Hot damn! Headlights "removed" from my car this AM!!!

[Boston Driver]

Okay, so this is a tease...my headlights were not stolen, but nene (RS6) came over to help me with the CLEAR CORNER MOD!!! He actaully DID the clear corner mod for me since I was virtually no help. I definitely would not have done this job alone.

Okay, so some have been asking for some detailed posts, and there have been quite a few good ones. But I just wanted to throw in my two cents about removing the headlamps (which is a major PITA!).

First, you must start with removing the 3 torx bolts that fasten the assembly to the car. 2 are a piece of cake, but the 3rd one is tucked way down, which can only be accessed via a small hole in the fender (refer to the picture below)



The 3rd bolt is tucked WAY down there, and you need a long torx tool to reach it. Removing the bolt itself is a pain, since the access hole is smaller than the head of bolt. nene's Craftsfam magnetic pointer tool was the trick, to snatch the bolt from the engine compartment for removal, and later for replacing the bolt when reinstalling the headlamps.

The headlamp removal itself once these bolts are out is not simple. There is very little room, and the fit is tight. nene has a great writeup that describes the steps to take to remove the headlamp from the car. Read it here:
nene's removal writeup on RS6.com

Anyway, this is what is looks like when the headlamp is removed:



Once removed, we removed 4 metal clips from the housing that look like they are holding the two halves (black and clear) together. In reality, there is VERY sticky adhesive that holds the two halves in place.

We then applied a heat gun to the seam between the black housing and the clear front housing. A few passes and voila!

Open and ready for orange lens removal!



The lens is held in by a few tabs, which are easliy broken by a small pair of snips or wire cutters. The lenses just fall out once the tabs are broken. Now, just a few more passess with the heat gun over the adhesive in the channel
of the black section of the headlamp housing, reinstall the clear plastic housing into the channel, some more heat and pressure, done! Reinstall the 4 clips, install the silver bulb (I used APC Titanium bulbs per carbonLORD's recommendation, part #504129B 1157 from autobarn.com), and reinstall the lamp on the car (again, refer to nene's writeup).

DONE!!!



nene's RS6 and my new clear corners!!!



On a side note, nene tried the LED turn signal, which looked awesome, but did not light up except for signaling a turn (single filament). Oh well, they looked AWESOME anyway! I kept the APC Titanium dual filament bulbs in for "legal" reasons.

nene was also kind enough to install silver bulbs on my side markers. During this "quick" mod, one of my side markers had a broken clip and was held in my double-sided tape. Local dealer parts department closed on Saturday already, so I headed to the local auto parts store...in nene's RS6 (!!!) to get some double-sided tape until I can get the replacement
side marker.

Ooo baby, what a car the RS6 is! Now I understand no.radar's obsession with this car. Had fun on my "quick" errand.

Anyway, huge props to nene for his expertise with this mod. Definitely makes the front of the car look much better.

...Oh, and nene, my son said after you left, "he was really nice!" I totally agree!!!

[ehsix-4point2]

hey, while you have that off.. how hard does it look like it is to remove that peice of plastic chrome trim that it under the headlight. (small little strip the same legnth of the lense) looks like torx bolts? I have a replacement for one side, since there is a crack.

[Boston Driver]

and I am NOT going back in there anytime soon!!!

[no.radar]

[Ritz]

The joys of living in Jersey City....

[DrHandball]

[Boston Driver]

I figured that nene had the expertise to do this without the front bumper removal. Kinda neat, but not for the faint of heart.

[néné]

Your write up is awesome. You got the gift man.
Your 'beast' looks even more stunning now.

[thomas1978]

[thomas1978]

my headlihts holds on this screw / lil diff.