Headlight woes....

I just did mine last weekend and did it without removing the bumper. Your route. And man does it suck. My hand got beat up bad on the fuse box side. And your right its cc but you need both hands on the little protrusions to start it and its on there really good. Your horror has just begun. The hard part is getting the bulb back in and that rubber cover back on.
Btw, one tip is when you put the bulb in look at how it seats by looking through the lens itself. Its got a little 2 prongs on the bottom of the bulb that nest in the lens. By watching that bulb through the lens you can make sure the bulb is in there flush before putting the wire lever back on. It helps.

Also my bulb connectors were really burned up and melted. Both sides. I replaced those too which is a whole nother nightmare.

But inspect yours carefully or you'll be right back in there. And replace the yellow turn signal bulbs up top too while your there. They are easy just twist and unplug.

 

Pull the bumper, pull the headlight housing. 10 minutes of work, saves a lot of issues. You will be able to actually get a grip on it that way.

 

I had to pull the bumper cover. It really did not take long. Hardest for me was I had to replace the ballast. Ballast connector is larger than hole. That took a little longer to disassemble...

 

My problem with the bumper is you have to take the inner fender liners off to get to the top bumper bolt. The manual says the front tires have to come off to get to the IF bolts/clips. I see in the one Luscious garage youtube Carolyn just bends over and unbolts that one top bumper bolt in the fender well. Mine is covered.

Am I the only one with burnt melted halogen bulb connectors so far? I run with lights on all day so I guess that extra bulb time is hard on the connector. Plus its hot as hell down here.

 

Good luck but I don't see how thats possible given the limited space and not being able to eyeball anything.
I would bite the bullet and pull the bumper top off.

 

I took my bumper off a few weeks ago and managed to pull the fender liner out of the way enough to get a 3/8 drive 10mm socket and extension to the top bumper bolt. It was a bit of a struggle but no removal of front tyres.

 

That's an affirmative.

 

Cool. Thanks.

 

I tried replacing the passenger side headlight (halogen) and got frustrated. So, paid a local mechanic $40 to replace both.