Hi... so about 2 weeks ago I took my headlights apart and painted it black.... well im having trouble putting the hid bulb back in... im pretty sure i did it wrong (maybe not in all the way) because it is very dim...

I searched around and today I took off my wheel and accessed it through the wheel well, I'm pretty sure i put it in right this time but the bulb can move a little so everytime i go over a bump u can see the headlights shake =(

As for as I know... there is 3 parts... the hid bulb itself then the silver "plug" and the butterfly clips around it.... how do i install it back in?

I put in the bulb first then pulled down the clips, then put the plug onto the bulb twisted it to the right, the plug and bulb are secured but not the whole thing with the butterfly clamps.

PLEASE HELP

I asked the dealer to reinstall it for me and they wanted to charge me $120 per headlight... im like wth?

 

yeah that's the tricky part with those things. I painted my headlights not a long ago as well and if you're not careful with putting it back right, there's a very easy way of braking the plastic tabs there.

Anyway sounds like you did get it right though. The bulb does goes in first, then the metal butterfly tabs suppose to snap around the HID bulb, and then the Xenon socket/plug goes in and twists to the right like you said. The metal butterfly clips are only to secure the bulb though not the plug. And the plug secures on the bulb. Everything is suppose to be tight there, shouldn't be any movement unless something is broken.

You didn't brake any headlight plastic tabs there that those metal butterfly clips snap around, did you??? If you did the bulb wouldn't stay in and the plug with it.

 

^ +1 if the light beam seems to move then it has to be the butterfly clip thats not on properly or you might have broken some tabs.

 

crap, what tabs? is it on the bulb it self? any pix :P

so when u guys put the bulb in... then attach the butterfly clip... is it a snug fit in there? the bulb wont budge at all?

 

Yea, the bulb will be snug once the butterfly clips is secured properly. Here's a youtube video that shows how it should go.

 

interesting to note. when I bought my car, I noticed the driverside bulb seems to "shake" when I drive over a bump or roadtie. I wonder if my bulb is loose. well, good excuse to take it apart and paint it...