Nearside sidelight bulb replacement facelift model.

[steve2006]

When I first purchased the Celsior 3 years ago the offside sidelight bulb was out and after removing the air intake I was just able to get to the bulb holder and replace the bulb.

Yesterday I noticed the nearside one had now failed ( I know it only lasted 20 years!).

To gain access on this side the headlight unit needs to be removed as there are relay and fuse boxes just behind it.

Cue Google which revealed that

Pre facelift models only required removal of a piece of trim, 2 10mm bolts and then after a bit of jiggling to release a push fitting out comes the light.

It also revealed that

Unfortunately with the facelift model there is now a bolt instead of the push fitting inconveniently fitted behind where the bumper joins the wing.

The first video 20 minutes long involved removing the front bumper, the second one 9 minutes long showed how to partially remove the bumper so you could separate it from the wing enough to get to the bolt.

Even this method involves removing part of the arch liner but certainly easier than a full bumper removal.

https://www.carcarekiosk.com/video/2005_Lexus_LS430_4.3L_V8/lights/headlight

I will however warm up the liner first before bending it out of the way to avoid creasing it.

The pictures below show the difference between the 2 types, the top picture is the pre-facelift ( plastic fastener) and the lower the facelift (bolt).

I never realised that the headlight units are different until now.