

LEDs are much more efficient, and convert almost all of the energy in to light, with very little heat generated as a byproduct. No heat = no evaporation.

VW UK always take the side of the dealer if they've given a poor report of the issue that doesn't strongly suggest its a warranty claim. Go to a different dealer group. In my area, Lookers are poor for this, so I always go to Pulman.

[andrewparker]

I think condensation in the headlights has happened on nearly every car I’ve owned.

And yet I have never had this issue on any of the many cars I've had!

To be fair it's never been close to as bad as some of the examples posted here. It's certainly never impeded on the function of the lights themselves. I looked at our 2019 BMW X3 this morning, and it's headlights have a few small areas of condensation, and I'm sure all of the four MK7/7.5 Golfs I had suffered from it. The only cars that I can think of that haven't is my Porsche (Bi Xenons) and my Up GTI (halogen bulbs).

[snagglepuss]

This was my original post and FYI the dealer replaced the complete housing without hesitation.
It appears to be a fault on many iD3's and it occurs on the passenger (near side) headlamp.
Hope this helps.

[TheJimster]

Same here. I booked mine into the dealer today, they've just called to let me know that a replacement headlight has been ordered.

I also had a niggling piece of loose trim underneath the infotainment screen, which wouldn't quite stay clipped in place properly, that's getting replaced as well.

This was with Inchcape in Macclesfield. I've only used them a couple of times previously, with previous cars, but I've been using their Audi garage around the corner for almost ten years and have been very pleased with the service I've had from them.

[fatman]

I have noticed for the past couple of days both headlights are misted, with the passenger side extremely misted. The mist remains even after a long dry drive.

e mail from dealer,,

,, have received your images of your car. The lights in the newer cars are now vented and do cause misting in the colder temperatures. ..........so what i can do ,please advice

[Utumno]

Tell them that the level of misting is unacceptable on the passenger side, and is considerably more than the drivers side.

And then tell them to book it in for a warranty replacement.

If they refuse, go to a different dealer and/or complain to VW UK. Rinse and repeat until they replace the faulty passenger headlamp unit.

[TheJimster]

I have noticed for the past couple of days both headlights are misted, with the passenger side extremely misted. The mist remains even after a long dry drive.

e mail from dealer,,

,, have received your images of your car. The lights in the newer cars are now vented and do cause misting in the colder temperatures. ..........so what i can do ,please advice

Can you post a photo here?

These are the photos I emailed to my dealer before bringing the car in, to demonstrate that the problem was severe and persistent. To their credit, they didn't ask for these, they booked the car in for an inspection straight away. I just figured it could do no harm to send them.

[TheJimster]

Just to confirm, my headlight has been replaced now.

There was no fuss with the dealers, they inspected the car, got approval from VW to carry out the replacement the next day, and I took the car back in as soon as they'd had the new headlight delivered.

[Daveion]

[TheJimster]

Well, this hasn't quite gone to plan!

A few months down the line, the replacement headlight has failed in exactly the same way as the original one. It's not misted up quite as severely yet, but is clearly heading that way. The original driver's side one is still fine, with no sign of any condensation.

I've yet to report this to the dealers. Fingers crossed they'll just get on and replace it again. But it's a shame that VW don't seem to have made any improvements to the design of the unit, to stop this happening.

Just to confirm, my headlight has been replaced now.

There was no fuss with the dealers, they inspected the car, got approval from VW to carry out the replacement the next day, and I took the car back in as soon as they'd had the new headlight delivered.

[thefordprefect]

Noticed after some heavy rain nothing too significant but certainly in my mind should not be there!

[monkeyhanger]

Not sure why these aren't sealed units now. You needed venting on Halogen/Xenon, fortheheat produced, to prevent implode/explode on heating and cooling in operation. Is tgat necessary now? I suppose the unit can still heat up in the sun when the car's parked, but the LEDs will be putting out very little heat.

[TheJimster]

Well, this hasn't quite gone to plan!

A few months down the line, the replacement headlight has failed in exactly the same way as the original one. It's not misted up quite as severely yet, but is clearly heading that way. The original driver's side one is still fine, with no sign of any condensation.

I've yet to report this to the dealers. Fingers crossed they'll just get on and replace it again. But it's a shame that VW don't seem to have made any improvements to the design of the unit, to stop this happening.

Just to confirm, my headlight has been replaced now.

There was no fuss with the dealers, they inspected the car, got approval from VW to carry out the replacement the next day, and I took the car back in as soon as they'd had the new headlight delivered.

Update on headlights. I took the car in for inspection quite a while ago, by which time the (already replaced) passenger side headlight was very badly misted up. The original driver's side one had also started to mist up less severely.

The passenger side one was approved for replacement, and the car has just been in to have it replaced alongside the 3.2 update.

VW wouldn't approve replacement of the driver's side one though. Frustratingly, it had cleared up by the time the car actually got to the workshop. Even though I had provided photographs showing how bad it had been, the technician told me that in order to get approval from VW for replacement, they have to provide photographs of the headlamps taken under specific conditions.

[2021_ID3_T5]

Just to add that here in ROI I'm on my 3rd or 4th headlight, can't remember now, passenger headlight and it's misting up again but not permanently, never a drop in the drivers side only the passenger.

The dealer has been great, says it's only my id3 that has had this issue, very strange. Mine is the T5.

[2021_ID3_T5]

I was in with the dealer this morning and they are arranging to have the 5th headlight installed.

This is beyond ridiculous, I am just glad this time around I bought a car with a dealer only a few miles away.

Always the passenger headlight, and they have said it's always me and only me that they have had this issue, not that they are meaning anything negative towards me.

The car has 3 year warranty or 90,000 Kms and I'm around 64,000 Kms I bought it in October 2021.

Unfortunately, the dealer has to go through the same process even though it's the same issue, they can't just replace the headlight.

I know the Matrix headlights are fantastic especially on my dark narrow country roads, they really are fantastic but in reality they are complex and very expensive to replace if they fail so on that basis I'd be inclined to get a car with these headlamps again, good o'l halogen never let me down even if I had to replace bulbs, this kind of hardship just isn't worth it especially if it starts costing me after the 3 years, I will probably have to fight them legally after that because there's an obvious issue and they need to do a recall, in my opinion.

[2021_ID3_T5]

Had the car in, they replaced some seals and the issue remains.

It's to go in in November for 4 or 5 days , not sure what they will do but I can't believe VW can't fix a fogged up headlight after 2 years..............

[Mike Stratford]

Passenger side headlamp on July 2022 ID3 misted up, driver's side fine. Hoping that Listers are happy to replace under warranty.

[Mike Stratford]

Condensation then water drops inside passenger side headlight of 2022 ID3, taken to Listers, Stratford and replaced under warranty no trouble,