Grhhh. Is there an easier way to reach the lighting assembly without jacking up the car? Seems a little rediculous if you need to replace a dingy little bulb that you need a jack and floor stands. If no one has a better way I'll be in the garage

 

you have to jack up the car to get the headlights out?

what do you h ave to remove the front bumper?
sorry im new

 

No you have to get into the headlight units through the wheel well, A lil counter intuitive but whatever I will deal for now ... grhhh

 

You don't have to jack up the car to remove the bumper. If your car is equiped with aero package, you will have front underbody diffuser. Just disconnect 10 10mm bolts underneath the front bumper, and then 3 more 10mm bolts where front bumper meets the fender. (wheelwell, you will have to wiggle out the wheel well guard to reach those 3 bolts. You'll need a long extension tho.) Repeat this on the other side, then the bumper will come right off. It's a lot easier to do this way. The headlight assembly is bolted 3 or 4 (can't remember). 1 or 2 on the top, and 2 on the bottom. (You'll find it easily) They are also bolted up with 10mm (or 12mm?) Disconnect them and you can take out the light assembly. (Don't forget to unhook the plug before you yank it out tho.) I replaced HID bulb, parking light at once and this was way easier than fighting through the wheel well. If you get used to it enough, it only takes 10 min to remove the bumper. (It all depends on those 3 bolts inside the wheelwell on each side. )

 

Thanks Sean, much appreciated. Will give it a shot tomorrow morning. 2AM proves to still be 87 degrees and 100% miserable humidity in So Flo tonight

~Josh

 

I've been in there four times now and have gone through the wheel well each time. Just changing out turn sigs and the driving lights. If you turn your front wheels in the direction of the light assembly you're working on, it will be easier.

Link to Ares DIY with pics

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=55808

hth

 

Hummm.. well I see a lot of black.. and a silver bit that looks like the stock jack... But I have no reference point as to where that is... anyhow I still can't find the damn things and feel really foolish. Are they toward the middle of the car? Are they under the side skirts? I just don't see anything under the damn thing. GRhhhhh!

~Josh

 

Also, Sean if you need to move the wheel well guard to get to those 10mm bolts securing the bumper... isn't that what Ares walkthrough is explaining? How to remove the wheel well guard? Anyhow I just looked under there with the wheels straight... no sight of any 10 mm bolts but I have a feeling they are inside. This is a really *** backwards way to design a lighting assembly.. sheesh.

~Josh

 

Here's one that I wrote up: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....threadid=72545

 

Nope, you don't have to remove the wheel well guard. Just pop out the bottom part of the wheel well guard (Right behind the sidemarker) and with flashlight, you will be able to locate 3 bolts holding the bumper to the fender. They are 10mm (or 12mm) and you will need a long~ long extension to get them out. Swivel socket (spell?) will make life much easier.

 

BWAHAHAHA Hey guys well with a combination of all your advice I managed to get this done rather easily. I will probably make my own "I change my lighting too much" FAQ this weekend when I switch the lights AGAIN. Anyhow reason is I am trying to figure out if I want to do just white, or if I want to do more with blue... or most likely the evil red on black look. But I don't want it to look cheesey so I have to wait for the opinions of my buddies who are coming home for a visit over the weekend. Anyhow I will go on and post in a new thread to get the opinions of my fellow Z bretheren Thanks all for the help.

~Josh