Hi,
My 2005 XK8 has the standard Halogen lighting system, like others I find the low beams inadequate. I just installed some Philips XXX and there is very little improvement. I don’t do very much night time driving but when I do I need to see the roadway and areas to my left and right as there are many, many critters walking-running-dashing about.
Would someone please make a recommendation for:
The least expensive low beam HID conversion?
Or any HID conversions to avoid.
Thanks in advance


wj

 

https://redirect.viglink.com/?format...5-14608ebec368

See above link. Do search advanced on my name containing "recognition" [title only]. It'll get you to my thread about this. Solved the problem for me.

If I were 2 do again and had the money, I'd have bought a kit for the fog lights too.

John

 

wymjym,

I went to CarID.com on the internet and ordered a set of LED Headlights to replace those darn Halogen High-Beams...They came as a kit that replaces all the Halogen stuff.....I also replaced the HID Bulbs in the Low Beams as they are now 12 years old. After all this, I had the Headlights readjusted and when I turn on the lights the Low beam HID's are much brighter....then....when....I hit the High Beams........I can see forever.......Best thing I ever did for the Coupe!
The cost for the LED Kit was about $125.00 and the (2) HID Bulbs....around a Hundred or so! I don't drive down the Highway trying to see out there in the dark anymore!!!

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

thanks Johnken...a couple of quick ???s
is there room inside the HL housing to mount the ballast? or would the heat be too much?

Billy, I'm going to see how much improvement I gain with the low beam conversion, since I don't drive much at night (in the country) I'll try some silverstars first. I hope to get an xkr this spring and don't want to invest $$$ in this vehicle unless I need to.

wj

 

Good questions:

Mounting - Nothing mounts inside the "light cylinder" (bulb at one end; lens at other). There is plenty of room to hang the ballast inside the fender with wire ties. You can get there through the access port in front of the front tire.

In fact that's one of the three reasons I never thought of getting one for the High beams 1) Wouldn't look forward to finding an accessible place for the ballast as I recall the access to high beam bulbs is tight. 2) I am 100% happy with factory high beam coverage why fix it if not broken1 (3) $$$ .

Recap, this low beam conversion makes the car many many many times safer to drive at night. Huge improvment without interfering with oncoming traffic.

WYMJYM, You probably know this but if not it'll save time: Low beam and high beam vertical adjustments are tied together. Can't change one without the other. My year has the levels to assist with adjustment.


John

 

wymjym,
You continue to talk about Halogen Bulbs...The only Halogen Bulbs are in
the High Beams. The low Beams are HID...If you just want to have better low Beams, you should replace the HID Bulbs as they are over 12 years old, then have the Highlights adjusted.....Just adjusting the Headlight might do the trick all by itself....As time and miles go by the Front-end drops a little making your Highlights point down a bit .....This can be adjusted up some and your back to the way it used to be!.....No Charge if you know how to adjust them......If not see your Jaguar Guy!

I've just re-read your original email! It sounds as though you feel you have Halogen Low-Beams.....I don't think any 2005 XK8 or R came with anything but HID Low Beams.....Please correct me if I'm wrong! Also, let me know, as I would like to know....!!

Billy Clyde in Houston

 

Hey Billy,
Got the black beauty running yet?

My 2005 XK8 has Halogen H1 Low beams...wish it wasn't so, I guess it will be changed in the next week or so. Surprisingly my front end hasn't dropped much but my spirited driving has moved the upper mount around a bit. Planning on replacing the upper mounts+bushings when the weather turns nasty in late Jan early Feb.
wj

 

My 2004 XK8 has halogen low/dip beams as well. At least that's what they look like from the outside

 

WJ & Barry,

Guys, I am sorry about the Halogen H1's in your 2004 & 2005 XK8's Low Beams....I thought all the 2003 and up XK's came with HID Low Beams....Still, I bet if you looked through the little hole in the Fender Well you will find that there is a place for the HID Ballast and that the HID Bulb will fit in there where the H1 Halogen is.....I would never trade out my HID Low Beams, except to replace them because of age....Mine, with the Lights adjusted are really about as good as you can get....That's what I would do as you can probably get any missing parts from one of the wreckerguys around.....I use my Low Beams probably 90% of the time and they are great!!!! I kind of feel that the High Beams, where I changed out the Halogens to LEDs was wasted money.....I don't drive much of the Highway at night....BUT....If I need them....I can see Forever!
Around Houston at night I sometimes turn on the Fog Lights, in which I replaced the Halogen Bulb with a Phillips H1 Crystal Vision Ultra (Which is a Hopped-up Halogen Bulb) and it is as bright as an LED Bulb!! What you could do is get a set of these and replace your Low Beams with the Phillips Crystal Vision and you could just forget about changing to LED altogether!

WJ, The Texas Coupe is back!!! I've had it for a couple weeks now and it is still running good.....Thanks for asking! Cross your fingers.....


Billy Clyde in Houston

 

So: What in the world possessed Jaguar to put HID low beams and not HID high beams? Is there any other car with that combo? I think my daughter's '06 XJ8 Vanden Plas has HID on both and my '06 Land Rover LR3 (same company by then) has HID on both. I live out in the boonies and use my high beams quite a lot and crave better ones. The highs on my Land Rover are great but of course in addition to having HID high beams the lights are quite a bit higher off the road.

Granville

 

I think you might find this useful.

Franks XKR Story. - Page 299

One of the best mods you can do to our cars.

 

Thanks v much, Frank. I saved the page as a Word document, for later reference.

Granville

 

I hope it helps.

Thats the thing about these forums. Your in the USA and I am in England. Both sharing a common interest a few thousand miles apart trying to help each other. Personally I like that!

 

@Granville: AFAIK the HID-Beams were fitted to the X100 starting with MY2003. In this era BMW used the same combo of HID/Halogen in my E39 ( 5er facelift MY 2001). Could be not so uncommon...

Greetings from Germany,
Wolf

 

Hey Guys,

You can do wonders for your Headlights for a couple Hundred Bucks even if you are starting out with the Halogen Low Beam and the standard high Beam. First, there are some Low Beam (Hopped-up) Halogen/Zeon Gas bulbs that are about 50-60% Brighter than plain halogen. You could get a couple of those and that alone will perk-up your Low Beams...I think WJ mentioned "Sylvania something" which are good! I put a couple of those in my Fog Lights and they work great! Then, if you wanted too really help yourself on the Highway or Freeway, you could replace your High Beams with LED's...That's what I did for the High Beams.

I went to CARiD.com and bought a Lumen G7 LED Kit for around $100.00 and installed it in place of the High Beams. You still use the reflector portion of the Headlight Assembly and the LED Bulb sticks right in place of the old Bulb. It really looks good, as it sticks-out a little farther into the Head Light Assembly and has a metal end on it. The Bulb puts out 6500K of white Light. With that and the Sylvania Bright White, you should be set to go!

I'm attaching a couple Photos I shot with my iPhone to give you an idea of what all this looks like.....Notice that the HID Bulbs on the outsides burn Bluish, while the LED Bulb is very White and has a little shadow on top and bottom, as the little LED's or mounted on the sides.....

Billy Clyde in Houston





HID Low Beams and LED High Beams



HID Low Beams with LED High Beams

 

Hey John,
finally getting around to installing the hid stuff and have a question or two. My kit came with a large grommet on the wires and the instructions suggest drilling a 1" hole and using it. Why did you not do so? I believe there is room, the grommet is a soft silicone rubber....should be long lasting and seal just fine.

2nd...prior to pulling the wheels etc I marked the hl positioning on the inside garage wall and beside the drivers side being lower, which I would expect and know to be the case...the light output is somehow muted or less intense...is this the internal reflector? if so...can I do something about that?

and then...I had installed the better Hi bulbs in the hl and now swapped them into the fog light assemblies...the are not much brighter after all...but if the HID stuff works as everyone says I won't really need to worry about them.
thanks in advance


wj

 

Wj, I can't think of any reason not to drill that hole. Gosh it's only about 1 year and I can't even recall that option.

Let's think 4 a second. Hole will be drilled in the hemispherical (well sort of hemi) weather cover that covers the rear of the headlight assembly. If you have a hole in the back, you are then tethered to the power wires and couldn't remove that cover without pulling the bulb right? Then if there are male female connectors this is a moot point.

My brainstorming is just clouding things up. WJ, I will leave the decision in your capable hands. Let us know how it goes.

John