Disaster........
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2011 10:03 pm
Wife complained earlier that one of her headlight bulbs had blown. So I got the handbook out and had a look, uses standard H7's (which I have), but it said you had to remove the headlight assembly.
Well I undid the 2 screws on the top plate, but the light wouldn't shift, so I put my hand down behind at the lower bottom edge of the light and gave a bit of a thump with the palm of my hand. The bottom of the light came loose, but I must have knocked it at an angle, as when I removed the light, one of the 2 plastic tabs on the top had sheared off !
On inspecting it, it seems a pretty crap design, and these tabs don't seem really that strong. The other one that wasn't damaged also flexes quite a bit.
I've glued the tab back for now and it seems to be holding, but was expecting to have to buy a new light at around £150 from VW. Luckily, according to my copy of ETKA, it seems that VW were expecting problems with these and have manufactured a light repair kit consisting of new tabs which screw into the light housing using holes that VW have already moulded into the light for exactly this purpose. I'll be contacting my dealer tomorrow to see if they have any in stock.
Just a warning then guys, be a bit more gentle than I obviously was when removing your lights !
Well I undid the 2 screws on the top plate, but the light wouldn't shift, so I put my hand down behind at the lower bottom edge of the light and gave a bit of a thump with the palm of my hand. The bottom of the light came loose, but I must have knocked it at an angle, as when I removed the light, one of the 2 plastic tabs on the top had sheared off !
On inspecting it, it seems a pretty crap design, and these tabs don't seem really that strong. The other one that wasn't damaged also flexes quite a bit.
I've glued the tab back for now and it seems to be holding, but was expecting to have to buy a new light at around £150 from VW. Luckily, according to my copy of ETKA, it seems that VW were expecting problems with these and have manufactured a light repair kit consisting of new tabs which screw into the light housing using holes that VW have already moulded into the light for exactly this purpose. I'll be contacting my dealer tomorrow to see if they have any in stock.
Just a warning then guys, be a bit more gentle than I obviously was when removing your lights !