Fitting H7 Dipped Beam/W5W Side light - PAIN IN THE &£$@!!!

[G020G]

Hello everyone,

I took the plunge and decided to get the OSRAM Nightbreakers Plus for my 07 A3 S-line Sportback as stock headlights are beyond awful. Got them yesterday and I searched around here for advice on how to get to the bulb housing and obviously getting them fitted however I have had NO LUCK...and I mean NO LUCK in getting these fitted.

I called about a few garages in Nottingham to possibly have them fit it for me and I'm getting ridiculous quotes of up to £40 for fitting the bulbs?!

Can someone kindly provide some suggestions or if anybody is in or around the Nottingham Area (near Nottingham Trent University) and wouldn't mind giving me a hand, I would greatly appreciate it.

Cheers,
G

 

[LEE69]

Use a mirror to see the 3 clips they are held in by, remove the wiring connector then pop the bulb out by pushing down gently and they the other 2 clips let it go.Dead easy when you have done it once.

Sidelights are the gits lol

 

[pwilliamson1991]

I changed every single bulb in the front of my 1.9 A3 at the weekend. However I'm thinking it might possibly be different for a bigger engine i.e 2.0. Are they low or high beams? To replace mine I had to just undo the cover into them (low beam you slide a bracket across and it pops off) (high beam you undo a clip and pull the cover back towards the windscreen) slide my hand in and unplug the existing bulb from its bracket. Then unplug it from the attached wire, the plug the new bulb in and push it back in! that simple!

 

[pwilliamson1991]

Changing the side lights is by all means "doable" just takes some time fiddling about. I pulled some strange shapes changing the passengers side one. Its a long reach into the bulb!

 

[LEE69]

Use long nosed pliers to grab the bulb holder for the side lights

 

[SAiLO]

I'll do it for £20!

 

[c_w]

The spring clip system on the A3 headlights is pretty easy compared to most cars these days and can be changed prety quickly. Space is tight but at least you're not trying to put the thin metal tin clips on the back.

 

[Sidhu88]

Whereabouts in london are u?

 

[G020G]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I have tried to put some of your comments into practice but the car just wont budge, also I am worried that even if I do get the bulbs in, particularly the H7 - The alignment might off in which case I would have to go through the entire process again.

SAiLO - Haha brilliant, better than what I have been offered mate! If all else fails, I'll come back to you!

 

[G020G]

Whereabouts in london are u?

Sidhu88, I'm based in South London, near Wimbledon.

 

[G020G]

Finally managed to get them fitted, got myself an A5 (booksize) mirror and a pair of crocodile-nose pliers and managed to get the little buggers in! Passenger side took a little longer, the lack of space is quite ridiculous when you come to thinking of it but all sorted for now.

Now that Osram's are in - the sidelights that came with it (which I thought would be of the same temperature i.e 3700K) turns out to be some like mid 2K. They are very yellowish and do not look good with the OSRAMs at all. Any suggestions? should I look at LED replacements or are there any white halogen options?

I've looked on here and there seems to be a lot of talk about these 'superwhite halogen' 501 types on ebay - but not sure what to expect in terms of quality etc.

Thanks for your advice guys, cheers
G

 

[MattKeating]

Finally managed to get them fitted, got myself an A5 (booksize) mirror and a pair of crocodile-nose pliers and managed to get the little buggers in! Passenger side took a little longer, the lack of space is quite ridiculous when you come to thinking of it but all sorted for now.

Now that Osram's are in - the sidelights that came with it (which I thought would be of the same temperature i.e 3700K) turns out to be some like mid 2K. They are very yellowish and do not look good with the OSRAMs at all. Any suggestions? should I look at LED replacements or are there any white halogen options?

I've looked on here and there seems to be a lot of talk about these 'superwhite halogen' 501 types on ebay - but not sure what to expect in terms of quality etc.

Thanks for your advice guys, cheers
G

Could you take a photo - I'm interested in seeing what they look like.

Thanks!

 

[SAiLO]

Now that Osram's are in - the sidelights that came with it (which I thought would be of the same temperature i.e 3700K) turns out to be some like mid 2K. They are very yellowish and do not look good with the OSRAMs at all. Any suggestions? should I look at LED replacements or are there any white halogen options?

Speak to tr8ps about sidelight LEDs - he's a member on here.

 

[andyam]

Tr8ps is your man for those

 

[G19rnt]

I changed the sister in laws drl bulbs and I was advised from members on here to remove the wheels and arch liners which made it so much easier especially with my big hands I fitted a set of led drl bulbs from t8ups they look great

 

[Phil-1]

I changed the sister in laws drl bulbs and I was advised from members on here to remove the wheels and arch liners which made it so much easier especially with my big hands I fitted a set of led drl bulbs from t8ups they look great

I can also vouch for T8ups DLR L.E.D's. I went in through the back of the head light, lost lots of skin ;-)