I couldn't find a related thread under B7, starting a new one ...
So one of my rear brake lights is gone at 36K miles. Is this the
expected life of this part?

Anyways, don't want to go to the dealer. Any suggestions where
I can get this done cheaper (and can be trusted/reliable)? It'd be
great if they also do things like oil changes, etc.

I live in the Bay Area. Not really a DIY guy, and my apartment has
restrictions on working on cars...

Thanks in advance.

 

I haven't looked, but I would be very surprised if this wasn't a very simple job you could do without the use of any exotic tools, if you need any at all. There should be some kind of maintenance cover inside your trunk for each assembly.

Once you've opened the maintenance cover, you should be able to twist out the bulb holder, remove the bulb and replace it. You could do this on the side of a quiet street, or in the parking lot at Autozone, or wherever you go to get the bulb.

 

Somewhere out there on the web, I saw how to replace the rear bulbs on a B6. Open the circle cover in the trunk, and on the B6 you undo the bolt behind. The B7 has a similar set up, but I think requires a special shaped tool to fit into the bolt/release. The taillight unit comes out, and you can access the bulbs.

 

There's a DIY for this. I followed it. Really REALLY easy.
http://forums.audiworld.com/showthread.php?t=2768546

Pictures and everything! What I did was I went to autozone, and got the standard lightbulb they recommend for our cars. Only think you'll need is a flathead screw driver and a little elbow grease.

Good luck!

 

Did you have to reset a lightbulb out notification on the dash, or did it reset itself? I thought that there was a warning that came on, that only having the dealer reset, or disconnecting the battery would reset.

 

Thanks guys for all the info. Looks like something
I can do myself, will give it a try soon and let you know.

And didn't get any lighbulb out notification, don't remember
seeing any symbol for this in the manual either. Did the
others get it?

 

Dashboard is surprisingly smart it seems. I got a notification that my left brake light was out. After I installed it, it reset and no more error messages. No dealer reset required. That's usually only the check engine light.