Replacing headlight bulbs

[Chris C]

Does anyone know how to get access to the headlights on the GTi? One of my sidelights has blown and I want to replace it. Also am trying to replace the main beam bulb with brighter xenon 'effect' bulbs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

[neilw]

Did this awhile ago to fit my bluevision bulbs. You have to take off the front bumper and remove the headlamp unit. I did this with help from my dad, and once we'd worked out where all the clips and bolts and things are toom about an hour from start to finish. Somewhere there is a post which says where all the bolts are, have a search for it.

[morrismen]

You mean to change a headlight bulb you have to remove the front bumber??? What? Surely this contravenes safety? How can you change a blown bulb on the road side if the police say you can't continue to drive it, when you have to take the front bumper off? There must be an easy plug in bulb operation at the back of the headlamp surely?

[neilw]

There must be an easy plug in bulb operation at the back of the headlamp surely?

Yeh there is but you cant get at it with the headlamps in the car! And to take them out the bumper has to come off

[Si_GTi]

You mean to change a headlight bulb you have to remove the front bumber??? What? Surely this contravenes safety? How can you change a blown bulb on the road side if the police say you can't continue to drive it, when you have to take the front bumper off? There must be an easy plug in bulb operation at the back of the headlamp surely?

Actually you raise a very interesting point there. A letter last week to Auto Express mentioned the exact same problem, in this case regarding a Citreon C5 I believe, which also requires the front bumper to come off to gain access to the headlight in order to change broken and/or blown bulbs.

You can change the bulbs without removing the front bumper, polopowah has done it, but he says you need small hands and patience! Plus as his car has the 1.0 powerplant there is probably a little more space in the engine bay to work around the smaller capacity engine!

[neilw]

I think all the gubins for the Xeons takes up what spare room there is on the non gti mk5

[mikegti]

It's a bit of pain, thats for sure! and you also have to take the covers off the headlamp washers to get the bumper off.

I wasn't very impressed with the bluevision bulbs, they're better than the ones I took out but not so much that you'd notice, unless they were side by side...

Some people say the bright white LED sidelights are good though.

[DMWRIGHT]

This should help http://www.tyresmoke.net/ubbthreads/sho ... e/5#304375