Goodness these lights are super fiddly for big fingers. The bulb on my interior light makes poor contact with the metal contact feeds in the light assembly above the rear seats. It doesn't work except with the bulb moved around the contacts till it does then car jiggles and light stops illuminating. I went to take the bulb out and it popped upwards and into the headlining area! I'm looking to take the entire plastic light fitting out the headliner to try and fish out the bulb but also to check for poor continuity. Does anyone know how to remove the fitting from the headliner without damaging the headliner? (not the light bulb cover)

 

I wriggled it down carefully on one side and there are two sprung clips arched over the back of the fitting holding it in place against the head lining. One came free with wriggling to let me press the other in and release. Appears to be designed for fitting before installing the headliner! See photos. I have cleaned up the contacts and now measures only a few Ohm resistance on meter. Just need to get the bulb out that popped up inside the headliner or fit a replacement.

 

That was even more difficult to refit without damaging the hole in the headliner. Turns out those metal clips sit slightly wider than the left and right edges of the hole in the liner and snag on the liner as you ease the spring sections back and the liner forward to slip over.

 

Update - interesting thing was that I used a C5W 28mm bulb which fitted far easier in the fitting. It was an LED one and gives much better light however the following happens
1.when switched to off position it lights up with door open
2. when switched to door option it doesn't work
3. when switched to on it lights up fine but if then switched off (in door operation position as per 1 above) it very dimly shimmers.

Without doubt the light fitting is either wired up wrongly from day one or a duff/wrong light fitting was used. I originally noticed that the filament bulb end tips were pinched flat to allow the bulb to fit in place. On checking a standard 31mm festoon bulb just doesn't fit and comparing with the boot light in which a standard 31mm bulb fits just fine. Given the standard bulb didn't get a good contact to come on I suspect either the feed or the earth is poor or perhaps earthing through another bulb. LED's don't need anywhere near the current flow a filament bulb needs.

I tried the same led bulb in the boot light and that works as should per the switch allocations but shimmers when switched off either at the light fitting or after closing the doors/boot (delayed)! I put the standard filament bulb back in and no issues. Is the rear passenger bulb earthing through the boot bulb?

I'll investigate further but looks like popping into the "dealer" to see if they will accept this as a fault from new and fix under warranty is the best option as instructions for taking the headlining down has a warning to disable the airbag/crash unit system before starting the work.

 

How were you able to pull the clips out? I need to get a replacement one for my wife's car because her switch is bad