DIY Xenon Bulb replacement

[deranged-gp]

Hi All

I was plagued with a pink/red light bulb syndrome and since the Golf 5 guide was not sufficient as the bulb design is different in the Golf 6, I decided to create my first DIY guide and I hope it helps.

The pictures are not the best as trying to take pics and do the job by myself was not that easy. Please excuse crappy iPhone pics.

This is what it looks like when your bulb is on its way to the grave


So I purchased new bulbs from our local Lighting expert in South Africa, Jab Sport which cost R800 which roughly converts to $75.

This DIY is not difficult at all and the pictures depict the left hand side of the vehicle where the fuse box is located as this is the difficult side to tackle and the right hand side is much simpler.

Step 1: Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery.


Step 2: Remove the top 2 screws holding the headlight in place, you will not be able to remove the headlight but it moves forward enough to give you clearance to work.


Removing screws


Screws removed and you can see the range of movement you can expect


Step 3: Remove the dust cap at the back of the headlight

Dust cap


Just pull back and it will be released


Step 4: tackling the bulb

Bulb in place (excuse poor image)


get your fingers in there and press highlighted tab you will feel the tab is like a press in switch and push down to remove connector.


Connector removed and from this image you will get an idea of the release tab.


Step 5: Remove Bulb

To remove the bulb turn it 90 degrees to the left and it will release


At this point you can remove the bulb pry the head light forward to give you clearance to remove bulb

Bad Bulb removed


Step 6: Remove Bulb holder

The bulb holder is the black plastic surround, to remove press tab where my thumb is located.


The bulb holder will release




Bad Bulb


Step 7: Transfer the bulb holder to new bulb

New Bulb



When bulb holder on it should look like pics of the old bulb, sorry I did not take any pics of this step.

Step 8: Fit bulb

Before inserting bulb connect the connector, hold bulb with connector end facing the right hand side and pry headlight forward and manoeuvre bulb in, the same way you would do with a desk that is too big for a doorway.


Once you get the bulb in, twist 90 degrees to the right or a down ward action and it should lock into place.

Close up with dust cap and re insert head light bolts.

Repeat the steps on the right hand side which is much easier as there is much more room to work.

Reconnect negative terminal of the battery and test by basking in your new found light.

It took me about 20 mins to do but will be much quicker as I fitted bulb without connecting the connector thinking it would be easier to connect but I was wrong which led me to removing bulb again to get the connector fitted.

Also I wore surgical gloves when handling the new globes as I did not want to damage $75 globes with my fingers.

I hope this helps and if you have any questions I will be more than willing to help.

 

[MBorVW]

Thank you for this good sir! I will try again today after work.

Do you have to disconnect the battery?

 

[deranged-gp]

Pleasure, you do not have to but in my experience due to cramped space the mental connector managed to touch the exposed wire on the fuse box and let just say lots of sparks and me praying nothing blew, luckily nothing did. I went back to the theory working on anything electrical disconnect battery just to be safe.

 

[chilito]

Thank you, deranged-GP, for the great walk-thru. I was lucky enough to only need to replace the right-side bulb, and your pictures and descriptions made it as easy as it should be. The most annoying part was weeding through Amazon reviews of similar replacement bulbs. I opted for the "SYLVANIA D1S High Intensity Discharge (HID) Bulb." The box also refers to it as Xenarc. Fits and works as expected.

 

[Conberg]

Thanks for the great info, my passenger light is currently out and I suspect a burnt out bulb. What was it like when yours went? Did it just "pop" or was it a flicker? Did it Chang color or brightness? Also, old was the bulb when it burnt out? Thanks again for the pics and write up! Great info!

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk

 

[icee]

Excellent write up! I just changed my hid bulbs using this guide and the worst part for me was the bulb on the battery side of the car.

I think I spent 30 minutes playing Tetris with the bulb to get it to come out. There was also the problem of the unlock pin on the on the connector's release button was bent. Thankfully the cable connector was long enough for me to why the release button was jammed.

Step 8 (or the "bad bulb removed" pic) is the magic position the bulb must be rotated to in your hand in order to slip the bulb in or out. If you look at step 8's picture, that small cutout on the black bulb holder is where the lip of the headlight housing (the lip the rubber cover sits on) will enter in order for the bulb to pivot and clear the fuse box.

I swear I heard angels when the stupid bulb magically rotated out.

 

[svickstc]

Haven't been active in years but just wanted to say thanks for the guide on this as it's the only thing that seems to be available when quickly searched for this.

Not one of the most fun things to do, thanks for the guide

 

[Squashdaddy]

I spent 1/2 hour just trying to get the plug off. I must be an idiot, but I just don't understand what has to be pushed in for the plug to be able to be pulled down and off.

 

[DoloRager]

Made the stupidity of NOT disconnecting the negative terminal from the battery and the connector to the bulb has fried! Does anyone know the actual part no for that item?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[icloudfiles]

Thanks for this guide. I just replaced both my bulbs. Took me about 15 mins.. to do both. I got these bulbs off powerbulbs.com. The only reputable source based on my research. The only way to tell if the bulbs are real is via philips or osrams website via the security code on the bullbs.

https://www.powerbulbs.com/product/philips-xenon-whitevision-gen2-d1s-single

About Kelvins.. anything higher than 5000k will be bluer than you should put on (im only kinda joking). These 4800k bulbs are amazing so far. I really like how bright they are..

 

[AGG85]

Thanks for putting together this guide. It was the only more detailed guide I could find online. I followed your instructions and had no problem taking off the Xenon bulb, however I had a really difficult time getting the new bulb in to the same spot and twisting it the correct amount. I don't know if my hand was just to bulky. I tried for over one hour but the space was just to constrained for me to install the bulb properly. I was also worried I would damage the $100 bulb.

After trying for over an hour, I realized the entire bulb fixture had to come out and to do that I had to remove the front bumper. I removed all of the screws on the side, top, and bottom of the bumper and slowly started to tug on it from the side, right next to the wheel. After separating it just about an inch I realized that would give me enough space to slide out the entire light fixture. Once the light fixture was out it took me a minute to replace the bulb and connect it. I then slid it back in to it's spot and and screwed it in place. It was a huge relief when the bulb was in securely.

Had I partially removed the bumper to begin with it would have saved me the extra hour of trying to screw in the bulb with little space and now way of knowing if I was putting it in correctly.

 

[AM407]

Thanks for putting together this guide. It was the only more detailed guide I could find online. I followed your instructions and had no problem taking off the Xenon bulb, however I had a really difficult time getting the new bulb in to the same spot and twisting it the correct amount. I don't know if my hand was just to bulky. I tried for over one hour but the space was just to constrained for me to install the bulb properly. I was also worried I would damage the $100 bulb.

After trying for over an hour, I realized the entire bulb fixture had to come out and to do that I had to remove the front bumper. I removed all of the screws on the side, top, and bottom of the bumper and slowly started to tug on it from the side, right next to the wheel. After separating it just about an inch I realized that would give me enough space to slide out the entire light fixture. Once the light fixture was out it took me a minute to replace the bulb and connect it. I then slid it back in to it's spot and and screwed it in place. It was a huge relief when the bulb was in securely.

Had I partially removed the bumper to begin with it would have saved me the extra hour of trying to screw in the bulb with little space and now way of knowing if I was putting it in correctly.

Yeah, I did mine a couple of months ago. I used this DIY, but it was just a huge PITA for me to get the bulbs back in. If I ever have to do it again, I'm just going to pull the bumper.

I'm still not 100% sure that I got the bulbs in correctly. DIY says they take a 90-degree turn to come out, but I could only get them to turn 45-degrees when I put them back in.

 

[BathroomTile]

Are the photos not showing up for anyone else or is it just me? I need to replace my driver-side Xenon bulb, and this guide looks like it's exactly what I need if the pictures were working. All the videos and guides I'm finding elsewhere are for MkV GTIs.

 

[stradovinski]

Thanks for this DIY! The driver's side is definitely a tight working area. I didn't get much room to work with even after removing the screws. You want to note that the connector should be facing down once reinstalled as someone said, and connect it to the wiring before trying to screw it back in place.

Putting it back in is all by feel, and for me was a 45 degree turn and not 90. If you are comfortable loosening up the bumper (which I am not), it would make it a whole lot easier. I heard the same angels singing, only it was once it screwed back in place since you can't really see what you are doing.

I also went with the Sylvania D1S. Thanks again for the DIY and all the comments. Very helpful.

 

[Br4ve]

I cant see the pics to help me do my install