2003 C5 -replacing Xenon Lights

[Guest TheSiberian]

I need to replace the dipped light on my 2003 C5 Estate. I went to the Citroen garage here in Switzerland, and was quoted 368 Swiss Francs (around 235 GBP), so I popped into the Citroen garage in France, not far away, there its 200 EUR (165 GBP), so DIY it is!!!

 

I have seen 2 previous threads on this site on replacing the bulb, but I'm not clear on several points:

 

- Do I need to take the bumper off or not, if so, how is this done?

- Do I need to replace BOTH bulbs, as some recommend this, or just the broken one?

- I have seen online prices of 80 euro for the bulb, yet I see one here for merely £3.51, so I'm worried its not the right part..?

 

At the moment, I'm just a bit worried that I will start doing this myeslf, and will have to go to the garage with my tail between my legs, job half done, and embarrassed!!

 

Any help much appreciated.

[Johndouglas]

Is your car equiped with HID Xenons? If it is you will also have headlamp washers fitted below the light units. The bulb you mention is a normal H1 bulb - maybe filled with xenon gas - but it won't do for xenon headlamps. There are two editions of xenon replacement bulbs used on the C5 but I'm not sure of the change date. Early models require D2R. The spare I carry with me cost around £50 off ebay.

 

As to whether you need to remove the bumper. I've spent hours trying to reach the sidelight bulbs, and in the end I've removed the bumper - three times now. On the other hand - look at Seefive's posts - it seems that it's possible to do the job under the bonnet.