Does Anyone Please Know How To Separate Xenon Bulb From Bulb Holder?

Hi folks, I have bought some 6000K bulbs for my AFS Xenons and although the manual tells you how to remove the bulb from the inside of the light itself, it doesn't explain how you get the black plastic bulb holder off the actual D3S bulb. I've tried all different sorts of ways and don't want to be too heavy handed with it in case I break anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. DG xx

(28-05-2013 03:27pm)dynamicgirl Wrote:  Hi folks, I have bought some 6000K bulbs for my AFS Xenons and although the manual tells you how to remove the bulb from the inside of the light itself, it doesn't explain how you get the black plastic bulb holder off the actual D3S bulb. I've tried all different sorts of ways and don't want to be too heavy handed with it in case I break anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. DG xx

I changed my factory standard 4k's to 6k's last year.

I removed the black plastic retaining clamp ring from the D3S bulb that you are changing, by slowly prising around the edge with a small screwdriver with little pressure until it came free, this was the only way that i could remove it.

Once removed it easily snaps back onto your upgrade bulb for retaining the bulb into the housing.

This bulb retaining clamp ring is pretty strong nylon material so i don't think you will break or snap it if you're careful prising it off..

Have you seen this short video clip of bulb removal on youtube?
You don't need to remove headlamp unit to get to the D3S bulbs, as the video shows, you can get to them from the rear opening twist cover.

That's fab Cutter, many thanks! I really needed to know I wasn't going to break the bulb holder when prising it off and now exactly how to do it. I had seen the You Tube clip thanks, it's very helpful. The lights aren't fitted to the car. I bought a new set of darker AFS headlights and thought it made sense to change the bulbs over to 6000K before fitting them to the car as the 4300K OEM bulbs will probably look even more 'yellowy white' than they do on the standard lights. Thanks again

Details on your darker headlights please.

(28-05-2013 07:33pm)doug Wrote:  Details on your darker headlights please.

Hi Doug, I bought a set of front and rear lights for the Victoria Beckham Edition from a Euronics dealer down South, who had bought them for his own Evoque, but I believe his plans changed, so I jumped on them.

(28-05-2013 06:58pm)dynamicgirl Wrote:  That's fab Cutter, many thanks! I really needed to know I wasn't going to break the bulb holder when prising it off and now exactly how to do it. I had seen the You Tube clip thanks, it's very helpful. The lights aren't fitted to the car. I bought a new set of darker AFS headlights and thought it made sense to change the bulbs over to 6000K before fitting them to the car as the 4300K OEM bulbs will probably look even more 'yellowy white' than they do on the standard lights. Thanks again

Good idea you'll find that the 6k's will give more of a daylight brightness compared to the 4k's. I've just bought a spare set, and as you probably know they have to be changed in pairs! Can work out quite expensive..

(28-05-2013 07:47pm)dynamicgirl Wrote:  Hi Doug, I bought a set of front and rear lights for the Victoria Beckham Edition from a Euronics dealer down South, who had bought them for his own Evoque, but I believe his plans changed, so I jumped on them.

Very good find. Parts for a special edition model can only be ordered at a dealers with the vin number, your very lucky if you hear about a VB grille let me know.

For anyone else looking to change one of the D3S Xenon bulbs, the manual shows how to remove the bulb from the headlight housing, but it doesn't explain how to remove the black plastic bulb retaining clip from the actual bulb, which IMO isn't much help to anyone as without doing this essential part, you cannot change the bulb! Anyhow, this is what the bulb looks like with the black horse shoe shaped bulb retainer attached.



I found a way that of separating them using a set of needlepoint pliers. I put the points of the pliers in to the little horizontal grooves on either side of the open section of the bulb retainer and opened the pliers up, pushing the sides apart a little. This meant that I could (with a little force, whilst avoiding any contact with the glass part of the bulb itself) push the metal base of the bulb out from the plastic retainer and it eventually came free.

This is what the bulb retainer looks like when it's separated from the bulb.



I couldn't find this info anywhere on the net, so thought I'd post it up here for others looking to change their Xenon bulbs. Paula xx

Thanks dynamicgirl, after reading your posts, I've ordered myself a set of Xenondepot 5000k D3S, but found it's still a little yellow, so just ordered another set of Phillip Ultinon 6000k, can't wait to see the result.

For removing the holder, I've tried your method which works well, but also found that if you wrap your hand around the C shaped cup and pull each hand in opposite direction, it does come off easily without any tools.

Will take comparison photos and review of my 1 month old car afterward

(29-07-2013 08:09am)ziyao Wrote:  Thanks dynamicgirl, after reading your posts, I've ordered myself a set of Xenondepot 5000k D3S, but found it's still a little yellow, so just ordered another set of Phillip Ultinon 6000k, can't wait to see the result.

For removing the holder, I've tried your method which works well, but also found that if you wrap your hand around the C shaped cup and pull each hand in opposite direction, it does come off easily without any tools.

Will take comparison photos and review of my 1 month old car afterward

Nice one, Ziyao! I look forward to seeing the results as the Philips Ultinon 6000K are sure to look amazingly cool on your brand new Evoque . It's great that you managed to get the bulb holder off the bulb without using any tools, ..I am a bit of a weed, when it comes to feats of strength, so I needed the pliers to give me a helping hand . Can't wait to see your review, Buddy! Paula xx