here's one for 3G Garage

change your foglamps in 15min flat (followed by "review" of these Philips bulbs at bottom).

what you'll need is:
1. latex gloves
2. flashlight
3. a cold beer afterwards for all this hard work


i prefer to do just before dusk (you'll see why later with flashlight). each step followed by picture.



for passgenger side i removed nothing, it can be swapped out easily. first inspect the connector going to the bulb. simply reach in with your right hand and push down on the tab-lock and pull the connector off. now with your left hand (it's kinda a backwards hold) reach in and grab the bulb socket trying to place your thumb "in" the socket itself. now twist down, it will be stiff to start then it will twist a good 3/4" and the bulb is now loose. remove bulb carefully. using right hand grab new bulb by it's socket and carefully place it into location, use a flashlight (daytime light make the hole very dark and hard to see in) in left hand to shine into the front headlight and look into the open fog lamp hole from the front, you'll see the tip of the bulb (or something moving around) and this will help you guide it into the hole. now, it's a tad tricky to lock it back in, but when you inspected you noticed that the wire socket was facing down slightly, and when you twisted it out the socket was almost vertically down. so you'll need to start it almost vertically down and feel it engage the holding tangs, then twist up until you feel it lock (go easy, not too much force).


drivers side is easy. 1st remove the battery cover. simply finger-pry the latch-clip and then pick up the cover in the front (again, pull till it comes off, steady force, no sudden yanks)


next remove the cold air diverter (or whatever that cover is). just pull on the 2 pop-clips, you'll feel them "pop" and remove the cover. re-install is self explanatory (the base goes in then you push the top part back in).


next pull out the riser tube and note that there is an alignment tang at the bottom, it only goes back one way. when reinstalling you'll need to center it over the bottom tube and firmly push down until the tube "pops" back in.



now you have plenty of room to remove the bulb on drivers side. this time twist bulb up to remove (they come out counter-clockwise when looking from the drivers seat).



Philips bulbs:
i got Philips "All-Weather" 55w bulbs from autolamps-online.com
they are yellower to the eye than oem, but not much. their box said 51w but the bulbs say 55w. however, visual color does not mean much, i'll have to try them out in the rain or fog to see how they really are.

cheers.

 

Thanks for the write up and diagrams.....ill be swapping mine out soon.

 

I went with SilverStars - I found a pair of angled long-nose pliers worked great to "break" the plugs hold on the light assembly (not literally break, of course). If you have big hands, navigating in that confined space can be a hassle.

Nice write-up - recog points given.

 

I was going to get the Silverstars, but ended up getting the PIAA's X-treme White Plus which match the HID's.

 

there was some discussion about why yellow wavelengths are better than white. human eyes are more sensitive to yellows. there's some info at autolamps-online.com which discusses this in more detail. i thought SS had a yellow "fog" bulb too??

bright white for bright light, i use my fog lamps for rain and fog.

 

I tried the Silverstars, which i borrowed from my brothers car, but i didn't like the way they lit up the sides of the road. I do a majority of my driving at night & the freeway I use has deer's and critters (roadkill). I am more sensitive to the white light than yellow light.

Everyone has different sensitivity to diff. lights, so its just a matter of trying out diff. lights like i did.

 

I love vivid pics with detailed info. Thanks.

 

Can you post pics of the new bulbs on?

 

Very nice description and pics, rep points for you!

 

Longer wavelenghths of visible light are less absorbed than shorter ones - that's why our tail-lights are red - they penetrate fog better - therefore, our "foglights", since they are for recognition, should emphasize the red part of the spectrum and not resemble the HID's. The stock bulbs do this nicely, I think.

 

any night pics?

 

I want to change my bulbs to a yellowish bulb. You guys know which brand and product number makes it? I don't go on this site much, so I don't follow with the threads alot

 

I went will silverstars as well, very happy with the result...

good write up, points for you

 

the best i could do is

 

good job! now im a newbie in this generation, but is there any way to mod the foglights to come on w/ the parking lights?

 

You will have to re-wire it and might lose the ability to turn it off from the interior switch.
BTW, I use SilverStars as well. All my other cars I replace with the headlamps with Silverstars. I used those over wattage Blue lights before, they burn out too fast and not really bright. I like the way the SilverStars compliment the HID (my opinion).

 

ok sorry for going off topic, how hard is it to change the turn signal bulbs?

 

jk... I would also like to know about changing the turn signal bulbs. Also, it would be nice to have another thread just like this one that shows how to take out the headlight housing so that we can clear our headlights.

My Helms manual is on backorder.

 

What about the side markers, how difficult is it change these.?

 

I changed mine to a yellow, and it works really well in fog/rain. Pics can be seen on my yahoo pics site...if someone wants to host, please feel free.

Also, stay tuned, should be posting pics of newly modded headlights sometime today.

photos.yahoo.com/ucsbchris2001

 

RTFM, you turn the wheel all the way to one side and remove a portion of the inner fender liner. It is in the owner's manual.

 

Great Post. Thanks.

 

ok smart ass

 

Are u serious? They are LED's - they will probably outlast you.

 

Took a look at your website/photo_folder, I really thought about changing the fog lamp to YELLOW until I saw your picture. Don't get me wrong, it's really nice, but in the dark , from that photo, kinda of took away the Xenon H.I.D. purplish white away so I really have to think about it.. Overall, I really like what you did to the car! What brand of Intake is it? ( I assume it's INJEN ) also... how did you make the (A) emblem from silver to black ? (Paint?)

please let me know

and don't forget to

 

I think he was referring to color, not durability.

coop1018: There is a thread in here (3G) called "Complimentary blue light mod" or somethign like that. It has several pages of replies. One of the pages a guy mentions that he swapped his Side Marker LEDs for LED Bulbs and how to do it. Basically you just remove the rear fenderwell on the front tire (remove front tire first) and then push the side marker out from the inside by releasing 2 clips. Then its time to whip out a dremel to break open the seal surrounding the surface mount LEDs. Followed by removing the surface mounts and then soldering in a replacement bulb.

I have the LED Bulbs to do this, but am waiting for the weather to clear up a little bit before attempting.

 

Great info!

 

Don't ever feel bad being critical...everyone does different things to their car...some people may not like it, but it shoudl never concern the owner.

Anyway, the HIDs are actually still clearly visible even with the fogs on, its just that they tend to give off a lot of light that messes with the picture and distorts it a bit. That being said, the intake is Injen, and I painted the emblems with Duplicolor gunmetal wheel coat. Just bought an extra set of the emblems from the dealer, painted them until they were smooth and shiny, and slapped them on. Probably one of my favorite mods (besides the wheels)

 

You just have to turn the wheel. Not take it off.

 

Quick question - I plan on replacing my stock fog lights on my 07 TLS with Nokya H8 Stage 2 Arctic White 55W. Does anyone know should I also order the suggested wire harness as to not melt my stock housing?

http://www.optionstage.com/nok-7223.html

 

God I wish the pics weren't gone