Rear light cluster replacement XC90

[Philip Fisher]

Hi

Has anyone replaced the rear light cluster yet?

Mine was damaged by an idiot (ie me) with a Wickes trolley.

I have the new one which was £134 ex VAT from a breakers.

It appears to have just 3 mounting bolts/nuts but one sits behind the top of the rear bumper so I guess the partial removal of the bumper is going to be the difficult bit.

Any help gratefully received.

Philip

[Neil S]

Yes, someone drove their car into mine.

Dealer quoted £189.50 + VAT for part and £210 + VAT for fitting!

I looked at doing it myself but realise it wasn't that straight forward. The guy that did it said he had to remove the whole bumper to get access. The third time the bumper has been removed in only a year of ownership.

Be careful not to damage the cables for the parking sensors when refitting the bumper like my original dealer.

[Murph7355]

It seems there's a run on these

£400 incl. VAT all in from our main dealer.

Had the car been out of warranty I'd have changed it myself at some point. But didn't fancy the ball ache of taking the bumper off - why designers can't design cars that can have "prone" parts changed with the minimum of fuss I do not know.

[Philip Fisher]

Thanks for the tips.

The guy at the breakers reckoned 20 mins to fit and that the rear bumper needs to be "partially removed" not fully. Might have a bit of a fiddle with it at the weekend and report back.

As for 400 quid that sounds very toppy to me.

Dealer quoted me 289 and would have given me 10 percent if I had asked so about 250 sounds about right from a main dealer. Also Evolv parts are selling what they describe as brand new ones for 139 plus VAT plus 9 quid postage.

He also told me that they have lots of customers who are American service personnel who have imported their XC90s and need UK light clusters to pass the UK import MOT test. Maybe it is them creating a run on clusters.

[Philip Fisher]

Ok so update.....

It is possible to replace the rear light cluster without removing the bumper but I am not sure I would recommend it.

The bumper has a series of plastic tongues sticking out towards the car and these then stick into the bottom of the lightcluster housing. I guess this holds the bumper nice and close and neat to the bottom of the light.

Having removed the wheel arch trim, and all the screws I could find around the arch liner and the bootlid bump stop I just couldnt work out how to slide the bumper off. I kind of expected to be able to ease it away from the car but it is obviously well attached and I couldnt find the rest of the mounting bolts so was about to give up when I realised I could ease the top of the bumper and kind of rotate the light cluster out. I did end up having to be quite brutal with the easing but got the cluster out.

The cluster itself is actually secured by 3 bolts/nuts. One is easy being from the battery compartment. The top one necessitates removal of the upper trim by the seatbelt and has "drop me into the void where I will rattle for ever" written all over it. The final mounting is right at the bottom, accessed from outside the car behind said section of bumper. My easing of this got a spanner in and the bolt out then I rotated the cluster out and off the bumper tongues. Electrical connection was simplicity itself.

So whole job was about 1hr 15mins and light cluster all done. My only caveat is I am not sure people will necessarily be comfortable with the amount of "easing" of the plastic bumper required for this method.

Final point is that I now have one fog light. I had 2 before but have been assured by the breaker that what he sold me was the correct part number. Maybe they only have one fog light now.

Philip

[Bernard F]

If the part numbers are the same you should still have two fog lights and was it really worth all that hassle. I take my hat off to you well done.

[Philip Fisher]

Originally Posted by Bernard F

.......... was it really worth all that hassle.........

I didnt really have a choice. I broke the cluster and it needed fixing or the lease co. will charge us next March. I also had no intention of paying a dealer as we then end up in the realms of an insurance claim from our group policy which I didnt want to do. So 130 odd quid from a breakers and an hour and a bit of my time was the least worst option.....