Hi guys, I have zennons fitted to my 05 VRS. I have bought a set of ice blue sidelights and fullbeam bulbs had a look today and it looks like a fair job to change a couple of bulbs. What is the best way to go about this ? cheers

It's not that hard, You just have move the ballasts to give yourself room!

I just did this last week with my Xenons and then found one of the new bulbs was faulty and had to put old ones back in.

Its not as simple as just removing the ballasts. On drivers side this makes no difference anyway as ballast is behind the grill.

On passenger side I removed the ballast and the battery and then you can remove the front part of the battery box, this gives you enough room although its still a little awkward.

Drivers side is much tighter as the fuel filter is in the way. I pulled the fuel filter out of its housing but left it connected and tied it out of the way. I also disconnected the pipe from the intercooler and tied this out of the way. As you face the car on the left of the light on the back at the bottom is a metal spring clip type thing which you need to unclip in order to take the light cover off.

Doing this just gives you enough room but its still tight and expect a few cuts and grazes.

I am sure someone will tell you that you dont have to do all this but I found it the easiest way of doing it.

Another thing I did was to put the connecters on the new bulbs before locking them in place in the actual light as the cables are quite thick and it can be awkward when bulbs are actually in place.

Hope this helps.

Here's how I tackled it,

Start on the drivers side, The ballast is under the X-member, Using both hands, Use your knuckles to ease down the A/C pipes. Push down with your thumbs on the retaining clip, And simultaneously waggle the ballast rearward until freed, Disconnect the power supply plug. Now you should be able to sit the ballast on the fuel filter, Gently press down on the headlight cover retaining tabs, Tilt slightly rearwards and lift to release the locating tab, Now turn the cover 90 degrees anticlockwise, This will give sufficient access to the Side & Mainbeam bulbs, Fit your new bulbs and reverse the above procedure, The ballast will slide back into it's housing, but hold the A/C pipes out of your way, And try not to put too much stress on them!

There's also a retaining spring which will need relocated it's on the outboard underside of the lamp, Use something like a screwdriver to pull it back and lift into position

Passenger side, If you have an 06 or earlier you'll have a battery box, Unclip the top cover, This will allow you to remove the front cover giving you a bit more room to work! If your car has no battery box this is all the space you're going to get!

Disconnect the power supply, Unscrew the ballast cradle screws and lift away from lamp, Now remove cradle from the ballast and put to one side. Rest the ballast on top of the battery (Careful not to make contact with any terminals or fuses)

Gently press down on the headlight cover retaining tabs, Tilt slightly rearwards and lift to release the locating tab, Now turn the cover 90 degrees clockwise, This will give sufficient access to the Side & Mainbeam bulbs, Fit your new bulbs and reverse the above procedure to reassemble!

Cheers Mike.