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Old 1st January 2014, 12:04 PM
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Oli18 Oli18 is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London
Posts: 1,066
Default How to change Xenon bulbs

Hi,

So thanks for all the info earlier. I managed to replace my headlight and upgrade to 5000k in the process.

I ended up reading quite a bit on how to change the lights and found that many people had found it challenging. On the whole i saw that people recommend putting the car on a ramp and accessing the bulb from behind the wheel arch liner or by unscrewing 4 bolts of the headlight and pulling it forward to get better access.

I managed to do it without either of these and found it relatively easy once i knew figures out how to make sure i aligned the ballast properly.

Step 1: remove airfilter housings to gain better access.



Step 2: remove bulb cover. It is held in place with 1 small torx screw and 2 clips you just press to open

Step 3: turn the ballast 45% left to allow it to be taken off and unclip the power to it so you can completely separate the ballast.



Step 4: push the metal clips that hold the bulb in place so that you can remove the bulb



Step 5: remove bulb. Note the position of the existing bulb to make insertion of the new bulb easier. You can see from mine how it had failed. When i removed the NSF bulb, i also found it was similarly cloudy.



Step 6: insert new bulb - be careful not to touch the glass with you hands as it affects the life of the bulb.

Step 7: push metal clips back in place

Step 8: WITHOUT the power cable connected to the ballast, put the ballast over the bulb at a 45 degree angle and turn right to attach it back on. Only AFTER fitment, push in the power cable. The reason for this is because there is a clear/yellow ring inside the ballast that needs to line up for you to be able to push and twist the ballast on properly. It took me ages to figure out that by having the power cable on before you do this, the clear/yellow ring misaligns and you can't fit it properly.



Really pleased with the 5000k bulbs - total cost was £10.50

Many thanks again for the help above.

Oli
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Last edited by Oli18; 1st January 2014 at 04:54 PM.
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