WEARING SAFETY GLASSES AND GLOVES, I carefully removed the aluminum housing from the Bosch lenses by using set of wire cutters and prying the housing away from the glass lenses. The aluminum housing peels away nicely after you get it going--kinda like opening a can of beans with a Swiss Army knife.
2. I removed the factory fogs from the C': a) Gently pry out the turn signal lenses on the INSIDE vertical edge with a slot screw driver (exert pressure toward the OUTSIDE edge of the signal and the signal lens will pop free...); b) undo the screws holding the plastic fog light housing on the bumper and remove.
3. AGAIN, wearing safety glasses and gloves, I removed the heat cracked factory lens from the plastic housing. This was the toughest part of the job....Some may not want to try this...For the few, strong and brave--Read on....
Holding the housing in my trash can (the big one you put out in the street...) I took a small carpenter's hammer (one with a small head) and smacked the defective fog lens directly in the center of the lens--Being careful not to hit the reflector and bulb heat shield about 2 inches below the surface of the glass.
4. This action produced a very satisfying shattering sound and about a 3 inch hole in my lens. I love destroying things...( I digress...Sorry.) The factory lens is held in place by some super strong gasket compound. Using a combination of finesse, small vice grips and a tiny bit of force I was able to wiggle, break and scrape out the entire old lens from the plastic housing. Pheww, only cut myself once.... I was careful not to break the plastic housing that held the glass lens.
5. Next you're going to need to grind the Bosch lens. The Bosch lenses have a lip around the outside that's about 1/8 of an inch thick. AGAIN, wearing safety glasses and gloves, I ground the lip down to the body of each lens on THREE of the four sides! This is important!
Do not grind off the lip which will be on the outside vertical edge of the C's bumper! The Bosch lenses say "TOP" in the middle so decide which is going to be the left and right lens and grind accordingly. I'm told unlike Hella lenses, Bosch does not have left and right lenses (I didn't notice any difference in lighting pattern once installed...).
I found the aluminum oxide grinding stone worked best for grinding the glass down with my Dremel...The harder grinding stones took much too long...I used a speed setting of 4 or 5...It would be a good idea to experiment with the busted up lenses on your grinding tool to make sure it will work before trying the real thing...Glass is interesting stuff...it melts if it gets too hot. But I found as it got close to melting it was also easier to grind off...Practice with your tool to get a feel for it....Perhaps somebody else knows the best way to grind glass lenses????
6. Next you need to place the Bosch lens in the factory plastic housing. Make sure you've cleaned out all the old glass and gasket compound from the factory housing...Then using quality high temp engine gasket compound (something else better???) lay down a nice bead of gasket compound around the plastic fog light housing. Make sure you use enough to create a water-tight seal, but not too much to make a mess of your lens....(I used black gasket compound, cause that's what I had...--However, white was used originally...).
Next, Place the ground down Bosch lens in the housing with the outside vertical edge (the side you didn't grind down...) pushed directly against the side of the plastic housing's wall. (I used rubber bands to hold the lens tightly in place while drying...) Wait 24 hours and Vwa-La! You've got a new lenses!
The full process took me about 3 hours...I work methodically...I know I could do it in 2 hours now that I know what I'm doing...
However, they offered me a deal I couldn't refuse--A pair of aftermarket fogs (of my choice) in return for my agreement not to keep making them replace my fogs every 10 months or so. (In other words, I was not to buy anymore defective factory fogs). Feeling a little like a kid in a candy store, I immediately agreed--so long as they were willing to purchase PIAA 1400 foul weather/fog lights (These are the new tiny rounded rectangular fogs that just came out-- app. $200.00). "Yes", the dealer replied VW would buy the PIAAs, if I would only leave them alone. :^)
I couldn't believe it! Then I found out the catch-- The VW regional rep' (amazingly) believed a set of after market fogs would fit right into the slot for the factory fogs. (They normally are mounted under the bumper...) Based on this mistaken assumption, the VW rep' had informed the dealer I must give up my cracked factory fogs in exchange for the PIAAs. Supposedly, the VW rep' needed the cracked fog's to "send back to VWoA to conduct research and in exchange for the aftermarket lights...."
"So I get the PIAAs, as long as I don't mind two big holes in my front bumper?" Oh yeah, that's gonna happen.... "No deal, Mr. Dealer..."
Thankfully, the dealer realized how silly the VW regional rep' was behaving ( I think the dealer may have eaten the cost on this--not sure...) They told me I could keep the cracked fog lights and also receive the PIAAs. So now I was faced with the decision as to whether I was willing to have cracked for lights and PIAAs....We were getting somewhere....
I had remembered someone talking about replacing the factory fog lenses with Bosch lenses...I thought maybe I could do the same--at worst I'd have to live with my cracked fogs (like 90% of SLC owners) but I'd have PIAAs...I agreed to the deal.
BTW-Your Volkswagen dealer results may vary. :-)
Help Support the CCA by:
The Corrado Club of America, Inc. is a nonprofit group run entirely by volunteers. ISP support provided by Netsville.