Replace a Car Headlight Bulb (H7): interactive 3D repair guide

All 10 steps

1. 1Lights off, key out, bonnet up

   Switch the lights off, take the key out of the car and give a bulb that has been lit a few minutes to cool. Pull the bonnet release inside the car, free the safety catch at the front, raise the bonnet and put its stay into the hole in its underside. The low beam’s dust cap is the inner of the two round caps on the back of each headlight.

2. 2Turn the dust cap off

   Reach behind the headlight, grip the low beam’s dust cap by its ribs and turn it a quarter turn anticlockwise, seen from the engine bay, until its lugs come free of the neck’s; then pull it straight off. Lay it on the slam panel, open side down, so nothing falls into it.

3. 3Unplug the connector

   The connector sits on the bulb’s two flat blades. Hold it by its body, never by its wires, and pull it straight back off them; if it is stiff, rock it a little as you pull. Tuck it down below the socket on its wires, so the bulb can come out.

4. 4Free the wire spring clip

   The bulb is held by a wire spring clip hinged at the bottom of the socket, its top bar hooked under a small catch. Press the bar’s loop in towards the bulb, slide it sideways out from under the catch, and let the clip swing open on its hinge, down and out of the way. Never lever it with a screwdriver: a clip forced the wrong way can bend, and a bent one may no longer hold the bulb firmly.

5. 5Old bulb out

   Hold the old bulb by its base and pull it straight back out of the reflector, noting which way its three tabs sat. Look at it: a broken filament, or a capsule gone grey or black inside, says it has failed. Lay it on the slam panel, to go for recycling.

6. 6New bulb in, by its base trap

   Put on clean nitrile gloves. Take the new bulb out of its box by its metal and plastic base, never by the quartz glass; if the glass has been touched, or you are not sure, wipe it with an alcohol wipe and let it dry before it is ever lit. Put the bulb into the reflector, turn it until its three tabs drop into their notches, and push it home: its flange sits flat on the lip. Avoid this trap: Taken out of its box by the glass with bare fingers, the new bulb carries two prints of skin oil on its quartz. It lights at first, but the oil burns onto the glass and the spot under it runs hotter than the rest of the capsule. Kia’s and Honda’s handbooks both warn that this can make the bulb overheat and burst or shatter when lit; Ram’s says it shortens the bulb’s life. Wear gloves, hold the bulb by its base, and if the glass is touched, wipe it with alcohol and let it dry before it is ever lit.

7. 7Clip it shut trap

   Swing the clip back up over the bulb’s flange, press its loop in and slide it sideways back under its catch, then let it go: it springs out against the catch and holds the flange flat. The bulb should not move at all. If the clip will not reach its catch without force, the bulb is off its notches: take it out and seat it again. Avoid this trap: Pushed in without being turned until its tabs drop into their notches, the bulb sits on one tab, tilted. The clip will not reach its catch; forced under it anyway, it holds the bulb crooked. The lamp lights, but with its filament out of place the beam’s cut-off is skewed and light is thrown above it, into oncoming drivers’ eyes, while the road ahead gets less. Turn the bulb until its tabs drop in and its flange sits flat, then close the clip without force.

8. 8Connector on, cap turned home trap

   Push the connector straight back onto the bulb’s two blades until it is fully home. Fit the dust cap over the neck with its lugs between the neck’s, push it on and turn it a quarter turn clockwise until it stops: it now seals the lamp. Kia warns that a bulb or cover not properly fitted can let water into the headlight. Avoid this trap: The dust cap is pushed onto the neck but never turned, so its lugs are not under the neck’s. It looks fitted, but the engine’s shake works it loose until it hangs off, and the back of the lamp is open: rain and road spray get in, the lens fogs inside, and the reflector and the connector corrode. Kia’s handbook warns that parts not fitted properly can let water into the headlight. Push the cap on and turn it until it stops.

9. 9The other side the same way

   Change the bulbs in pairs: Hella and Sylvania advise it, and Philips notes that a bulb dims near the end of its life, so one new bulb beside an old one lights the road unevenly, and the old one often fails soon after. On the right headlight, past the washer bottle’s filler: cap off, connector off, clip freed, old bulb out; the second new bulb in by its base with its tabs in their notches, clip shut, connector on and cap turned home.

10. 10Lights on, check the beams, bonnet shut

    Put the key back and switch on the low beams: both should light. On an aiming board or a wall a few metres in front, their cut-offs should be level, at the same height, where they were before. A cut-off that has moved, or light thrown above it, means a bulb is not seated on its notches. Hella says to check the headlamp adjustment after a bulb change and correct it if needed; a garage can check it with a beam setter. Switch off, then shut the bonnet.

What you need

• H7 halogen bulbs, a pair · the type and wattage your handbook gives
• Nitrile gloves · clean, powder-free
• An alcohol wipe · for glass touched by mistake
• A lint-free cloth
• A torch · to see behind the headlight
• The car’s handbook · its bulb type and how its lamp opens

Questions

Safety

A halogen bulb runs very hot: switch the lights off, take the key out and let the bulb cool before you touch it. Its quartz capsule holds gas under pressure and can shatter, so wear eye protection (Kia and Osram both say so). Fit only the bulb type and wattage your handbook gives.

• Engine off: switch the engine and the fan off and take the key away before you reach behind the dashboard or under the bonnet.

About this guide

3D Spatial Reconstruction: models are engineered from factual measurements to show the parts, the fixings and the order of the job before you start. Always check the handbook of your own car.

The car is a generic five-door of our own design, the one in our spark plug and oil change guides, and its headlights are our own too: a projector low beam taking an H7 halogen bulb (12 V, 55 W), held by a wire spring clip, behind a dust cap that turns a quarter to come off. The order is the one car and bulb makers give: the lights off and the key out, the bulb cooled (Kia); the cover off anticlockwise (Kia), the connector off, the retaining wire freed by pressing its end and pushing it aside (Kia), the old bulb out; the new one in, held by its base, its tabs lined up with the notches, the wire snapped back, the connector and the cover on; a lamp test and the headlamp adjustment checked (Hella); bulbs changed in pairs (Hella, Philips, Sylvania).

Where the job differs from a quick brief: the brief names H7, H11 and 9005 bulbs, but only the H7 is held by a wire spring clip, and only in many lamps (some cars hold it in a holder that twists out instead). H11 and 9005 (HB3) bulbs have a keyed plastic base that twists into the lamp, about a quarter turn, and locks with no clip: Ram’s handbook turns its bulbs a quarter turn anticlockwise to unlock them, Honda’s turns its HB3 to the left to take it out, and Sylvania’s H11 instructions give about a quarter turn. So the 3D shows the H7 with its clip, and the questions below say how the others fit. The brief’s press in, slide sideways, swing open is the clip’s real movement (Kia: depress its end and push it upward); which way it slides depends on the lamp.

The glass: bulb makers and car makers alike say not to touch it. Osram marks its H7 “do not touch flask” and says to wear gloves; Sylvania says never touch the glass; Kia’s handbook says that residual oil may make the bulb overheat and burst when lit, Honda’s that oil, perspiration or a scratch on the glass can make it overheat and shatter, and Ram’s that touching it shortens the bulb’s life. Glass that has been touched is cleaned with alcohol: denatured alcohol and a clean cloth, Honda says; Osram, for its halogen lamps, alcohol, then dried with a lint-free cloth. None of them says how soon a touched bulb fails, so neither do we: the 3D runs the hot spot fast.

The figures: H7 is a standard bulb type, its light centre 25 mm in front of its flange (Narva’s data sheet), about 59 mm long (Osram); the bulb’s other sizes, the socket’s, the clip’s and the cap’s are our estimates from photos. The aiming board’s line at about 1% below the lamps is a typical setting, not your car’s: many lamps have theirs printed on the housing, and your handbook or a garage’s beam setter decides. The price on the card is Sylvania’s own for its H7 Basic twin pack, $36.99, read on 27 October 2026; we found no garage price for the job that we could read, so the card gives none. The time is our estimate. The 3D runs faster than real hands do.

Sources: Kia owner’s manual, Seltos: headlamp bulb replacement (cover anticlockwise; the retaining wire freed by pressing its end and pushing it upward, snapped back lined up with its groove), Kia owner’s manual: halogen bulbs (never touch the glass with bare hands; residual oil may make it overheat and burst; let it cool; eye protection), Kia owner’s manual: light bulbs (bulbs fully seated and locked, or heat damage, fire or water entering the headlight unit; the same wattage), Honda owner’s manual, Jazz (2016): headlight bulbs (halogen bulbs get very hot; oil, perspiration or a scratch can make one overheat and shatter; clean touched glass with denatured alcohol; the HB3 turned left to remove it), Ram 2500/3500 owner’s manual (2022): headlamp bulbs (a quarter turn anticlockwise to unlock; touching the glass shortens a bulb’s life), Hella Tech World: Opel Corsa D low beam, replacing the H7 bulb (bulbs replaced in pairs; a functional test; check the headlamp adjustment), Osram ORIGINAL LINE H7 64210: PX26d base, 12 V 55 W, 1500 lm, 59 mm long; do not touch the flask, wear gloves, switch off the headlights, hot, Osram: information on its halogen lamps (touched glass cleaned with alcohol and dried with a lint-free cloth; a studio lamps leaflet), Narva H7 data sheet: light centre length 25 mm ± 0.25, bulb diameter at most 12.5 mm, PX26d base, Sylvania: H7 Basic halogen headlight bulb, 2 pack, $36.99 (October 2026); never touch the glass; replace bulbs in pairs, Philips: change your headlights in pairs (bulbs dim near the end of their life; a follow-up failure).

The 3D models, drawings and text are our own. The car shown is a generic one of our own design, not any one maker’s model.