# DIY deAutokey LED Headlights for VW CC



## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

I contacted deAutokey about a set of headlights for my CC. After receiving these headlights "as Kareem stated in his DIY for the fogs" you can really see the quality. If you have read his DIY, he described the LEDs perfectly. These are the exact same temp in color and power. I tend to take safety and organization to an extreme, so some of the steps I took are not necessary but something I wanted to do. This will be my first DIY so afterwards don't beat me up to bad. Here we go.

















First thing I did was to follow the steps that Kareem took for his set-up of the resistors. I purchased the material for the brackets, 3M tape,screws and plugs for the dust covers from Lowe's.

Items you will need to complete the process as I did.









Also a dremel tool of some sort.

Locate the back of your headlight and remove the dust cover. Set this aside for later modifications.
Remove the bulb and bracket by twisting the bracket counter clockwise.

Using gloves , remove the H7 bulb by either grabbing it at the base or use a flat head screwdriver to pry it away from the bracket. Set the bulb safely aside just in case you want to go back stock.










The deAutokey LED bulbs have no bracket for our vehicle. Therefore I took it upon myself to contact deAutokey and volunteer my services to find a solution. 

After searching the web I located a bracket from eBay. Once received it did not fit correctly. So I decided to use our stock bracket.
Use the same flathead screwdriver and remove the bracket from the stock harness. Just pry up the metal tabs on each side and it comes up easily.
Use the dremel and the standing attachment to grind down the inside of the bracket so it slides over the LED bulb.









Prepare the ballast and resistors with the 3M tape recommended. Once finished, then locate a mounting location. I chose to mount the ballast on the sides of the headlight housing where the stock HID ballast would be.








Then the resistors. They will get hot so position them away from any other wires or hoses that may get damaged.









Now your ready to install the LED bulbs.
Insert the bulbs " I found it easier to install the bulbs without the fans then screw them on later" once in the housing, located the locking tabs. There is a small hole in the fender you can look through. To lock it in twist it clockwise.









Now for a process that I chose to do. I wanted to use the dust cover for protection but the wires are a problem. Therefore, I had to modify the stock cover. Items used for this was the 1.5 inch hole bit and a plug for the wires to be guided through.

















There is enough room to slide the bracket ,harness and the two other wires from the back of the bulb through the plug in the dust cover. Take your time as this can be a little pain in the arss especially if you have large hands. After you have the wires through the dust cover you can now plug everything in and test the bulb before finishing







. 

I hope this helped and the process is a little lengthy but offers great rewards. I did this install about 4 days ago and choose to wait until I knew that the bulbs wound not bother other drivers as the HID's do in the reflector housings. I work third shift and drive 40 minutes one way to work. Not at any time has anyone flashed me or notified me that they were bothering them.

























And as a side note. I have been working with the representatives of deAutokey with there logos and other website associated items. They will be offering decals for the deAutoLED logo. They are of high quality and look extremely well.









Thanks for visiting this DIY and I hope I helped some. Big thanks to Kareem for his well documented DIY which prompted me to do this one.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

unctucker said:


> I contacted deAutokey about a set of headlights for my CC. After receiving these headlights "as Kareem stated in his DIY for the fogs" you can really see the quality. If you have read his DIY, he described the LEDs perfectly. These are the exact same temp in color and power. I tend to take safety and organization to an extreme, so some of the steps I took are not necessary but something I wanted to do. This will be my first DIY so afterwards don't beat me up to bad. Here we go.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## mango_springroll (Dec 25, 2012)

This is a good DIY. 
Have you check if the dust cover area will get a bit hot? 
I assume the fan is sucking the air outward away from the bulb heatsink and you would feel some warm air come out from the cover hole.

What ohm/watt resistor would one need?


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

The back of the dust cover is fine. I even checked the resistors last night at work with a temp gun. The engine bay read at 185-190 and the resistors read at 160.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Thanks for the great DIY and design work on the deAutoLED Vinyl Decals! We cannot wait to give those away (more info will be given on how to get your own vinyl next month).

For the adapter, that is great info, we had no idea that the CC also uses its own H7 adapter, we are going to assume it is the same as the Passat B7 and MK6 GTI, we have an adapter that will work for the HID H7rc kit, but not one for this LED kit, so this DIY is a must have to guide customers into the right direction.

Here is the listing for the H7 LED low beam and the H11 fog bulbs with DIY:
http://deautokey.com/product/led-headlight-fog-cree-led-bulb-with-ballast-1800-lumen

H11 LED Fog light DIY:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...lation-of-DeAutoKey-3600-Lumen-LED-Fog-Lights

The H7RC can be found here:
http://deautokey.com/product/new-h7...-35w-slim-digital-ballast-with-canbus-adapter

The resistors and ohms can be added to the kit within the listing above so you do not have to worry about what type is needed. This is a plug and play resistor that will simply plug into your LED Kits plugs.

The HID Kits already come with a CANBUS ADAPTER so no resistors are needed, in some cases you MIGHT need resistors if you are experiencing flickering.

H7RC Xenon Bulb Adpters can be added on the drop down menu within the listing above, this will avoid any need to make a modification to your adapter. This will not work for the LED headlight, only the H7RC Xenon bulb found in the kit above.




unctucker said:


> The back of the dust cover is fine. I even checked the resistors last night at work with a temp gun. The engine bay read at 185-190 and the resistors read at 160.


That sounds just about right, it will not get too hot for your car, all car items are able to resist heat up to 500 degrees. 

Thanks again for the great review and DIY :thumbup:


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Added the LED fogs.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Added the LED fogs.


Great photo! Up on FB:
CC FB Post


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## sk8too (Dec 23, 2004)

But what about the blinding affect this may have on other drivers? Are these doing the same thing that HIDs do in a non-projector housing and scattering the light all over the road instead of a focused beam?


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

sk8too said:


> But what about the blinding affect this may have on other drivers? Are these doing the same thing that HIDs do in a non-projector housing and scattering the light all over the road instead of a focused beam?


We have not seen it with the LEDs, they give more of the halogen bulb projection without blinding and at 1800 lumens it is half an HID so it isn't overpowering in the halogen but still bright.

if you have that concern, the H7RC xenon bulb would be best for your headlights, that is 5mm shorter and has black tape to eliminate the blinding glare in your halogens without the need of projectors.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

sk8too said:


> But what about the blinding affect this may have on other drivers? Are these doing the same thing that HIDs do in a non-projector housing and scattering the light all over the road instead of a focused beam?


As I stated in the DIY. I tested these lights for 4 days on country roads and highways here in central NC. I even drove my wifes car while she drove mine and drove past each other to do an even thorough test. Other than the lights being much brighter and a very clean White, I did not have any blinding nor did it bother me seeing the road in front of me as she past by. I hope this helps.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> As I stated in the DIY. I tested these lights for 4 days on country roads and highways here in central NC. I even drove my wifes car while she drove mine and drove past each other to do an even thorough test. Other than the lights being much brighter and a very clean White, I did not have any blinding nor did it bother me seeing the road in front of me as she past by. I hope this helps.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


:thumbup: Great info, these are great for reflectors for that reason, the shape of the bulb and beam angle creates a bright xenon look as if they were in projectors in your halogen reflector housings.

Thank you


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## Utwarreng (Jun 29, 2014)

Where did you find your 1.5" wire grommet & cap at? I'm struggling to find anything that small; OfficeMax only had 2" and bigger.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Found it at Lowe's. There is a picture with the part number at the beginning of this thread.


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## Utwarreng (Jun 29, 2014)

unctucker said:


> Found it at Lowe's. There is a picture with the part number at the beginning of this thread.


Thanks, can't believe that I missed that.

I was able to avoid modifying the original brackets with a Dremel as you described. If you feed the two lead wires back through the rubber grommet, then put the other connectors and grommet through the clip; bringing the clip up to where the bulb is, you won't have to file or dremel the factory clip. It's a very tight fit to get the plastic clips through, but it can be done, and saves you from needing to file down the factory clip. Just make sure to feed the lead wires back through the grommet (it's easier to do this before you reinstall the bulb in the housing).


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Utwarreng said:


> Thanks, can't believe that I missed that.
> 
> I was able to avoid modifying the original brackets with a Dremel as you described. If you feed the two lead wires back through the rubber grommet, then put the other connectors and grommet through the clip; bringing the clip up to where the bulb is, you won't have to file or dremel the factory clip. It's a very tight fit to get the plastic clips through, but it can be done, and saves you from needing to file down the factory clip. Just make sure to feed the lead wires back through the grommet (it's easier to do this before you reinstall the bulb in the housing).


It is a different set up for the H7RC Xenon bulbs and the review that was done here for the LED Headlights, the xenon H7RC are a direct plug and play and designed differently. The led headlights in this review will need a small modification to the housing adapter for the bulb. But again, NOT for the H7RC xenon bulb, ONLY the LED H7 Headlight bulb.

That can get confusing, so thanks for letting us clear this up:thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Hi, we were told that you also tried these as cornering LEDs but did not have enough clearance? Did you try this with the fan off, and do you have any photos of how much space it is missing by, we have a few customers who want to use the LEDs as cornering lights like the MK7 GTI as it lights up quick, and it is a lot brighter, if it is not much room we can modify these to work with the cornering LEDs.

Here is a photo of the cornering LEDs on an MK7 GTI:




















As you can see from the photos, they are brighter and give a more crisp white Light temperature which allows you to see even better on turns, it is a great feature. 

Thanks for the help and great DIY


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

I will try to find the pictures I took of the cornering lights. The position of the lights in the housing makes it very difficult to use anything other than stock bulbs. Once you remove the dust cover, the end of the bulb is right there. There is not enough room for the LED bulbs much less the extra wires for the ballast and converter.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> I will try to find the pictures I took of the cornering lights. The position of the lights in the housing makes it very difficult to use anything other than stock bulbs. Once you remove the dust cover, the end of the bulb is right there. There is not enough room for the LED bulbs much less the extra wires for the ballast and converter.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks for the reply, even with the fan removed? The fan has to be removed with the MK7 and is not important as these will not be on for long periods of time. Also, have you tried to remove your headlight to install these? Not asking you to, that is up to you, but we had a few customers ask about cornering LEDs and we want to try to get the best answer for them. The ballast is very small, even smaller than the smallest HID ballast on the market, and can fit almost anywhere.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

This is a picture that I sent to you guys back in June. It clearly shows the very tight fit of the factory bulb. With the angle of the housing and position of the bulb, the housing would need modifications in order to compensate for the added length of the LED bulb " minus the fan".


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> This is a picture that I sent to you guys back in June. It clearly shows the very tight fit of the factory bulb. With the angle of the housing and position of the bulb, the housing would need modifications in order to compensate for the added length of the LED bulb " minus the fan".


:thumbup: ok great information.

We have a few people who help out around here so you could have been speaking to a different associate, we never seen the photo, or they forgot to fwd it to us.

We will show our customer and let them know.

Thanks for the help


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

I'll comment here so it pushes the DIY to the top of the forums.


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## Nethers (Dec 2, 2013)

In! For replacing my USP Motorsport HIDs when they go out. Bought them because a bulb was out and it had a video DIY that I knew I could do. This would be brilliant and a guaranteed sale had this been a video when I was originally shopping.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Nethers said:


> In! For replacing my USP Motorsport HIDs when they go out. Bought them because a bulb was out and it had a video DIY that I knew I could do. This would be brilliant and a guaranteed sale had this been a video when I was originally shopping.


Thank you for keeping our product in mind, our HID Kits also come with a lifetime warranty, and the H7RC xenon bulb will not cause glare like a regular H7 xenon bulb.

More info:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-%96-Get-the-Projector-housing-look-instantly!

:thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

:thumbup:

Awesome write up on the dust cap.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

This thread will help answer a lot of questions people have about LED headlights.
:thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

We are testing these as cornering lights, so far they seem to be working nice, originally we thought they would not fit but seems that they will fit fine. We will keep the thread updated.

Thank you :thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Update, the setup looks different and this setup has more room:


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Due to the fact that there was a headlight and tail light redesign on the 2013 VW CC.


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## Nethers (Dec 2, 2013)

Does it work for the 2009-12 model? Will consider if mine burn a bulb.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Fast Layne (Oct 15, 2015)

Hello all! Yes, my 2013 has a little different design and from my trial and error last night it seems like it will work out for my corner lights. However, I just need to modify the headlight housing cap, to keep it moisture resistant. I plan to do this soon and will post pictures of my progress. I sent the above pics to deAutokey.com last night. I have the H7s with the fabric cooling fins, which are a bit bulky, so I need to take my time to make it as clean of an install as possible.

I will say this, I did get light out error codes on dash when plugged in without the resistors, and for whatever reason these H7s would not turn one without the resistors either...on my car anyway. Luckily deAutokey sent me resistor harnesses, just in case!


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Due to the fact that there was a headlight and tail light redesign on the 2013 VW CC.


:thumbup: yes great catch, it can get very confusing keeping track of all the VW models.



Nethers said:


> Does it work for the 2009-12 model? Will consider if mine burn a bulb.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It works, but you most likely have to remove your headlight to get the bulb inside due to the tight spacing.


But if you have the headlight linked 2 posts above, you DO NOT have to remove your headlight, the design allows you to get in there:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthre...-for-VW-CC&p=88872641&viewfull=1#post88872641


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## Nethers (Dec 2, 2013)

deAutoKey.com said:


> :thumbup: yes great catch, it can get very confusing keeping track of all the VW models.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would have loved to install those headlights, but at the time only USP had a DIY Step-By-Step Youtube Product Installation Video that made a terrible wrench such as myself be able to install the headlights. Because of that, I have the RFB Lighting HID Headlight Conversion kit, but am curious do you have any pictures of the install inside the 09-12' stock headlight housing or know how the wiring runs? I want to make sure its compatible with the HID setup (relatively same workflow as stock except headlight wiring first run to ballasts) that I already have as I never noticed the cornering lighting element.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Nethers said:


> I would have loved to install those headlights, but at the time only USP had a DIY Step-By-Step Youtube Product Installation Video that made a terrible wrench such as myself be able to install the headlights. Because of that, I have the RFB Lighting HID Headlight Conversion kit, but am curious do you have any pictures of the install inside the 09-12' stock headlight housing or know how the wiring runs? I want to make sure its compatible with the HID setup (relatively same workflow as stock except headlight wiring first run to ballasts) that I already have as I never noticed the cornering lighting element.


We cannot help you there as we cannot speak about a different set up.

But we NEVER suggest a regular xenon kit in reflectors and why we have the H7RC that creates a better cut-off with no glare in the reflector housing:
http://deautokey.com/product/volkswagen-cc-h7rc-xenon-hid-kit


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## BOUDAH (Aug 15, 2008)

omg, you seriously put HIDs in your stock Halogen housings. im BLIND! ditch that **** and put projectors in your stock housings if you want HIDs.


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## mango_springroll (Dec 25, 2012)

Lool I had done that before my DEPO headlights. No one complained nor were they blinding others. I'm sure I drove passed police without issue. I'd stick with 4300k~4500k range so you wouldn't raise any unwanted attention. :thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

BOUDAH said:


> omg, you seriously put HIDs in your stock Halogen housings. im BLIND! ditch that **** and put projectors in your stock housings if you want HIDs.





mango_springroll said:


> Lool I had done that before my DEPO headlights. No one complained nor were they blinding others. I'm sure I drove passed police without issue. I'd stick with 4300k~4500k range so you wouldn't raise any unwanted attention. :thumbup:


Regular xenon in a reflector isn't a good idea. We never suggest it.

Our H7RC xenon kit is a much better option as it creates a beam angel like the halogen which won't blind others on the road:
http://deautokey.com/product/volkswagen-cc-h7rc-xenon-hid-kit


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## Nethers (Dec 2, 2013)

BOUDAH said:


> omg, you seriously put HIDs in your stock Halogen housings. im BLIND! ditch that **** and put projectors in your stock housings if you want HIDs.


Yep, 4300k HIDs in stock housing. Tested them, they don't blind. Over a year with them, never ticketed nor pulled over for lighting. Seen hundreds of cops, and thousands of cars, never flashed at. Now are they bright? Yes. Blinding, nope. You could sit in a Miata across the intersection and be fine. 

I would love to install one of the deAutokey H7RC headlights and compare. Though, I am interested in more of a full conversion setup such as a Dectane or s5 style headlight. Does deAutokey make any full sets rather than bulb conversions?


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## Fast Layne (Oct 15, 2015)

*H7 LED corners in 13' VW CC*

So this is what mine looks like after the install of the H7 deAutokey LED for my corner lights. I will say the heat from the resistor is more than I expected and I'll probably change the 3m double sided tape out to something else. The heat is transferring down through the aluminum bracket I made and getting to the tape. I also notched the housing lip where the cap goes, for my resistor wires, instead of cutting holes into my rubber cap. This keeps the install looking clean and less modified, in my opinion. This CC has adaptive HIDs and all the LED running lights, so the set up may or may not work on other models. The back of the LED where the fabric cooling fins are, does touch the rubber cap, but it fits and cap is on tightly. I do not have night pictures yet with lights on.


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## Pottle (May 5, 2006)

I get flashed at sometimes with the kit I bought off you guys. I don't care, I can see great. haha


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Pottle said:


> I get flashed at sometimes with the kit I bought off you guys. I don't care, I can see great. haha


The H7RC xenon kit or an LED kit?

If it is the h7rc kit, just adjust the bulb and it will be fine- if it is the LED kit there is no real way around it and why we always suggest the H7RC kit.

UNCTucker who made this thread as gone with H7RC HID kit also:
http://deautokey.com/product/volkswagen-cc-h7rc-xenon-hid-kit


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## Pottle (May 5, 2006)

deAutoKey.com said:


> The H7RC xenon kit or an LED kit?
> 
> If it is the h7rc kit, just adjust the bulb and it will be fine- if it is the LED kit there is no real way around it and why we always suggest the H7RC kit.
> 
> ...


WHOOPS. I have the h7rc kit, read the title of the thread wrong. 

I do whoever, think I need to adjust my lights.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Pottle said:


> WHOOPS. I have the h7rc kit, read the title of the thread wrong.
> 
> I do whoever, think I need to adjust my lights.


Thanks for letting us know.

Yes, the H7RC fit slightly different sometimes (not always), they have a metal base so can you adjust them down, you can even look to see if the are level, if thy are pointing slightly up the glare can occur.

When you get flashed are you on uneven road as if you are approaching someone from an on even road/hill any light will blind you.


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## Pottle (May 5, 2006)

They look level in the housing. I think I just need to adjust them.


Usually while driving on a normal road I will get flashed, but like I said, does not bother me.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Pottle said:


> They look level in the housing. I think I just need to adjust them.
> 
> 
> Usually while driving on a normal road I will get flashed, but like I said, does not bother me.


The best thing to do is try to adjust the metal and bulb and then see if it changes the beam angle on the wall. Moving the bulb just a bit can make a huge difference. keep us updated with what you find.

Thank you


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## Fast Layne (Oct 15, 2015)

*Night pics of the H7 Led corners from DeAutokey*

For all that were wondering. They work great!:thumbup:










https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JORvSDq07bA/Vi5****wSDI/AAAAAAAAAB0/kmBnXKJysKU/s512-Ic42/20151023_190223.jpg


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Fast Layne - thank you for the great photos, we will borrow them for the listing - please end us your IG to tag you also.

:thumbup:


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## Fast Layne (Oct 15, 2015)

deAutoKey.com said:


> Fast Layne - thank you for the great photos, we will borrow them for the listing - please end us your IG to tag you also.
> 
> :thumbup:


Sounds good, will do!


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Fast Layne said:


> Sounds good, will do!


Thank you - we appreciate the support. :thumbup:


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## Seabassthekid (Feb 21, 2017)

On ebay this is listed to fit the 09-10 CC, will it fit a 2012?


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