Replacing the headlight on my smart car

I recently noticed that one of my smart car’s headlights was out when I was driving. I was going to attend my first ever Triangle Tweetup that night, though, and I wanted neither to risk driving without a head lamp nor to skip the event to wait for a more convenient time to take her to the smart Center’s service department, even though they offered to replace it free of charge, being under warranty still and all.

Instead I determined to change the bulb myself! The nice folks at the smart Center faxed me the instructions for replacing the bulb (as I had left my manual at home that morning). They also supplied me with the bulb’s part number. I was able to secure the bulb at the Mercedez dealership down the street from my workplace for about $15.

Replacing the bulb seemed simple enough, until I realized how tight the space behind the light fixture is!

The head light assembly

Make sure your car is off before you start! First you have to remove a little rubber cap from the back of the head light assembly. You really have to feel this one out! The cap keeps dampness out of there.

Taking the cap off.

After you take the cap off, there’s a spring you have to pop off to release the bulb from it’s harness. You just press it in firmly and it comes undone. Next you have to take off the electrical plug (make sure your car is not on or you might get hurt!). I found that I needed to use quite a bit of force on this one, which is why it took me so long. I was being too delicate. Smart cars are not delicate cars, I had to remind myself. They want you to treat them like big cars! Slam that door as hard as you like! Yank that electrical cord right off!

It’s suggested that you handle the bulb with a lint-free cloth. I used the one that came with my eyeglasses, but a screen cleaner would also work.

Handle the bulb with a lint-free cloth.

Then you just follow the above steps in reverse. To finish, turn the smart car on to make sure the light is working properly, and you’re good to go!

Many thanks to the kind people at the smart Center in Cary for helping me through this long distance so I could make it to the Tweetup! How nice is that?

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