Changing Headlight Bulbs...

[ToMBoY_C]

Wanting to put upgraded bulbs into my headlights. Just done my Full Beams (H7) :beerchug: now wanting to change Dipped and Sidelight (H7 and 501) :1zhelp:

How do you do these two bulbs? :confused: As there's no space...

Thanks :approve:

[VAGMAN54]

h7 bulb has dip and main in the same bulb...the 501 just pulls out of the headlamp and then pulls out of the holder..

[ToMBoY_C]

h7 bulb has dip and main in the same bulb...the 501 just pulls out of the headlamp and then pulls out of the holder..


Huh? Don't understand... H7 Bulb was Full Beam, the Dipped beam H1, is behaind the eye type glass bit...

[jonsey24]

I have put a post on the site about this, i done my dipped beams the other week and it was a nightmare, there are two types of bulb fitments.
One is twist and pull out, the other is simply pull out then push and click back in place.
My 2005 Passat had the later fitment and it was a pain in the backside, you can access the headlight bulb on the passenger side no issues plenty of space, its when you come to changing the drivers side you run into trouble as you cannot get your hand in past the Washer bottle.
Im not joking when i say my hand was swollen at the end of it, scraped, cut you name it i done it.
If you have the pull out bulb fitment and they wont budge when you wiggle the bulb itself then what i used was a spot of WD40 to loosen up the housing and enabled me to easily slide out the bulbs.

All this was after 3 hours of pulling, poking, grabbing the bulb with pincers, dropping the pincers into the engine bay and having to remove the arch liner to retrieve them.

[jonsey24]

Main beam and dipped beam are both H7 fitment on the pasat, to check go to www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk and check

[ToMBoY_C]

Yer this is what I thought Jonesy? How can you take the headlight out then?

I checked and it says H1 Dipped, Full H7.

[jonsey24]

The headlight bulbs arent too bad you have to persevere and squeeze your hand into the housing and pull and wiggle the bulb till it comes loose.
You should be able to grab onto the black wiring connector that attaches to the 2 prongs on the end of the bulb and gently wiggle this to help removal.
As i mentioned if you have the pull out fitment that doesnt need you to twist then remove try using a spray of WD40 to loosen the bulb leave for an hour then try taking the bulb out.

I didnt bother with the 501's as they are even harder to get in than the main headlight bulbs.
To remove the headlights would be easy but then you require the front bumper to come off before you can do so.

[jonsey24]

Here is my original post:

http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=64804

[ToMBoY_C]

Hmmmm been put off now... wanted some nice Blue tint headlights though... :(

[pendle wizard]

i found when doing the h7 bulbs i used a small mirror (borrowed from my daughter/ thank goodness for barbie)and a torch not easy but can be done, to do the sidelights i found it easier to unscrew the wheel arch liner and go in that way, hope this helps.

[rjb2001]

h7 bulb has dip and main in the same bulb...the 501 just pulls out of the headlamp and then pulls out of the holder..

Not true. H7 bulbs are single filament bulbs - you need four bulbs in total per car 2 x dipped beam and 2 x main beam; H4's have both dipped and main beam filaments in the same bulb - they use a Graves shield inside the bulb to give the correct shape for dipped beam - you only need 2 bulbs per car.

[jonsey24]

Interesting way of attacking the 501's there by removing the arch liner, i might tackle this tomorrow as now i have replaced the main headlight bulbs with osram cool blue the standard 501's look like the colour of my urine after a night on the ale

[jonsey24]

I am assuming your talking about changing your main headlight bulbs, the ones behind the double optic glass ball lense?

these are the ones im talking about in my posts on here

[ToMBoY_C]

Right have been thinking and I'm going to do it! lol Watch this space...

[VAGMAN54]

yeah sorry my mistake

[Slick]

Interesting way of attacking the 501's there by removing the arch liner, i might tackle this tomorrow as now i have replaced the main headlight bulbs with osram cool blue the standard 501's look like the colour of my urine after a night on the ale

hi jonsey, have you done this yet and how did you get on? as I may try this soon too, any tips to help me?

[jonsey24]

Not tried it yet folks, might have a go this weekend if the weather is nice

[hartry]

The full beams are easy but i also did the dipped in about 10 minutes and the sidelights in about half an hour all through the open bonnet (no bumper/arch liner removal).

In my case the dipped beam bulbs twisted anticlockwise (viewing from the drivers seat) and then they are free, after that remove the wiring connector and you can replace the bulb in the bulb holder before putting them back in.

The sidelights were much tighter, but like i said in another post, if my fat hands can do it I'm sure others can too! They just had a smaller rubber cap to remove and after that the bulb is just a push fit - give it a firm yank and it will come out. I did end up with swollen and cut hands and wrists after the sidelight change though.:mad:

[Slick]

The sidelights were much tighter, but like i said in another post, if my fat hands can do it I'm sure others can too! They just had a smaller rubber cap to remove and after that the bulb is just a push fit - give it a firm yank and it will come out. I did end up with swollen and cut hands and wrists after the sidelight change though.:mad:

thanks for the info, I'm waiting for my sidelights to arrive and will give them a go but not looking forward to it!

Thats good if you dont need to remove any arch liners, will see how it goes..