Headlight bulb replacement - improved instructions [TOC]

[invisiblewave]

I undertook this job after experiencing flickering from the dipped beam (also on during DRL) bulb, that's the outermost lamp with the small opaque lens that prevents you seeing the bulb itself. I decided to have a go myself after coming across the instructions originally posted by zenmoused and reposted by 357sig.

Firstly, this isn't an easy job, it's significantly more difficult than the instructions make it seem. It took me 2.5 hours, and I failed to replace one of the clips that secures the plastic panel covering the exposed parts of the bulbs, but it seemed secure enough without it. The instructions had a couple of important omissions, hence I'm posting an amended version which will hopefully help out anybody else to decides to do the job themselves.

The vehicle is a 2004 V8 North American model. The side I replaced was the passenger side (nearside). I got the bulb from partsgeek.com by just entering the vehicle model and following their links. It cost $83 and arrived within 24 hours of ordering, using the cheapest shipping option. The bulb was manufactured in Germany by Osram. This bulb is much longer than the high beam I think, it has an electrode protruding from the top and running down a post on the outside of the glass. The shape of the base is square, with a perpendicular fitting on one edge to take the connector, which is a similar shape to a USB computer connection.

Here are my amended instructions.

How to Replace HID Headlamps

Preparation
Step 1: Buy bulb/s. I decided to tackle one side at a time, I can't see any difference in brightness or colour between the new bulb now it's fitted and the old one on the other side, so I'm in no rush to change the other one yet.

Step 2: Collect your tools. You will need a long Philips screwdriver, a set of large pliers (channel lock worked well for me), a small mirror, a 5mm hex-key, and a T25 star bit.

Under the Hood
Step 3: Locate your airboxes and remove the covers. First undo the two buttons that hold the heat shield on the airbox, just like a fireman's jacket. Each airbox has 4 Philips head screws holding it together.Once these are loosened all the way (they won't come completely out), wiggle the air box lid out of the way and you will see the air filter. Remove the filter and set it aside.

Step 4: Remove the snow screen. In your airbox will be a trapezoidal screen held in place by one Philips screw. Remove the screw and slide the screen out. While you have these out you should run them under some water to clean them. If they're particularly dirty, this will yield noticeable performance gains.

Step 5: Remove the air duct from the front of the engine bay. These are each held in place with three star screws on the driver's side and two star screws on the passenger side. They're really easy to remove. They're the long black plastic ducts that are attached to the front lip of the engine bay.

Step 6: Move the airbox lids out of your way. First look for the compression ring that attaches each air hose to the plenum. Use your pliers to move the ring and remove the air hose from the plenum. This will allow you to move the lid of the airbox aside. (Note- be very careful not to get anything into the plenum while it's open).

Step 7: Move the airboxes out of the way. Now that the tops of the airboxes are moved, you can move the airboxes themselves so you can get to the headlights. The airboxes are held in place by a hex screw, which is located at the top of the airbox and connects to the fender. Remove this screw, don't drop it! You can get it with your fingers before it comes completely out. The airbox will still be held down. This is because it has two plastic pegs that fit into rubber grommets below them. With two hands, pull directly up with some force, and the airbox should come free. To get enough leverage, insert your hand through the duct on the side where the snow filter was. Once out of the grommets, the air box can be removed with some wiggling and rotating. You'll definitely need it completely out.

Step 8: Remove the bulb cover. There will be two stiff metal wires holding the plastic cover to the back of the headlight housing. These are extremely difficult to move out of the way, especially the one at the back. Take the mirror and have a good look at the rear of the cover first. Make a careful note of where the bottom of the clips locate into the housing. To get the cover off, I had to remove the clip one completely (not a big deal, it goes back easily), and I had to unclip the bottom of the rear one. The rear clip will pivot off the lower of the two notches on the back of the cover fairly easily, but is extremely difficult to pivot off the top one, it helps to do it with a gardening glove on to save the skin on your knuckles. Eventually I took the bottom of the clip out of the hole it locates into, I was then able to push it back and unpop it from the top notch. On my vehicle, the windscreen washer pipe is fairly tight against the plastic headlight cover, near the top of the rear clip. Take the cover completely out and you will see the back of the headlight. If you're having a lot of difficulty in getting the cover off, look at the front of the vehicle, there's a screw visible which holds the headlight housing in place on the side nearest the radiator. Removing this screw allows a marginal amount of play in the position of the whole headlight housing, giving you a millimetre or so of extra clearance at the back.

Step 8a: Bulb removal. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO JUST PULL THE BULB STRAIGHT OUT. The connector is facing downwards- pull it off straight down. The bulb itself is secured by a diamond-shaped clip that is hinged on the far side of the bulb. Take a look at it with the mirror before trying to remove it. Feel along the vertical edge nearest to you, you can feel where the clip comes to a rounded point. To unclip it, push forwards (twowards the front of the car), then upwards and backwards underneath the point. It then pivots easily out of the way. The bulb is still held in place by 4 spring clips along each edge, it pulls out of these, but I had to use a flat-blade screwdriver to lever one corner out first, it didn't take long, but it's not particularly easy, especially as you can't see what you're doing directly.

8b: With the cover off, the rear of the full beam bulb is accessible. I had a quick look but couldn't see any easy way to remove it. If you need to change this bulb, I'd recommend finding definitive instructions for removing the bulb prior to going to the trouble of getting the rear cover off. It might be possible to figure it out once you're in there, by that point I was anxious to get the rest of my job done, so I didn't spend a lot of time looking at it.

Step 9: Install your headlight. Don't touch the glass on your bulb. This is like a game of Operation, only way more rewarding when you win. Be very careful not to displace the electrode. Maneuver that baby into the socket and you should feel it click into place- make sure that the connector is facing downward. Connect the plug and put everything back together in reverse order. The most difficult part of replacing everything is the rear clip on the headlight cover. When you get as far as locating the air box, you can get your fingers underneath on each side to assist with locating the grommets.

Hope this helps! I posted it while it was still fresh in my mind, so NOW it's time for beer! I recommend Victory Hop Wallop for North Americans, and Thornbridge Jaipur IPA for those lucky enough to live in the north of England.

[jsfrench46]

Hello. Coincidentally, I did my flickering bulb last night also. Mine would have taken about 30 minutes if I hadn't had to deal with all the missing screws, parts, etc. that the "professional VW shop" tech failed to put in the last time they worked on the car. I replaced all of those, and that added to my repair. I would concur with these instructions, and I appreciate the help from all of you.
John
San Angelo, Texas

[jsfrench46]

P.S. I forgot to mention that I bought the VW bulb in College Station, TX. Paid $193.50, along with other parts that got me to almost 1k. Therefore, I can't afford those great beers you guys mention. It's a Coors Light Nite for me now.
John

[jsfrench46]

Oh, and I also forgot to mention that I was able to extract a dead spider that was lodged against the inside of the headlamp assembly. I used endoscopic surgical tools, and inserted them through the hole where the high beam bulb is located. Very thrilled to have him outta there. It pained me to see him in there every day.
John

[357Sig]

Martin,

Thanks for expanding on this topic. I've had the right (passenger) side most of the way apart before. My intention was to try to clean the contacts on the bulb, etc. Once I saw how much work it was going to be to do so, I decided to put it back together and order come bulbs.

I will be replacing both of my bulbs this coming Saturday. I'm really glad to know that it is definitively possible to remove the air box on the passenger side.

Bill

[invisiblewave]

For simply changing a bulb, it's a real ball-ache of a job, however, I should have added that it was definitely worth the effort considering the price of having it done at the dealer. I drove it in the dark last night and the new bulb appears to be marginally brighter on the road ahead than the old one on the other side, other than that there doesn't appear to be any visible difference between the new and old bulb output. Although there are quite a lot of parts to remove, the only really difficult part of the operation is the removal and replacement of the clips holding the rear headlight cover in place. I can also confirm that the flicker has definitely gone, which makes me wonder why the dealer was so mystified by it. It's evidently a standard feature of a failing bulb.

[invisiblewave]

Bill, after you've done the job, I'd be obliged if you'd post about how you get that rear clip back in place. I might go back in and fix mine at some point. I got it off without detaching it at the top. I unclipped the bottom of it and couldn't get it back in during reassembly, mainly I think because I wasn't entirely sure where it should go. It doesn't seem to be causing any problems, but just knowing it's not in place is gnawing away at my subconscious.....

[invisiblewave]

John, you really can't afford NOT to buy Victory Hop Wallop. 2 or 3 bottles and you completely stop worrying about the price of the bulb!

[357Sig]

I am going to do the left (driver side) on first, since it looks to be much more accessible. I will try to photograph it if possible and will post the pictures here.

Bill

[357Sig]

I have just been informed that scheduling will not allow me a free morning tomorrow on work on the car. It looks like it'll have to wait until next weekend.

Bill

[brosen]

Did mine last night, expected to do 1/2 of the work last night (2 hours) and the rest today morning (2 more hours). It was easier than expected, in about 1 1/2 hours everything was done.

Dealer wanted to charge me for the job with labor and parts $870, I ended I spending $175 in parts and 90 min of my time, very rewarding job.

Thanks for the great instructions.

[PanEuropean]

Archival Note: Original - and more comprehensive - discussion of this subject is at this link: Headlight bulb replacement - how to get access to the bulb.

[357Sig]

Bernard,

You inspired me. I did mine in about 2 hours start to finish. If I had to do it again, I'd say I could do both sides in less than 1 hour.

I took what I believe will be some useful photos. I'll try to post them this evening.

Bill

[brosen]

Hi Bill, good you did it, I would say the most complicated part (at least for me) was to remove/install the "Lower" air box on the right side (passenger), but the rest is super easy.

[357Sig]

Bernard,

I was not able to remove the air box on the right side, but once I had done the left one (driver side) I was able to do the right one mostly by feel.

Some parts of this job were fairly obvious, but many were not. Here is a breadcrumb trail for those who follow:

**** SOME OF THE PICTURES THE ARE ESSENTIALLY THE SAME ON BOTH SIDES OF THE CAR. IN SUCH CASES, INSTRUCTIONS ARE NOT REPEATED AND THE PICTURE MAY BE FROM THE "WRONG" SIDE. ****

Removing the left (driver side) air box cover was relatively simple. The first thing I removed was the plug on the top of the air box cover.

It pulls straight up. In order to release the little catch, I gently pulled up on the clip that is on the outside of the plug as I pulled on the body of the plug.

The cable that runs to the plug also has a clip on it. It has sharp teeth on it that grip a little flange on the air box. I used a tiny flat-bladed screwdriver to release the clip without damaging it.

Next, I removed the large air induction tube that runs from the air box cover to the intake plenum. I used a large pair of channel lock pliers and I was very careful because the compression clips that hold this tube in place are very strong. I removed the tube from both ends.

It was necessary to reposition the spring clips on the intake plenum end before compressing them.

I used a flat-bladed screwdriver to gently unsnap the heat shield fabric from the air box cover.

Next I unscrewed the four phillips head screws on the corners of the air box cover. The screws are designed to stay in the cover. Once I had the cover lose I pulled slightly away from the air box, then gently poked the top of the air box cover into the space between the top of the air box and the fender.

I was able to lift the bottom edge of the air box cover past the engine.

I thought this was as good of time as any prepare the air box cover for re-installation. While pressing gently with a finger, I unscrewed each screw just a little further so that the screw stood out of the air box cover. This will greatly simplify the installation process.

Next I removed the air duct that feeds air from the grille area of the car into the air box. It is held in place with three torx 20 screws.

With the air duct out of the way, I was able to remove the air box itself. While it is possible to remove the air box with the snow screen in place, removing the snow screen at this step has two benefits: First, if it hasn't been removed recently, it's a good bet that it is dirty and; Second, the air intake opening that is hidden by the snow screen is the best place grip the air box while pulling it out of the grommets. (see below).

Here's what my snow screen looked like.

Needless to say, I cleaned them both as detailed in this discussion thread. http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2435648

The snow screen on this side of my car has a slot in it that keeps it from sliding out of the air box once the single phillips screw that secures it is removed. The snow screen on other side of my car did not have a corresponding slot.

Here is the post that fits into that slot.

With the snow screen removed, I finally was able to remove the air box. The air box is held in place by one torx 30 screw that screws into a flange at the top center of the air box. I was very careful not to drop the screw when removing it.

Next, I pulled straight up on the air box itself. I used a gentle fore and aft rocking action while maintaing a firm pulling force. The air box is held in place by two posts.

The posts slide into these grommets.

When I had removed the air box from the car, I had an unobstructed view of the rear of the low beam headlight assembly.

The rear cover is held onto the headlight assembly by two spring clips that pivot away from each other much like a set of barn doors. I found it beneficial to gently pull the topmost "hinge" (it's really just a stiff wire poked into a hole in the body of the headlight assembly) of the inboard clip out of its hole.

The rear cover just pulls straight off and revels the rear of the light bulb.

Note the top "hinge" of the clip has been pulled out.

The plug in the back of the headlight bulb is held only by friction. I pulled it straight down and out of the bulb.

The bulb is held into the headlight assembly by a clip that unlatches and opens like a door. Once the clip was unlatched, I removed the bulb by pulling it straight out. The base of the bulb fits into the headlight assembly. Not require much force is required to remove it or to reinsert the new one.

Close-up of the latch that holds the bulb retaining clip closed.

Old bulb after removal.

New bulb.

Everything went back together just as it came apart.

The right (passenger) side was a different story. I chose to change both bulbs even though my left one had never shown any signs of trouble. I did so for a number of reasons. Chief among them was that I needed to see how the bulb fit into the assembly and that was not possible to do by just removing the right side.

Replacing the right side bulb is the same process as the left one, except.....

The air duct on the right side has two screws securing it instead of three.

The upper rearmost screw of the air box cover is difficult to reach, but can accessed like this:

The air box cover must be rotated in place in order to remove it from the car.

When reinstalling the air box cover, I had to gently move these hoses out of the way as I rotated it into place.

I was not able to remove the right air box from the car, but I was able to push it out of the way by pulling it out of the grommets and pushing it as far forward (toward the front of the car) as possible. This allowed me just enough room to replace the bulb.

There is an electric cable that runs behind the headlight assembly. This cable needed to be gently pushed up and outboard in order to remove and reinstall the headlight assembly cover.

I also found it very helpful to gently unhinge the top of the inboard spring clip while removing the cover. (See above for photo of left side)

The clip that secures the headlight bulb into the assembly hinges from outboard side while working on the right (passenger) side of the car. That differs from the left (driver) side where it hinges from the inboard side. To be a little more specific, if you were to position the two headlight assemblies side by side, the clips that secure the headlight bulbs would both hinge from the same direction. I would have expected them to be mirror images of each other.

That's about it. Do the left first, and the right one won't be that much more difficult.

Bill



Modified by 357Sig at 12:09 AM 10-5-2009

[brosen]

Great pictures Bill, congratulations.

To remove the right lower air box I had to loosen and partially remove the ignition coils harness, that's the ONLY POSSIBLE way to do it. To install it back it's another BIG challenge.

As you said, if I would have to do it again, it will not take me more than 1 hour.

NOTE: Do you remember the Build date for the new Bulbs ?, I forgot to check mines, and I think we both bought them at Geekparts.com.


Modified by brosen at 4:39 PM 10-4-2009

[357Sig]

Bernard,

It was "q9j5"

Which I think means March of this year.

The one I removed from the left side of my car had a date code sometime in 2004 was still working fine and had never shown any signs of trouble.

Bill

[brosen]

Great, mine were from the end of 2003 (my car is a 2004), meaning almost 6 years old, so I think I have at least another 6 years without problems, also I have disabled DRL lights in my car, meaning I will use the bulbs mainly during the night.

[PanEuropean]

Awesome post, Bill, thanks very much for taking the time to create such a detailed set of instructions. I have not had to change a bulb yet, but when I do need to, I'll come back to this post.

Michael

[mhoepfin]

Awesome post! I know my time is coming for bulbs and you just saved me about $500 with your detailed pictures!

Much appreciated....

[invisiblewave]

LOL. You out-did my instructions by several orders of magnitude, Bill! The flickering's getting worse on my driver's side bulb, your post has reassured me about tackling it, you've confirmed that I've already done the more difficult side. It looks from the photos as if there's much better access to the bulb once the airbox is out of the way than there is on the passenger side. I couldn't find any angle from where I could get a good look at it. Thanks for the fantastic pictures!

[invisiblewave]

Bernard, are you talking about the passenger side airbox on a V8? I managed to get mine right out without removing any other parts. I did have to rotate it and do some wiggling, and it probably took a good 5 minutes from having it loose from the grommets to getting it right out of the vehicle. Getting it back in was easier than getting it out.

[357Sig]

Martin,

Thanks for the kind words.

I didn't spend a significant amount of time trying to get the passenger side air box out, though I would have liked to. I've never been a gamer, but it would seem that the skills that one may learn playing Tetris or working the Rubik's Cube would come in handy when removing the air box. After having just replaced the driver side bulb, all I needed was minimal access the back of the passenger side headlight housing. So I just worked from memory with the box still in the car. Admittedly, the job would be much easier had I been able to remove it.

I considered it an honor to give a little something back to this forum. It has been an invaluable resource for me, not to mention an awesome use of the Internet.

Bill

[invisiblewave]

Agreed. I wouldn't have been able to change the bulb myself, or have known to check the variable intake mechanism had it not been for this forum. Nor would I now be having sleepless nights about the clunk coming from my front suspension.....

[thedini]

invisiblewave,

GREAT INSTRUCTIONS!!! By far the best of any I have seen online or in a manual! Thanks so much and kudos to the great board.

I did my 06 V8 without any issues.
Got some bulbs from ebay and they seem to be great.

Only a few Notes on the drivers side bulbe replacement:

On the headlight assembly, I didn't need to remove the outer clip, I just pushed it back and pulled the back plate off

The lower air box was more of a pain to take out than expected, lift up a bit, rotate inboard, lift up a bit more and then rotate out.

[invisiblewave]

Glad to be of assistance, although I think Bill's pictures are more deserving of praise! I used them myself when I changed my second bulb last week, even having already done one bulb several months ago. I still can't get that electrical connection off the top of the airbox, but I've been able to do the job easily enough both times without removing it (V8). The driver's (left, in this case) side was definitely easier, mostly because of the washer fluid tube being in the way on the other side. I found it's a very satisfying job to do because it's difficult enough to feel a sense of achievement when you've finished, but it's not too difficult that you're going to really run into trouble, and on top of all that you save a huge packet on the dealer price.

[jkuisma]

I'm now done replacing both xenon bulbs on my V6 TDI. The car is from 2005 and has "regular" (not bi-xenon) headlights.

I was VERY determined to do the bulbs without removing the bumper. In the V6 TDI, the coolant reservoir sits exactly where you would want to put your hands into to reach to the fender. This is to replace the driver's (left) side bulb. Passenger side appears to be identical to a V8 so it should be doable.

I do have pretty small hands and I spent a lot of time trying. Got as far as opening the back cover, disconnecting bulb wiring and pulling it out from the socket. But then it was time to admit myself that the bulb will not come out of the fender without violence, nor would it be possible to put a new one in and get all the clips back in place. Problem is, that you can reach there with two fingertips only.

In order to get even that far, I had already disconnected a handful of hoses from the coolant reservoir, pulled it as far to the front as it goes, and that necessitated a removal of a air duct coming from the intercooler. You would need to get the reservoir out completely, but that does not seem to be possible without removing the engine first

So, all in all, it is not possible (everything's possible: so let's say feasible) to replace the xenon bulbs on a V6 TDi without removing the bumper and headlights.

So I took that route. No real problems, but while working on this, I could not help myself wondering what were the engineers in Dresden/Wolfsburg thinking... Michael's photos were invaluable - it would have been impossible to locate those two "hidden" bumper screws just by following VW's own instructions from ELSA...

Another interesting find: there's been quite a lot discussion on the board about cleaning the snow screens in the air intake. The air box is different between NAR and ROW models, that's true. What surprised me is, that there is no snow screen at all in my air box (and no place to install one)!

Doing the bulb replacement myself I may have spared some money (new Philips bulbs were 39 euros each) but am now paying the price in form of an aching back...

Jouko


Modified by jkuisma at 8:47 AM 1-17-2010

[MichaelGa]

I just replaced both HID bulbs. Took a lot longer than expected with the airboxes in the way etc. I wasn't able to remove the bottom part of the airbox on the drives side. Had to reach behind it. After some broken skin, replaced the bulb. The passenger side took me 10 minutes to do and I was able to remove the bottom of the airbox and easy reach to replace bulb. My biggest struggle is putting the bottom of the airbox back in it's place. I can't get it to fit in the space required. I can manage to get it in but not correctly and can't turn the box to set it straight the way it need to be so I can put everything back together.

Can anyone out there provide some insight to how to put back the bottom of the airbox on the passenger side?

I'm at a loss.
Thanks!

[invisiblewave]

I've done both sides on mine and don't recall any special trick with the airboxes. It was just a case of manipulating them until the lugs are positioned over the grommets, I seem to recall it was possible to get fingers underneath to feel where the grommets are. As for getting the box out, once the show filter is out of the way, you can get a good hold on the box using the hole the filter came out of.

Having said all that, if you did the passenger side in 10 mins, you're doing a lot better than I did anyway!

[MichaelGa]

Amazingly I finally squeezed the box back in. I thought something surely would break. What a relief! put the car back into to place within minutes after that. New bulbs can't wait for a night drive!
Happy as can be now

[Debart]

Unfortunetelly, not possible in case of dual-xenon lamps... (low and high beam) due to ballast mounted by few screws on the rear of lamp... Ballast covers xenon connector and you have to disassembly the bumber and headlamps

[sjglaser]

A big thank you for these very detailed instructions, plus the photos and comments from other members. I followed the instructions meticulously, and had no major difficulty... And dealing with the air boxes, thanks to the instructions, I knew it could be done. I would have not dared do this without the great procedure and photos.

After going through the learning curve of doing one side, the other one was far easier. Two hours for the first side, and one hour for the other. I am very happy with the outcome.

My biggest surprise however was how incredibly dirty the snow screens were. Once clean, fuel efficiency increased.

Also, Parts Geek.com ships very fast.. Got them the next day even though I paid ground. Wonderful service.

Again, THANKS for saving me some big $$$.

[invisiblewave]

Steve, welcome to the "I changed my own bulbs and saved a packet" club. Sounds as if your experience was very similar to mine, the first side took nearly two hours, the second side about half as long, and I was also gobsmacked by the state of the snow filters, I'm fairly sure they'd never been cleaned before despite the car having a full VW service history.

[tgarbrecht]

All,

I have the same flickering. For those that have changed the bulbs, is it possible that the bulb was just loose, and just needed to be 'secured'?

Thanks

[sjglaser]

Hi

I am no expert on the subject, however, I can tell you that bulb is:

1. Secured by a clip,
2. The electrical connector at the bottom of the bulb is very tight
3. Then, the entire assembly has a cover with gasket with a double clip

If your bulb is flickering and is a few years old, chances are it is the bulb and not the connector.... One way to find out however, and is to get in there and look. I am not mechanically inclined, however, the bulb replacement instructions are very good.... The parts geek .com site sells the bulb at an excellent ($80s) and they ship extremely fast.

regards