HID headlight bulbs replacement without removing the front bumper

[YE100]

I know ed@mtl have posted this already. In fact I was following his steps when I did this. Tons of thanks to him. . Here is his DIY Link:
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...g-front-bumper

I learned a lot during this process and would like to share with you guys here. I post step by step pictures to show how i did it. Even I have removed my bumper couple times already I found it lots of work (I always remove the front wheels when I remove bumper). so I want to find a quicker way to change the light bulbs. The after-market bulbs have been sitting around for a long time the reason I did not install them when bumper off is that I got them cheap on eBay and not sure how long they will last. Try to avoid taking off the bumper again shortly after I install them.

So here you go. Enjoy!

[bez101]

good DIY
i didnt remove anything
it was tight but only took me 15 mins a side

[AudiTFSI3o3]

good diy indeed.

*note* if you have aftermarket intake it's half the time

[YE100]

That's unbelievable. I always make sure I have enough room to avoid any surprises, accidents. Haha.

good DIY
i didnt remove anything
it was tight but only took me 15 mins a side

[ItalianAudi77]

sidetrack.... where did you get those bulbs?!

[bmc333]

good diy indeed.

*note* if you have aftermarket intake it's half the time

This is true...

[YE100]

It was way back I got them from ebay. maybe 1.5 years ago. I just bought a pretty cheap pair (approx $30, Shipping included). There is no brand. the build quality is not that good but my expectation was not high either so I that s OK.

I have put them on for a week + and they seem working fine. No error code or anything. The color is awesome and for sure the car stands out on highway. but the pattern of the light is not as even and nice and smooth as the oem ones. I am not sure if I need to adjust anything after putting on new bulbs. Anyone knows? Thanks for sharing!

sidetrack.... where did you get those bulbs?!

[Adub-Drew]

Im gonna need this DIY in a few days, as i have the infamous "dipped headlight" problem. Phil said new bulbs should do the trick so im ordering some 6000k's soon. My question is if we disconnect the battery, does navi and all that jazz need codes from the dealership? My mom's mercedes needed the code every time the battery died or we disconnected it. I just dont want to unplug my - line and have no radio functions...

[YE100]

Im gonna need this DIY in a few days, as i have the infamous "dipped headlight" problem. Phil said new bulbs should do the trick so im ordering some 6000k's soon. My question is if we disconnect the battery, does navi and all that jazz need codes from the dealership? My mom's mercedes needed the code every time the battery died or we disconnected it. I just dont want to unplug my - line and have no radio functions...

What codes are you talking about? I only reset the time and date after reconnected the battery. My radio stations and everything else are fine. But i dont have a navi tho. Just the symphony system.

[A4_Ti]

I disconnected my battery a couple weeks ago and only reset the time and date, also had to reprogram my keys but no biggie

[prospero]

Tried doing the driver's side bulb today and let me tell you this is near impossible to do without removing the wiper fluid reservoir and there's no way in hell you can do it in 15 minutes if you have to drain the fluid from the reservoir before removing. Even after taking both screws out I could only move the power steering fluid like 2", not NEARLY enough room to get the back cover of the headlight off. So either you need some really ridiculously specialized tools or a lot of patience. After 30 minutes I gave up and put it all back together, I'm pretty sure taking the bumper off could have been easier.

[bmc333]

Tried doing the driver's side bulb today and let me tell you this is near impossible to do without removing the wiper fluid reservoir and there's no way in hell you can do it in 15 minutes if you have to drain the fluid from the reservoir before removing. Even after taking both screws out I could only move the power steering fluid like 2", not NEARLY enough room to get the back cover of the headlight off. So either you need some really ridiculously specialized tools or a lot of patience. After 30 minutes I gave up and put it all back together, I'm pretty sure taking the bumper off could have been easier.

I didn't drain the wiper fluid and the power steering reservoir moved just fine, allowing plenty of room to get to the access hatch on the headlight...bumper removal not necessary BUT if you have a non-sline and want to do your fogs at the same time, then bumper removal would be worth it/necessary.

[patastinky]

Hey Guys.. will this also work if i am trying to access the DRL wedge bulb..?

[doublezero30]

this is a great writeup. i just did this for a set of 6000k bulbs....and i just want to say, if youre 6'1 with huge hands, or have huge hands in general...hire a midget or invest in the magic school bus to help you out cause its a PITA. started with the passanger side, little did i know that was the easy side. its not difficult in any way, just a PITA and time consuming for those with mamoth hands. theres just a veryyy little amough of room esp on the drivers side. i used two picks to connect the ballast to the bulb on the drivers side because i just couldnt get in there to do it.

[Tanner]

Bumping this one, thanks for the writeup YE100 as I had to replace the passenger side bulb last night.

The one difficult part I had was the airbox housing. Where it's attached to the side, I just pried out the plastic centre piece from the rubber thing as the plastic clip refused to come out unless I broke it. Probably fought with that for a bit. Airbox housing on the bottom, didn't really know how it was connected yeah, slowly lifted it up and out, it came out of the plastic plugs which I then had to pry out and attach it back onto the airbox housing. The 6th image, I didn't bother doing as it was a bit of a pain to remove the heatshield first and the one screw seemed a bit tricky to get at, had a bit less room to work with when pulling out the airbox housing.

Other than that, pretty simple. I did have to repeat this twice when I realized had to redo everything over again when I forgot to secure down the wire in the headlight housing so getting at it took no time at all.

[Stea1th]

no way in hell this is possible without removing the bumper on a 06 sline. w/ adaptive lights.


NO WAY.

I tried today and removing the wiper fluid does give you some more room to push the power steering container out of the way, but even then the door to the back of the head light doesnt open up enough. I could barely stick 2 fingers in there to get to the clips and even
if i got the clips off it would be almost impossible to put it back.

I'm thinking the only people that are able to do this don't have xenon's w/ adaptive headlights. There is about 3 wires wrapped up that come out of the fender that make it even less room to open the door to the driver side headlight.

I just came in to google how to take the bumper off. I'm almost positive it would of been faster then the hour i just spent messing with it.

[KevB7]

I have an 08 3.2L SLine w/adaptive headlights... driver side bulb burned out. Got a new set of 6000k D1S (Maxlux) and going to attempt to do this today, but reading the last reply I don't feel real confident it'll possible without removing the bumper.

[KevB7]

So a friend who used to be a mechanic did this for me following the DIY. If you have the right tools you should be able to replace the bulbs without taking off the bumper. He had no issues whatsoever.

[nfoman]

I did this yesterday on the passenger side on my B7 A4 3.2L. Removed the airbox housing. The hardest part for me was the air intake hose came loose and was a pain in the fucking ass to get back in. Driver side next, probably today. Oh, and while your removing the airbox, keep a vacuum handy to cleanup the junk in there.

I purchased the D1S 3FIVE's and it looks good so far, compared with the stock..

WP_20140924_19_35_50_Pro.jpg

[pengwuino]

I replaced my bulbs last week, and let me just tell you, small hands for the win! I didn't have to move the power steering or windshield wiper fluid at all.

Hire a 12 year old to reach down there and replace the bulbs for you.

On second thought...

[Saspi]

What if you only have to removed the passenger side lightbulb? I guess it would be alot easier? And to Audi, all of that just to change a light bulb? in my old Acura, it takes me no more then 1 minutes at MOST to change my lightbulbs. In fact I don't need any tools. Just twist the cap out , put the light bulb in and twist the cap back on, Walla.