Replacing the Smoked Rear Lights

The car came with smoked black rear lights. They can look good on a white or black Golf, but on my blue Edition 35 they did not suit the colour and made the car look like it belonged to an 18 year old. So I replaced them with original GTI Mk6 rear lights, which are almost identical to the Edition 35 ones (slightly brighter, since the Golf R and edition cars have dimmed versions).

I started by asking scrapyards for prices on regular Golf rear lights. One quoted 650 euros for worn old lights that were far from perfect. Then Sigurd sent me a Facebook Marketplace listing for original GTI lights in near perfect condition, at 1200 DKK (160 euros), described as brand new.

I got in touch to confirm the condition and shipping to Norway, and bought them. The total came to 254 euros with shipping and import fees, half the price of the scrapyard ones.

When they arrived they were used and had a few minor scratches, but they were in much better shape than the alternatives. A polish will bring them back.

Replacing them was easier than expected, given the mess the previous owners left. Behind the panel there was glue, sugar cubes used as splicing connectors, and other makeshift fixes. The cable management was horrendous, and the resistor for the lights was dangling loose and knocking against the body as the car moved. That explains the bang from the rear door, though it was not the root cause.

After the swap I found the small rear lights do not work when the rear door is open. That took a while to work out. We checked the blinkers, fog lights and reverse lights, but the brake lights would not come on without the ECU in place.

The car looks much better with them in. The colour matches and the rear end is more cohesive. The smoked lights go for around 400 euros each, so if I am lucky I can sell them for 300 each and get some of the money back.