New VW Owner - CC Lights

[aod]

Hi

I recently became the owner of a lovely Fortuna Red 2013 VW CC GT 2.0TDI. This is my first VW (apart from a brief stint in a 1987 Polo when I first passed my driving test), and so far I’m enjoying it and starting to adjust, as it’s quite different to my previous 2006 Saab 9-3 Aero.

I do have a number of questions about the CC, and will post more in other threads, but a few to start with, mostly concerning lights.

Reversing lights
I must say they are noticeably pathetic! I can only assume this is due a combination of the tiny lens size in the rear clusters and the standard tinted rear window – but in the dark I can hardly see anything when reversing. The brake lights illuminate more than the reversing lights!

Are there any improvements that can be made to this?

Front headlights
In contrast to the bi-xenon lights on my Saab, the CC Xenon lights don’t appear to be anywhere near as bright. This may be in part due to the Bi-Xenon light type in the Saab, whose full beam is complimented with halogen, but even on normal dipped the CC xenon’s seem to be quite dim. Could it be age related? I did very recently replace the Xenon bulbs in my Saab with some cheap, but very good 5000k aftermarket bulbs which I really liked. The OEM were 4300k, which I assume is the same on the CC.

Replacing the bulbs on my Saab was a fairly simple DIY job, and I opted for these D2S bulbs which were brilliant.

Is DIY Xenon bulb replacement on the CC do-able and straightforward, and is there an equivalent to these bulbs for it? Are they D3S?

Coming Home lighting
I was under the impression that this is the opposite of ‘Leaving Home’, where after unlocking the car, the lights turn on for xx seconds, but for Coming Home, they turn on after locking the car? Mine doesn’t do this, even though its set to 20 seconds. After locking the car, the indicators flash, but the rear and front lights don’t stay illuminated for any time.