W8 Passat Interior Light with Additional Autodimming Mirror Defeat Function

The W8 Passat had an Interior Light with the added feature of dimmable red illuminated buttons and two red LED Ambient downlights.

Additionally, there are extra connections on the W8 light which allow some further features.

In some Audi's, there is an additional connection from the Autodimming Interior Mirror that disables the autodim function if the interior lights are switched on. This feature is not fitted to the standard .:R32 interior light. However, there is an additional pin on the W8 light that will allow this feature.

After this modification if the ignition is ON and the mirror is dimmed, when you switch on the W8 Interior Light or either of it's two spotlights, then the mirror will undim.

It will also undim if the Interior Lights come on with the door open, if the ignition is ON.

The rear roof lights do not affect the mirror at all, by the way.

Connections

Standard .:R32 Interior Light

1 = "Switched earth" (door contact position)

2 = 12V "30a" fused battery power

3 = Earth

W8 Interior Light

1 = Connection to "58d" dimmer circuit positive

2 = Not used. Note: if this pin is earthed, then the interior lights will come on even if the switch is off!

3 = "Switched earth" (door contact position)

4 = Earth

5 = 12V "30a" fused battery power

6 = Connect to Pin 6 of the connector in Autodimming mirror stalk

You need to connect Pin 6 of the W8 light to Pin 6 of the autodimming mirror plug to activate this feature.

The connector is inside the mirror mounting stalk attached to the windscreen under the two plastic covers, which just unclip.

Please note, this photo is for clarification only. You do NOT need to remove the mirror to add the wire.

If you look carefully you will see six wires coming out of the Autodimming Mirror, but only three keep going up into the roof.

You just need to add a wire to Pin 6 here and run it up into the roof through the plastic conduit to Pin 6 of the W8 light.

The plug inside the mirror stalk should be 4B0 971 833 , which uses a repair wire 000 979 018 E, as noted in Parts List below.

Check your car before buying the repair wire however, as you may already have spare terminals inside your plug!

In order to swap the Interior Lights themselves, it is possible to make a small adapter harness from the parts listed below. It is simply a matter of connecting the correct terminals to their new positions:

Pin 1 in original VW 3-pin plug goes to Pin 3 in W8 6-pin plug

Pin 2 in original VW 3-pin plug goes to Pin 5 in W8 6-pin plug

Pin 3 in original VW 3-pin plug goes to Pin 4 in W8 6-pin plug

Parts List

3B7 947 105 F 2EN      W8 Light - Pearl Grey (Non-sunroof)

3B7 947 106 B 2EN      W8 Light - Pearl Grey (Sunroof)

3B0 972 706                 6-pin connector for W8 light

3 x 000 979 019 E         Repair wire for 6-pin W8 Light connector

000 979 018 E              Repair wire for existing 6-pin plug 4B0 971 833 in Autodimming Mirror stalk.

893 971 993                 3-pin adapter plug to mate to original .:R32 Interior Light 3-pin plug

2 x 000 979 103 E         Repair wire for 3-pin connector

Additional Information

For information purposes, here is some additional information regarding Autodimming Mirrors.

The Pearl Grey mirror fitted to the European .:R32 is part number 3B0 857 511 H Y20

As noted above, there are six wires pre-installed in the mirror connector coming from the internal circuitboard. The connections are:

1 = Ignition 15+

2 = Earth

3 = Reverse Gear connection (so mirror undims when reversing)

4 = Connection to Autodimming EXTERIOR mirror

5 = Connection to Autodimming EXTERIOR mirror

6 = Connection to Interior Light (unable to be used on standard .:R32 Interior Light)

If you retrofit Autodimming Exterior Mirrors they will dim in conjunction with the Interior Mirror

There is another Pearl Grey mirror available with part number 3B0 857 511 J Y20, which is mainly fitted to Passats (also US Golf GLX) .

This mirror has the additional feature of two red LED Ambient Lights fitted in the base of the mirror and an additional ON/OFF Switch to manually turn off the Autodimming function.

There is a green indicator LED in the face to indicate that the Autodimming function is active.

The red LED's come on with the Ignition only and are not dimmable like the W8 LED's, due to the internal wiring of the mirror.

This mirror, unfortunately, only comes with four active wires through the stalk, but includes the required Interior Light connection.

VW have omitted the two connections required for the Autodimming Exterior Mirrors (Pins 4 & 5 above).

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