Technical Car/Motor Issues > Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Mike Hannon Replies: 19
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 Tue 28 Sep 10 18:04 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Mike Hannon
We are stumped here. The left side (nearside in UK) dipped beam is out on my friend's C3 and we are tearing our hair as well as our knuckles trying to figure out how to get the blown bulb out. We've had the grille out and part of the bumper, to no avail. You can get your fingers on the back of the bulb holder from the top but, inevitably, there isn't enough room to pull it out of the light unit.
Are we missing something simple? Does the whole headlight unit come out from the front or something?
Any ideas would be welcome.
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 Tue 28 Sep 10 19:04 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Dog
www.citroen-owners-club.co.uk/citroen/index.php?showtopic=502

:)
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 Wed 29 Sep 10 10:15 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Mike Hannon
Thanks - luckily all I had to do was pass the link on to the owner's husband.
What a blinking stupid design.
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 Wed 29 Sep 10 13:53 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - L'escargot
All cars are a compromise. If they made it easy to change a headlight bulb, you'd undoubtedly lose out in some other respect ~ which you'd then complain about!
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 Wed 29 Sep 10 15:28 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Mike Hannon
No, sorry, Mr Snail. Compromise doesn't excuse bad design.
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 Wed 29 Sep 10 16:38 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Iffy
...Compromise doesn't excuse bad design...

Agreed, bad design is inexcusable.

I've mentioned this before, but isn't it compulsory to carry spare bulbs in some countries?

Not much use if you need a workshop to change one.
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 Thu 2 Jun 16 11:39 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Gromit
Iffy: isn't it compulsory to carry spare bulbs in some countries?

Yes, including France where they 'designed' the C3, ironically...

I've mentioned before how easy the Subaru and Honda are to change bulbs on by comparison to previous Renaults and Fiats, but I was surprised that the foglamps on the Legacy (a go-to-dealer job according to Subaru's Big Book of Words) was just a 10-minute task:

Park car with steering on full lock away from blown lamp
Pop trim off inside of wheelarch (four fasteners), peel back trim
Remove blown H3 bulb in its carrier - a quarter-turn releases it, and the lead is long enough to extract the lot.
Replace bulb, slot carrier back in place - its designed to slide straight into place, and shaped that it can only go in one way, aligned correctly. Another quarter-turn to secure and job done.

Why would you have to take it to the dealer? Only because getting at the fittings meant going down on your knees to fish the lamp out, whereas you could reach it directly from below if the car were on a hoist...
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 Fri 3 Jun 16 01:59 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - VxFan
>> Iffy: isn't it compulsory to carry spare bulbs in some countries?

Don't hold your breath waiting for a reply from him.

Last visited forum: Sun 16 Sep 2012
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 Wed 6 Oct 10 10:20 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - L'escargot
>> No, sorry, Mr Snail. Compromise doesn't excuse bad design.
>>

It's hardly bad design if the bulb can be changed in 30 seconds ~ according to your post timed at 09:43 today!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Wed 6 Oct 10 at 10:21
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 Thu 30 Sep 10 10:13 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Robin the Technician
Try doing a headlight bulb on a common car like my Daughters Vauxhall Corsa '55' plate. You have to remove the whole front bumper and the headlight JUST to change the bulb....never seen anything so ridiculous in all my life - and I'm a Technician!!!!

Come the day of the revolution, we'll insist on bulbs that last the lifetime of the car!!

Robin the Technician
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 1 Oct 10 at 01:14
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 Sun 3 Oct 10 18:20 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Robin O'Reliant
>> >> Come the day of the revolution, we'll insist on bulbs that last the lifetime of
>> the car!!
>>
British Leyland had that one cracked. They made cars that lasted the lifetime of the bulbs.
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 Sun 3 Oct 10 22:24 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Robin the Technician
Hahahaha!! Thats even more significant as I worked for them for 15 years!!!

Some BL's were right dogs - that said I had an Allegro which served me well, plus 3 montego's. All drove well but the last one sadly fell to bits before reaching its 10th birthday Shame really as the engine/ gearbox were superb and it was really comfortable. Good days..... now its 7 year warranties and one offering a lifetime one.

Robin the Technician
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 Wed 6 Oct 10 09:43 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Mike Hannon
Well, my friend gave up yesterday and took it in to the Citroen dealer. The fitter did the job in less than half a minute and the charge was 5 euros for the bulb with free fitting! My friend said he has rarely felt more embarrassed - even after he gave the guy a drink. The fitter said you have to know exactly which way to move the fitting without looking at it, and he knows lots of Citroen fitters who can't do it. There you go...
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 Thu 7 Oct 10 12:26 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Fenlander
Mike. I was going to venture the opinion some folks have the knack with fiddly parts and others are hopeless. I'd expect to do a bulb on the C3 in minutes.

Similarly the Megane is often mentioned as needing the bumper removing to change a headlamp bulb. Annoyingly the front wheel will need removing but then there is an access hatch in the wheelarch liner whereby with the knack a bulb can be changed in minutes without touching the bumper.

It's like the old joke about being able to paper the hall stairs and landing from outside through the letter box.... it's a gift!
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 Sat 9 Oct 10 23:58 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - DP
I agree this is poor design, and nothing more.
I accept that packaging and the "busier" under-bonnet layout of a typical modern car may dictate that components foul access to the rear of the light unit, but Volvo and some others have a beautifully simple workaround for this by enabling you to remove the entire light unit, with no tools, in a matter of 30 seconds or so.
Bulbs are an essential safety item, and should be easy to change, at the roadside, without tools, and without removing anything that's not a direct part of the light unit itself.
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 Sun 10 Oct 10 11:01 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Collos
As of this year a EU law states that any new car you must be able to change the headlamp bulb without any special tools without going to a garage and in a reasonable short time,and without removing any major component, main dealers will have to change for nothing if this cannot be achieved.
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 Sun 17 Oct 10 17:07 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - hawkeye
>> Mike. I was going to venture the opinion some folks have the knack with fiddly
>> parts and others are hopeless. I'd expect to do a bulb on the C3 in
>> minutes.
>>

I've had to do this a couple of times since '02 when we first got our C3. I'm too late to this to be any help but for H7 bulbs I like to leave the connector on the bulb until it's unclipped. For the nearside I find it easiest to take the battery covers off; that gives some space behind the headlight. Then out comes the makeup mirror to remind me where the clip is and how it springs apart. Also, if it's not full daylight, leaving the sidelights on helps when you offer the new bulb up.

Mrs H thinks it takes 40 mins, but I've usually fitted in a swift half at the pub across the road as well.

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 Mon 18 Oct 10 16:40 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Fenlander
>>>Mrs H thinks it takes 40 mins, but I've usually fitted in a swift half at the pub across the road as well.

Top man. I don't have a nearby pub but the workshop is carpeted and quite cosy with the radio on and heater if it's winter so I pull a similar trick. Serviced the C3 last Sat and took a restful couple of hours away from the pressure to take teen girls here or there. Haven't serviced a car for more than a year... forgot the great satisfaction of a job well done for just the cost of parts.
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 Sun 14 Feb 16 16:45 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - experienced mechanic
There is a lot worse out there.
Took me less than three minutes.
Magic fingers.
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 Wed 16 Nov 16 20:48 
 Citroen C3 - 04 1.4 Headlamp bulb change - grrrrrrr - Stroudie
The old joke about papering the hall and stairs through the letterbox is about the gynaecologist who liked to do his own decorating.
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