Easy halogen headlamp bulb change

[PaulGover]

I've had to change a few halogen headlamps on my "facelift" 2008 XJ, and always cursed the idiot that left such a small gap to pass the bulbs through. According to the owner's manual, you unclip the cover on the back of the lamp housing, pull it back, and fiddle with the clip and bulb through the thin slot this opens. Wrong! It turns out that if you tilt the top of the cover to the outside of the car, and waggle a bit, it comes out completely. Then there's plenty of space! Getting the cover back in place is a matter of more waggling to get the tang on the cover under the metal clip at the bottom of the housing. Note that it's essential the cover seats properly, and its gasket is not disturbed, or your lamps will start to suffer condensation.



I also found the owner's manual telling fibs about the sidelight bulb. It said to turn the carrier anticlockwise. Wrong again. (As described elsewhere) the carrier is a plastic stick about the size of a cigarette, with two tangs projecting at the back; push the lower tag upwards, and then pull the stick out. When replacing, make sure the bulb gets all the way into the reflector housing - you can clearly see it from the front.

[J44EAG]

This arrangement appears rather different to my MY04 car with HID headlights. The side light stick appears the same but the have a tenancy to stick in the headlight mounting tube given time, heat and not being taken out periodically. Once out in your hand and given a clean up, a light smear of Vaselene is no bad idea to ease future sticking. The pencil carriers are not that easy to extract but once freed of grunge become more co-operative. The lack of space around the back of the lamps is irksome for those with big hands. An extra half inch of clearance at design stage between the back of the lamp units and the body cross member would certainly have helped.

Mike K

[Norbertflyer]

I've just changed my h7 halogens for a pair of 150% brighter versions. Quite impressed. Not sure about 150%, but certainly a lot brighter. Makes night driving more of a pleasure. Agree with the fiddle to get the rear covers off. £36 for the pair.
Richard