Replacing front park lights on MK4 R32

[balkanac]

Hi everyone
Park lights on my car are dead. i tried replacing them but it seems very tight and im not sure how to take the lights off, being xenons. they seem very complicated. I took my car to VW and they said that the front bumper needs to come off!! I don't think VW would do something like this, because there are airbag sensors and headlight washers in the bumper.
does anyone know a different way of doing this?

[quozl]

Hi everyone
Park lights on my car are dead. i tried replacing them but it seems very tight and im not sure how to take the lights off, being xenons. they seem very complicated. I took my car to VW and they said that the front bumper needs to come off!! I don't think VW would do something like this, because there are airbag sensors and headlight washers in the bumper.
does anyone know a different way of doing this?

Bumper needs to be loosened but not taken completely off, how to do it with pics is here, oh and skip the part about removing the hood latch just lift up the centre grill with the latch still attached to allow the bumper to be pulled forward.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1514265

Get yourself some Philips bluevision bulbs for it as well instead of the yellow ish stock replacement ones.

Cheers Al

[gpk_gti]

imo bar does not have to come off, he only wants to change the park globe!! clearly shown as the small globe on the inner light(high beam)...

it is just a very tight fit ,especially on the battery side.I have loosened the battery to get right in without any hassle.having a good flouresent light handy is very helpful.

[quozl]

imo bar does not have to come off, he only wants to change the park globe!! clearly shown as the small globe on the inner light(high beam)...

it is just a very tight fit ,especially on the battery side.I have loosened the battery to get right in without any hassle.having a good flouresent light handy is very helpful.

The problem with the R is the Xenon ballast is in the way, as I said in my post you don't have to take it off just loosen it and slide it forward. I know which bulbs he is changing and i have seen Graeme and Dave change them on their R's and the ballast was in the way.

Cheers Al

[gpk_gti]

ahhhhh,so sorry!!! forgot about ballast.

removing the bar is a sinch.10 min max to remove and 20 to put back!! haha

[balkanac]

looks like a big job for 2 little bulbs. I got some LED ones already, i wouldn't be doing all that for the standard ones

Thanks guys, much appreciated

[Treza360]

Get yourself some Philips bluevision bulbs for it as well instead of the yellow ish stock replacement ones.

Hi Everyone,
I've also had one of my parking lights go in my R32. Just wondering Al/Dave/balkanac, do you have any photos of the Bluevision bulbs installed? As these are the parkers I guess that these aren't going to be blinding people as you drive along like all the fullsik boys in their Civics?
Also do these bulbs have to be a specific type/wattage?
Cheers for your help.
Trent

[Treza360]

Just like to say at this point in time that this is an absolute **** of a job. Yes it is possible to change them without pulling off the bumper. However at the moment I have no battery so i can get to the passenger side lights and the coolant bottle is half pulled out and the windscreen washer bottle is also unscrewed and pushed back so i can pull the ballast out.
Now to top it all off I have the wrong f***'n bulbs and have to wait for the girlfriend to come home for lunch from work so I can swap them over.
I will post pics here and in my thread later on.

[ope126]

Just like to say at this point in time that this is an absolute **** of a job. Yes it is possible to change them without pulling off the bumper. However at the moment I have no battery so i can get to the passenger side lights and the coolant bottle is half pulled out and the windscreen washer bottle is also unscrewed and pushed back so i can pull the ballast out.
Now to top it all off I have the wrong f***'n bulbs and have to wait for the girlfriend to come home for lunch from work so I can swap them over.
I will post pics here and in my thread later on.

PM Sent...

[Treza360]

Well what a fun day. Turns out that the parking bulbs are different for the R32 then for the other MkIV Golfs. H6W bayonet types. These are also considerably more expensive than the normal wedge type or the normal bayonet type. The bayonet H6W have the pins at an angle. Lots of fun.
The BlueVisions are a little brighter but nothing significant. They look nice sitting in the headlights though.
Anyway sorry to hijack your thread balkanac. I'll post up some pictures of the stupidly tight spaces later as well as before and after over in my thread later.
Cheers
Trent