DIY Q5 2009-2012 prefacelift Headlight removal without removing bumper

[nananana4k]

DIY Q5 2009 2010 2011 2012 prefacelift Headlight removal without removing bumper guide:

I'm dropping images here, will update soon on instructions
*still editing post*

I put this guide together after looking around heavily on how to remove the headlights from my Q5. There are some good guides but nothing had been complete on how to fully remove the headlights. I have also stood in front of my Q5 with the bumper removed unable to remove the full headlight holder that houses the headlights and had to put back my bumper on the car because of time and lighting constraints. So if you had tried to remove your headlights in the past and couldn't figure out why it wont slide out, or have been told to remove your bumper only to find out you still couldn't remove your headlight this guide has been made for you.

The largest issue removing the headlights is there are two bolts that hold the carrier under the headlights that is only accessible from inside the car. They do not face outward. Other instructions have mentioned to work your way "somehow" from the front. Another has said they removed their wheel and entered from the wheel well. But there is enough space to get to the bolts and remove the headlight carrier without removing a wheel and jacking up your car.

The red arrows shows the bolts that are on the inside of the vehicle that prevent the headlight from being removed. We can remove these bolts then the carrier to free the headlight to be removed. While this guide is for Q5 B8 prefacelift vehicles and I have not tried it on post facelift vehicles with the new carriers, the bolts are in the same location and might work for the post facelight headlights but the extra notch at the bottom of the carrier maybe preventing the removal through the wheel well.





Turn the wheel towards the inside of the car. Remove the 3 torx screws holding the wheel well liner. Peel back part of the liner away from the fender and then move the liner to the side so you can see and get access to under the headlight and behind the front bumper.




Note* To get more light you can move the airbox under the hood to the side, or remove the airbox completely since you will need to remove the headlight cable later on.

The next photo is what you see when you enter from the wheel well behind the liner. Here you can see the two bolts needed to remove the headlight carrier. They are either T25 or T30:






Alternately you can remove the second bolt holding the headlight carrier from under the hood you if you get better reach.




Once the two bolts holding the headlight carrier are removed, you can slide the headlight carrier back and out of the wheel well.



You can use a flathead screwdriver to decable the headlight cable from the headlight, but if you have a trim remove or something to wedge in, it made the decabling process very, very easy.


Here is a video explaining the process. I wouldn't pull on the cables, pulling on the back of the plastic harness worked for me, but the video gives you an idea of how not to lose your mind or break your headlight cable clip.





As an option but not needed, to give you more wiggle room on removing the headlight you can remove one of the top tabs. It unscrews with two small philip screws then you pull up to remove.


Remove this front most bolt holding in the front fender. Mark it with a sharpie so it lines up when you reinstall, or if your car is as dirty as mine, you will see a clean outline of a circle under the bolt for guiding reinstallation.


The fender is very very sharp. I highly advise using something to protect the edge, taping it off helps it not moving around when removing the headlight.


Getting the headlight out is not straightforward and requires some maneuvering but is not difficult. The orange arrow shows the pulling out of the fender ( you don't need too much clearance so don't worry about damaging the fender). Pull the headlight as far as it will go towards the bumper. Then from the headlight corner that is near the bumper swing that towards you. The headlight corner that is near the fender you want to swing towards the inside of the car. It is basically spinning the headlight clockwise so the back of the headlight goes from facing the back of the car to the right. (Counterclockwise if you are doing the drivers side). Once the headlight is turned 90 degrees, you can slide it out while moving the fender aside to give you clearance.

[m4gician]

great guide.

I hate finding sharp parts by accident. THe amount of literal blood that goes into working on my cars is real.

[nananana4k]

Thanks! The fender is not so sharp to the touch but can definitely damage the headlight when trying to take it out.

[SQ5guyinSoCal]

Thank you for sharing this guide. I'm going to try this with my 2016 SQ5 and see if I achieve the same results. I'm planning on installing an RS honeycomb grill as well so the bumper will have to come off regardless and might just install both Ecodes and the grill with the bumper off. :)

[nananana4k]

Good luck! I’m interested to see if the newer headlights on the Q5 B8 can work the same way for removal. I can’t wait to see your honeycomb grill and encodes.