12 hours ago, Dev46 said:

Thank you @DrCorbyLee, this is very helpful indeed. It has been (and still is) a struggle to find out that information, so I am very glad to hear from someone who owns/owned a similar vehicle and went through that process. If you do have a link to where I can find very detailed specs about this facelift model, would be very grateful if you could share this. With the bulbs being that old, it is no wonder they are losing their brightness and it makes sense to get new D3S bulbs and see if I can replace them myself. If not a trip to a garage is warranted. 

 

Thank you again for sharing your knowledge on this - much appreciated.

 

Can't recall now why I initially decided they were D3S, suspect it was from this forum.  But good old Amazon confirmed the osram D3S I was looking at suited my car.  WRT to your car, the fact that there is no easy access cover for the xenons confirms that it's a facelift car and hence requires D3S

@softscoop - thank you for confirming this. I have chased up a Skoda dealer and asked them more precise information rather than Xenon bulbs. They have now specifically confirmed I need D3S bulbs. Thank you all for your help on this forum - this is very much appreciated.

 

Dev

On 01/11/2024 at 05:11, DrCorbyLee said:

A facelift elegance like this will have D3S xenon and yes, new ones make a big difference as they fade with age, mine on 63 plate car were changed at 8 years and difference was literally like night and day.  Unfortunately it's a bumper off job to get access to take headlamp out to get to all the screws you need to undo.  Old pre facelift cars used D1S xenon and could be changed in situ via little access hatch

Have you done the whole bumper off job to swap the bulbs?

4 hours ago, BloodWorm said:

Have you done the whole bumper off job to swap the bulbs?

Not personally, bulbs were changed by the VW indy specialist who now looks after the old girl for me (passed 150K miles yesterday).  I believe that it's not a huge job, basically unplug some cables, remove a few fixings pins and bolts and it lifts off, ideally I suspect with 2 people to avoid damaging it.

 

On 01/11/2024 at 22:47, DrCorbyLee said:

Can't recall now why I initially decided they were D3S, suspect it was from this forum.  But good old Amazon confirmed the osram D3S I was looking at suited my car.  WRT to your car, the fact that there is no easy access cover for the xenons confirms that it's a facelift car and hence requires D3S

Thank you for confirming this. I have chased up a Skoda dealer and asked them for more precise information rather than just Xenon bulbs. They have now specifically confirmed I need D3S bulbs. Thank you all for your help on this forum - this is very much appreciated. 

On 07/11/2024 at 18:58, DrCorbyLee said:

Not personally, bulbs were changed by the VW indy specialist who now looks after the old girl for me (passed 150K miles yesterday).  I believe that it's not a huge job, basically unplug some cables, remove a few fixings pins and bolts and it lifts off, ideally I suspect with 2 people to avoid damaging it.

 

Doesn’t sound too bad then. Mines pretty beat up paint wise already so not too bothered if it gets a scratch or 2. I’m picking the missus won’t want to get her hands dirty to help me 🤣