Got myself some new bulbs for the vRS, mainly to get rid of the fried egg looks.

The indicator bulbs are pretty easy to do at the rear of the car. At the front it takes a bit of doing but there is enough room to get to them.

However, I also got H7 bulbs for the main beam (undipped) - the handbook was in my case correct (2005) but be careful as some older ones claim it's a H3 bulb which with Xenons is NOT the case, it is H7. You'll find some threads on this elsewhere on the site.

Basically I ended up taking the car to the dealer as there was just no way I would spend that long getting the Xenons out. It took the dealer a good 45 mins, I got charged for a broken brake/rear light bulb as they supplied it (I broke it when I hit the light holder at the back against the car, my fault).

As always a good service from Ashmore Green in Newbury. Not quite sure what's happened with my driver-side frontwheel alloy whilst it was there though, it's got scraped :( Will be discussing that on Wednesday when it's (finally) getting it's first full valet/treatment.

Either way - I would advise against doing the front-bulb changes yourself as the headlight units had to come out in order to fit the replacement bulbs. Also the level needs rechecking (not surprising when you have to take the whole thing to bits I suppose).

Somehow the (un)clip of non-Xenon seems like a good idea

Certainly I would recommend if you have Xenons to buy long-life bulbs as changing the bulbs is darn-near impossible without great effort.

Will have to wait till it's dark & I need to go out to find out if the uprated bulbs are 'worth it' but the indicators sure look a lot tidier without the massive orange glow. Rears look a little tidier too.

Not posted pics as there are already some on-site anyway and you can imagine what the difference is (no more orange when not 'blinking')

I wanted some blue lamps in beside my Xenons, been plucking up the courage to have a look at it!! Don't really want to pay the dealer if I can do it myself.

I too would like tidier/uprated bulbs all round, but having Xenons has put me off a wee bit!

I also have a kerbed alloy after leaving my car at the dealers! Don't want to much of a confrontation but will certainly be mentioning it...

Not happy about the alloy as it's kerbed - tyre is unmarked though so I reckon it must have been a ramp or something :( I'm sure it will be sorted out FOC...

Don't be too put off by it

Basically it was half an hour labour (29 quid), fitting the bulbs I supplied and replace the light bulb which was charged at 1.29 before VAT

Total cost was a shade below 36 quid, plus the cost of the uprated bulbs & indicators which was as per below from powerbulbs.co.uk. Not mentioned below are the free side lights you get included but you'll see that on their site.

1 x Osram Silver Star H7

Pair (OSSH7)

GBP 21.23 each + GBP 3.72 Tax

-----------------------------------------------------------

1 x Osram Diadem PY21W

Two Pairs (OD 2 Pair)

GBP 21.28 each + GBP 3.72 Tax

-----------------------------------------------------------

Shipping

FREE standard shipping - United Kingdom

GBP 0.00 + GBP 0.00 Tax

-----------------------------------------------------------

Order Value = GBP 42.51

Tax = GBP 7.44

Total = GBP 49.95

(GBP = British Pounds)

I've replaced all front & rear indicator bulbs with Philips Silvervision & it looks miles better. Front & rear are doddle to do. Also, replaced the side light bulbs with Philips Bluevision to match up with the xenons. These are a bit more tricky to replace & can be done with out taking the headlamps out. You need to have the patience of a saint be double jointed in both hands!

Recently replaced the Bluevision sidelights with white LEDs, which are OK but you can't see them lit when viewed side on.

Indicators at front were pretty tight on the driver side but the indicators were pretty easy, took me about 5 mins to do the whole car for those bulbs.

Me being stupid knocked out the brake/rear light on the driver side when fitting that though - the shame of it

Couldnt agree more Jon - looks miles better

How did you manage to get to the headlamps though, there appeared to be about a 1cm gap between the transformer on passenger side Xeon so I gave up (was in the equivalent of a smoke break so couldnt spend long on it I must admit. Non-smoker anyway so pushing it a little )

Alloy situation was reported today so the after-sales guy can give me a buzz tomorrow to get it resolved. Let's hope it get's resolved FOC as not really amused with the damage :(

I'll have to take a look this weekend.

Couldnt agree more Jon - looks miles better

How did you manage to get to the headlamps though' date=' there appeared to be about a 1cm gap between the transformer on passenger side Xeon so I gave up (was in the equivalent of a smoke break so couldnt spend long on it I must admit. Non-smoker anyway so pushing it a little )

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On the N/S, the ballast box has to be removed from the back of the headlamp cover. Easily done - unclip the connector & undo the screws on both sides of the cover, pull the ballast box up & rest it on the battery cover. Then there's just enough room to get the bulb holder out.

Tnx for that info - I decided against doing it myself but with determination, patience, and a few cans on standby you could do it during the weekend

I have xenons and I got the dealer to fit the Osram Silverstars when they had the lamp off the car to replace it due to fogging up at ten weeks old. Haven't had the balls to fiddle with the sidelights, have a pair of the 9 white LED wedge bulbs I'd like to fit but don't rate the chances with my shovel hands :(

Well just finished.

Took about 25 - 30 mins plus a little bit of skin. No worse than doing them on SWMBO'S without Xenons fitted.

Will have a look at the non-Xenon assuming I get a Furby as a courtesy car on Wednesday.

On the drivers side -

Cover has two clips at the top, bottom left has a spring ring that you pull down to release. Not much space because of the I/C pipe but you can get yor hand in and change the bulb.

Nearside -

Remove the battery top cover. Unclip three clips holding the battery box side cover and remove. Undo two screws on top of light unit. Remove power cable to ballast and it will pull out and lay on top of the battery box. Take out ballast cradle. Release the two top clips as above and again there is just enough room to squeaze a hand in.