BlkPnthr

A lot of the info i got from you, so thanks And yeah you're right, not all the BH/BE legacy's will have the same setup

Arrived today, bloody quick! And i chose the cheap, slow shipping option as well. Decided to do a quick "how-to" just in case anyone else was interested: http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic,29485.new.html#new The bulbs from Amazon look like they're legit to me, the glass on the bulb itself is slightly tinged blue, but seem okay otherwise. And despite them saying they wouldn't fit, they do.

This is a pretty small topic, and may seem simple to most, but i've changed a few lightbulbs in my time, and these have been the most difficult. A large part of that was finding a cost effective replacement! After what i thought would be a quick visit to Repco (Ripco), and then leaving with a new bulb and at most about $40 cash out of my wallet, i instead came away with a quote for an expensive option of $1200, versus the cheap option of $400. Safe to say i was out of there very quickly, and off to find a better deal! HID bulbs are a lot more expensive than the regular ones, but that doesn't mean you can't find a reasonable price. I suspect (but cannot confirm), dropping your car into your local Subaru dealer for a new bulb would yield similar prices (i'm guessing more towards the $400 end though.. i don't understand where the $1200 could have come from!), and add labour to that, along with the fact that it's recommended to replace both at once to retain a colour match, and you've got yourself a hefty bill. Searching on the web is the easiest way to come up with a better price, i'm assuming all BH Legacys require the same bulb, which is a D2R, but you need to watch out for cheap copies if you want them to last. I found this article useful in terms of figuring out what was legit, and what wasn't: http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-base-articles-discussion/101472-not-all-hid-bulbs-created-equal.html. Others may get different results, prefer to buy locally, or find an even better deal, but i ended up getting two off Amazon.com for a total of $129NZD shipped, and they arrived in less than a week (about 5days). Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Xenon-Headlight-Bulb-Pack/dp/B00480J4KA/ref=lh_ni_t Once they had arrived, it was time to get down to it. To access the bulbs, you need to get into this compartment: To do that, turn the grey outer casing anti-clockwise, until it comes loose: You can get it off on either side without having to undo anything else, but on the right it takes a lot of wiggling and manoeuvring, so feel free to get anything out of the way first if you want. I've taken pics of the right hand side without moving anything else out of the way to prove it's possible (in case you're concerned about f@#king up anything else). Once the outer casing is off, there's a plug with a silver backing that needs the same treatment. Turn it anti-clockwise as well to unlock it, and then it just pulls off: After that, there's just one more retainer thing-a-ma-jig (technical term) holding the bulb in place. To loosen it, you just push on the rounded end on each side, and let them spring free off to the side: Take the bulb out, and replace it in reverse order with your shiny new one (old on right, new on left): ***A word of warning i was advised of by another member, not to mention it's graphically described on the packet, and most other people might already know - don't touch the bulb glass with your fingers. The oil from your fingers can potentially dramatically decrease the life of the bulb once it heats up when the bulb is on*** Hope that's useful for somebody.

Potential there, but looks in need of a lot of TLC! Someone hasn't looked after it very well (judging a book by its cover)

Lol ;D Sounds as though if it can get to the NI, it'll be sorted from there

Sweet, thanks, will keep that in mind

Thanks, appreciate it! No worries if u cant

Getting close to mega meet, anyone able to help??

Yeah they're $43.49USD each (as per my link to amazon above), so $87 plus about $15 shipping, totalled $102USD Currency converter app on my phone made that out to be $125NZD. Could be wrong, but i'm guessing $130 max. Have ordered them. No night driving for me for a couple of weeks now is the only disadvantage i can think of. Lucky we've got two cars

Yeah, have decided against the el cheapo TM ones. Currently considering Philips ones on Amazon, which work out at roughly $125NZD for a pair incl shipping. No reason to think they wouldn't be legit? http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Xenon-Headlight-Bulb-Pack/dp/B00480J4KA/ref=lh_ni_t Amazon doesn't think they'll fit my car, but i'm guessing that's because of model differences between the countries

Ok, so if i get trademe ones, i may as well just get the cheapest available? Otherwise genuine philips are the "safest" option in terms of quality? Tempted now to just pay the $150 for piece of mind Even more tempted after reading this: http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-base-articles-discussion/101472-not-all-hid-bulbs-created-equal.html

Almost bought the $40 pair, then looked around at genuine ones just in case. Tempted by these which end up as roughly $150 for two incl shipping: http://www.hidorigin.com/philips-4300k-oem-d2r-hid-bulb.html Or could buy from NZ, not Philips as such, but OEM for $134: http://www.hidreplacements.co.nz/index.php/hid-oem-bulbs/app-replacement-bulbs-d2r.html Funny how the Philips state the rated life as 3000hr vs 5000 on the cheapies, but then they could say anything. Who would bother timing how long their bulbs actually lasted for!

Yeah not that keen on 8000, 4300 preferable but 6000 would be fine. So the worries about buying the trademe cheapies vs genuine Philips are how long they'll last? Didn't know that, thanks. What happens? Took out the working bulb to take it into ripco as it was easier to get at, so that bulbs potentially been touched..

Also, anything wrong with these? http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-parts-accessories/performance/bulbs/auction-464084772.htm They're 8000k instead of 4300k.. is that a problem? There's also a few on TM that are 4300k, and cheap as chips for a pair, but D2C..

Thanks! Sounds much more reasonable.. funny how i went into the shop thinking about $20-30 would be reasonable, and now $100 seems cheap : Guess that shows how much i know about HID bulbs. Here's the photo, it's D2R. The other feature of it that isn't shown in the picture is a metal strip/wire that is running parallel to the bulb up the length of it on the other side:

The headlight on my 2002 Legacy has died, so eventually figured out how to pull it apart and get the bulb out. Went into Repco and asked for a replacement price.. near enough to $1200!! There was a cheaper option apparently, that being almost $400. Surely there must be a more reasonable option? It's just a bulb!

Aren't you gonna come across issues with the water sprayer container being in the boot in the spec c? Hence no "ski hole" behind the arm rest.. well that's what I'd assume anyway

So that was your car Hamish was working on! How many months did it take? Always take my Subbies there when I can, he's a bloody good guy

Wow, nice!

From about six years of being on this forum and owning the cars, as well as reading bits and pieces around the place. I'm not knowledgeable when it comes to most things, but those are a couple of facts I have in my small head

Just to throw a spanner in the works, after V6 they're technically not called "version" anymore, but people still do. And WRX non-sti's aren't supposed to be "version" anything either, but again people do anyway

I was thinking the same thing

I have a request for someone from NI going to MM and back, or someone travelling up this way afterwards. ODB has a legacy boot cover that I need, but he's in Christchurch and I'm in Tauranga, so if anyone has space to bring it back after MM, that's be awesome! If someone can bring it to Palmy, then Johnnynz can bring it the rest of the way to Tauranga at some stage, otherwise anywhere else in the NI would still be helpful, the closer to Tauranga the better obviously!

Not planning on driving it anytime soon then?

I saw those wheels and thought it must have been a photoshop joke of some sort. Surely. Guess that makes sense.. i'd prefer it came with nicer wheels that you could sell off if you wanted to to fund your new ones!