It took me the whole morning and noon last Saturday and I couldn't figure out how to pull out the DRL light bulbs without removing the front bumper and headlight housings. Surprisingly there are no existing do-it-yourself guides on any forums Google can find, and Zsinor Motors' YouTube guides don't have one for DRL either.

So I called my dealership and brought in the car to Toronto North Mitsubishi. Gavin, the mechanic there, must have found my story kind of entertaining, so he called me to the bay and took literally 2 seconds to pull out a DRL bulb from the housing. I couldn't help laughing at the point and he has then very kindly taught me how to do this myself. It's actually very easy, just not intuitive:



^See? One of my OEM DRL bulbs just gave up.



^The DRL bulb is the one right next to the turning signal bulb. The DRL bulb's holder is covered by a round dust shield of about 3 inches in diameter (which has been pulled out for photoshoot in the picture).



^Close-in shot of the dust shield. Since you cannot see it when fastened, you have to reach your hands into the space and feel it. There are no mechanical tools really needed to do the job, but I highly recommend wearing gloves and having a potholder ready. The incandescent bulb is very, very hot and you don't want to get burned.

It is also important that you pay attention to how the wiring looks like in the above picture. If you have problems locating the round dust shield, you can reach it by following the wiring.

Turn the dust shield counterclockwise while gently pushing it in to release it. It's not that firm, so no brutal force please.



^After releasing the dust shield, following the white wiring to reach the bulb holder. The bulb holder has a fin which is to help you turn it. Turn it counterclockwise while gently pushing it in to pull out the bulb holder. There is no brutal force needed.

The bulb is extremely hot after running! So pull the bulb with a potholder only.



^New bulbs installed.



^Putting it back is a lot easier than taking it out. Just be patient and you are done!

Many thanks to Gavin at Toronto North Mitsubishi and it seems they serviced more BMW's than Mitsubishi's this afternoon!

 

P.S. For your information, the OEM DRL are 12V 27W incandescent bulbs with a 1156 socket.

The ideal replacement bulb for the DRL should also be a 1156 incandescent bulb. The high/low beams right next to it operate at a very high temperature and tend to burn any LED bulbs. People have reported that the socket actually supplies a voltage of 14 volts, so a bulb that has higher voltage tolerance is preferred, although the OEM ones that come from new cars are only 12-volt-bulbs.

 

Thanks for this. I just went to autozone today to get some bulbs. What do you think about the process to change the yellow corner bulb.

 

Read this guide to see if it helps:

http://www.paulstravelpictures.com/M...acement-Guide/

 

Thanks for the write-up mate.. Your pics made it super easy to follow. Took me less than 20 minutes to change both bulbs.

The drivers side bulb is a little more tricky due to the lack of space there. Finally had to use needle nose pliers to get some leverage. +1 on the recommendation for gloves!

Cheers!!

 

Saved me a trip to the dealer too

 

Have you changed your HIDs? Thinking of getting some 3000k lights for the winter but I'm too scared to try.

 

Heh nice. Had to change mine out, and one of those dust covers had been like forced into the wrong position. took me forever to get it off and then properly back in place. Replaced the bulbs with sylvania leds. do not recommend them. nothing sylvania has ever lasted me more than a year, so dissapointing

 

A necessary necro-update: both PIAA 1156 bulbs have died on me. One died after 5 months, another died after 6 months. The annual mileage I drive is close to or slightly lower than national average.

I thought I should post this here because otherwise many might be misled into thinking that PIAA bulbs are much better than they actually are.

 

I just use cheap LEDs from light depot in Brimley and Sheppard

 

thanks for the update on the piaa...

 

One of mine just gave out. Will use this to DIY. Thanks for the write up

 

Used this today. Unfortunately the OEM DRL was corroded somehow and that's why it gave out. There was no way to get it out so have to go and get a replacement for that.

 

Isn't the headlight housing like C$1,000 a piece?? I thought a cheaper way could be to take out the housing assembly, turn it and shake it to get the bulb's residue out.

 

Dude,

I've been looking for a way to change out my HID bulbs. Does this method work for the headlights too? Almost everywhere I look it's people changing the whole headlight assembly. I just want to replace my headlight bulbs to some LED. I have an average medium hand size, but for the life of me can't figure out how to take out the HID bulbs.

In your diagram and description you said I should push in while turning the dust cover right?

Thanks!