hmmrdwn Posted December 20, 2013 Share Posted December 20, 2013 Yeah, that is a tight area. I think the video link provided shows the bulb being replaced after they pulled the front bumper....but they made it look like they did it through the wheel opening. The problem with removing the front bumper is the damn retaining tabs break and you have to be careful to line up everything to get it back on straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JP Wisconsin Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Read all the comments about removing the bumper. I thought I was way better than anyone else and decided to try the official "easy" way of taking the liner off. DID'T WORK!. If you do the wheel approach, you'll find that space is tight, and if and only if you can get your hand in there, you can't by any means see what you are doing. Long story short, I gave up on that approach and decided to remove the bumper. I started by taking the rivets out from the engine compartment which was incredibly easy, then I moved to the rivets on the bottom and they were a pain, so eventhough I agree this approach is easier, it is not as easy as it may seem. With the bumper out you have somehow more room (not much) to put your hand in, but you'll still be on the blind, so it will take some time to figure it out. I suggest remove the old bulbs and PRACTICE putting it back on place. Once you have it figured out, use the new bulbs. It is incredibly hard if you consider you are just replacing a bulb... but at the end it is doable, and you end up feeling great and you'll save quite a few dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepr56 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 At no point do I feel great after replacing the shit H7 bulbs on this generation Legacy. Such a pain in the ass and they barely survive over a year. Speaking of which, I'll be out freezing my ass replacing my drivers side that just went this week. Think I made it 9 months on that side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 So in that video, they are making it harder than it has to be - you really want to remove the wheel well liner completely from the bumper and undercover, then roll it back and out of the way - then you can reach in straight instead of from below the headlight. I don't think the bumper is off in their picture - if you go into the engine compartment and look by the battery, there is a big hole through which you can see the back of the headlight (and the cover over the bulb) - that's where they were filming. If you have a hard time working in tight spaces with limited visibility, then lift the front of the car and remove the wheel - then you will have much more space and can see what you are doing better. It's definitely harder than replacing a headlight bulb should be, but if you move things out of the way, it's really pretty straightforward. I am not a big fan of removing the bumper each time, as the points where the bumper clamps to the body are going to wear and become looser and looser with time - and that is difficult to repair - with the wheel well liner approach, worst case you damage a clip, then for a couple of bucks, you can replace it with a new one. I put a schematic in this thread showing which fasteners you need to pull to get good access. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/5th-gen-lowbeam-headlight-replacement-231911.html What bothers me is that replacing the bulb is sometimes an emergency sort of repair, and this is not something you can readily do on the side of the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzard Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 At no point do I feel great after replacing the shit H7 bulbs on this generation Legacy. Such a pain in the ass and they barely survive over a year. Speaking of which, I'll be out freezing my ass replacing my drivers side that just went this week. Think I made it 9 months on that side Don't feel bad, I'm sure mine will shit the bed at some point this month. Would be a record, 3 January's in a row. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogg Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I did my high and low beams yesterday. took me a hour but I used a lift and took the front wheels off. I went threw the wheel wells for the low beams. the hardest part for me was getting those grey covers to turn for the first time. high beams were done in 5 min. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landslide907 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 There is 2 push pins on the inner fender,turn the wheel all the way to the opposite side, pull the inner fender back, remove the gray cover and replace the bulb, I'm getting good at it since I do it every other month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJMajickMan Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 There is 2 push pins on the inner fender,turn the wheel all the way to the opposite side, pull the inner fender back, remove the gray cover and replace the bulb, I'm getting good at it since I do it every other month Every other month? I think you might want to look into wearing gloves when you replace your bulbs so that you're not getting oil on the bulb causing it to burn out to quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulldogg Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I used the Sylvania silver star ultras. says right on the box that they do not last as long as a standard bulb. Im sure after one or 2 ill be good at it also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJMajickMan Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Stock bulb on left Sylvania H7 SilverStar zXe high performance on the right. Guess I should change the drivers side bulb now with what was going to be my spare. http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/12/2a52f9c7d1fde16177050a7860490d1a.jpg Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landslide907 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Every other month? I think you might want to look into wearing gloves when you replace your bulbs so that you're not getting oil on the bulb causing it to burn out to quickly. I wear black nitril gloves when changing my bulbs. And the new low beam lights only lasted 1 day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 gloves are good if you can't keep your fingers off the capsule, but probably aren't needed. I always clean the capsule with IPA just before inserting it and make sure I don't bump anything with it before it's inside the headlight. bulbs lasting a day are probably a sign of something that was defective right out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJMajickMan Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 buying bad bulbs? I didn't wear gloves when I changed my bulb above and it's been good for a week now. I also didn't touch the glass ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rps13jp Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 I'm an aircraft mechanic and the lightbulbs are much hotter; but still I wipe the bulbs with alcohol to ensure they are free from grease, grime, and any contaminates that will cause a hot spot to blow the bulb. Is this necessary, probably not, but I know it could cause a blown bulb and I'd rather do what I know works and not have to buy a new bulbs. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C6Driver Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Good to know. My 2010 has original headlight bulbs and I was thinking about replacing them with something better. Now I know what I'm in for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrD123 Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Halogens decline in output with time, so pretty much any bulb is going to look brighter than 5+ year old bulbs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Landslide907 Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 I just put the 9.00 Wagner bulbs in,the sylvania melted my housing have to order the pass side now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradykp Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 So i was changing my bulb the way the manual says, and it honestly wasn't horrible. but my dad was "helping" me when i was having trouble getting the metal piece to unlatch and he forced it off, which broke a piece of plastic. now, i get the new headlight on, but that metal latch won't close. am i SOL now and have to have the dealer replace that plastic piece the metal is supposed to latch to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzard Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 1 year and 3 months, think that's a new record. Passenger side low beam went out yesterday. Thought maybe this time the GE's would last longer. Next up are a set of Philips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlem898 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 So i was changing my bulb the way the manual says, and it honestly wasn't horrible. but my dad was "helping" me when i was having trouble getting the metal piece to unlatch and he forced it off, which broke a piece of plastic. now, i get the new headlight on, but that metal latch won't close. am i SOL now and have to have the dealer replace that plastic piece the metal is supposed to latch to? Same thing happened to me. A real pain! I have been using a plastic tie down to keep the metal latch in place. Luckily there is enough for it to grab on to. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blizzard Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 No offense guys but this is why you take the whole front end of the car off instead of trying to go through the wheel well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zee199969 Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 ^This. The process may have taken more time, but everything that was done was easily taken apart and put back together. My "Build" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EngineerJoe Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 FWIW, I've done the headlight change 4+ times in my (almost) 3 years of ownership. I go through the wheel-well and I easily do both bulbs (start-to-finish) in under 1 hour. My thoughts? 1. Don't go through the wheel-well in cold weather. The plastic is far more likely to crack. Find a warm garage to work in, or pay a stealership. 2. Remove the tire (don't just turn the wheel). Removing the tire will give you plenty more room to work with. 3. Don't run Silverstuff Premium Ultra stupid bright 50,000k bulbs... they only last a few months (how do you think I got so good at changing lamps?). And once they burn out, they're not as bright as the factory bulbs (so ANY gains you had when the lights were working are now lost) 4. Wear a lamp on your head. Sounds stupid, and may even look stupid, until the first time you use this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nstg8r Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 2. Remove the tire (don't just turn the wheel). Removing the tire will give you plenty more room to work with. Unless you have air tools, I can remove my entire front bumper cover in less time than it'll take you to remove one tire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLGT Posted April 6, 2015 Share Posted April 6, 2015 Taking the tire off is harder than taking the front bumper off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.