It should be part of the Construction & Us Regs
Discussion
That light bulbs can be easily replaced at the side of the road.
Just spent an hour trying to get at the daytime running light bulb on the front of my son's Hyundai i10.
Gave up when the midgies advanced. Strip out the lower undertray panel, wriggle hand up the gap, pull of connector, rotate bulb holder and Bob's yer Uncle apparently. Except I cannot get the plug off the holder and you can't rotate the holder as the plug hits a bit of plastic before releasing.
Just spent an hour trying to get at the daytime running light bulb on the front of my son's Hyundai i10.
Gave up when the midgies advanced. Strip out the lower undertray panel, wriggle hand up the gap, pull of connector, rotate bulb holder and Bob's yer Uncle apparently. Except I cannot get the plug off the holder and you can't rotate the holder as the plug hits a bit of plastic before releasing.
Frustrating.
Could try searching for more YT vids if you haven't already. Sometimes it's worth using Halfords, because they offer fitting for not too much extra.
In terms of legislation the US used to go further, cars were only permitted to use one of a couple of different type of headlamps. This was so that gas stations could stock replacement bulbs for motorists who needed them, and thus avoid people driving around with a light out. That's the closest thing I know of to regulating for easy replaceability. It did however end up comprehensively uglifying the faces of cars such as the DS and SD1.
To be honest I think nowadays we're not far away from all car lights being LEDs which hopefully will never need replacement. The DRLs on a new i10 already are, so a future you wouldn't face this particular challenge.
Could try searching for more YT vids if you haven't already. Sometimes it's worth using Halfords, because they offer fitting for not too much extra.
In terms of legislation the US used to go further, cars were only permitted to use one of a couple of different type of headlamps. This was so that gas stations could stock replacement bulbs for motorists who needed them, and thus avoid people driving around with a light out. That's the closest thing I know of to regulating for easy replaceability. It did however end up comprehensively uglifying the faces of cars such as the DS and SD1.
To be honest I think nowadays we're not far away from all car lights being LEDs which hopefully will never need replacement. The DRLs on a new i10 already are, so a future you wouldn't face this particular challenge.
It's a bit late for that now though!
It was a world of pain when I had to change a sidelight bulb on my 2005 BMW 3 Series which involved removing half the air intake, although a tail-light only took a few minutes.
I'm not convinced LEDs are that great either. My 2007 1 Series only had 2 LEDs. They were for the number plate lights and they are the only two bulbs that failed during the 6+ years I had it!
My pet hate with lighting is cars that have DRLs but no rear lights and seemingly no Auto-lights, so you get numpties driving around in the dark with no rear lights, which is positively dangerous on unlit roads.
Construction and Use Regs should have addressed that!
It was a world of pain when I had to change a sidelight bulb on my 2005 BMW 3 Series which involved removing half the air intake, although a tail-light only took a few minutes.
I'm not convinced LEDs are that great either. My 2007 1 Series only had 2 LEDs. They were for the number plate lights and they are the only two bulbs that failed during the 6+ years I had it!
My pet hate with lighting is cars that have DRLs but no rear lights and seemingly no Auto-lights, so you get numpties driving around in the dark with no rear lights, which is positively dangerous on unlit roads.
Construction and Use Regs should have addressed that!
Replacing bulbs are a pain except in a Volvo V50 and id like to say most older Volvos. Pull the retaining bar up and the whole cluster comes out. Wife's Fiat 500 DRL light is a pain, full lock the front whhels in the opposite direction, remove the access hatch from the wheel arch and feel with your hands, they blow every 6 months too and thats in a car that has so much room in the engine bay.
There must be a heck of a good living out there waiting for someone refurbing LED lights, some of the more avoidable ones apparently knocking on £3000 each for the all singing/dancing headlights, with £1000 being quite normal for normal headlight units.
I recall someone reporting Jag XF's having a tendency to blow the front indicator which was built into the headlight itself, circa £1100 then.
Does anyone know of a LED repair set up?
I recall someone reporting Jag XF's having a tendency to blow the front indicator which was built into the headlight itself, circa £1100 then.
Does anyone know of a LED repair set up?
Lincsls1 said:
To change the sidelights on a MK7 Fiesta, the whole headlight needs to be removed.
Not overly difficult, but still, just ridiculous. This is my GFs car.
I actually think this is often the best designs if done well (which it often isn't). It can allow for a design where one easily accessible latch frees up access to the entire light unit, rather than having to poke around under the slam panel for a particular bulb. Not overly difficult, but still, just ridiculous. This is my GFs car.
kambites said:
Lincsls1 said:
To change the sidelights on a MK7 Fiesta, the whole headlight needs to be removed.
Not overly difficult, but still, just ridiculous. This is my GFs car.
I actually think this is often the best designs if done well (which it often isn't). It can allow for a design where one easily accessible latch frees up access to the entire light unit, rather than having to poke around under the slam panel for a particular bulb. Not overly difficult, but still, just ridiculous. This is my GFs car.
Generally find Toyota and Subaru have easy bulb changes, last Landcruiser wasn't too bad, it was twin battery with the batteries mounted behind each headlamp unit, took 2 minutes to remove and refit a battery (glove over the disconnected live lead meant car kept continuous power) whch made bulbs the easiest change ever.
Also found Toyota/Subaru bulbs last up to 10 years, presumably decent quality OE.
samoht said:
Frustrating.
To be honest I think nowadays we're not far away from all car lights being LEDs which hopefully will never need replacement. The DRLs on a new i10 already are, so a future you wouldn't face this particular challenge.
Yeah good one haha. Automotive LED's fail loads. With the tasty bonus that they cost between 20x and 100x more to fix and replace vs a bulb. Isn't progress great.To be honest I think nowadays we're not far away from all car lights being LEDs which hopefully will never need replacement. The DRLs on a new i10 already are, so a future you wouldn't face this particular challenge.
Skyedriver said:
As mentioned above the Volvo (ours is a V70) you lift out two pegs, the entire light cluster lifts away for access to the rear.
I gave up after an hour on the i10 and I've done one before!
Yup, literally 10 seconds to remove the entire unit and then replace the bulbs whilst sat at the kitchen table. I gave up after an hour on the i10 and I've done one before!
Smint said:
There must be a heck of a good living out there waiting for someone refurbing LED lights, some of the more avoidable ones apparently knocking on £3000 each for the all singing/dancing headlights, with £1000 being quite normal for normal headlight units.
I recall someone reporting Jag XF's having a tendency to blow the front indicator which was built into the headlight itself, circa £1100 then.
Does anyone know of a LED repair set up?
The problem would be sourcing the exact LED to make the repair, these are not the same as your Aliexpress special, plus the cost of pro microscopes, hot tweezers, hot air re-work and solder stations.I recall someone reporting Jag XF's having a tendency to blow the front indicator which was built into the headlight itself, circa £1100 then.
Does anyone know of a LED repair set up?
I've fixed a few solar lights with a cheap hot air station, maxed out it just managed to put enough heat into the PCB to remove the surface mount LED...its not easy.
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