my headlight lamps came in today... :( :(

I think i dont have a xenon fixture which is uncool. first of all thank you guys for the help on this forum. Remember i am EXTREMELY mechanically challeneged. so i took off my head light and then unscrewed the actual bulb fixture and to my very unpleasant surprise find this: I ordered these bulbs Philips D2S 35w.. and now i'm not a genius but I dont think these are the correct bulbs.. i think my car takes the halogens. so anyway, I still want to try and fit it.. I try to take off my burnt bulb.. it doesnt twist off, it's not pulling off, i have NO idea how to take it off. So i put it back cause I wanted to ask u guys first how to do it.. I didnt want to break it (like i broke my windshield wiper trying to force it on before i broke it, and learned the hard way how to put it on SO easily). so now, which bulb is the correct one? How do I take off the actual bulb from the socket? also, the parking light, I think this is where the bulb is housed.. on the outside side. i dont even know how to take that out or what bulb that is. I also need a set of those.. which bulbs are those?? Thanks

I hate to break it to you, but I think you really risk breaking more things. You could end up breaking the headlamp unit itself which will cost you $1000+ to replace if you break sockets, or holders etc. I recommend you take the car to a mechanic and have them do it for you. Yes, you might spend $100 to get bulbs replaced at the dealership, but at least you won't break anything on your car. And NO, the xenon / HID bulbs you bought WILL NOT FIT inside your halogen headlight. Don't even try.

MK2? Low beams H7 and parking light is 64132 bulb. Go pick those up at autozone or whateve'rs close and replace them....

That 4th pic of H9 bulb is your high beam btw

yes, mk2 its a MY03 C2. i'm sure its easy to pull apart.. if someone tells me the technique

Sounds to me like you had better take road sessions advice. I would suggest also that before you attempt to do any more DIY you try and find some auto clubs that run teaching sessions or I fear your car is going to cost you thousands in replacement parts and corrective work by dealers.

And NEVER hold the glass part of any headlight bulb with your bare hands. The oils from your fingers will shorten the bulb life by ALOT. Take a rag with rubbing alcohol and wipe them down.

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that's BS - plus he has on gloves looks like someone "upgraded" your headlights - good luck - osrams are good bulbs google them

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It's not bull****! Its common knowledge. Quartz glass absorbs oils from the skin alters the glass on that spot enough to cause early faliure. You don't have to beleive me, do some research.

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Agree. The oil allows more heat to build up, softening the glass. The higher internal pressure, due to heat, causes the bulb to "inflate" at the soft spot. I've seen a halogen projector bulb where the inflated bulb was so deformed, it had to be broken in order to be removed.

If companies like Hella /Osram /Sylvania tells you not to do it, I listen...

i'm wearing gloves.. .so how do i unclip the bulbs to change them out?? why would I take it to a dealer and pay him $40 and waste 2 hours of my time to do something so simple?

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Because despite any advice we may end up giving you here, you may end up BREAKING the clips or the connector or the bulb holder - rendering your headlight useless and you have now turned a $40 problem into a $1,200 problem to replace the light. BTW you wrote:

Hi Subzero The bulbs have a two small flat clips on each side, use the smallest flat screwdriver you can find to VERY gently lift those clips and the bulb slides out. And in your last pick just twist the bulb again very gently and slide it out.

thank you i will try it when i get the new bulbs.

oh also, I want to get a blue-ish tint, i'll be stopping by at autozone.. if i get one of those blue tinted H7's will it cause any problems mechanically? I was reading how some bulbs may melt the fixture parts or things like that.. thanks

LOL - that got a rise however I have been ultra careful to not even as much as breathe on bulbs and had them burn out...the last set in my truck I just grabbed them abd stuffed them in - bare hands...not even wiping them off after pulling the headlight out - and they are working JUST FINE I also have a 500 watt halogen shop lamp that in order to "jump start it" I have to rotate the bulb, and I never wear gloves or even clean my fingers - its been running for 5 years - give it a twist and she fires right up - as soon as the oil off my fingers stops smoking it doesnt even smell - this whole lamp thing is BS and I have my own proof those light bulb companies put that crap out there so when your bulb prematurly burns out they can blame YOU - fact is new bulbs SUCK and burn out quicker than old bulbs plus they are a lot less resistant to voltage changes - give me an incandescent bulb over these new CFL's any fricken day :rant off: LOL!!!

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Bluish Halogen bulbs will generally diminish your visibility unless you get the higher wattage ones which run the risk of melting wires or blowing a fuse. The few exceptions are the reputable companies that have been able to extract more light by using different blends of gases within their bulbs while still maintaining the legal 55W current draw. SilverStar Ultra is one over the shelf bulb that fits this criteria. The European SilverStars have even more light output but can only be bought online and not sure if they are fully "legal" in the states.

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ditto. In addition, the problem with blue tinted halogen bulbs is that they have dramatically shorter life than normal halogen bulbs because to get more light output of the tinted glass, they 'overdrive' the filament and you end up with a bulb that burns out 3 to 4X faster than a regular halogen bulb. Just replace it with a regular halogen bulb. You will see better at night too than a blue tinted one.

Subzero, Props to you for trying to DIY projects. If you do not yet have one one, best to invest in a service manual so you can read/review/research BEFORE tackling future projects. Do not take this the wrong way as I mean well (like most here): understand/accept/recognize if/when a project exceeds your skills/knowledge/experience BEFORE you do more harm (e.g. break stuff and spend money on parts & labor to replace/fix) than good (save money from labor)

FWIW, handling halogen bulbs with your bare hands is not a guaranteed way to make the bulb fail. But fingerprint oils (likely some people have more than others) can cause a premature failure. Here's an example: FailedBulb.jpg

Buy the 996 manual at Amazon...I did for, I think, 139 w/free shipping.

thanks kromdom.. that's what i'm doing here, researching.. finding out how to do it so I have an idea. I dont want to do things like oil, brakes, etc (i dont have time, space or tools necessary for it) but for simple things, why not.

I am a bit surprised you didn't realize your car did not have HID to start off with until time came to chage out the old bulbs, but hey we all learn the hard way from time to time, the halogen headlight lens on the 996 looks very different than the HID headlight lens. Since I recall you said the lighting performance of your original bulbs was poor, I would suggest you look into HIR bulbs rather than those ricer blue bulbs, the HIR bulbs are halogen, noticeably brighter, and IIRC with very minor modification of the base will fit into your headlight housing with the correct filament alignment. Good luck!

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Your example could also be the result of running a halogen bulb at DRL voltage levels, <6VDC.

i didnt realize because i'm not into car mechanics... i'm into spirited driving. I can take a look at a cut on your arm and stitch it up no problem, i can put a line that goes through your neck vein into ur heart using an ultrasound no problem.. its because i've been trained to do so. I have not had ANY training in car mechanics hence i dotn know how things look like, sound like, etc etc. So when i say i'm mechanically challenged, i mean if u say point out the X on the engine.. if X is not the oil wire, air intake, or battery, i wont know what it is. everything i've learned on the porsche i've learned by reading on here/6speed forum and doing it hands on. IE my thread of how i took off the PSE blocker from the 29pmh-45mph where it shut off the sound.. i read about it, did my own DIY thread with MANY pictures to help people like me, and it worked. point i'm trying to make is that little things on the car that take a dealer 5 minutes to do, i can easily learn if someone walks me through it.

well said. ^^^ And at least you're honest about it.

sub, so are you a spec ops medic? ER doc? doing a subclavian is not for noobs

lol, no surg resident.. and it'd be an IJ

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I stand corrected, Doc. (I am not a physician but a Navy medic) P.S. also OK to use subclavian for a central line?

yup, i prefer IJ cause i can use ultrasound and get a great hit, then subclavian, then finally last resort or in times of a code the femoral. but femoral = most infection risk

and they thought I was a "rich resident" when I drove a Porsche 944 turbo 10 years ago. (OB/GYN) surgery residency must be paying pretty well these days...... just kidding. Good luck with the new lights