How do you change the low beam driving and headlamp on V W 2002 Beetle?

Answer

I've just changed the headlamp bulb by following the instructions at this site:

http://www.myvwlemon.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/000071.html

To summarize:

There's a lever on a black metal cover over the headlight assembly, near the top. It is about 3/4" wide X 1/4" thick, a about 2" high, and has a crescent shaped finger notch near the top. An important detail is that it is locked in place by a small sheetmetal latch near it's base. You can identify the the latch by the diamond patten embossed on it. The latch must be pressed down to enable the lever to be moved. THIS LATCH IS FRAGILE - I broke mine. The lever moves up and towards the outside of the car. You can see the slot that it travels through. Once it is released, the lamp assemby slides out through the fender, and all bulbs are accesible. It is a good idea to lubricate the latch prior to trying this. Once the headlight assembly is out, it's an even better idea to lubricate all the slides as well as the whole lever assembly so that the headlight assembly goes back in easily. If you don't do this you may well find it difficult to get the lever to go back down to lock the headlight assembly back in place. Make sure you don't touch the glass of the bulb - the metal areas are OK.

With the help of the Internet, I was able to fairly easily do this job, especially once I found my oil to lubricate it!

Best of luck John

Answer

When sliding the headlight assembly back in, first aling the rail at the bottom. This is out of view because of the elliptical shape of the headlight. When this is aligned, the left and right rails are very easy to align. Once these are aligned, just give it a firm and steady push.

oktay

Answer

This is for John Roper, the original answer person.

My husband also broke off the fragile latch part. My question is how to you THEN get the headlight out??? We don't want to have to pay $300 for a new part and at this point in time, that seems like our only option. The guys at the garage said it wasn't possible.

Pat

First answer by ID0000000000. Last edit by PatNewMex. Contributor trust: 64 [recommend contributor]. Question popularity: 76 [recommend question]