Removing and installing headlight range control motor V48/V49, H4 headlights — AUDI
Removing and installing headlight range control motor V48/V49, H4 headlights on Audi: 15 steps. What to remove, in what order, and what to check after.
This procedure replaces the headlight range control motor V48 or V49 in the H4 headlight fitted on the SF and SG platforms listed below. The headlight has to come out of the car first. On the bench, the housing cover is pulled off, the vertical adjuster removed, and the motor turned to its stop to release it from the housing. It is drawn back far enough to reach the connector, and its ball head is pulled out of the reflector mounting. Fitting is a little fiddly: the reflector is held back through the opening behind the second cover while the motor ball head is pressed in until it clicks. The housing covers must seat correctly, as water entering the lamp ruins it.
🧭 Before you start
Remove the headlight and pull off the housing cover. Take out the vertical adjuster, turn the motor to its stop to release it, withdraw it, disconnect the plug and free the ball head from the reflector. To fit, connect the plug, hold the reflector back through the rear opening, press the ball head in until it engages and turn the motor the other way to lock it. Refit the adjuster and covers, test function and check headlight aim.
Fits: platform codes SF, SG
Don't miss
- Turn the motor to its stop in direction A to release, direction B to lock.
- Press the ball head into the reflector mounting until it engages audibly.
- The housing cover must be correctly seated; water ingress permanently damages the headlight.
- Test the range control and check headlight settings after refitting.
Written for this job from the workshop steps below · TorqFix editorial.
📋 Procedure
- Remove headlight .
- Pull housing cover (2) off headlight.
- Pull vertical adjuster (1) upwards out of headlight.
- Turn headlight range control motor(2) to stop in direction of arrow (A) to release it.
- Pull headlight range control motor(2) towards rear out of headlight until connector is accessible.
- Disconnect electrical connector (1).
- Pull out ball head on headlight range control motor(1) from mounting on reflector.
- ⚠ Risk of damage to the headlight.Make sure the housing cover is correctly seated when installing. The ingress of water will lead to permanent damage to the headlight. — While pressing in headlight range control motor, fit electrical connector.
- Release wire clasp and remove housing cover (1) from headlight.
- Reach through opening behind housing cover (1) then pull back and hold reflector.
- Press headlight range control motor into mounting on reflector until it can be heard to engage.
- Turn headlight range control motor(2) to stop in direction of arrow (B) to engage it.
- Install vertical adjuster (1).
- Test functionality.
- Check headlight settings, and adjust headlights if necessary 20.1Descriptions of work.
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Who makes these pages, and how
TorqFix was built by a mechanic — after a 2,700 km drive with five roadside repairs that no diagnostic tool could explain.
The figures on this page come from manufacturer workshop documentation and are shown as they are. The page is assembled automatically from that data — it is not written by an AI. The AI works in the chat, where it answers for your specific car. It writes nothing here.
Variants of the same model differ. Cross-check torque against the factory manual for your engine before final tightening.
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The story behind TorqFix →Workshop data on this page last updated 20 Sep 2026.