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European Headlight Installation

Items Required

• Torx-15 screwdriver
• Medium size Phillips screwdriver
• 8mm and 10mm end wrench (ratchet type if you have it)
• 8mm, 10mm, 13mm sockets
• Various sizes of plastic zip ties
• Headlight assemblies, bulbs, and installation harness

Suggestions:

• Disconnect the battery after raising your headlamp doors if you plan to take a while with this upgrade - the battery drains fast with the parking lights on!!!
• Protect your painted surfaces with something such as a soft towel to avoid chips and scratches.
• Printout the instructions / diagram and read through them before starting to make sure you have everything you need.

Installation

• Start by turning on the headlights and then move the selector back one notch to where the headlight doors are still up and the lights are off. Alternatively, use the big black manual knobs to open both headlamps to their full "up" position.
Remove the 3 screws which hold the black plastic bezel. Carefully remove the bezel by pulling the top first.

• Remove the headlight door cover by using a Torx-15 screwdriver. There are 2 screws on the side and 2 in the rear of the assembly.  You will need to lower the headlight doors to get to the 2 rear screws as shown.
  
• (Optional) Mark and then remove the body-colored cover from the assembly for ease of removal and installation of the new assembly.
• Here is the stock headlamp with the door off.
  
• There are 3 - 10mm hex screws that hold the headlamp lens to the assembly. 2 towards the outside and 1 on the inside. I used an 8mm end-wrench (ratchet-type if you have it) to slowly remove these. You may be able to get a socket on them by using a flexible socket extension, but I didn't have one.  Be sure and protect your paint by placing a towel or rag over the fender where you will be using the wrench. Take your time with these screws - they screw into some very fragile plastic and there is not much space to move the end-wrench. (The first image shows how little space you have to work with.)

  NOTE: Take the time right now to install these three screws into the new assemblies - they are impossible to get in while the assemblies are in the car, so do it now and then back them out prior to installing the new assemblies.
  

• NOTE: I found the above method too difficult, and removed the door cover support structure from the top of the headlight assembly. This required that the covers be realigned to the other panels (not that hard) once done since I neglected to mark them before removal, but made life much easier here. Maybe the larger handed will want to do this removal task this way. It allowed me to use a rachet, short extension and universal with the 10mm socket to take the three attachment bolts from the headlight assembly. Easier to instlall the new unit too. A cloth layed in front of the lense will prove handy too. (hj)
  
  The grey and black plugs from the original headlights will plug into wiring harness's like colored plugs. The like colored adaptor will allow flash to pass and goes between grey plugs (like a jumper).
• NOTE: At this point, rather than admire the difference between headlights, it would be very advisable indeed to make sure that the headlight adjustment screws can be turned. I regret that I assumed a higher quality here, and can not adjust my vertical mechanism on either headlight with a torx screwdriver. Really enjoying stripping out one, and bouncing off the other just short of stripping it. No go. Thanks gm. How about some self-lubing nylon gears next time. I've picked up a set of torx sockets to try again, and while replacing turn signal bulbs, went from below with lube (hj)
• Unplug the stock connectors for the high and low beam and remove the cheap plastic headlamps.
• Look at the difference between the stock headlamp (on the top) and the European version.
  
• If you are installing a higher wattage bulb than 55/60 (which is what ships with the GM assemblies), now is a good time to remove the stock wattage bulbs that the e-code ships with and replace them with the high wattage bulbs. Just carefully pull the rubber cover off and undo the clamp to replace the bulb.
  
• If you are installing the high wattage kit, now is a good time to tape-up the driver side connector that you unplugged from the headlight bulbs. You will not use the driver side connector if you are installing the high wattage kit.
  
• If you are installing the low wattage kit, simply plug in both the driver and passenger side installation pigtail harnesses, and then the assemblies themselves. If you are installing the high wattage kit, put the relays and power wire where the battery is, then run the harness between the coolant overflow tank and the black plastic panel over the wheelwell. Connect the plugs to the new European assembly, then run the other connector to the driver's side of the car, plug into the new European assembly there, and tie-wrap the wire harness out of the way of moving parts. Connect the ground to an easily available nut right near the passenger side hood hinge. Connect the power lead to the accessory power connection near the battery (on the fuse box) and finish your tie straps.
• NOTE: Okay, here is the real problem in this instruction sheet. Routing the harness that comes with the high wattage system. I sorted it out by finding the other instruction sheet that had the 10 guage manual wire job for the low wattage install, which showed me that I needed to connect the harness's single red power wire to the power main on the bottom corner of the fuse box; the battery negative is of course disconnected. Most importantly, I pulled the plug back off the new headlights (easy) to take that small end thrue the battery box down at the bottom, where the large cable exits the box by the engine. I took the harness out that way, rather than damage the box with a new hole. Watch for small wires down there. Once out, I ran the harness up along a metal tube by the overflow tank, with a tie or two to hold it. I screwed the relays into the box's back wall crowding the fuse block to give the battery some room. Then all the connectors landed in the right spots. (hj)
  
  
• * Here is the routing after exiting the battery box, tied to the metal tube; different route than recommended in this doc elsewhere. The two little plugs along the harness are color coded, and one requires an adaptor to activate flash to pass (also shown above). These plug into the !!old passenger side headlight plugs!!--they match by color, black to black, grey to grey, adapter too. I then ran the harness to the drivers side as described/seen above running it along a metal tube beside the overflow, and then across the front of the front cross member, and tied it to the bottom of each hood support. The other instruction set recommends taping up the plug to reinforce it, and that seems quite sensible. Just wrap from the plug down onto the wire with electrical tape. Finally, I drilled a hole in the top of the farthest front of the frame that I could drill (quite thin there, and supports very little) and connected the ground to that. I couldn't find existing ground anywhere. I sprayed some battery anti-corrosion red stuff on the connection for good measure. Ties were placed around the headlights wires so-as to enable no interference and hood closure clearance. (hj)
• Finally, here's the driver's side with the original plugs sealed up, while the harness ends here in the driver's side plug. Again, the harness is tied to the hood support (height adjustment) seen here, and the rest of the harness tied to insure no rubbing, pinching or other interference with hood closed, and lights operating. Trial and error at this point. A towel placed just so is handy for mounting the headlight. Replacing the headlight covers proved a bit of a bother; one went on easily, the other needed a tweak or two to even up with the hood, but not hard really. (hj)
  
• Re-install the assemblies just as you removed the originals, in reverse order.
• Here is the e-code installed.
  

Aiming your New Lights

• To prepare the area you will be using for aiming, use a flat wall at least 25 feet in front of your car, and mark approximately as follows:
  • A garage wall or door works fine, as long as the ground in front of it that your car sits on is level.
  • Find the center of the headlight and measure the distance to the ground.
  • Mark a horizontal line on the surface (garage door or wall) using masking tape at the same distance from the ground.
  • Place a small piece of tape in the center of the windshield, and another on the rear glass.
  • Lining these up from behind the car, mark the center of the car on the aiming surface.
  • Measure the distance between the center of both headlight lenses and use this to measure from the center point you just marked on the surface.
  • Continue following the instructions below.
• Raise the hood.
• Raise the headlamps.
• Remove the headlamp adjustment screw plug from the headlamp bezel. Reach under the headlamp bezel and push out the plug from behind.
• Turn ON the low beam lamps.
• Inspect the horizontal aim.
• Adjust the aim using the horizontal adjusting screw, to align the break point (3) of the high intensity zone to the headlamp vertical centerline (1), within the range of 38 mm (1.5 in) to the left (5) of the lamp vertical centerline (1), to 38 mm (1.5 in) to the right (4) of the lamp vertical centerline (1) on the aiming screen.
  
• Inspect the vertical aim.
  
• Adjust the aim using the vertical adjusting screw, to align the upper edge of the beam horizontal cut off line 114 mm (4.5 in) below (7) the headlamp horizontal centerline (2), within the range of 76 mm (3 in) below (8) the lamp horizontal centerline (2), to 191 mm (7.5 in) below (6) the lamp horizontal centerline (2) on the aiming screen.
• Install the headlamp adjustment screw plug. Push to secure.
• Turn OFF the headlamps.
• Lower the hood.