stuartandnicola.com

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

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.

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'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!

no need for all that, take the front wheel off, took me 20 minutes max.

"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!!!