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Hi,
I know someone on here will help. As part of a project I'm currently investigating, I wondered the best way to remove the headlamp assembly. Presumably it doesn't require removal of the grill or bumper. I only want to remove it to make some measurements.

Ta

thats what i had to do on my mk4!

with bonnet up obviously headlights should come out no problem, without the hassle of removing the bumper and front grille
-Ben-

we were told the bumper had to come off, but that was from a veedub garage who also told us that it was too difficult to change the headlight bulbs and they had to do it

I also need to remove my headlight, i have recently changed both headlight bulbs myself without the removal of the bumper or headlight so that can defo be done, i can't possibly see how you could remove a headlight though without removing the front bumper first !

HELP !!!

You can't

-that said. it doesn't have to come off completely, you can tilt the whole thing forward at 45 degrees, when you have removed most of the screws. This means that lining it up (especially with only one pair of hands) becomes possible.

you dont need to remove the front bumper to change bulbs unless you have mitts like the incredible hulk
i found the right side was slightly tricky even with my small hands because of the position that the battery sits
-Ben-

Yeah we know, but removal of the headlamp assembly does require bumper removal. But its really not a big job. However, if anyone does remove the bumper I recommend masking tape round the fron of the wing immediatly behind the indicator. Otherwise it will get scratched, and a jet wash is a good idea beforew hand too.

Today i took on the task of removing the front bumper to replace my drivers headlight ! Thanks to a link that someone had suggested for removing a GTi bumper i managed it ok, the 2 hardest things were actually removing the wiring from the back of the headlight and also, BE WARNED if you are replacing a headlight, it comes comlpete apart from the motor (that moves the light up and down) this has to be removed and put on the new light ! (this was an absolute ball ache) but its all back together now and all works fine !

good job!
its the sort of thing that you don't know really what is involved until you tackle it yourself, then it either leads to or or in my case
-Ben-

There is a platic prong, it doesn't do anything when the headlight is screwed in, if you snap that, its much easier to fit! As you say the prong needs to be located before you get the plug on and it is a sod.

I replaced both my headlights with gas units, and I remember that it was a pain, as well as being tight, but possible. They came with the motors, so it was ok. However, You will find that they need significant re-aligning If you drive up to a wall you will see that its shining all over the shop. Don't be afraid to screw the two screws lots of times to get it right. Set your range control to 0 and the headlights should be down 10cm at 10m. (i.e. 1%) you get it close enough and you will have no problems at MOT time.