Change Fog Light on 1998 E320

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Raise and support the car.

On the underside of the air dam directly below each fog light is a "trap door" in the encapsulation panel. Using a large flat blade screwdriver, rotate the closure to allow you to swing the trap door down. Inside you will see the back side of the fog lamp assembly. On the 1998 there is a single bolt holding the entire assembly in place. I believe it is 8mm. (maybe 10mm) Once you remove that bolt, the entire assembly can be removed. There are two pins that locate it in the air dam and the one bolt holds it in place. Carefully extract the assembly through the opening being careful with the electrical leads. Once out, you can remove the black plastic cover from the rear of the assembly which covers the back of the bulb. There is a simple catch at the top and two tabs on the bottom. Press the catch tab at the top and remove the cover. You will then remove the female blade connector from the rear of the bulb. It should slide right off. There is a small wire retaining spring that holds the bulb in the socket. You will press it in and slightly rotate to release. Remove your old bulb and reinstall the new.

Do not touch the bulb with your fingers as the oil will cause a hot spot and premature bulb failure. If you do touch it, clean it with a paper towel and rubbing alcohol.

Assembly is the reverse. Note that if you ever have a lens broken, you dissasemble the same way, and there are metal clips that hold the lens to the assembly. It seems that everytime I valet park, I get a broken lens.

Good luck. It's only about a 10 minute job.

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-- Anonymous, May 29, 2003


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