Replacing Factory Halogen Bulbs (US Evoque)

I changed out the factory halogen headlight bulbs on my Evoque today (USA.) I replaced them with the 55W Sylvania 9500 SilverStar Ultra bulbs. Here's the procedure, its easy to do and is somewhat inaccurately described in the owner's manual which is for the HID Xenon lamp units. 15 minutes, perhaps slightly longer the first time


NEVER TOUCH THE GLASS SURFACE OF THE BULB. If by accident you do clean it with alcohol to remove any oil from your fingers.


1) Remove the air snorkel. Two finger loosening big plastic expander X screws (don't loose them.) Wiggle back and forth and pull snorkel straight up, its a snap fit into the air box. Snorkel will release quickly when it does and these X screws will most likely go flying and drop into a black hole to the 4th dimension in your engine compartment. My dealer didn't have them in inventory and needs to order them.


2) Remove the grille. Along the top grill unscrew the 4 small plastic phillips expander screws and remove the collars they expand. Be careful not to drop them into the engine compartment, they're also a dealer item. Now sharply pull the grille directly forward from the bottom corners. There are two metal snap connectors about 2" from the corners that will snap release.


3) Remove the one 10mm bolt that holds the windshield washer reservoir in place which allows you to push it to one side.


4) Remove the 4 10mm bolts on top of the headlamp units. 2 bolts for each headlamp unit. Notice how loose they are installed. When reinstalling them tighten the bolts very very gently. You don't want to break the plastic rings the bolts tighten up to.


5) Pull up on the headlamp release paddle on the back side of the headlamp unit and the entire lamp unit can be pulled forward a short distance (this feature is very cool.) This gives you more working room to remove the headlight bulbs, and also if it was the case, access to the side lamp bulbs in the headlight assembly. Notice that there is a plug on the headlamp (lower corner on the grille side) that fits in a grommet and this positions the headlight assembly correctly to the body.


6) Unscrew the big plastic plate on the backside of the headlight unit. This reveals the bulb. Release the connector to the bulb by pushing back on the connector's tab lever that locks it in place while pulling on the connector. This can test your patience. In hindsight It might be easier to remove the bulb with the connector attached and then release the connector.


7) This is importantant. The owner's manual says turn the bulb's retaining collar counterclockwise to release the bulb. Maybe for the HID type lamps but not for the halogen type. I have two bandaged fingers while I write this with deep cuts. This increased the job time by 30 min. before I could get them to stop bleeding. Turn the bulb not the ring. The metal ring doesn't turn. It is razor sharp along the ring edge as you firmly squeeze it to try to turn it, it cuts very deep.


Once the bulbs are installed and reconnected (make certain all three bulb tabs are inside the ring when the bulb is turned and secured,) turn on the headlights to check their operation. The car must be running for the headlamps to work.


9) Everything goes back together in reverse sequence. Remember to align the headlight assembly plug to the grommet when pushing it in to the body and to barely tighten the 4 headlight assembly bolts to the plastic tab rings.


A night drive confirmed these bulbs perform much better than the original. I was skeptical of the improvement claims on the package "up to 50% greater brightness, they can increase visibility down the road by up to 40%, and peripheral visibility by up to 50%." – not quite but close to this improvement, on the high beam. On low beam the side to side range is greatly improved – bicyclists, joggers and quadrapeds are easier to see. I no longer have to use my fog lamps to see potholes on dimly lit side streets. The color is whiter but about halfway between the original bulb and the fog lamps. Too bad they have a short bulb life.

Lost screws, cut fingers. I don't think you are really suited to this car maintenance thing.

Sadly halogen headlamps tend to be disappointing if you've ever used Xenons and having to go through this procedure more frequently because of the reduced bulb life - not to mention the cost - is a hassle.

The solution is to specify Xenons when ordering the car, especially if you use the car a lot on unlit roads.

(03-12-2013 05:38am)mark_n Wrote:  Lost screws, cut fingers. I don't think you are really suited to this car maintenance thing.

Sadly halogen headlamps tend to be disappointing if you've ever used Xenons and having to go through this procedure more frequently because of the reduced bulb life - not to mention the cost - is a hassle.

The solution is to specify Xenons when ordering the car, especially if you use the car a lot on unlit roads.

Not suited – maybe not even after 15 years as a Ford trained technician. I wrote this to help the novice owner. Some of us don't want to pay an extra $7000 to move up to the Dynamic to get Xenons as the $2000 Xenon lamp package wasn't found on U.S. dealer inventory when I purchased my Evoque.

Just a shout out...these instructions are dead on for the '12 Evoque w/halogens. I'm not a mechanic by any stretch of the imagnination and it took me today about an hour. Pay attention to Item 1 - I still lost one of the expander screws, but will be easily replaced. I used the Sylvania Ultra Brights, 9500. I hope they last at least 2 yrs. Gloves were used to avoid touching the bulb. Thank you for posting these detailed instructions - way better than the manual!

Try PIAA bulbs. I got 4 years with them on my previous ride. Was shocked. Now I have the Xenons. We will see how long these last.

So I just went through the upgrade of the factory halogen bulbs on my 2015 Evoque (using Philips CrystalVision 9005 bulbs now), and I found a much easier way to do it than mstraka's approach (which is also totally valid), but mine doesn't require pulling the grille or headlamp assemblies out at all. it takes less than 15 minutes as well, and while it's a little tight working with the headlamps in place, I think it's a less invasive way to do it.

1) Unscrew the bolt holding in the washer fluid filler and move it out of the way

2) Unscrew the bolt holding in the air intake box (the big box attached to the wide air hose that leads to the engine)

3) Carefully remove the two retaining screws on the snorkel which sits on the right side of the air box. (again these are easy to lose)

4) Pull out the snorkel

5) Pull the air intake box up and out of the way (you can leave the air hose connected if you want)
NOTE: you MAY have to cut a tie-wrap on the cable on the bottom left side of the air intake box in order to move it out of the way. You can leave this off or replace with a new tie-wrap afterwards if you want.

6) Unscrew the back covers on each of the headlight assemblies

7) Turn each of the bulbs clockwise while pushing in slightly (you'll want to wear gloves for this to be safe not to cut your hands)

8) Detach power cables from old bulbs (use a screwdriver to pop open the has and gently pull apart from connector)

9) Attach power cables to new bulbs

10) Push the new headlights back into their holes, aligning the smallest tab with the smallest opening, then push gently and turn counterclockwise to seat.

11) Test headlights (Engine must be on)

12) Perform steps 6 through 1 in reverse order to reassemble.