My driver's side low beam bulb went out. Took it to my body shop and was told that to get to the light housing, the front bumper would have to be dropped, about two hours of labor. Called a local Dallas area Acura dealer and the service tech confirmed this information. On the low end, if only the bulb has to be replaced, the dealer's estimated cost is $350. If the ballast and igniter are bad, the cost is $1400. I purchased two HID bulbs for $20 (I think the dealer said they were $75 each) before I learned of all the complications. Can anyone with similar experience recommend alternatives?

This is my fourth Acura (Legend, RSX, TSX which we also still own) and likely my last. Bought the 1-owner, no wrecks certified 2006 RL in Jan. 2010 with under 30k miles. It now has 102k miles. Have had to replace the air conditioner, struts, the no-flat tires (on my third set of Michelins now), in addition to the usual maintenance such as replacing the timing belt. Like the performance of the car; very disappointed with the durability and maintenance requirements. Also, gas mileage is below expectations.

 

You don't need to remove the bumper to replace the low beams, that's garbage they are telling you. I've only done passenger side, but driver side you can get to by removing battery. Not sure if you can get to it through wheel well as in passenger side, but bumper removal, is not needed. Others will chime in or search the board, plenty of info. Only need to remove bumper to replace the entire housing, not a bulb.

 

It's not the easiest job through the engine bay, but it can be done. The shops are just following the service manual which explains the easiest way for a shop to do it.

 

I know everyone says there's 2 ways of changing the bulb on the driver side. Either through the wheel well or removing the headlight. I saw a video where the guy moved the battery out of the way and was able to access it from there. Anyone else tried this?

 

Who can spy what's wrong with this photo?

 

There's something sticking out of the bottom drawer?



Oh, and many have changed the bulbs through the engine bay. Just a tight fit. Not impossible.

 

I went ahead and just removed dropped the front bumper and did it, MUCH easier.
Oh and the bulb is a fake. After some research it was very clear this was a fake Osram bulb

 

Glass cracked

 

Yeah, that does look a little fishy to me. If you haven't replaced it yet, check out Lucenta or philips/osram we sell:

Retrofit Lighting - Bulbs - EndLess RPM

 

I just slid the headlight assembly out and went in through the back. And yes, that bulb looks "sketchy".

 

I personally did the battery removal method before I went quad retrofit and let me tell you it's still not simple because of the airbox piping.

 

https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...lights-924054/

 

Read couple comments in I already did it.

 

I bought my 06 RL with 78k miles in 2013, now has 136k and its becoming somewhat of a money pit now. Ive had to replace the alternator (500), ac computer assembly(800) and now the HID's for one side....its becoming quite discouraging to keep pouring money into this. but i keep it in great condition hopefully itll last me a while.

But i digress, so the best option would be to purhcase the bulbs off amazon






and either do the labor yourself or go to a shop? I will probably have someone do the labor as i know next to nothing about cars

 

if one bulb is going bad, i assume its recommended to change both? i have an 06' have never changed the bulbs, dont know the life expectancy but i know its not 10 years.......

 

change both at the same time. You can keep the 'working' one as a spare for later..

 

thank you good sirs! this place is awesome I do have one last question, Ive been searching the forums and most people are linking this bulb from amazon,




theres a newer one (same exact model) for about 23 bucks cheaper, will it be ok to go with this one instead?



Or were the links for the older model intentional

 

I just did mine couple weeks ago. Trust me, it's easier to remove the bumper. It takes no time at all to lower the bumper, I was in your same thought process, was dreading having to do the bulbs. I had the bumper lowered in 5min, used a flathead to pop off the tabs, and a 10mm socket with an extension to get everything off. The bumper is held on by only a few bolts, then there are tabs under the headlight that are very easy to pop off by using a small flathead.. I bought these,
2x NEW! GENUINE OEM! Xenon D2S HID LIGHT BULBS Acura TL TSX RDX MDX RL ZDX ILX Honda S2000 33116-SL0-003 (33116SL0003) - Factory Xenon
Am VERY happy with them. They are real Osram bulbs. Whoever did the bulbs in my car before used fake Osrams.

 

Check out theretrofitsource.com for D2S bulbs too. Their in house brand Morimoto can be had for very cheap ($50) and are of great quality. Or you can get some Phillips or OSRAM CBI's which are touted as the king of HID's.

 

What's better the phillips or the morimotos if price isn't an issue lol at spending that much for osram cbi's idk if the ones on factory xenon are real. Don't wanna take a chance but if they are I would do it

 

Osram

 

Another option is jack up the front of the car and remove the front half of the fender liner and you'll be able to get to the bulbs

 

Got quoted 180 for both sides labor and said he would charge me 95 bucks per own bulb lol. So definitely buying them and just using him for labor. He also said he has to take off the bumper. Which I know isn't true but he said any clips broken he will replace

 

It's very doable yourself my man, don't be scared! Save yourself the money and just spring for the CBI's!!!

 

^ What he said, it really is EASY. Save your money, once you've done it yourself you'll realize spending the money to have someone do it was a waste of money.

 

so why are the newer ones cheaper? should i just go with the older $63.51 ones or the newer at $42.88

 

Update:

I shopped around found this place in Dallas called "North Dallas Imports" they will do the labor $25 each side!!! gonna save $130! wohoo. philips d2s are en route should be here tomorrow

 

smh.... Why won't you just do it yourself..

 

at 5 min to drop the bumper. I lol'ed a couple of years ago when someone said 15 min. Let's be real. First time to do it is going to take 30-60 min to get to the bulbs through the bumper.

 

cause its $50 and ive never done anything to this car myself. i have bud luck with car shit and especially those GD clips ive done it on my old RL and broke a bunch

 

Took me 5min to drop the front bumper for the first time... Then another 10min to pull the headlights out.

 

These are the bulbs I bought, very happy with them, brighter than stock. I only replaced passenger side so far. I can't tell I have two different bulbs in there, other than its a little brighter on one side, likely oncoming traffic can. $50 for two bulbs is a great deal.

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...1#.VsHMYPA8KK0

 

Highly recommend replace both at the same time and just keep the working one as an 'emergency spare'

 

Yup. No sense in doing the job twice and having a lower visibility

 

I suppose you work in a NASCAR pit.

 

Notice he said nothing about putting the bumper BACK

 

The passenger side can easily be done through the wheel well. It's not saving any time to do both at the same time and I bonestly don't notice much of a difference.

 

It's not a timesaving mechanism per se.. it's more of a rule of thumb... kind of like replacing tires in pairs


but to each their own

 

Putting it back on took maybe the same amount of time. It's easier to put it back on, you don't have to worry about popping the bumper off the tabs since they clip back in. Then just install the few screws and it's back on.

 

Considering NASCAR doesn't remove body panels during a race I wouldn't be much use to them sadly.