Hi
I'm deriving a 2000 XK8 and want to upgrade the head lights.
Has anyone installed headlights from a British company called Grantley Design. They have headlights with LED running lights. Very sharp and clean lights, the problem is the local dealer wasn't to sure if they would cause problems down the road. Does anyone out there have any experience with this product here in the US or overseas? Thanks for the feed-back.

 

Gator,

I've moved your question from General Tech Help to XK8/XKR forum. Members here with the same model will be able to help.

Graham

 

There are several forum members who have installed LED rings in their headlights.

Tony is an active forum member and has done just about everything under the sun to an XK8. One of the things he makes is an LED light ring kit.
Paragon Design UK - Jaguar XK8 & XKR Light Conversions

One advantage of modifying the Jaguar part is that the lens is actually glass, so holds up a lot better than polycarbonate.

 

Charlie,
Thanks for the response. So there are no issues with different loads on the wires or connectors with after market stuff?

 

I ended up going a different route. The aftermarket headlights have plastic lenses and the LEDs started failing on one side after about 2 months. Installation was easy I switched them to HD but the projectors aren't set up for HD so it didn't work well. Second time around I picked up some new OEM lights and modified the crap out of them including shifting to twin high performance projectors. The light is pretty impressive. But it isn't a cheap date. Did the rear lights too. It is a lot of labor though. My lights all sequence.

 

I have had my glass lens come off about 3 years ago. The lens broke on the street. I was able to find a used one from a guy that has many xk8s. This just happened again to my replacement this weekend. I was also looking to upgrade to the Grantley Design one-piece poly unit. Thankfully the glass didn't break this time around, I was able to find it in the grass off the highway. My wifes car was in the shop, and we needed a car for an appointment the next day, so I used gorilla glue to put the glass back on. it is being held on the outside with gorilla clear tape.
So I should stay away from the Grantley? Think the Gorilla glue will hold up?

Thanks.

 

I use these in the low beams (H-1). They are very substantial upgrade in terms of additional light. Not a fan of the halo type lighting however.

the Hikari ultras installed quite easily, and have been working perfectly for over a year with numerous night trips totaling many thousands of miles.

HIKARI Ultra H1 LED Bulbs Conversion Kit, Prime ZES LED, Halogen Replacement 6K Cool White Foglight IP68

i have the Hakari Ultras in the hi beams also (H3B type)


Z

 

Hoping not to be dense here zray, but ....are you saying that the HIKARI Ultra H1 conversion bulbs will fit in the existing XK8 headlamp assembly and that the stock plastic cap will still fit over the back of the new bulb ?

 

yes that’s exactly what I’m saying. The Ultra is their best bulb, they do make 2 other less expensive ones that have less lumen output.

when installing the Hakari bulb, the stock wire bulb retainer does require a bit of pressure to get it to lock in the Hakari bulb retainer / adapter “sleeve”. But not so excessive that there’s a danger of breaking anything. Using a blade screwdriver to provide some localized pressure would probably make the wire retainer fit into place easier.

I did try several different makes of Halogen bulbs before going with the Hakari LED’s. But the stock type bulbs tried were only incrementally better than the old original bulb.

My car is an ‘02 XKR which as far as I know uses the same lighting equipment as the OP’s 2000 XK8

Z