changing headlamp in 2008 lacrosse

After researching this proceedure, the concensus was that the plastic bumper has to be removed to change the bulb which is a real pita. I was able to do it without removing the bumper. The problem is there is not enough room behind the removable twist cover to take it out. An attempt by GM was made to have access from the bracket via the hole in the bracket, but the half assed design from GM didnt work. I guess these type reasons are why they went under.
Here's how I did it- loosen the 10 mm bolts around the top of the bracket that hold the headlamp assembly. Raise the white plastic locking tab half way such that the assembly is not held by it. Raise the metal bracket that was held down by a 10mm bolt the same way, so that it doesnt hold the assembly back. Now the problem is that you cant move the headlamp assembly far enough forward to remove the twist cover behind the bulb without loosening the entire front bumper. Here's the trick- The plastic twist off cover has two tabs that stick out the back used for twisting the cover into place. I trimmed them down by cutting them partially off with a pair of wire cutters. You can still twist the cover on and off without them. Next using a couple of large screw drivers I wedged the assembly forward just enough to be able to yank the twist cover out. Once its out you can access the bulb and connector from the rear hole. Be carefull to line up the bulb slots with the holes in the lamp assembly before twisting it in place. You can see the holes from the front of the headlamp. This was on the drivers side, I'm not sure if it will work on the passenger side.

Haven't run into this with a LaCrosse, yet......but have on the Lucerne....try replacing a front directional bulb....last time I looked, GM time was 40 minutes......so you have an idea how long the first one will be....absolutely stupid design when you have to put a car on a lift to replace a bulb....

Haven't run into this with a LaCrosse, yet......but have on the Lucerne....try replacing a front directional bulb....last time I looked, GM time was 40 minutes......so you have an idea how long the first one will be....absolutely stupid design when you have to put a car on a lift to replace a bulb....

Took me 2 hours to replace a bulb in my 06 Lucerne. Pretty well everything in the front has to come off. I replaced EVERY front bulb, as I never want to do that again before I trade the thing in.
My wife's 2007 LaCrosse took about 5 minutes. Jerryls, they must have changed the design of the 08 to make it so difficult.
I am looking at the 2012 Regal. Before I buy it, I want to see the salesman change a front bulb in it. :naughty:

OK, I was originally pretty upset, and now slightly less so when faced with the task of replacing the passenger side low beam bulb. Having done this often in a number of other vehicles, it could usually be done in just a few minutes. When I pulled the back of the plastic housing and found out they did not leave enough space to actually remove the cap I came to this site. After reading the posts, I got even more incensed!

Here is what I did to change it in about 15 minutes. The piece that is preventing the removal of the housing cap is plastic, and with my pliers I was able, with enough anger, to break the plastic piece by piece until I created enough room to remove the cover and gain access to the housing.

Other than being in the way, this plastic seemed to have no other discernible use. When in doubt, start breaking stuff. :wink: Hope this helps!

Jerryls was spot on for my 2008 Lacrosse drivers side low beam. I followed his procedure and had the lamp changed in half an hour on the first attempt. Cutting off the tabs from the twist off cover with strong wire snippers let me fully remove it from the back of the housing relatively easily (used hammer and screwdriver to easily unscrew it from the housing). The biggest problem was then extracting the cover from that cavity area after it was separated from the housing. The removal of the bolts as suggested made it barely possible, but it still took maneuvering and good old fashion brute force. I struggled more getting it back into the cavity -- twisting it around to make best use of the gaps in the cover was needed.

Wow...I changed both sides of my wife Lacrosse low beams without having to resort to removing anything or cutting anything. Once the attaching bolts were out, with a little maneuvering, the whole assembly came out.

My Lucerne on the other hand needed to have the grill, the bumper, and god know what else I had to take off, to replace one low beam. I replaced every single light on both sides, so I never have to do that again.

Yes, I have no idea what they were thinking when they designed the headlight assembly for a Lucerne.......if I remember right, the initial "time" for r&r was 45 minutes......a guy came in for a directional bulb at the end of the day...I was about a half hour into it, and he had to leave.....I wasn't even close.....

Brought it in the next day and took me over an hour, and I needed a lift to do it....a lift to change a directional bulb? Seriously? WTF!