2006 Mazda 3 low beams

smeep

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2015 Mazda CX-5 GT
Hey everyone, the driver's-side low beam headlight on my 2006 Mazda 3 went out recently, and today I tried -- and failed -- to replace the bulb. I can't figure out how to get the bulb out, and everything looks different than all the tutorials and videos I've seen for this model car.

First of all, all the photos I saw online show a rubber dust boot that must be pulled off to reveal the bulb. But my car has a plastic cap that rotates and then pops off. And then the bulb looks different than bulbs I've seen online; instead of being a glass bulb connected to a black plastic adapter, this thing looks like a bulb that's set into an oversized metal housing. There's a braided grounding wire running from the housing to somewhere I can't see.

I managed to finagle the spring clip open, but there is no room for the bulb to exit the headlight area because it butts up to the fuse box. Not to mention that that grounding wire is holding it in place.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Can anyone give some tips on how to get the bulb out? I bought a pair of H7 LED headlights to use, but even if I can work the old bulb free, I don't see how the LED will work because while I thought the cables and extra length of the LED assembly would simply fit through the rubber dust boot, this car doesn't have a rubber dust boot so I'm not sure where it will plug in. On the other hand, I can't tell how the existing bulb is plugging in; there aren't two prongs sticking out the back like I expected.
 
Well, it looks like my car came with Xenon HID headlights for the low beams, which is why things look different than the bulk of the replacement guides out there.

The unit I saw when opening the headlight dust cover looked like this:
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It also appears that the bumper and headlight housing must be removed to replace the bulb.

Does anyone have any idea if it's possible to replace the HID light with an LED bulb? Is there a way to route the power cable? There's currently very poor visibility of the unit, so I can't tell how things are wired up right now. Next to the bulb area is an HID ballast, but I can't tell how power is getting to and from the ballast.

Thanks!
 
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