BMW E90 Xenon headlights side light bulb replacement, Help!

[Huskyman]

What a total b**tard of a job!!!
At the moment I have removed the entire front bumper from my car to get the headlight out as I could not get to the screws that held the lamp/reflector assembly inside the headlight, and had to remove it complete! Arrgh!! Then to add insult to injury the replacement lamp I had bought for it was wrong, and they are on order.. The very helpful parts dept at Sytner's in Newport are getting one in for me tomorrow.
The part number is http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/part?id=VC92-EUR-0...
and it's £36 ffs. How the hell are you supposed to replace this at the roadside?!?

Am I missing something here? Or is the design so stupid you need to take the whole headlight out to so this?!?

[Dannbodge]

Did you remove the panel in the inner arch to get access?

[TheEnd]

Dannbodge said:

Did you remove the panel in the inner arch to get access?

Yep, there's an access hatch in the wheelarch...

I have swapped angel eye bulbs without doing that, one was fairly easy, the other was more fiddly, but I can't remember which of the two types of headlight it was.



That was the style of bulb.

[philmots]

Easiest is to take wheel off and take the 4 screws out the arch liner and bend it back, the access panel is too small for two hands.

Takes about 15 minutes a side.

[mr_fibuli]

I had to do this on mine - I went in through the wheel arch liner.

The price for the bulb is an absolute joke - the actual bulb inside that fancy housing is available for pennies. The problem is that BMW have made sure you can't remove the bulb as the housing is plastic welded together, and there isn't enough room to get it out of the hole in the front.

I drilled a tiny (3mm?) notch in the front of the housing next to the bulb, and found this was enough to allow the bayonet tabs of the bulb to fit out. Just be careful though as the plastic is super hard and brittle - I actually thought it was glass or metal at first.

I just looked up what I bought - a 10w BA9S halogen is what you need.

Edited by mr_fibuli on Tuesday 29th September 18:10

[Huskyman]

TheEnd said:

Dannbodge said:

Did you remove the panel in the inner arch to get access?

Yep, there's an access hatch in the wheelarch...

I have swapped angel eye bulbs without doing that, one was fairly easy, the other was more fiddly, but I can't remember which of the two types of headlight it was.



That was the style of bulb.

Hi Dannbodge and The End, it was different to that and I was worried about damaging the headlight unit as some of the stuff I'm there looked a little delicate. i managed to change one of the HID lamps though the hatch but the lamp for the Angel eyes was held in place with two torx screws and was very awkward to get at.
Thanks for your help. Much appreciated.

Edited by Huskyman on Wednesday 30th September 12:04

Edited by Huskyman on Wednesday 30th September 12:06

[Huskyman]

mr_fibuli said:

I had to do this on mine - I went in through the wheel arch liner.

The price for the bulb is an absolute joke - the actual bulb inside that fancy housing is available for pennies. The problem is that BMW have made sure you can't remove the bulb as the housing is plastic welded together, and there isn't enough room to get it out of the hole in the front.

I drilled a tiny (3mm?) notch in the front of the housing next to the bulb, and found this was enough to allow the bayonet tabs of the bulb to fit out. Just be careful though as the plastic is super hard and brittle - I actually thought it was glass or metal at first.

I just looked up what I bought - a 10w BA9S halogen is what you need.

Edited by mr_fibuli on Tuesday 29th September 18:10

Hi mr fibuli
I tried to free it from the holder but the plastic was so brittle it was a no go. I had problems with the washer jets failing to return into the bumper as well, so after I calmed down a bit I decided that the bumper off was the way forward. Those bloody washer jets are a pain, they have a big spring in them and they are impossible to take apart safely. Hey ho. At least im killing three birds with one stone by doing it this way.
I have bought the new lamp unit but I will keep the old one as a spare and do as you have suggested if and when the other one fails... Thanks for the tip!

[Benb123]

hi there i have the same bulb holder as the one in the photo but how do you get the bulb out of the holder it seems to have plastic melts on it so that it doesn't come out. Thanks