BMW 328SE - Low beam failure

Well, VW New Beetle and VW Golf MKIV officially need the bumper removed, though I was able to do a main headlight bulb change on one side with a great deal of difficult on the Golf without removing it. Removing the bumper was MUCH easier in the long run, only 5 minute job but I didn't have the required torx bit with me. I believe the Beetle is utterly impossible to do without removing the bumper.

Kevin Rhodes Westbrook, Maine

91 318is - loosenning bumper and sliding it out a bit is the easiest way to change front indicator bulbs. Only two bolts.

OT, point of note:

VX Omega, nearside side-light needs the bloody battery out to change.

I tried, and tried, and tried, until I gave up and pulled the battery. Great design!

BMW E39 '01 front side/indicator lights need, as I think someone else pointed out earlier, fingers like ET to get at them. I couldn't do it and neither could the SO, even with her small hands. After I'd bruised my hand from a half hour of trying, I left it until the next service - which is not ideal, and I figure there is or needs to be a simple tool to get at the damned thing.

Unrelated, the starter motor finally and irreparably crapped out a couple of weeks ago and was replaced. It had been getting occasionally screechy for a while but, of course, wouldn't do it while the dealer was watching and they wouldn't take my word for it. It cost BMW a flat bed tow truck in the end but I figure I'm out in lost time, money and inconvenience more than they are.

Oh, well.

I stand corrected.

Okay, so SOME cars offer up considerable resistance to getting new head lamp bulbs, but BMWs are pretty easy to change at home.

Jeff Strickland ( snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Apology accepted. Oh, sorry - it wasn't offered.

I'd imagine the 1-series is fairly cramped in there.

The right hand one on my old E34 was a bit of a struggle.

The message from "Jeff Strickland" contains these words:

Fair enough. I ain't never had a BMW - this is the trouble with crossposting.

Pleased to report that I changed the bulb on Tuesday. One snag was that in response to my request for "an H7 12V 55W headlamp bulb" Halfords sold me the wrong type, so I had to make a second trip.

Also, I can't square the user manual instructions with what I actually found.

In practice, there appeared to be just *one* bulb, presumably double-filament. After removing the cover, and discovering how to release the retaining spring-clip, the old one - right in the centre - just pulled out.

BTW, on the sub-topic about 'access difficulty', my son told me that he had a *major* job changing the bulb on his Puma. I think he said he had to remove the air filter, and maybe some other part.

Thanks for the help.

In all the Halfords stores I've been to the bulb selection is self service.

If you're not capable of selecting the correct one yourself to match the blown one perhaps you should leave the whole job to a garage? Unless you're saying the package was incorrectly marked?

And if you're not capable of a civil tone maybe you should leave replies to those who are?

I asked the assistant on my way into the (empty) store for the specific requirement I described. He told me the code number. I served myself to that item and paid for it. Apart from the Halfords code, the only details on the package were generic, i.e. '12V 55W'. So there was no way I could have selected the correct one. On removing the old bulb it was clear that the new bulb was the wrong type. On returning it, the assistant apologised for his mistake and told me the correct code, which I duly obtained from the shelf, bought and fitted.

Terry Pinnell wrote on Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:41:54 +0100:

You haven't been on usenet long, have you? At least, if you think that reply was uncivil, you'll probably get a shock fairly soon...

That was your first mistake. Last time I did that, I brought the old (interior light) bulb in, along with the Ford part number from the manual. I eventually got handed a bulb of an entirely different shape to the original that I'd brought in, and left empty handed.

Last time I bought a headlight bulb from Halfords, the H7 (or whatever) marking appeared on the packaging and it wasn't too hard to get the right type. I would always suggest ignoring everything said by a Halfords shop assistant, and basing your choice soley on the original bulb... (certainly not the little booklets you get in store) I'm sure at least one Halfords assistant knows what they're talking about, but I haven't met them yet.

The message from Terry Pinnell contains these words:

For usenet that was /very/ civil!

Well I could be less civil easily.

Halfords is a self service store for all common items such as bulbs. And they have 'look up' charts if you're not sure what you actually need. In my local one this includes bulbs.

However, most with sense would remove the old one and take it with them to make sure the replacement is the same - unless they actually knew the difference between an H4 and H7 in physical appearance.

If you want the expertise of a parts manager to be sure you get an identical replacement go to your BMW main agent. Then complain bitterly if this doesn't work.

I have (twice), but they've probably moved on.

The first was the Sunday manager in my local store who sold me four Thule cycle carriers at the same price as their own-brand "equivalent", and who cut himself and bled copiously opening the feet fitting box so I could see how the roof bars attached to the car roof. The second was at another branch when I needed a new set of feet (don't ask) but found none on the shelf, and an assistant recalled that someone had maybe returned that item earlier and it might be somewhere in a store-room. He duly turned up with the right box a few minutes later, and wrote me a specific receipt for my insurance company.

Just the other week I encountered a very helpful (older) assistant at B&Q. When I thanked him for his help, he said "no problem, it's my job".