How do you replace the headlight bulb located on a 2001 VW Beetle?

Answer 1

The 2001 headlight unit is held in place by a lever located behind each unit in the engine compartment. Some earlier units also had a locking clip. Moving the lever down releases the complete unit that can then be withdrawn out the front of the fender. Note: Road grit and general accumulations of dirt may make this less than smooth. After removing the whole unit the headlamp bulb is accesible by unclipping the cover at the rear of the unit and removing the bulb. Replacement is usually H1 halogen type bulb - do not touch the glass with bare hands as the oils on your fingers will cause hot spots. Replacement is the opposite of removal although you may want to clean out the fender opening before replacing the light unit. Lock in place using the locking lever. On a 2006 VW beetle there is a metal tab on the inner side of the bulb housing that has to be pushed down NOT up as the housing is slid out. BUT, FIRST, you have to unlock a rod up in the front near the radiator. There is a label for lock and unlock. They are turned different depending on sides but there is a small sticker to show which way to turn it. After turning the locking mechanism till it stops,(EASILY) the push the metal tabs down slightly and push the housing forward. NOTE: DO NOT TOUCH THE NEW LIGHTS WITH BARE HANDS! USE A PAPER TOWEL! It's easy, under the hood on the headlight casing is a lever like thing, (careful it is fragile) pull the lever up or down (can't remember). Push the entire headlight casing out toward the front of the car. (The casing will hang over your bumper) Pull out the headlight and plug the new one in. Push the casing back in and lock the casing in with the lever. One note, there is some really sticky adhesive holding the light in, so you may have to push/pull hard to get it to slide out. Thank you so much for this info, it worked like a charm. By the way you pull up! Yes this does work for sure but it is kind a tuff for the first time so be patient, and make sure when pulling the light out not to pull the cover of the light it self, that is not the correct way of doing it. So make sure you pull the whole head light out. Also pull the liver up and out toward the light. Home REplacement is possible. There Is a lever for each headlight that releases the unit to slide out forward. However this slide mechanism is very tough to move the first time. Can break. Wiggle or tug until it pulls out. Second before you slide back lubricate rails with vasoline or the like don't get it on bulb. Next time it goes out slide will be easier. Also on slide back in make sure fully seated so lever locks. This may take a bit of effort/force. But be careful. We found this solution online so I share it with you!! I just replaced both headlights on a 99 beetle. German engineering my as*. What a piece of shi*. The little plastic handle the previous poster talked about is part of a ring of plastic that goes half way around the light mechanism. It has two slots that pieces of the light mechanism slide into and lock into place. Both of these little handles broke off. I think there is a little square tab that you need to push down while rotating this locking ring. Once you move the handle a little, have someone else try sliding the light out while you keep trying to move the handle. They both need to move at the same time. We ended up being able to force the plastic ring around after we broke the handle so the light would slide out, but it was extremely frustrating and very time consuming. Next time the lights burn out I will have to take it into the VW shop and pay an extravegant amount of money to have these little pieces of plastic replaced. Yes, you can fix this at home, but make sure it isn't cold (causes the plastic to be brittle) and that you take your time. Once more German engineering wins out....Smirk, Smirk. When moving the lever to release the locking collar make sure you push gently on the square piece of plastic next to the lever. This releases the 1/2 round collar that holds the headlight assembly in place. If you break the square tab out,(like I did) you can secure the lever in place after replacing the bulb by installing a small sheet metal screw next to the lever to lock it place. The locking collar didn't want to slide back in place once I got the headlight assembly back in and I had to remove the whole collar assembly and file a piece of plastic off by the lever that was rendering the collar useless. After this was done and a little vasaline was applied the collar assembly worked like a champ. Every time I work on my wife's bug I realize why I drive a Toyota and go give my truck a hug. I think that German car repair is revenge on Americans for winning WW2. I was able to get the headlight out but what a pain in the ***-I think next time I will pay the 80 bucks and take to dealer. I worked for 2 hours-had trouble with how to get light bulb out and new one installed. I drove over to auto zone and they showed me for free but he did not want any part of how to help me put the whole head light back in. I broke a plastic grey clip on the one side but nothing major-I did not break the lever-I really don't know how they expect you to remove it w/o breaking any clips at all. Maybe I'l try the vaseline thing to put it back inside. To all of those providing insight on this topic, thanks. It would have been nice to know what the locking collar device looked like ahead of time to understand how it functioned.

Things learned:

1. Check internet to hopefully find out if others have had similar problem and what remedies they came up with.

2. On this problem: After removal of headlight and replacement of bulb, wipe dust/dirt buildup off of track guides and locking collar area. Use lithium grease to lube all areas, making it easier to reinsert/lock headlight.

Note: I did not have lithium, vaseline, WD-40 etc. at the time. Tried using cooking spray and found that it worked in a pinch, though not as good as the others mentioned. Today is March 26, 2011, I just changed the right headlight on our 2001 New Beetle. This was the first time it had been changed since it was purchased in the fall of 2000. I would add to the above the following:

1. Before trying to move the lever which releases the headlight assemble, usiing a flashlight, note the perforated square area next to the lever. This needs to be depressed to release the slide mechanism which releases the headlight. I did not see it before I tried to move the lever, it must have been depressed. But I can see where I could have easily broken off the lever if it had not been. Mine would move about half the distance necessary to release the headlight. It took several (probably 30-40 ) attempts before I could get the slide to move far enough to release headlight mechanism.

2. Before replacing the assembly test the slide mechanism for smoothness of slide. Mine would hardly move, too much crap in the slide area. I removed the slide mechanism (no big deal, 3 screws), disassembled the slide mechanism, sanded down some areas of roughness between the slide pieces, lubricated the slide pieces, reassembled and installed the slide mechanism, and It worked.

Sounds like a piece of cake, but it took me 3 hours to figure it out. Hope this helps you do it in an hour or less.