Replacing headlight assemblies on a 2003 Jetta

[sweater]

Rather than try and polish, clean, and generally hope and pray that I could re-use my current 6-year-old headlamp assemblies in my 2003 Jetta, I decided to just straight-up replace them. I also checked the Exterior Lighting section of the How-To thread and found that the current link to "Golf/GTI Headlight removal (Jetta too)" is dead - so here you are:

Mods: feel free to use this post or to point people to my personal website. Thanks, yo.

Time to complete: ~1.5 hours

Tools used:
6 Piece Offset Star Drive Wrench Set available for $8.00
Philips screwdriver
Flat-head screwdriver

To start, pop the hood and remove the center grille with the VW logo on it by pressing the center tab in with a flathead screwdriver (red arrow). The grille will move forward and ultimately upwards:

Pull up and outwards on the tabs on the sides of the center, VW grille to release it from the body mounts:

With the grille moving forward, you can see that the hood release will have to be un-clipped in order to be able to remove the whole assembly.

To unclip the hood release, flip up the metal retainer that keeps the plastic fork of the clip from spreading:

I used a flat screwdriver to spread apart the fork of the hood release – once spread far enough apart you’ll be able to get it off the pin holding it to the internal hood release and the center grille will come off the car entirely. Once the grille is off, you’ll want to remove the five Torx screws holding the bumper cover on:

Next, remove the small screws holding the bumper cover on from inside the front wheel-wells. This allows you to be able to pull the cover forward enough to expose the headlight mounting bolts without pulling at anything too hard and breaking oft-fragile clips:

At this point you should be able to pull forward on the bumper and down a little, exposing the underside of the headlight assembly and the two hex screws holding the assembly on (red arrows). A really long, skinny hex driver is perfect here – even more perfect if it’s magnetized as the screws tend to fall out into the interior of your bumper easily:

On the driver’s side, remove the two Torx screws holding the headlight and remove the two Phillips screws holding the cover that’s on the backside of the headlight assembly – this will allow you to get to the headlight plug. No need to remove any cover on the passenger’s side.

Insert a flat screwdriver into the headlight plug assembly and gently press down to unclip the plug from the socket on the back of the headlight assembly:

At this point you’ll be able to remove the entire headlight assembly through the front of the grille. Reassembly is literally the opposite, with replacing the assembly, mounting it with the Torx screws, reconnecting the wiring harness and remounting the bumper and grille. One hint: I mounted the headlights and tested them by plugging in the harness, running through low beams, high beams, turn and hazard signals before really replacing all the various screws and covers. The last thing to remember is to aim your headlights properly, which is covered in general by the Mid-State DeLorean Club (you can’t make this stuff up…) as well as by any Google search on “aiming headlights.”

Modified by sweater at 3:51 PM 7-26-2009


Modified by sweater at 6:20 AM 7-27-2009

[shawshank redemption]

Quote, originally posted by sweater »

At this point you should be able to pull forward on the bumper and down a little, exposing the underside of the headlight assembly and the two hex screws holding the assembly on (red arrows). A really long, skinny hex driver is perfect here – even more perfect if it’s magnetized as the screws tend to fall out into the interior of your bumper easily:

or just take the bumper off.

[sweater]

Quote, originally posted by shawshank redemption »

or just take the bumper off.

Yes, you can find all the extra screws and go through the effort of removing the entire bumper to reach these four screws.

However, as they were completely accessible using the method I detailed here I just went ahead and finished the job anyway.

Thanks for the feedback.

- mike

[FaelinGL]

Good DIY. What did you end up replacing the headlights with?

Mike

[Pri]

Quote, originally posted by FaelinGL »

Good DIY. What did you end up replacing the headlights with? Mike

looks like stockies...

[sweater]

Quote, originally posted by FaelinGL »

Good DIY. What did you end up replacing the headlights with?

Thank you, sir. Yup, they're stock replacements. I don't mess with my daily driver, especially since it's showing more than a few chinks in it's armor as of late (window clips, seat heater out, fried defroster switch, P2181 CEL, driver's lock assembly switch failing...) and really put the effort into my 4-wheeling rig. At least out there I know that I'm bound to break something...

- mike

[Owain Jones]

don't diss, the stock headlights do look good and clean.

looks like a great tool kit, definitely buying one regardless that one headlight has never been cleaned and just looks out of place and dull... (hope it wasn't replaced)

and they don't ship to Canada...fun


Modified by Owain Jones at 12:09 PM 5-2-2010

[White Jetta]

Just did this myself not too long ago. The other screws to remove are under the car on that front sound dampening panel covering the oil filter area, then the bumper comes right off. Nice DIY

[WolfGolf]

This will work with a 2000 Golf right? Thank you for reposting the DIY, looking to swap out my headlights.

[WolfGolf]

The alignment guide looks more complicated than the installation....

Has anyone just installed the lights and used them as is? I would have thought that the lights sit firmly in their mounts.

[mroberto]

If I just want to remove my headlights to polish them, then re-install them, do I still need to aim them?

[wanta_jetta]

Thanks for the writeup. This was super easy to do with these directions.

I ran into one gotcha: There's a slot/tab on the corner of the bumper (near the marker light). When you put the corner back together so you can replace the wheel well screws you need to line up the bumper while it's still pulled forward, then slide it to the rear.

The trickiest part of the whole thing was getting hood release handle back together.

[gli87jetta]

Hi, my low-beam on the drivers side just went out. From what I've gathered I need part #:
High Beam/Low Beam: 9007 (one bulb)

My question is, do I need to take the whole bumper off just to do the bulb!?? I don't want anything fancy so I'll probably just get the HELLA BULBS 9007. From what I understand I should be able replace the bulb by removing the battery only right? Thanks

[mroberto]

Hi, my low-beam on the drivers side just went out. From what I've gathered I need part #:
High Beam/Low Beam: 9007 (one bulb)

My question is, do I need to take the whole bumper off just to do the bulb!?? I don't want anything fancy so I'll probably just get the HELLA BULBS 9007. From what I understand I should be able replace the bulb by removing the battery only right? Thanks

You don't have to remove the bumper or the battery to change the headlight (maybe just the battery cover). Before you can get to the back of the headlight assembly, there is a cover held in with two screws that you need to remove. That will slide straight up. Then you release the two wire clamps holding on the rear headlight cover, pop off the cover, disconnect the electrical plug, unscrew a twist ring from the base of the headlight (this is what retains the headlight and seals it from the elements) and then the headlight should be in your hand.

[gli87jetta]

You don't have to remove the bumper or the battery to change the headlight (maybe just the battery cover). Before you can get to the back of the headlight assembly, there is a cover held in with two screws that you need to remove. That will slide straight up. Then you release the two wire clamps holding on the rear headlight cover, pop off the cover, disconnect the electrical plug, unscrew a twist ring from the base of the headlight (this is what retains the headlight and seals it from the elements) and then the headlight should be in your hand.

Cool/Cool. Thanks for this info. I just went out and verified it's not the fuse. So, I'll go ahead and replace the bulb per your suggestion.

[Eric-chapman]

Quote, originally posted by shawshank redemption »

or just take the bumper off.

Yes, you can find all the extra screws and go through the effort of removing the entire bumper to reach these four screws.

However, as they were completely accessible using the method I detailed here I just went ahead and finished the job anyway.

Thanks for the feedback.

- mike

you removed pretty much all the screws there is only be 2 more, one behind each left and right grill insert so there is not much hunting to go on and it is a lot easier to work with the bumper off

[mk2riceeater]

Note that when removing or reinstalling the hood pull on the grill that the little bar you slide the holes on is not permanently attatched to the mechanism and can slide out. It slid out on me last night during the reinstallation and is lost in limbo right now so I just used a durable twist tie to connect it back together. Just some good knowledge to know because I didn't know it and lost the little guy somewhere.


Krep.

[elveez]

Great writeup!! Was a bit concerned about hood release but it ended up being fairly easy.

[dpshx]

I am decided to replace my headlights on my 2003 jetta. The part costs vary a lot..so my question to anyone who might know - is if it is worth paying 120.00 per assemby for OEM (like Hella) or should I go with non OEM brands for about 50.00. thx

[rodgertherabit]

You can get quality replacements for about $100-150. I wouldnt spend any less as the quality varies alot for anything under $100. Trust me, Ive seen em all!

[pSyCO_007]

Hey white jetta are those the headlights with the fog light on them... And if so how did u wire them up?

[Pheno.menon]

Can you rehost the pics please? They are dead

[the brit]

Can you rehost the pics please? They are dead

To be honest, it's really easy even without them. I just did mine in about 20 minutes total, for both sides.