I bought two bulbs HID on ebay for the wifes S60 Volvo 6 mo ago around $15 and they are still fine.
Buy two as the new ones are alot brighter..

 

2003 X-type
Can some one please walk me through the process of how to get to the bulb. Do i need to take the bumber cover off and pull out the whole headlamp. Someone said through the wheelwell?
Also how do i know for sure if I need halogen or HID bulbs.
Does anyone know of any videos on this?
Thanks for any help
Tom

 

dabears, the process by which you can access the headlights is a function of how big your hands are. If you have petite hands, then you can probably do it with the headlight assemblies installed. If you have bear claws, then you will probably be better suited by removing the bumper cover and then pulling the headlight housings out.

If you can slide your hands in to the back of the headlights, you simply need to slide your hand in to the area to the outside lens of the headlight assembly, remove the plastic cover off the back of the headlight assembly (removing the cover from the area gives you more room to move around later). From there, you will need to undo 2 clips to gain access to the bulb. Pull backwards on the bulb and it should slide out. Install is the reverse process.

As for needing to know if you have HIDs or halogens, the easiest check is to open up the driver's door and look down near the door hinge. Do you have a white/silver sticker there that says something to the effect of "This vehicle is equipped with High Intensity Discharge bulbs and should be only repaired/replace by qualified technicians". If this is the case, then you have HID bulbs and you need the D2S bulbs (35W only). If you don't have the sticker, then odds are, you have halogen bulbs and you need the standard H1 bulb (55W).

Please keep in mind that if you start getting pushy with the headlight assemblies, you can damage the posts and now you have to pull the headlight assembly and either fix the internals or you will need to buy new headlight assemblies (rather pricy adventure). So, if you think you can be gentle with the headlight assembly and not break anything, then by all means, go for it without removing the headlight assembly. But, if you are doubting anything, removing the bumper cover doesn't take all that long (about 30 minutes off, 30 minutes on). Then you can do things in a more controlled manner. I am sure other members will have stories both positive and negative about changing headlight bulbs.

 

I have an '04 X-type and just spent my first winter with it (love it!). I noticed that the passenger side headlight adjustment moved down, when I went to adjust it I found that the entire light assembly is broken (not just the inner adjustment but the exterior housing was cracked and reglued at some point). The light is propped up inside the housing with some wire!

Bottom line is that I will be replacing the entire housing when it gets a little warmer. My questions:
1) Best price for a non-HID assembly new is ~$425 (HID looks like ~$1100) each... is it really worth it to upgrade?
2) Assuming I will be sticking with the non-HID assembly, what can I do to get the most out of the lighting? i.e. best kind of bulbs to buy?
3) If this were YOU ... what else would you be doing while the bumper is off and the front components accessible? I don't want to waste the opportunity!

All the feedback seems to be revolving around the HID lights so any non-HID advice is very much appreciated. Thanks!

 

sparkyman, if you have the headlight assemblies out, replace all the bulbs with new bulbs. Normally when the housing become damaged, it is because someone had their hands in the housings and pushed the interior parts too hard. Atleast with the housings out of the car, you stand a better chance of positioning your hands to prevent pushing on the housings and damaging something. Not to mention, before you put them in, you can look at the internals and verify all is good.

Instead of spending the $425 on a new headlight assembly, do some looking around. There are people selling aftermarket adjusters for the headlights and that might have the pieces that you are after. Then you would spend the same amount of time pulling the bumper cover off, an extra hour or so to put in the new adjusters and then put everything back together. It should save you quite a bit of money.

 

Hi Thermo, thanks for the advice. The assemblies are not out yet. From what I see of the passenger side, it looks like the assembly housing is in really rough shape. I will have time to wait for warmer working weather and will do more research into the adjusters as you suggest. Thanks