AudiDaemon13

Howdy folks,

So I have a 1999 Audi A6 with the 2.8L V6 engine (sedan if that matters) with the passenger side low beam HID bulb out. I have found the bulbs at my local auto parts store but I cannot seem to find a haynes or chiltons manual for the car. How difficult is replacing the bulb myself? It looks like I could remove the air intake hosing to access the bulb casing and replace it or remove the headlamp assembly itself but I thought I'd check with folks here since y'all have been so helpful with a few other items I needed to fix in the past.

Thanks again to those who commented on my stereo fuse and cup holder threads a while back.

Sincerely,
An A6 enthusiast

jcman

Plenty of posts on this subject if you STF "search the forums"

Do you have HID's or halogen's?

1) There is a cover in the rear of the housings that can be removed for lamp replacement and yes you do need to remove at least the breather tube and duct to the filter box on the pass side, plenty of room on the driver side.

2) Swing the shiny metal retention clips to open the covers, if you have halogens unplug the connector and depress "squeeze the spring clips the hold the bulb DO NOT TOUCH the bulb glass with bare fingers, pay attention to the way you removed the bulb because they only fit in one way.

3) If you have HID's the red HV connector comes off first with a slight twist, then the gray plastic locking ring needs to be turned to release the bulb I used thin gloves to rotate the ring on mine "do not use pliers" they will break, these bulbs also fit-in one way to.

Hope this helps you.

AudiDaemon13

So how do I tell if they are Halogen or HIDs? Some of this stuff is new for me since most cars I worked on in my past have been all old school, nothing flashy/fancy haha.. Now I drive an Audi because I wanted to and totally enjoying it, even the repairs learning process has been fun so far

nm3210

You don't need a manual to replace bulbs in this car (at least any of the normal ones). If you have HIDs they will appear more 'white' colored and they won't turn on instantly (there's a half-second of them starting up). If you don't know how old your bulbs are, I would recommend changing them both at once (why not? the other will probably go out shortly anyway).

Driver's side is just right there and easy to get to. Passenger side almost requires you to take off the air intake, but if you don't feel like unscrewing the front two screws (this part of the intake), you can just pull up on the air intake piece which connects directly to the air filter box - it just snaps in and out. It's REALLY easy to completely take apart the intake on this car and you can take the whole thing off with two philips screws (that front piece) and a 10mm bolt (air filter box).

To get into the headlights there is a little back cover held on by a metal wire which snaps into place. I usually grab a screw driver and pop it off and then wiggle the back cover off. Then you'll have access to the main headlamp as well as the highbeams bulb. If you have HIDs you'll see a big red connector which turns some 90 degrees to unlock. Then the D2S bulb is held in by a couple clips which is pretty easy to figure out. I would probably rate this a 2-3 out of 10 on a hardness scale, and it's only hard because sometimes those clips can be a PITA when you're putting the bulb back in.

jcman

....what can I say that wasn't already said twice not as "comprehensive" or in a similar manner.

nm3210

Sorry man, I got distracted by something and didn't read your post all the way through before I wrote out mine. I recently changed my headlight bulbs so I was eager to share the knowledge of my experiences.

jcman

I just did my HID D2S bulbs on my 04 last month even posted the procedure, maybe because of the year difference your replacement states a couple of clips holding in the bulbs where mine has one plastic lock ring per bulb,
the only two bulb retention clips I remember were on our 01 with halogens.