DIY: HID Bulb Change w/o Bumper Removal !!! 3G Garage #G-004
 

HEY GUYS...THOUGHT THIS MIGHT HELP AS I'VE READ SOME INQUIRIES ABOUT REMOVING THE BUMPER TO SWAP OUT THE OEM D2S....DON'T TAKE OFF THAT BUMPER!!! Install took me about 30 minutes as the torx screw was a little bit of a challenge to remove....here's the pics:

1. Remove the clips from the inner fenderwell...
Attachment 56019

2. Unbolt bottom bolts and one clip similar to those found in the inner fenderwell. These bolts are located at the bottom of the bumper at the sides. Loosening these will allow you to pull the fender liner away to access the headlights from the wheel well.
Attachment 56020

3. There is little space in there (drivers side is alot harder than the passenger side d/t space contraints...stick a digital camera in there and snap some photos so that you know what it looks like...from here on, you'll probably be doing everything by feel so having a picture in front of you will help... You don't need to buy a torx screwdriver...just stick a small flathead into the 'star' pattern of the screw...this should give you enough "bite" to loosen the screw (remember..go counter clockwise to unscrew)
Attachment 56021

4. Once the torx screw is off, untwist the headlight cover to reveal the HID connector and projector.

***CAUTION: BEFORE GOING PAST THIS STEP...UNDO THE HID BALLAST CONNECTORS ACCESSED THROUGH THE ENGINE BAY...REMEMBER...THESE THINGS CRANK OUT 25,000 VOLTS AND WOULD FRY YOU IN A SECOND!!!
- to do this: first remove the engine bay covers.
A: drivers side: take off air intake cover (two clips you pull out)
you should be able to see the HID balast (silver rectangular thing
mounted under headlight. Undo this white connector...
B: passenger side: you should be able to see the hid ballast on this
side. unplug white connector there.

You could undo the battery, but I ddin't want to lose any settings so I just unplugged the ballast connectors just to be safe....

Now back to the HID connector: twist the HID connector and pull towards you to remove. Then undo the two silver tension springs on either side of the bulb by pushing towards the front of the vehicle and at the same time to the side...the tension springs will then rotate out of the way. You can then pull out the bulb and replace with your aftermarket D2S bulbs...Remember not to touch the bulb. Install everything in reverse order...
Attachment 56022

5. connector off...
Attachment 56023

6. Here's the final product using McCulloch 8000k
Attachment 56024

Example of cutoff line against my sis's G35...plenty of light if you ask me. 8000k's are NOT as bright as OEM 4300k, but they are still bright. I just wonder what the projector mod would look like with these bulbs in place. The overall purple/blue output is similar to the cut-off line found with modded projectors using the standard 4300k's.
Attachment 56025

Hope this helps everybody...PM me or post if you've got any questions.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Sorry I don't have left to right comparison pictures...It was getting late and I wanted them in ASAP! So for anybody else doing the mod...make sure to take plenty of pics!

Another great DIY with pictures. This time, the pictures actually fit my screen! :tomato:

Very nice DCC. Thanks! :thumbsup:

Haha..thanks Datmrman. I Finally Learned How To Resize My Pics! Good Luck W/ Your Install This Weekend...let Us Know How It Turns Out!

thanks alot very helpful and saved alotta time here are some pics of my 6000k upgrade. took only about 30 40 mins max with small hands. pics arent that great ill try to get better ones but you cant really notice the less light output but it sure looks great and different from all the other million TL's on the road :thumbsup:

[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/...s/IMG_2599.jpg[/IMG]

Attachment 56007

[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/...s/IMG_2597.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/...s/IMG_2596.jpg[/IMG]

Quick ?: How much do replacement bulbs cost? I like the look of the 6000 and 8000.

they are about $110-130 depeding on what company you get...check out ebay...

I great service you've done for us all. Thanks!!

i bought mine from this guy on ebay for 80 bucks. i think there techone brand.

Guy Becareful to buy the HID blub on ebay, I bought a 12000K a while ago for like $90ish and the blub burned my Ignitor after 3 months(driver Side the day @ AZ mega meet at Long Beach :yuck: ) and i have to replace for $100 by myself (warrenty not cover)

wow great DIY...i still wont dare to do it myself..look nice..

do u remember the seller?

i wonder how long these aftermarket HID bulbs last? any idea guys? 6500 and 8000 are cool.

nan08

upgrading the bulb might burn the shit out of the lens on the headlamp. my stock bulbs are burning my headlamp. so i can imagine aftermarket bulbs.

im sure it wont burn the lens out of your headlamp..i got a retrofit done for my accord and it was a s2k projector..the light beams and wide and sharp cutoff..and i went u t0 5300k -6000k with no problems..soo you dont hhave to worry much..people that doesnt have HID projectors are using it and still got no problems with it..

Would there be a problem replacing my stock HID bulb w/ a 8000K one? Please let me know. I'm thinking about changing it soon, need to know before I change it or else I would have to return it. PM me w/ the answer. Thanks.

no problems.

i don't know if anyone else ran into this problem, but when i opened up my 2006 headlamps, the bit was not a torx 20. it was a torx 20 tamper proof with a prong in the middle. It would have been impossible to remove this without the tamper proof bit and/or without removing the headlamps.

just giving any other 06 owners a heads up.

yeah i saw that 2 but luckily i had a flat head small enough to bypass that problem. or something like the size to fix eyeglasses but a little bigger and ull be fine

Same as stock bulbs last. 3-5 years.

The stock bulbs are 35 watts and so are these. They will not burn your headlamps. There is some other factor in your setup causing your lens to burn up.

Just got my bulbs installed yesterday and it looks very nice. I'll take some pictures later when I have time.

GREAT DIY, thanks for the time and good pictures, I appreciate it man!

no easier way to do this huh? haha. i attempted to do this, but i couldnt pass step 3. haha. didnt know where to find the torx screw.

Might be a stupid questions but an legal issues to be aware of?

This documentation was great! One thing though, I used a flat head on the drivers side and once the screw dropped, I found out it was a tamper proof tork #20 bit and used that on the passenger side. I recently ordered a tamper proof kit off of Ebay for $7.00. It took me 1.5 hours to do. About an hour and 20 minutes on the drivers side and 10 minutes on the passengers side with the right bit. I recommend getting the right bit and it will save you a lot of time, probably 20 minutes.

Does the 07 TL-S use that same torx screw?

does the dealer install light bulbs?

subscribed.

my brother managed to change the light bulbs for me without having to do it this way. i don't know exactly how he did it. but for the passanger side, he just removed a few bolts, and got the cover out and just swapped the bulbs. for the driver side, he had to take out the battery, and changed it from there. took him about 30mins for the whole thing.

for me i took the whole headlight apart from the bumper and redo everything..
it works perfectly

good writeup!

When i did mine i took the headlight off, just so i was sure it went in perfectly and didnt want to risk anything when putting then bulb in!!!

i do my this saturday

I think that you need to lower your passenger headlight beam. Ask blackura he explained it pretty well. It invloves a philips driver and turning some teeth and parking against a wall.

yes it does i change mine i took me 30 minutes i got some 8000k they look real cool and i got some 12000 on my fogs :yum:

couldnt you just take out the headlight fuse instead of disconnecting the ballast plugs or battery? that would be much easier imo

^^^ disconnecting the battery (and removing it) will give you much more needed room, plus it safer for you.... and on my 08 TLS all presets remain unchanged. So it's worth it.

Great write up! Thank you! I dreaded to take my bumper off.

First off, good DIY. I gotta put in some new bulbs tomorrow and this thread is totally helpful. Is Nokiaboy808 correct about just taking out the fuse?

Its ALOT easier and will provide MORE room if you remove the battery. Trust me, I tried without removing the battery, that was a FAIL!

DIY At Your Own Risk!
 

Driver's side HID turned pink. Knew about this thread. Good deal on replacements on Ebay. About 1 PM got my stuff together and started. Tamper proof Torx worked like a charm. All downhill after that. Old bulb came out OK, but could not get the retainer clips to hold the new bulb although I reseated it about 100 times. Finally gave up, started removing the bumper. With bumper off discovered that the service manual left out a few things about removing the light unit. Did get it into a position where I could deal with the clips. Eventually got the new bulb in, cover on, working--at about 9:15 PM. Tomorrow I will put the bumper back on, and Monday I will make an appointment with dealer service to install the other bulb. However much they charge me it will be worth it. Not a pleasant experience.

The purpose of this rant is not to criticize DCC or the others who have evidently found this method successful. It is simply to warn people that if unforeseen difficulties arise there is little margin for sorting them out using this method, the "official" method is time-consuming and, at least in the 04 service manual, missing a few important steps, and that this might be an excellent situation in which to use a credit card instead of a socket wrench.

If I am angry with anyone it is with Honda. I love my TL, but who ever heard of a car that had to have its front end removed to change a light bulb?