I picked up two new complete headlights last week and am looking to install them. My question is, how hard is this to do/can anyone who has done it tell me how? These are the complete headlight units. I looked at the headlights which are on the car today, and it doesn't look that complicated. I'm just afraid there is more involved than I realize. Can anyone help me out on this one?

Thanks.

-Nick

 

Sort of a pain really.
I started by removing the grill.
A couple of bolts on top of each light.
The hard ones to reach are the bottom bolts - manual says access through the wheel well access panels. I had to remove the panels in front of the wheels, behind the front facia, to reach the bolts.
Unplugging the wiring is a bit tight as expected.
Then the lights do not just pull or lift out- they have to be rotated, angled, and persuaded into removal.

Download the service manual if you have not done so - just to get an idea of the bolt locations.

Good luck!

edit *also remove the bolt holding the facia between the grill & headlight to allow some "flex" during persuasion

 

exactly what he said down to every little detail, i went to a shop and the owner and me did it together and he charged me like 25 bucks and we plan to reinstall my new ones as well. i needed a temp light set so i could finish my retrofit project for HID's

 

haha i didnt have a manual when i did it. i just took off the bumper. real easy to remove them with the bumper off.

 

Very true. If you do not take the bumper off, it is nice to know the location of the lower bolts. 1/4" drive with several extensions help.

 

yeah the bottom bolts are a pita and trying the wedge the lights out.


if you can take your time and remove the bumper along with front grill you will breeze through.