I recently had my drivers side Low Beam Headlight bulb, non Xenon, replaced and it now points down. Is there a right way to install the bulb? When I look at the light on the Passenger side it is pointing down and the drivers side is pointing up, the part of the light that looks like it has a wire spring on it.

I appreciate any help as I have never had an issue before.

 

Remove the "new" bulb, spin 180 degrees and put it back in.

According to the Jag tech at my dealership, these bulbs can be put in correctly or 180 degrees "wrong". When they are installed incorrectly, they have the symptoms you describe.

When I bought my car, both lights were installed upside down. The tech commented that it is common when "do it yourselfers" change their bulbs because the wrong way, "looks" correct when you are doing it.

Cost me $110 to find out that information....yours for FREE!

 

yep, bulb is in upside down.. And although it looks like it fits how it is, they really dont. the key in the bulb points up not down.

 

I only bought my '05 XJ8L a few days ago. First time we used the headlights we were 20 miles from home, and the low beams were aimed about 6 feet in front of the car. The high beams were aimed low enough to get home. I searched the threads for a few days before finding this thread. Flipping the bulbs 180 degrees fixed my problems! Thanks for the great tip, now I can sleep better at night (and see better too!)

 

This is the second go around for installing the bulb....what a pain! I did the passenger side probably close to a year ago and seemed like it took forever. Driver's side went out today. I broke part of the plastic covering the plugs but taped around it. What is the secret to installing the metal bracket back on that holds the bulb in place. 2 dumb design things here. 1) if you hand is as small as that of a 3 yr old probably no problem and as you all know 2) the design does not give you much room at all behind the low beams to be able to work and see anything. Too bad it wasn't a high beam--all sorts of room on the backside of those.
Appreciate any help....also is there another way to hold the bulb in without using the metal bracket?
Thanks,
Bill