[2man]

everything on the removal has been fine. taking the grille off was a ***** because i was worried i was about to break something, but i guess thats common. luckily nothing broke. got all of the random bits and bolts (and plastic screws?!?) off, but im stuck on one last one. the lower inner headlight screw has about an inch before there is a plastic shield and a bunch of other crap behind it!...

im stuck, but im going to keep working on it....

any tips before i go nuts and break something?

 

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

Are you taking the lights out of the plastic frame?

 

[2man]

no i replaced the whole unit, would that have made things easier? its too late now because i ended up taking the intake off and moving the catch can out of the way to get that last screw off...

i must say, that with the smileys and the euro trim, it makes a big difference in the way it looks. of course i need to shave a lil off the euro trim so it fits perfect...

 

[AtlantaDan]

I hate to say it, but removing the bumper is the easiest way. I can have the front bumper off in under 10 minutes, then the grill out in another 5. From there, it's but a few more minutes to remove the buckets. Remove the plastic shields - that'll make your life a thousandfold easier.

 

[2man]

yea i had the bumper off, but im not sure why its necessary. it is easy to do though... the plastic shield on the driverside was only the beginning of the nightmare. got that out, not before removing the intake filter box & moving the (what i believe to be) the charcoal canister out of the way, amongst other things. i was being stubborn and trying to avoid having to remove more crap, but inevitably i had to.

 

[AtlantaDan]

You had to remove the charcoal canister? Wow - I've not had to go that far in.

 

[davidoli]

There is a phillips screw that goes in towards the wing / fender and access can be impeded by the charcoal cannister ...... some owners that have replaced indicators or headlights previously may not refit that particular screw .

D

 

[2man]

I seem to have gotten screwed on this set of lights. Not only was one headlight cracked (theres supposed to be another one on the way), but the pattern is for a right hand drive car, so the beam pattern is opposite with the flat side on the right side and the left side is angled up... hopefully when i get the replacement light it will be from a left hand drive car so it wont blind the oncoming traffic... ukh...

 

[PRAXXUS]

I hate to say it, but removing the bumper is the easiest way. I can have the front bumper off in under 10 minutes, then the grill out in another 5. From there, it's but a few more minutes to remove the buckets. Remove the plastic shields - that'll make your life a thousandfold easier.

Yup, this is the easiest way to go... I've done this a few times, and getting the bumper off first is the best solution. I also had to remove the canister as well. A stuby philips helps with the tight spots.

I still hate to remove the metal trim that goes underneath the lights - PIA!!! grrrrrrr

Once you do this a couple of times, it's not too bad.

 

[mottati]

I seem to have gotten screwed on this set of lights. Not only was one headlight cracked (theres supposed to be another one on the way), but the pattern is for a right hand drive car, so the beam pattern is opposite with the flat side on the right side and the left side is angled up... hopefully when i get the replacement light it will be from a left hand drive car so it wont blind the oncoming traffic... ukh...

i'm almost positive you can set up the lens for either rhd or lhd. I bought a set of lights from a guy in the UK off bimmerforums, he posted a nice write up on refurbing the units and how to set the beam pattern rhd or lhd, if you search over there.

 

[2man]

thanks ill go search for it now

 

[mottati]

thanks ill go search for it now

the guy who posted it was "irony" or something like that. Check both the e34 and e34 classifieds.