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How long does it take to change one Megane headlamp bulb?
Go on, have a guess... One bulb. How difficult can it be... Ten minutes? Thirty minutes? What do you reckon...
FOUR HOURS
Yes, that's right - four hours to change one bulb. You have to undo the access panel inside the wheel arch, reach in where you can't see, undo the plastic door that you can't see, pull off the cable connector that you can't see, remove the clip that you can't see (you get the idea), and then the spring and bulb all fall out.
Then all you have to do is replace the clip by lining up the metal arms with, you've guessed it, the holes that you can't see. Insert the bulb, lining up the tab with the bit you can't... Attach the spring, then the cables, and then you're done.
I tried for two hours last night (and got a little bit frustrated - sorry Nikki!) Then I tried for an hour at work. In the end I phoned the dealer and they said...
"Oh yes, the bulbs are really hard to fit. You need to book it in so we can remove the bumper and fit it for you. It'll be one to two hours labour, and we can do it a week on Friday."
Let me get this straight - TWO HOURS LABOUR TO FIT A FIVE QUID BULB, and it's currently Monday so that's nearly a fortnight before they can do it?!?!?!
In France it's a legal requirement to carry spare bulbs, and this is a French car, but you can't fit the bulb without having the bumper removed. But hey, at least you'd have a nice shiny set of unusable bulbs in your boot. A bit like I have... Hmmm...
Officer "Did you know that your headlight is not working"
Me "Yes, I did. But I have to wait a fortnight before the garage can remove the bumper for me"
I had one last go tonight and finally got it to work. Overall I really like my car, but this was just ridiculous. The garage's argument is "Bulbs don't go very often these days, so it's not too much of a problem to bring it in to have it done.". Doh! Silly me, and there was me thinking it was illegal to drive with a faulty headlight.
Apparently Halfords refuse to fit Megane headlamps and refer you back to your dealer cos they're so bl**dy awkward to get in.
Grrrrr.
Ok, rant over. I have two headlights now (but very bruised hands from doing a James Herriot impression on with my wheel arch).
Comments
Me too
I have a 2005 RenaultSport Megane, and the only way to replace the parker bulbs is to remove the bumper.
I did it myself but it took about 1.5 hours.
I love my car but I hate Renault's headlight designers.
Bulbs in The New Mk3 Megane
Access to the headlights in the new (Mk3) Megane is impossible, but...
Renault have cleverly designed the headlights so that on unscrewing a bolt, the whole headlight slides forward out of the car, leaving more than adequate room to access the bulb. They've even included an individual spanner which slots into a holder behind the headlight, so that you don't have to search around tool boxes.
Don't say the French and Renault know how to design well!
Renault light bulb
Renault wanted £17.75 for bulb and £35 to fit it. Took car to local garage cost £10 including bulb and took around 10 mins. Who are Renault kidding and defrauding?!!
Renault Megane Cabriolet 05 Main beam (dipped) bulb replacement
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who took time to write "How to replace a bulb on this stupidly designed car". Did it in just under an hour, but with no stress using bits of everyone's tips and it worked a treat! Things I've learnt, found it easier to take the wheel off, just because you can get a better look at the bulb unit, removing the plastic cover under the bonnet just above the light unit made things also easier to see. Took too many pictures but they where great to refer back to especially clipping the bulb in. And yeah great sense of satisfaction completing the job and not paying the rip off prices of the dealerships!
Thanks again everyone
Brads
Having owned a Megane I can
Having owned a Megane I can varify how fustrating this is, having spent £130 on two bulbs in a month.
What Renault have done is deliberately make this job difficult. All they need to do is make the access hatch slightly bigger, then dispite it being akward at least you can perform the task yourself. Renault have made an excuse for 'safety reasons (NCAP 5*)' that the headlamp bulbs are hard to access, yet even through the wheelarch it should be doable. Its a dealer money making ploy, £55 for the work - £5 for the bulb (max), £50 for labour.
In France it is a legal requirement to carry spare bulbs, and being a French car it totally beggars belief!
Headlight Bulb
Went to my local Farmers Autocentre (Dunfermline) & was in & out within 4 minutes - bulb changed. The guy (Chris) showed me how to do it & I tried myself at home, done in less than 10 mins bulb out, bulb in.
It is easy, the passenger side (near side) is easiest as the screen wash container blocks the off side & you will need to go in via the wheel arch for off side bulbs but still easy. Anyway near side bulb - use your left hand standing in front of car, squeeze hand to back of light & remove cover, pull off electrical connector, now for the clip, it is hinged at the bottom so will not go anywhere, push the top of the wire clip up and backwards towards the light (only moves a wee bit), slide the clip to one side (can't remember if it is left or right - sorry) & clip unlocks from its retainer, bulb can now be pulled out - it is not fixed with anything now - replace bulb & reverse above sequence. Easy peesy.
Changing an indicator bulb on a renault megane convertable
Hi, I have read with great interest all the coments on the internet regarding changing front headlight and indicator bulbs on renault meganes.
I took mine a (54 reg) to Halfords in Blackburn today 20th oct 2009 and it took the guy around 20 mins and charged me £8.75 for a pack of two bulbs, so I now have a spare bulb (not that I could fit it) but compared with what renault garages are charging for several hours labour its excellent value and you dont get grazed knuckles.
how long to fit a megane headlamp bulb
Sadly I hate my 55 reg megane sport tourer, I have only owned it since June, and most of the time since then, it has been on the back of lorries, trailers or been sitting in garages waiting to be fixed again!
Finally have arranged to p/x it - "sorry" to the garage... and discovered that the nearside headlamp has blown - couldn't in all conscience take it to them knowing it is broken, telephoned my nearest and large Halfords (Taunton, in Somerset), they did lots of air-sucking, told me it was classed a 'very difficult' on their datatbase, & that they might have to remove the bumper..... done, drone,..... I called the smaller Bridgwater branch - they said if I went there, they would tell me whether or not they could do it within 2 minutes.
Went over there, fitted by the very friendly & willing store manager Tony, I was charged around £10 for the bulb& £3.99 for fitting it - drove away within 10 minutes
You think that's bad? Try
You think that's bad? Try replacing the off side fog light... took me 2 hours!! Even then I has to employ a skinny armed lad to deal with the screws, typical modern day car design, they use 3 different types of screw heads, so unless you have all the tools ready its a bit of a marathon!
The trick is to un-do the wheel arche, the front pan (the plastic bit under the bumper) and the side of the bumper you are working on, squeeze your hands between the hole (rest a torch inside so you can see) and use a 10 mill spanner.
Tip, make sure when you insert the light its the right way up! It will say on the lense.
10 Minutes
Don't remove the wheel just lock the steering all the way out.
Hardest part is the clip, push it down and left
head lights
had a headlight fitted today by halfords they will now fit them toll the guy 2 minutes at least i didnt get my hand stuck again, now i know what it feels like to push my hand into a hold the size of a can of pop
changing light bulb
That flipping bulb, passenger side started to work one minute then not the next. Finally blowing. Read the horror stories about changing the bulb. But wait for this !!! , I manged to chane the bulb in less than 3 MINUTES. The trick is to jack the car up, as this will give you clearance to push your hand into that half moon. Take the cover off that is above the light cluster , this will aid you to take off the rear cover . Once over is off rememeber to turn cover anti clock wise, will drop to the floor or in to lower part of bumper.If this happens just bang under side of bumper and cover will come out.
You will have to get on to hands and knees and push hand through and pull rear plug off. if this does not , work use flat small screw driver and working from above push plug off use screw driver end. Again from above push spring clip to the drivers side and light will fall out. Bulb went in from under wheel arch push into place and clip pushed back up. Plug then refitted. This is no blag it was replached in 3 MINUTES.
Renault Megan Headlamp blub change
Took me amy brother 3 hours, after reading all jitters, though I'd see if i could beat 10mins.....what a marvel, look dam simple, but the clip looks the most difficult, I would say just take a close-up camera shot of before to see how the clip is set on the plastic surrounding the plastic cover.
Good luck for next time!
Deven
Both my front headlights
Both my front headlights went within a week of each other - I took it to Halfords and the guy did both in under 10 minutes - he just went in under the bonnet, not the wheel arch. This was on an 05 plate megane. Charged £4.99 to fit both.
megane bulbs
First headlight bulb I changed took me 4 attempts as I couldn't get a correct beam pattern with new bulb as it just wouldn't sit in the hole correctly. 2 years later, and 4 more bulbs changed and I can do it in 10 minutes easy. Jack front corner to give more access above tyre, pull old bulb out with a pointy nose pliers, push in new bulb and Bob's your uncle.
The annon who said Halfords changed his on both sides and from under the bonnet for £4.99 is mistaken.. Halford changed his sidelight bulbs, not the headlight bulbs as they are impossible to change from under the bonnet.
Megane Headlamp Bulb Change
My wife is currently driving her second 'Shaking Your Ass' Megane, which she has had from new, on a 56 plate. We both love the Megane but yes the headlamp bulb is a pain in the Ass, but by now I've gained a little experience in the bulb change. As a bonus two of wife's friends have Meganes, so I get even more practice than normal.
The best way I've found is to remove the wheel, which gives a bit more elbow room.
Remove the wheel arch muck cover by turning it.
I've found it beneficial to have a little mirror and torch, and by careful positioning you can see the target area before attacking it.
Reach in and turn the headlamp bulb dust cover anti-clockwise to expose the mounted bulb.
On the older models the bulb is held in place by a horseshoe spring clip (on the newer models the bulb is pressed into place). Remove the wire connector by pulling and wiggling. The clip locks the bulb into place by a small hook on the left-hand side of the bulb mount. Press the spring above the hook and move the spring to the right to clear the hook; the spring then hinges down to free the bulb.
As you ease the bulb out make sure you feel where the locating tab on the bulb is situated; this makes it easier when fitting the new bulb. There isn't much clearance and at times you think that the bulb will not come out, but a with little patience and fiddling it does.
Fitting the new bulb is a reverse operation.
The first time I attempted a bulb change, I managed to remove the spring. After about 2 hours of panicking in trying to replace the spring, I visited Halfords and was greeted by a head shaking mechanic, sucking his breath in through his teeth, who advised me that the headlamp needed to come out, which meant the bumper coming off totalling half a days labour. I decided that I'd managed to get the clip off so I'd surely manage to get it back - that's when I thought of using a mirror and torch.
The newer megane is quite easy on the passenger side, which I managed without removing the wheel. I've just changed the driver's side which needed the wheel coming off. No spring clips to mess about with on either side. Why didn't the designers make the wires a bit longer so that you can draw the whole bulb and connector into the wheel arch?
Time taken is aobut half and hour, with the biggest part of that used to remove the wheel.
Yes, you will get a few scrapes on your fingers, but think of the money you're saving in labour charges.
Go to Halfords
Halfords do fit megane headlights now - for £2.99. 10 mins, job done, no hassle - Fantastic value!
No you lie
No you lie
10 minutes
it took me ten minutes, I didnt believe but I did it, think is not ot disconnect the cable but to catch it and take the bulb out with it, then to disconnect and replace the bulb, it was driver side headlight
Megane Light Bulbs
I have found a way to replace the headlight bulb without taking the car to bits (too much)
This is for the near side bulb (the side with the battery on)
1) Remove the 2 bolts that hold the headlight (visiable when bonnet lifted) - pull headlight out as much as you can
2) Remove the battery cover
3) Remove the rubber cover from the bulb
4) Rest your head on the bulk head, you can see the bulbs
5) (With the connector still connected to the bulb) twist the whole lot anti-clockwise
6) try to bring the whole lot out as far as you can
7) Remove the connector from the bulb with a screwdriver (you won't do it with your fingers)
8) When putting it back together the bulb sits in the metal 'frame' a certain way, so check before you put it all back together again
I wouldnt do that as you can
I wouldnt do that as you can nock the headlight out of alignment and startle people with your lights
Got there in the end
This thread was helpful, so thanks. I managed to change a near side bulb in about 30 minutes, with only minor bruising to my right arm! The most fiddly bit is definitely the retaining clip once you unscrew the headlamp cover. I ended up removing one side of the 'hinge' at the bottom of the clip then (being careful not to drop it!) clip it back in before sliding the bulb out. If you put the steering on full lock there should be no need to remove the wheel.
With that said, it truly is a terrible design and Renault should be replacing these for the price of the bulb in my view, as I read they do in France.
Renault Megane Headlams are NOT difficult to change!
I'm quite surprised at all the fuss about Renault Megane headlamps! After both mine failed within 3 days of each other and whilst I was driving home in the dark on a friday evening - not very impressed, I called my regular mechanic who came out Saturday and fitted 2 new bulbs within an hour.
No need to remove the tyres, bonnet, bumper or whatever else. simply loosen the plastic cover on the top, and wiggle your hand in to remove the round plastic cap cover and then simply slide out the bulb and replace.
The only difference for the passenger side was the removal of the battery - to allow easier access to the lamps. total time taken: 45 minutes. and that included about 20 minutes of gossip too.
I think the dealers are having you on here. seriously we need to publicise this!
"Simply"
I'm not sure that the word 'simply' is correct I'm afraid.
'Simply' change a bulb to me means 1. Open bonnet. 2. Undo easily reachable clips, remove dead bulb. 3. Pop new bulb in. 4 Close bonnet.
Grovelling around on ones knees in the dark, on the side of a road getting covered in wheel arch mud trying to replace somthing that is impossible to see through a hole barely the size of your hand is not as simple as it could be in my opinion.
Maybe not as simple a
Maybe not as simple a procedure as in other cars, but simple compared to Renaults recommendations though? I changed an off-side bulb in about 15 mins from under the bonnet.
Renault Megane Headlamp bulbs
Those guys at Renault are taking the F**king piss!!!!
The car's designer must be laughing...
I feel that i have a good unstanding of the way a car works and how parts are fitted but this is a new one for me...
£20 to change a bulb that cost me £1!!!
Tips:
1 Remove cover that is located in wheel arch.
2 Open bonnet and remove cover over the headlamp
3 Put your arm in through wheel arch and remove cover behind headlamp.
4 After having your arm greated taking off the headlamp cover, you'll have to put your arm back in and have a feel inside the headlamp.
5 This is as far as i got before giving up...
I will not pay to change a tiny little bulb. Why couldn't they just make it like it used to be.
Open bonnet, remove headlamp cover, change desired bulb and done!
MYSPACE.COM/P1PRODUCTIONS
no need for all that, take
no need for all that, take the front wheel off, took me 20 minutes max.
Megane bulb
My brother has exactly the same problem
After being quoted £80.00 TO REPLACE THE BULB! He has elected to drive around with a faulty headlamp until he can trade it for something else.
I've worked in the motor trade for years and think that in this day and age, such a problem with a modern car is a disgrace.
Renault should be ashamed of themselves.
"Bulbs don't go very often"
"Bulbs don't go very often these days, so it's not too much of a problem to bring it in to have it done."
My Megane has had 3 headlamp bulbs go in 12 months!!!
It's not just Meganes...
There was a whole article in the Sunday Times today about how people are having to pay for basic repairs to cars. The new Megane got a mention for the crazy "take the whole bumper off to fit a bulb" thing!
Well hey ho!! My headlight
Well hey ho!! My headlight bulb has gone.
Not long had a sidelight bulb changed in the same headlight unit and got ripped off for that.
Was promising myself an Audi A4, maybe nows the time to consider not being ripped off anymore by a Stupendously bad design of a car and rip off dealerships. Thanks Renault.
Megane Lights up my Life
Hi,
My wife drives a Megane - the indicator went in the summer and after a life and death struggle (my life ebbing away and nearly kicking the car to death) I gave up. Guess what the indicator bulb started working - it was just loose. Something that I've since heard happens alot.
Anyway I have planned this coming weekend to spent some more quality time with the Megane - the nearside indicator is not working and the offside dipped headlight is also gone!!!!arhgggggggg!!!!
Changing the headlight bulb
Changing the headlight bulb is a real pain in the a---! but it can be done without dismantling anything. Both off side and near side can both be done with just bruised wrists from inside the bonnet.
BUT the off side side light is just impossible without removing the bumper or inner wheel arch cover. So stupid! No more Renaults for me!
megane mk2 headlamp bulb change
It IS possible to replace the headlamp bulbs from underneath the bonnet. I changed the off-side in about 10 minutes. Near side would take longer possibly.
Procedure is: Open bonnet, remove plastic panel above headlight area, via several clips. Enter from behind radiator grille, and with a bit of dexterity you can reach connector on bulb (not much space though). Turn plastic cover behind headlamp anticlockwise and remove. Pull connector off, remove retaining spring. Then replace bulb, refit spring, plastic cover and plastic panel.
I agree
I did it also in about 10 mins, quite easy really I have to say, and I am not the greatest when it comes to cars - I was not paying a garage £80 to change a bloody bulb though!. I really recommend taking the big plastic cover off (off side) and the little one (near side) so you can at least see the back of the headlamp unit. Just turn the attaching plugs once or twice and they pop out easily. Then, kneeling down by the wheel arch, you can insert your arm up through the wheel arch cover and see what you are doing, which makes it all much, much easier. It isn't hard - cover off, wire off, clip off, bulb out, new bulb in, clip back on, wire back on, cover back on. Hope this helps !
Megane headlight bulb
I have tried this and failed.
Got in as far as removing the top panels cover and connector.
from the top I could not get the spring removed. even with a mirror. Can you please expand on how it is released and refitted.
Everybody glosses over this bit so it must be really simple.
Megane Headlight Bulb - just go to Halfords
I would strongly recommend going to Halfords who charged me £2.99! to fit a new offside headlight bulb yesterday, and it took the guy less than 10 mins (and a small cut to his finger) to sort it out. At that price there's no point trying to do it yourself.
The way he did it was via the wheel arch, with the steering locked fully to the drivers side to allow better access. He said the main problem is having to hold the clip and move the pin (or vice versa) and then pull out the bulb with one hand, but that the clip could break /come off if you don't do it right and then do it again to get the new bulb in but it's tricky to get it alligned right (unless you've got a mirror so you can see from the front what you're doing from behind the wheel arch).
Don't waste your time though - let Halfords do it.
Halfords - I don't think so...
Halfords refused to change mine yesterday.
Bad Design Renault, be very ashamed...
I own a Megane and had suffered the pain of changing the bulbs for over 6 years now. Apart from his gripe I like the car. The designer who is responsible for this part of the car should be sacked, - I just hope he did not go on to do any more designs for Renault! (i.e. is the New Megane 3 the same?).
I replaced my nearside headlamp bulb last week, and driving home tonight, guess what. The same bulb has gone again. Now looking forward to another 15 minutes grovelling in the wheel arch area. I am lucky my hand fits into the access hole, and can pull off the connector, but I am sure there are lots of folk who are not so nimble. I'll also get the First Aid kit ready before I start, cos it does graze your fingers, hand, arm and elbow.
Halfords
The guys who are aying 'let Halfords do it'.... do you own the older shape Megane, or the new one?
As far as I'm concerned, the older shape (Phases 1 and 2) are VERY simple to replace, standing in front of the car it takes 5 mins to replace a bulb. But, for the 'Shake Your Ass' Megane and also the saloon versions (2006 style) this is quite difficult and Halfords point blank refuse to fit them. They'll fit the older shape ones in a flash, but say 'No' to the newer models, cos they take so long to do and it's not worth their while. Anyway, why would you want Halfords fitting it for you????? Let them touch your car and you're asking for trouble!
Get yourself a Haynes manual and get cracking!!! :)
Renault Megane (2007 convertible) Headlight lamps
Sorry to say the Haynes Manual was as helpful as Mrs Beaton's Cook Book in this case.
No references to: Part no., wattage, make, where to buy or clues how to fit.
Renault dealership on 15/04/2010 quoted £35 incl. to fit 2 x new headlight lamps.
I've decided therefore to work that bit harder today, cut something from my shop list,
and simply visit the dealership.
Hi All It really isn't that
Hi All
It really isn't that bad to do. It is of course easier if you have pictures and there's an picture guide here, http://www.meganeownersclub.co.uk/changingmeganebulb.php There are more good tips for megane owners on that site too. No connection to the site just thought I'd pass the info on.
Success!
35 minutes from start to finish, but no wheel or panel removed; just finger power! I would have been much, much quicker, but I wasted time searching for a small mirror (eventually "borrowed" my wife's make-up mirror but found it to be of no help) and trying to remove the plastic panels. I actually gave up on that because they're not 'normal' plastic screws and I was worried about breaking them when nothing moved or came free.
Thanks to everyone here for their input; I don't think I'd have managed it without the various clues. Basically, near-side bulb replacement called for:- 1). Crank steering wheel to the right as far as it goes. 2). Unscrew and remove wheel-arch cover and then light housing cover. 3). Wiggle the plastic connector off the back of the bulb. 4). Push the top of the retaining spring-clip (just visible if you've popped the bonnet open and peer over the wing) to release it. 5). Extract & replace the bulb. Note that the flat part of the hilt-edge goes upwards, but you can actually see when it's correctly in place if you look at it through the headlamp glass as you're manipulating it. 6). Push the spring-clip back up to secure the bulb. 7). Replace the connector and test it works. 8). Replace the 2 covers. 9). Crack open celebratory beer or have a brew and feel smug.
Yes, it's very awkward; yes, it's a poor design for a 21st Century car; yes, I scraped and scratched my right hand; but oooohh YES it feels satisfying to have saved myself expensive labour fees and yes, it definitely is possible to do it without tools or taking anything else off the car, even if you're a middle-aged mechanophobe who's 6' 4" with hands like shovels!
Megane Headlamp
My Renault Garage Mechanic in Chippenham replaced it in about 10 secs on my 53 Megane CC, no need to remove wheels, bumper or anything and did it for free
A lesson in silliness
The scene, failing light, minus 1 degree centigrade, sleet, snow, rain, wind, bad attitude.
It began a little something like this.
"How much?" A gobsmacked me was left wondering why Renault thought that £57 plus VAT was acceptable for changing "a" singular note, bulb.
No, much better to research the forums and tackle the beast myself.
So I did.
Now!
The most profound thing that came out of the research was this, a comment by a very sensible man. "Most of this is psychological. because you have read how hard this is, you panic when your arm gets all claustrophobic. Once you've got the hang of it it's very easy, although you'll not believe me until you try"
Armed with this new mantra I set about the task.
Unfortunately it began like this.
It is definitely the nearside light isn't it? "Yes" Do you want to check? (the Mrs asked me, so in no way was any of this her fault) "No" says I, already on the floor. "If you're sure!" It must be said that this is our lass we're talking about and I should have been on my feet demanding a retest immediately, but , well, I didn't.
So, without an technical stuff, nuts were undone, hatches removed, caps taken off, fingers skewered, arms knocked, wrist crushed, words of letters four uttered, until finally, "victory" the bulb was free.
I have to reaffirm that this process had taken half an hour in the rain/sleet.
"Err, honey!", "Yes." "There's nothing wrong with this bulb!" "Really?", "No". So, bulb was reinserted and connector reconnected, wire clip no reattached at his point. "Bling" works perfectly, but, the drivers side, no, that one was out.
I set about trying to get the clip back on. Needless to say the cheese eating surrender monkey of disputable parentage that built/designed this thing is having a bad day today if any of my curses worked, but within 30 minutes it was back in and the Mrs asked "the" question.
"Are you going to do the other side now or leave it till tomorrow?"
Silence, then..
"I'll do it now."
Using the lessons learned from the passenger side I lay back and prepared to think of England as I was yet again raped by the Vichy bourgeois' get that had designed this thing. But no, pop, click, unscrew, release, remove, replace, reconnect, rescrew, pop, click. 5 Minutes, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Bleeding, wet, cold and filthy I retired for a shower.
"The learns!"
On the passenger side, access through the hatch is obscured by a cross member. If you undo the very bottom nut of the plastic interior arch (the one nearest the edge) just a few turns, you get enough space laying on your back to insert your arm James Herriot style up to the shoulder between the plastic arch and the bulkhead. This means that you can get your whole hand to the back of the bulbs and it makes for much easier handling because you can use your thumb.
The "W" clip is just pushed away from you slightly, then to the right. Once the old bulb is out of the way. Practice clipping it on, and taking it off a few times. Once you have it off pat, when you insert the new bulb you're dancing.
Do the passenger side first, because the drivers side in comparison is a doddle. And makes for a much nicer ending to proceedings.
I Did It!! :)
So - thanks to all of your guys comments and the fab link provided above I managed to change the passenger side bulb all by myself! It really isn't too bad and if you put the wheels in full lock to get a bit of space it could be done without removing the tyre. However it is absolutely crazy that it is so much effort to change a bulb - what is wrong with these car deisgners!
THanks for all the comments and helpful tips.
Please try and do it yourself - done't pay the dealership as it just encourages this thoughless design.
Dom
According to Renault UK they
According to Renault UK they have now changed the design. I took my car in to Renault at Beckenham two weeks ago and they charged me £15 to replace the bulb in my near side headlight (this is discounted as I reckon they realise its a rip-off). I had a bulb already as I drive in France a lot and am aware that this is a requirement. Can't really see how it is any good having a spare bulb that you can't change though! While I was at the dealership the mechanic came through to me and said that my one of my reversing lights and one of my number plate lights had gone as well and did I want him to change them as well. I declined as I know its fairly easy to change a rear bulb. The following day I decided to try and change the two bulbs and guess what...they are working. They obviously wanted to charge me more than the £15. Not impressed with renault any more and will never buy another one
Half ah hour to change one....
I've just changed my driver's side headlamp bulb on my 2008 megane after reading some of the posts here. Yes, it is tricky, you do have to fiddle about in a small cavity in which you can see nothing and it is a bit painful, but it can be done. My tips for doing it on the driver’s side are:
1.Get a decent light, and a blade / screwdriver
2.Put the wheel on full lock to the passenger side
3.Remove the cover in the wheel arch. This is done by pushing on the clip on the right hand side of the cover towards the passenger side and pulling on it gently. Once loose, slide the cover towards the driver’s side as it has retaining flanges which means it needs to be slid to the right to remove it. (I only discovered this after using brute force to yank it off!)
4.Reach up inside the cavity for the cover on the headlamp. This is a black plastic round cover that simply unscrews. Unscrew and remove it.
5.Reach into the headlamp cavity and feel for the wires that lead to the plastic plug that are attached to the rear end of the bulb. On my car there are no springs – it just locks into place, so wiggle it about until it comes loose and remove the plastic plug and bulb.
6.Great – the wires aren’t long enough to let the bulb be taken out of the cavity in the wheel arch. So, lie on the floor and check which way the bulb is fitted to the plastic plug. The rear of the bulb has a circular metal plate with a mall lug which sits at the top of the lamp when placed back into the headlamp. Check the location of this before you remove the bulb so you put the new one in the right way up.
7.Remove the bulb. If this slides off easily, great. Mine didn’t, and no amount of pulling it would remove it. So, use the screwdriver / blade to force a gap between the bulb and plastic plug. Be careful, my (narrow) screwdriver started breaking the plug. Fortunately, once a gap had opened up, more twisting and more screwdrivering eventually removed the bulb. Yippee.
8.Put the new bulb in – goes in pretty easily given how hard the other was to remove – making sure it is the right way round. At this stage I turned the engine on to check the bulb was working….just in case…
9.Push the bulb back up into the headlamp cavity and push back home from where it came. Bit fiddly, and I managed to trap another wire into the cavity. So, out and back in again! It takes a bit of mucking around to get it home securely, but not too bad.
10. Screw back the headlamp cap (easy after everything else!) and replace the wheel arch cover by sliding the flanges towards the passenger side and pushing home the catch.
So, not impossible, but very tiresome. Renault don’t make it easy and I hope I don’t have to change another for a long time! Overall about half an hour…plus time spent reading these posts when I got stuck half way through! So thanks for everyone else’s contribution here…
Hi I followed your thread
Hi
I followed your thread through today as I had to replace the bulb on my -06 plate megane. Dealership quoted £30 for a standard bulb fitted and £45 for a "long life" bulb with no guarantee of long life....
Halfords replaced the bulb and charged £5.99 for the job plus cost of bulb (£9.99). 10 minutes later and only £16 worse off it was done!
Much less hassle than I ever expected. I can strongly recommend popping along to Halfords if you haven't got the time or patience to do it yourself, particularly at this time of year!!
Vonny
Hi, I had a sidelight go a
Hi, I had a sidelight go a month or so ago (and yesterday) and did the following.....
Depending on which side of the vehicle depends on which direction your vehicle wheels should point.
For example, if its the drivers side light then point the wheel left and vice versa for the left side of the vehicle.
Put cloth on floor as you have to lie down.
Remove the light plate under the wheel arch.
Put your hand in and remove the circular light water protector by unscrewing like a jam jar top. Left for unscrews and right for locking.
Next, you will need to place a mat on the floor next to your wheel and lie down with your head and arm around the front of the wheel. Sounds mad I know but this is the cheapest and easiest way of doing this or you will need to remove your front wheel.
Next put your hand inside the hole and feel around for either your sidelight or headlight light.
Your sidelight is just clipped into the headlight frame and you just need to click two clips together on the left and right hand side of the side light bulb.
If it’s your headlight then you will need to fish around [very carefully] for the clip. Now this is a normal clip over the head light bulb fixing and the clips in by pushing and bending slightly to the left or right depending on which side of the car you are on.
Take the bulb out and replace, fish again to try and reverse what you have just done to take out.
Check all works ok
Replace protective plates and all should be ok.
Hope this helps?
Faster and less hassle than other peoples methods!
Note. I can now take a bulb out and replace within 3 minutes!
Wiggy