I have'nt seen a DIY for this so I decided to do one. As my friend Joe and I found out. It is pretty easy. Jack up the front a little.Remove the front part of the wheel well. Get under and look next to the oil cooler. Give it a twist and it will come free. It should all take less then 30mins. Here are some pixxes

Simple yet effective DIY for those who needs visual aid :D
Good job!

Very nice little DIY, RotorGeek! I've been meaning to do this (I've had the replacement bulbs for months now) but planned on getting at the bulbs from underneath. Now I know the wheel well is the way to go. Thanks! :D

Your my idol RotorGeek!! I've bought the bulbs for almost a month also and was only able to install the high beams but not the foglights. Read through all the threads in how to remove them, but it was all too confusing (was thinking of removing the whole bumper, but with this I will save alot of time). But now with such nice visuals, its like all clear to me :p

Al

Your very welcome. I was never able to find a way on the forum either. I was convinced that taking off the bumper was the way to go also. My buddy Joe ( Ford Nut ) Told me to remove the front wheel well and thats when we found them. If you are thin you might not have to jack up the car either.

Regards
RotorGeek

Nice pic...

I will jack up the car coz I am not thin anymore... the RX8 made me stay away from the bike and get me fat!

What bulb do you use?

H11

Al

I should ask which brand....... -_-"

(see: dumb question receive a dumb answer :D)

Heh....sorry about that. I got mine from advancedoptik (http://www.europeanautosport.com/). After reading lots of threads and deciding which ones. Others have used Nokia or PIAA or ebay :)

Al

Yeah, I got mine from the same place. Lots of info on fog light bulb replacement in this thread (http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8553) too.

I took off the wheel covering and was attempting to take out the foglight housing without seeing it. Do you just turn counterclockwise a quarter turn. Do you need to push in (forward) while turning. The housing didn't want to budge and it was getting dark so maybe tormorrow.

I took off the wheel covering and was attempting to take out the foglight housing without seeing it. Do you just turn counterclockwise a quarter turn. Do you need to push in (forward) while turning. The housing didn't want to budge and it was getting dark so maybe tormorrow.

It is a counterclockwise turn. It's will be easier if you take a look. The houseing has a piece that sticks out that is part of the houseing. If you are not looking you might try and turn that and break it. You can see the piece i am talking about in the second picture. Look above the bulb opening(Black, round)

I replaced my fog light bulbs and now the driver side housing keeps fogging up. It is put it correctly, I double checked. Any ideas?

I replaced my fog light bulbs and now the driver side housing keeps fogging up. It is put it correctly, I double checked. Any ideas?A'Yup. :)

Sounds like the little rubber washer/gasket that sits between the bulb mount and bulb housing got tweaked or fell out when you changed the bulb, which allowed some water can get into the housing. When the bulb heats up it turns the water to steam and fogs up the housing.

Check the gasket and dry the housing thoroughly out, your problem will probably go away.

i was lucky enough to just remove the bottom screws and reach up from underneath... ;) i replaced my bulbs w/ arctic yellow :cool: (looks good against my VelRed)

I know it is an old thread resurrect, but do you use H11 55W or H11 80w for the foglights?

I am useing the Xenonmatch from Hoen. They are 55w. They are very nice.

http://www.hoen-usa.com/fog.htm

Wow, good site with some really good prices...Thanks!

is it just me or removing the wheel well cover a major pain? The clips seem stuck, they keep spinning but don't "pop" out. I was only able to remove one clip out of the 7 or 8 required. Also, do I have to remove the tire? some of the clips seem really close to the tire and I don't see how i can remove them

thanks in advance!

You gotta hold the bottom part so it doesnt spin. I just turned my wheel to the left when doing the pass side and turn to right when doing the driver side. You might want to use a short screw driver.

I know it is an old thread resurrect, but do you use H11 55W or H11 80w for the foglights?

Stock are H11 55w, I have H11 80W in mine with no heat related problems.

Installed my Hoen Xenonmatch bulbs today. I like! Tried to take the short cut through the wheel (#) well but the darn bulbs wouldn't turn. Had to take the bumper (#) off, then take a pliers to them. After they were loose, I had no problems. Surprised me that they were so tight since I had them out ealier this year when I had the bumper off to install oil (#) screens. Oh well. Thanks for the DIY and the suggestion for the Hoens!

No problem. Always glad to help.

I saw the kit: H11 bulb pair + 9005 bulb pair. Why is there 2 pairs of bulb for the foglights? Anyone? I want the H11 80w.

KY, what is the lighting difference between the stock (55w) vs. 80w? You mentioned that you swapped yours with 80w..and the Euro website has this kit with this 9005 bulb..

is it just me or removing the wheel well cover a major pain? The clips seem stuck, they keep spinning but don't "pop" out. I was only able to remove one clip out of the 7 or 8 required. Also, do I have to remove the tire? some of the clips seem really close to the tire and I don't see how i can remove them

thanks in advance!

The inner "screw" portion needs to turn counter-clockwise *relative* to the outer "ring" portion. The problem is they both want to turn together. You need to hold the outer ring stationary while you turn the inner screw. Usually you can do this by wedging a flat-blade screwdriver behind the ring, or if it's really stubborn you can pin the ring down with the flat-blade if you don't mind putting a nick into it. I suppose you could also use a thin pair of needle-nose pliers to hold it but I haven't tried that. It only takes a quarter-turn to retract the screw, iirc.

When you put the clip back in, you don't need a screwdriver at all. It just pops in place. You do need to make sure the inner screw is retracted though, before you pop it in place. Otherwise, the prongs will be expanded and it won't want to go in. This is usually when they get broken.

Ah, this probably calls for a DIY of it's own. Lol

The inner "screw" portion needs to turn counter-clockwise *relative* to the outer "ring" portion. The problem is they both want to turn together. You need to hold the outer ring stationary while you turn the inner screw. Usually you can do this by wedging a flat-blade screwdriver behind the ring, or if it's really stubborn you can pin the ring down with the flat-blade if you don't mind putting a nick into it. I suppose you could also use a thin pair of needle-nose pliers to hold it but I haven't tried that. It only takes a quarter-turn to retract the screw, iirc.

When you put the clip back in, you don't need a screwdriver at all. It just pops in place. You do need to make sure the inner screw is retracted though, before you pop it in place. Otherwise, the prongs will be expanded and it won't want to go in. This is usually when they get broken.

Ah, this probably calls for a DIY of it's own. Lol

dude, that is the most perfect explanation on how to deal with those snap-in screws. i only learned that recently. good explanation!

Great thread. Much help. I don't know if it was mentioned before, but you must push down on the back part of the wire connector before you rotate the bulb unit it self. I remember one car I had where you rotated first and then disconnected later. Lost about 15 minutes on this. Second one was one tenth of the speed. It was getting dark, I was in a hurry have to be somewhere tomorrow morning, and decided not to take the wheel off. Then I was having trouble with the plastic connectors, had trouble on other side as well. Ended up only removing the three metal screws underneath and was able to reach up and do the second one (drivers side). Took at most 10 minutes. And I was still able to use a flashlight and see what I was working with. I'm not 100 % certain I would recomend it to a person that's never done it before. Well yes I would because those three screws must come out no matter what. So my 2cents, try with just the three screws out and if that doesn't work, then try again without removing the wheel, then as a last resort, jack up the car and remove the wheel.

So do you use the Hoen factory wattage, endurance or all weather bulbs? Also what bulbs are used in the high beams? Thanks.

Thanks for the tip, I bought the wrong blulbs and did not realise it until I cut up my hand trying to get to the for lights. Now I should not have a problem.

Glad this got the bump. Quite a reference with the pics, detailled description of the clips and bulb cross-references.

i don't know if i'm doing it wrong or if i'm just stupid but i was trying to take the fogs off for about 2 hours. i tried pushing in and turning it counterclockwise and twisting it and it wouldn't come off! i'm just gonna try again tomorrow.. by the way, does anyone know what the black circular rubber is? i accidentally took it off.

They can be a pain to get off because the metal parts stick over time. The rubber part is gromut cover. Be sure to put back on or water may get inside.

keep the rubber on calvin. it works for every situation thinkable.

Thanks for a great DIY. I ended up having to take off the bumper because I couldn't get enough leverage to turn the bulbs...

But, a great way to easily get to the bulbs!

This DIY was much more effort than the clear side marker swap I did at the same time. I installed Hoen Xenonmatch H11 bulbs. http://www.hoen-usa.com/

The Hoen's were ~$30 a pair and seemed to be just as good and cheaper than competing PIAAs (which I have used). They are definitely whiter than stock and a closer match to the HIDs.

My recommendations:

1. If at all possible, lift the front end. It will make sticking your arms and head underneath that much easier. It can be done without lifting--I did it, but I think I'll go buy myself some ramps soon. :)

2. Removing the wheel liner can be a big pain. The liner continues under the front chin and so there are an additional 3 regular screws and 2 pop screws to work with under the car. This is why lifting is easier. The OPs pics don't show this! For whatever reason, two of the front chin pop screws (one each side) did not want to turn and release. I finally got one undone and the liner out. The other side would not budge. I was able to do the passenger side somewhat blind. The downside was that bumped and dropped (!) the bulb on that side before successfully struggling it in. I was a bit worried, but it works flawlessly (cross fingers for long run).

3. Disconnect the wiring harness connector to the bulb first. It makes it easier to twist and come out.

4. Wash the pop connectors with some water before putting them back on. They seem susceptible to dirt and crud buildup and lockup.

Pic 1: Stock left, Hoen Xenonmatch right
Pic 2: Stock
Pic 3: Hoen Xenonmatch

My method.

1. Lift front of car onto 2 floor jacks.
2. Remove front wheels.
3. Remove innner wheel liners.
4. Easy access to fog light bulb. (Helps to have a light in front of the car to shine through.)
5. Twisted bulb out, replaced.
6. Reverse order.

Pics:
http://www.altspace.com/rx8/night5.jpg

http://www.altspace.com/rx8/night4.jpg

^ You took your front wheels off. Some serious work there. You can easily get into the wheel well by turning the tires all the way and then vice versa.

my car is right next to me as im typing and the freakin fog light bulb wont budge. im trying with all my strength to turn it counterclockwise (fog light on passenger side) and the freakin thing wont pop out. im gonna try again. i just needed to vent out my frustration somewhere. my girlfriends not home so the forum is my only form of outlet. wish me luck.

my car is right next to me as im typing and the freakin fog light bulb wont budge. im trying with all my strength to turn it counterclockwise (fog light on passenger side) and the freakin thing wont pop out. im gonna try again. i just needed to vent out my frustration somewhere. my girlfriends not home so the forum is my only form of outlet. wish me luck.

It's only gonna turn about 1/8th of a turn or so. Do you have any WD40? I wouldn't spray it on there, but you might be able to put some on your finger and work it around on the grommet where it meets the plastic, that might help to loosen it????

My method.

1. Lift front of car onto 2 floor jacks.
2. Remove front wheels.
3. Remove innner wheel liners.
4. Easy access to fog light bulb. (Helps to have a light in front of the car to shine through.)
5. Twisted bulb out, replaced.
6. Reverse order.

Pics:
http://www.altspace.com/rx8/night5.jpg

http://www.altspace.com/rx8/night4.jpg

WoW

Why would you want to take your front wheels out ?

Just turn it like CarandDriver said.

I did mine that way couple months ago.

It's only gonna turn about 1/8th of a turn or so. Do you have any WD40? I wouldn't spray it on there, but you might be able to put some on your finger and work it around on the grommet where it meets the plastic, that might help to loosen it????

thanks for the tip maz...too bad i read this after i put everything back together. i probably spent a whole hour trying to take the passenger side bulb out. i didnt even bother trying it on the driver's side since my bulbs wouldn't match if i was able to do it on that side. i can see the bulb turning slightly from looking at it through the fog light lens but i just won't come off. i'll try it again next weekend with wd40. i had the front of the car on jack stands with the wheels off and the wheel well cover off which i thought would make things easy. i had great access to the fogs but i just couldn't turn it and that was the most frustrating part.

I couldn't turn it either. I tried twice. I was surprised I couldn't get it to budge. In the end, the effort of taking all the connectors and wheel wells out wasn't worth it. Didn't want to break anything either. Oh well, I guess I can ask my dealership to change them.

last week, i tried my best to turn my fog lights counter clockwise but failed miserably. during the past week, i've been doing curls, push ups, pull ups, and shoulder presses, all so i can loosen the stock fog light bulbs. whatta you know, it worked. okay, so i didnt really work out but with some leverage, you can actually get them to budge. that's the key to this whole thing that some folks forget to mention, LEVERAGE. haha, just wanted to post my feelings of success and satisfaction. my hoen ion yellow fogs look good by the way.

BAhh to all of you, i like doing things the hard way. Just take of the front fascia(sp?) After you do it once or twice, you'll get it off in less than 10 mins. and the same for putting it back on. Then everything is easy to reach :)

WoW

Why would you want to take your front wheels out ?

Just turn it like CarandDriver said.

I did mine that way couple months ago.

Uh, because it only takes 2 minutes to do with a jack and impact gun. I also should have mentioned I needed to tighten the fog housing down since it was replaced. My first time getting inside there. Found a small forest of leaves around the oil cooler.

if anyone is still reading this, just unplug the connector 1st!!!!!!!!!! after that i just twist off!!!

To start things up, I failed with the foglight DIY swap miserably.. 2 days of attempts at twisting the original foglights from their sockets and I couldn't get them out. I ended up having the dealer install them.

Anyway here's the outcome. I went with Polarg Shinning Wizards (that's not a typo) H11. They're stock wattage but put out a 5000K light. I had done Polarg for my parking lights before (http://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php?p=2021161&postcount=53) and wanted foglamps that were slightly purplish blue but mostly white. I love the results. Its a very clean beam and doesn't get me pulled over by the cops.

They're noticeably dimmer than the stock bulbs but since day 1 of getting my car, I've made the decision that the foglights hardly do anything for night visibility on the RX-8 so going all-cosmetic was the goal. I haven't heard of anyone going with these bulbs in the forum before but after doing allot of homework, I opted not to go for the Hoens.. although inexpensive, reliable, and much better than the stocks, they're too plain white, I think.

These pretty much sold me: http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3015111 .. it doesn't look that blue for our foglights though.. which I think is a good thing. On the ground, they put out white and I have a hard time finding the cut-off from the foglights and the stock HIDs. Before the swap, I disliked having the stock lamps on as it made the car look cheap. Now I never turn them off :D:

I know that a lot of people has had problems with this in the past. I have a 2007 rx8 and I can make the foglight bulb to turn counter clockwise. Any hints how to do it? and pictures?:banghead:

this was actually very easy, i didnt even have to remove the wheel well liner.

(i have small hands btw)

so I turned the wheels completely to one side, i removed 4 philips screws on the panel underneath the front bumper on each side.. i then easily fit my hand through the opening and unscrewed and rescrewed the bulbs, easy enough. i did not even have to jack up the car. took 20 minutes.

al

edit: ill help anyone in nyc that needs it done

Did the swap of the parking and fog lights yesterday. Got to the fog lights via the "down under" technique, which worked great. Installed the 4 led 194's from autolumination.com for the parking lights and the XD5 H.I.D. halogen 5800K Super White H11's off eBay for the fogs. It seemed the cheap way to go, so we'll see how long they last.

Here's the results:

Original stock bulbs:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/glassetcher/RX-8%20Pix/Fog%20and%20%20Parking%20Lights/IMGP0732cr_2.jpg

New bulbs:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/glassetcher/RX-8%20Pix/Fog%20and%20%20Parking%20Lights/IMGP3187-1.jpg

New bulbs with stock driving lights:

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/glassetcher/RX-8%20Pix/Fog%20and%20%20Parking%20Lights/IMGP3190-1.jpg

I was all prepared to do this DIY because one of my fog lights burned out, then I decided to have the dealship do it while it was replacing my broken sun visor. They quoted me $80 to replace one foglight, ouch, but when I showed up Tuesday with my car, the service guy tells me that my foglight, unless it was broken, could be replaced under warranty. It wasn't broken... and they really did replace it for free!! Seems weird to me to replace light bulbs with warranty...

just installed hoen H11 xenon match fogs, had to post to tell of my success because it was dam hard to install the bulbs without being able to see behind the fogs.

i just reached my hand up there from underneath the front and twisted as hard as my aching thumb could! finally turned and after that it wasnt too hard anymore.

but yeah, ill take some pics later when it gets dark and ill post them up!

AWSOME! i have a blown out light. and needed to do this really bad!

i finally got my hoen fogs in. man they look good. way better than stock - great compliment to the headlights.

i had my pass. side bulb out for months. i totally meant to do that side first, then take a pic w/ the stock and the hoen (since my stock driver's side worked still), but i was so excited i went straight to the drivers side! sorry, i'll still post pics later if people are interested, but the pics already up here are good.

fyi - while it's not HARD to do, getting the fog light loose can be super hard. i'm not very strong, but it was a struggle for me. eventually i got it, had to jack up the car though (left the wheels on). man it was stuck in there good. once i was ready for it though, the passenger side was a breeze...:)

yeah i thought i was going to break it trying to get it loose but it didnt break suprisingly...and i jus realized i havent taken pics yet haha. ill have to take some pics some day.

wut do u do if u cnt get the inside of the wheel well out? those plastic screw plugs r messed up

you just need the right technique lol...

wut do u do if u cnt get the inside of the wheel well out? those plastic screw plugs r messed up

someone gave a super long explanation of this. but basically you have to wedge against that outer ring - it needs to remain still while you "unscrew" the screw part. if you STILL can't get it, just rip the thing out, they're cheap -- i broke a couple anyway. it'll stay on when you put it back together as long as you have most of them on.

So I bought some 6000s from AutoLumination to put in my fogs, and when I asked the dealer how much the install would be, thy said $34. So I got there, and then they strongly recommended that I NOT put them in because the higher resistance would cause problems (blown fuses, etc.) and it would wind up being expensive in the end. Are they blowing smoke?

I haven't tried to do it myself yet, but I figure I have to take off my wheels this weekend to paint my calipers, so I might give it a go then. Last time I tried to remove the wheel liners though, it seemed like they were tucked into the sheet metal pretty tightly. Am I imagining that?

I purchased Nokya 2500K 80w yellow bulbs.

I installed the left one first and it turned on instantly, after two minutes it turned of while the right stock fog remained on.

I checked the fuses, and put back the stock fog back and they work.

idk what to do? if anyone knows please contact me asap.

I am currently working on it as we speak.

They are H11 btw

What is that little rubber round thing right by the fog light housing? Is it important? It fell off when I put my driver's side fog in and I couldn't figure out where it goes. Please let me know. Thanks.

Wow you guys take the long way to change your fog light bulbs. Jack the front of the car up un-screw 6 screws ( 3 on each side). Pull the plastic piece back so you can but your hand up there to reach the fog light bulb. disconnect the bulb and twist out. Only takes like 5 min to change both bulbs and have every thing back in place

nice DIY thanks.......

you dont have to jack the car up!

just undo the 3 screws from the left and the right side of the car that are holding the fender liner in place.. bend out of the way and stick your hand up and in, the end.

I tried that al, couldnt get my hand in - fat hands or something i guess, so i had to take the cover off, etc. what a pain in the ass. :wallbash: after all that i don't even like the bulb i got. :rofl: I'm just gonna get a set of HID replacements and stick em in - screw it. Unless someone knows of a better bulb that more closely matches the head lamp.

either that or i'll just go with a different LED.

What bulb did you get?

http://www.rotaryfx.com/product_p/lig1015.htm

Has anybody tried these?

I ordered a pair in hyper-white for $24 shipped with a 1 year warranty.

http://www.luminicsbulbs.com/h11_bulbs.php

thats what i got. not close enough to my head lamps or the led parkin bulbs - should have gone with LED but i wasn't sure if LED in non LED housing was gonna fly with the cops.


http://www.rotaryfx.com/product_p/lig1015.htm

Got my new high power H11 bulbs, they are quite a bit brighter than the standard ones, definitely worth the extry $10 if you are thinking about getting LED fogs. If you've already got the standard LED bulb I don't know if I'd upgrade unless you are hardcore like me :) They are probably 25% brighter and are definitely more visible at a distance during the day. You still won't be able to drive by them or anything.

They also seem more white/less blue, but the high power .5 watt white LEDs seem to color shift some after a while (white LEDs are made from blue leds with a phosphor coating which gives them the yellow look when off, the coating burns off some with the heat of the high power LEDs).

I took a bunch of pics, but honestly my cheap camera wasn't able to capture the difference in light that well. The two below captured the difference the best. I'll take some more pics with both bulbs installed tonight when it gets a little darker.

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee35/Aipex8/Fogs/DSCF2126.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee35/Aipex8/Fogs/DSCF2127.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee35/Aipex8/Fogs/DSCF2137.jpg

From another Thread

From another Thread
now those are nice. thanks

Sorry to revive this thread but I just wanna help the next person who will do it.

It is not necessary to jack the car although it helps A LOT. I jacked mine like i was doing my oil change. Removed the plastic protection from underneath only and a couple of those plastic clippers around the wheel. (you dont even need to take all of em off) I used pliers to hold the plastic cover so I could see where im going.

1. You must remove the connection between the bulb and the wire by pressing on it BEFORE you remove the bulb.

2. Remove the bulb by turning counter clockwise

3. When putting back the new bulb (this is where it took me at least 1 hour) Make sure you position it evenly in all the 3 sockets cause if one doesnt fit properly it wont screw in even with force. I got fed up at one point so I went by trial and error applying very little pressure to the bulb while trying to screw it back in. And then just like magic it went in.

4. Put back wiring harness

5. Screw plastic cover back in


** I changed fog light bulbs and replaced my clear corners with new LEDs in a total of 1 hour. (Not counting the hour I lost trying to figure out how to position the stupid fog lights)

Very easy to do... My clear corners and fog lights were in my garage for about 4 months cause i was scared it would be hard and I had to remove the bumper.

Great DIY, thought I was going to have to remove the whole bumper to replace a fog light with a broken lense until i read this... although now that I've done it, it might've been easier to take the bumper off lol it was pretty difficult to get to the screw on top of the light.

Can you get a bag full of those plastic tabs at the Mazda shop? I broke most of them getting them out. I think some of the problem is 6 years worth of very fine dirt getting in there, preventing it from turning properly. A couple I stripped with a screwdriver so I just stuck a putty knife underneath and pryed it until it broke out.


EDIT: I only broke 2 of them, but I got the bulb changed ok. I'm convinced it is the fine dirt that gets in there that locks those tabs up so they won't turn properly, but I'll pick up some new ones next time I'm at the dealership.


My next question is...how do you change the bulb in the headlight assembly? (the bulb closest to the middle of the car...same yellow color as fog light) What's the best way to get at that one? My driver side one is out. Do I have to remove the fuse box to get at it?

Just want to reiterate that for those who had trouble removing the bulb, YOU HAVE TO REMOVE THE WIRE HARNESS FIRST. I struggled for a while trying to get leverage on the bulb, then noticed the single post in this thread saying you have to unclip the wire harness first. Did that, and had the new bulbs in on both sides in less than 10 minutes.