Afternoon everyone.

About to refresh my HID lighting with new and in the process of removing the headlight assembly. The shop manual refers to three bolts but I only see the two on top. Is anybody able to tell me where the third is? I am figuring that I will have to take the wheels off to get at it.....

 

The third is accessed in the front wheel well behind the liner. This information is in your owner's manual, I believe.

 

If you chose to remove the housing the wheel well one is accessible through the liner. 10mm socket. The rest of the liner bolts are torx so you'll know which it is. Kind of a PITA to wiggle and lamp out. Might want to layer some easy release painters tape around the opening. You'll also need to pop the washer hose loose. Press on the black clip while pulling the hose away from the lamp.

I don't think you need to remove it though. Just remove the black 4" cap from the engine bay side after unplugging them and the lamp module is accessible. Might be easier to unbolt the PS reservoir on that side. Turn the holder 1/4 turn and the lamp and wiring comes out. Unplug the lead, pull the little housing and swap the bulb making sure it's indexed in the housing correctly. The X150 service manual shows how. Grab some alcohol pads to wipe the bulb off. I did it in the dark and it sucked. Doing it during the day should be pretty easy if your back will allow you to stand bent over for a couple minutes.

 

I will see if I can do it without removing the unit. Thanks

 

Don't be intimidated regarding removal of the entire unit. It is not difficult at all and it makes servicing very easy. You will spend more time trying to replace the bulb with the unit in situ.
(For difficult servicing of light units, consider the finger-lacerating bulb replacement in an X-Type. The people at Valeo (the manufacturer) deserve a special place in the afterworld).

 

When I took mine out, I had it laying on the work bench in 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the wheels opposite from the unit you want to remove, then you can reach in and remove the 3rd bolt. Unplug the electrical connection and the headlight washer, lift up on the front of the light and rotate out of the hole.

 

Ok ..first time doing HID replacement. Got the light housing out (easy) then go to change the HID unit and this pickle comes up. I bought DS1 HID (as per shop manual) but the one I taking out says E1 (WTF). HID unit on the left is the DS1 and the one on the right is the one I took out. SO my question is does that black plastic thing a mig giggy come off the installed and then gets transferred to the new DS1?

 

Found the DS1 marking but fitment problem still persists

 

If you haven't gotten it already, squeeze the tab facing the camera and the black piece will open to unwrap from the lamp. It's keyed so the bulb will only go in one way (plug to right in this pic)

Black thing was a PITA on mine because I released it in the housing instead of rotating it to free it and the lamp from the housing. RIF

 

Big thumbs up on that advice.

 

Thanks Ranchero.....that was so bloody easy. After you pointed out that tab I was like...duh.....lol.

 

That's why we're here, to learn and help others learn.

 

And its appreciated.

 

Does anyone have a 2012 and up who has taken their headlight assembly out I've taken the two top bolts out and the one in the back behind the wheel liner and it wiggles loose but will not come out the service manual is for a 2010 but the led headlamps are different. What screw or bolt am I missing that I can't see?

 

 

The relevant section from the XK 5.0 litre Workshop Manual:



Graham