Upgrading or replacing your headlight bulbs is a common need for car owners, and if you drive a 2014 Jetta, understanding your options is key to ensuring optimal visibility and safety. This review focuses on a specific LED bulb kit designed for pre-facelift Jetta models, offering insights into its performance across various lighting positions. While this kit presents some improvements, it’s not without its drawbacks, particularly for certain bulb applications.
The kit includes bulbs intended for low beams, high beams, front turn signals, and reverse lights. For low beam and high beam, the kit provides Pro MB1 (H7) bulbs. The front turn signals utilize T-BAU15S Amber bulbs, and the reverse lights are equipped with L-1156 White bulbs, marketed as “Backup Lights”. These components generally function well, with the low and high beams noticeably enhancing nighttime visibility and the tail lights appearing brighter and more vividly red. The front turn signals and reverse lights also operate effectively as replacements.
However, the kit’s shortcomings become apparent when addressing the tail lights. Notably, the kit does not fully convert the tail lights to LED, and it omits essential bulbs for the inner tail lights, requiring separate purchases of L-1156 Red bulbs. For the outer tail/brake lights, both L-1157 Red and T3-1157 Red bulbs are suggested. A significant issue reported is that both 1157 bulb types triggered a Bulb-Out-Warning on the dashboard when braking, despite functioning correctly. Furthermore, the rear turn signals are incorrectly supplied with amber bulbs in the kit, whereas red L-1156 bulbs are needed for the Jetta. The provided amber bulbs are also reported to be excessively bright and the wrong color for this application.
Fitment issues are also noted with the high beam Pro MB1 (H7) bulbs. These bulbs do not fit neatly within the high beam housing, making it challenging to reattach the rubber cap. Both low and high beam bulbs require bending the tabs to more closely resemble the OEM bulb tabs for a secure fit.
In conclusion, while this LED bulb kit for a 2014 Jetta offers improvements in brightness and color for low beams, high beams, front turn signals, and reverse lights, it falls short of being a comprehensive solution. The issues with brake light error warnings and incorrect/missing tail light bulbs, alongside fitment concerns with high beams, prevent a full recommendation. The kit earns a 4-star rating primarily due to the brake light warning issue, despite the enhanced visibility from other bulbs in the set. Potential buyers should be aware of these limitations and may need to source additional or alternative bulbs to fully meet their 2014 Jetta’s lighting needs.
