Just determined you can't change a headlight bulb on a B7 A4 without...

[TD]

...without dropping the front bumper.

Bulb died yesterday. Went out in the garage this evening with a plan to pull the bulb, go to the store, buy another bulb, and be done with it.

Popped the hood and started pondering how to get at the back of the housing. After a few minutes of pondering, figured I'd save time and hit the Google.

Fuck, really?!

I decided I would be stubborn and try to get at it the "wrong" way but the more I got things disassembled, the more it was clear that it wasn't happening. The headlight housing actually drops down below and behind the bumper making it impossible to pull the housing forward and out.

The air box is directly behind this headlight so I tried removing that to jsut get at the back of the thing and while it was easy to unmount from the frame, it was riveted to the engine heatshield. So I could shift it an inch or so but I couldn't remove it. Not enough space to get access.

I have dropped the bumper on a couple of occasions (don't ask) but it's a massive pain in the ass involving jackstands and more tools than I have any business actually owning.

All to change a fucking lightbulb.

Can you tell I'm pissed?

I previously determined I can't change the oil myself as the drain plug is directly over a suspension component that makes a nice oil basin. You need some proprietary funnel thingy. I also encountered problems doing the brakes myself. It's like they designed the car to be almost completely non-owner serviceable.

It's a fucking lightbulb. I shouldn't have to pay 1.5 hrs shop labor to change it.