Ever since I bought our car I have always thought the black plastic blanks in the front bumper looked naff. I was going to buy the M/B lights but when I saw the price I soon changed my mind ! However wandering around my local Halfords recently I saw some small oval driving lights and thought ‘Hmm I wonder if they will fit’. They were only 40 quid and have a blue glass so look kind of smart. I knew they wouldn’t be easy to fit as they just had universal mounting brackets. The easiest way to fit them would have been to simply bolt the brackets onto the bumper but the lights would have been too far forward. I wanted to recess them into the bumper so they were flush with the bumper. If anyone wants to have a go the following should be useful:

I removed the plastic blanks and discovered there was nothing behind them – Oh dear I thought (or words to that effect !). There was no other option but to make up my own brackets to attach the lights to. I didn’t want to attach them to the bumper ‘cos they would probably bounce as the bumper flexes. I decided to take the bumper off (see below) and see where I could fasten the lights to that was solid. I used small metal brackets to make up attachments to fit onto the chassis legs and the aluminium front cross member (this is a big box section which provides the strength behind the bumper in a crash). I can’t really describe this any better as it is a custom job but it will become clear when you see it. The main problem was not knowing exactly where the holes were in the bumper ‘cos I had removed it. I occasionally offered up the bumper to make sure I was in the right area. Don’t worry too much about this as you can bend the brackets slightly with the bumper fitted to align the lights in the holes. I then wired up the lights to the main beam using the relay and wiring kit included. It is best to take the 12v supply direct from the battery. When finished re-fit the bumper and you should be able to adjust the vertical alignment of the lights by the bolts on the side. This is possible with the bumper in-situ but is a bit fiddly.

To remove front bumper (1999 model):

• Open bonnet and remove top 2 screws in bumper (8mm socket)
  
• Underneath bottom of bumper remove 2 screws (8mm socket)
  
• Remove both front wheels
  
• Inside the wheel arches there is 1 screw on each side that is located where the tip of the bumper joins the bottom edge of the front wing. The screw is hidden behind the plastic wheel arch liner and is immediately behind the lip of the wheel arch. There is a small slot to access the screw but it isn’t rally obvious there is a screw behind it. (I can’t remember if the small push-in clips in the front wheel arch liner need to be removed – if so pull out the thin centre pins with a pair of pliers then remove the outer plugs)
  
• The only attachment for the bumper should now be where the top outer edge of the bumper joins the bottom edge of the front wing. It is basically a small plastic lug that fits into a slot. There is a bit of a knack with this but if you give it a slight tug forwards it should come free (trust me !).
  
• Re assembly is just the opposite of the above
  

Hope this is useful

Loff