My right side reflector has definitely seen better days. I tried finding a replacement used reflector, but those are not available. So, why not upgrade to an LED projector?I was thinking about using this projector and shroud combination: Morimoto Mini HB LED projector http://www.theretrofitsource.com/Hig...LED?quantity=1 and using their Mini Gatling Shroud http://www.theretrofitsource.com/min...NGB?quantity=1 . Does anyone know if it will fit inside the headlight? Should I use a bigger projector/shroud combo?

Here's what my current high beam reflectors look like. The left side reflector is fine, but the right side isn't. The cloudy right side reflector is actually noticeable in the high beams. My high beam is great on the left, and less than steller on the right.

The right side reflector: cloudy

The left side reflector is still shiny and reflective.

This would also be a great opportunity to inspect the HID projector bowls and take care of the headlight condensation TSB as well as clean the inside of the headlight glass (is that called the lens?).

 

Hi, I got a little confused, maybe you can help me understand?

Problem: reflector is worn, not much mirror like reflection left? Is that the issue?

Projector - I'm not used to seeing this term in this context. May i assume you are referring to the light bulb unit for low beams?

Are you currently using incandescent bulbs? If yes, get ready for a huge improvement with HID or LED drop in replacements!

Gosh the LEDs or HIDs are so much better, I'm not sure if a worm reflector will be that much of a problem.

If I'm on the right track with an LED or HID upgrade, lets get started.

Which is better LED or HID? I have had both, in fact 1 of each right now. Let me help:

Ease of Installation: Easy answer LED is much easier. No drilling, mounting or cutting required. It fits in the bulb mount.

HID requires 2 wire looms to the bulb. one 12volt wire for bulb light; one high voltage wire used on ignition (yes headlight ignition) to get the bulb started. Requires a cut into the weather guard cup to get the wire to the bulb.

Recall I said High voltagevoltage each HID bulb comes with a ballast. A 2x3x1/2 inch metal box, it provides the HV lead. This must be mounted by the headlight. Not too hard using wire ties, but certainly an extra step orc2 to install.

Which is Brighter?

HID takes 1 to 2 seconds to get to full brightness, but it a bit brighter once warmed up..

LED is instant on..

Because of the external ballast, the HID has an external failure point. Mine got wet somehow, replaced it with the LED.

Despite having a small edge on brightness, IMO HID is harder to install and costs a lot more than the LED.

BTW, one of the folks here found the LED / HID upgrade to be overkill for high beams. I've never tried it.

I was so enthusiastic about the low near HID improvement i "upgraded my fog lights too. It was a waste of time and money $$$. Couldn't see the difference.

John

 

Yes, the reflector is worn. I currently have LED bulbs in my high beams and HID bulbs in my low beams. Yes, even with LED bulbs, the worn reflector does affect the brightness. I was originally looking to replace the reflector with another reflector, but finding an OEM reflector for sale anywhere proved to be impossible. Now I'm considering replacing the reflector with a projector similar to what the low beam HID uses, but one meant for High Beam LEDs. The Morimoto projector I linked to in the OP is one such projector. It should provide an improved beam pattern with more brightness than the reflector can produce. I could also use a HID or Bi-xenon projector with an HID bulb, but as you said, the slower startup time and higher complexity are the reasons I prefer the LED setup.


This is what I mean by a projector:



Essentially, I would have a Quad-projector setup, two on each headlight: the stock D1S low beam projector, and the retrofitted LED high beam projector.

 

Oh darn I was hoping for your sake this was going to be a simple one.

At this level, this topic, all I can do is speculate. So best wishes and energy sent your way mate.

one little thing: the one time I put a high beam light in a low beam position it was problematic. I wish I could remember more but the height and width of the beam assumed no traffic headed your way. I suppose that makes sense since it is the high beam. Good luck, I'm interested to see what you come up with.

 

I will update this thread as I go along with this. For now, I will do some more research to ensure that what I buy fits the bill. I may have to remove the headlight and open it up to measure the reflector size. My home oven is the propane-powered type. As such, it uses flames to produce heat. Is sticking my headlights in it to open them up a bad idea? Will a heat gun work in lieu of an oven? What adhesive should I use to reseal the headlights?

 

Yes bad idea. You loose all control. Heat gun can turn really aggressive fast. Sounds like you're trying to open plastic with heat. Look into a plastic welder at say a harbor Freight . Cost about $20, easy to use.

First id launch a new question: how do I disassemble a headlight housing? Anyone ever do it?

stand by I'll post a photo of the welder I mentioned.

John

 

 

I'm not sure how a plastic welder would help me separate the glass lens from the rest of the headlight. I know that others before have used either a heat gun or an oven. This thread demonstrates the heat gun method: https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...roject-106442/

However, after looking at that thread, it will be unnecessary for me to do that. I don't need to separate the lens, and apparently, the headlight can come apart, allowing me to remove the reflector.

Seeing that the headlight will come apart easily, I will do so and take measurements of the reflector to determine the correct projector/shroud size.

 

I had a go at opening up the headlights today. I found some dust on the projector lenses, burnt areas on one of the projector bowls (passenger), and an opaque area on the other one (drivers). I cleaned up the headlight lens from the inside, the projector bowls, projector lenses, and flipped their orientation. I also took out the reflector and took measurements:

• Low beam projector lens measures 2.5 inches or 63.5 mm in diameter. It essentially works like a magnifying glass.
• The high beam reflector measures 100 mm in diameter, however, it is rather shallow.

If I keep the high beam reflector in place to retrofit the Morimoto Mini HB high beam projectors, they will poke out into the black plastic area of the headlight. Not a problem in function, but may pose questionable esthetics. I do think the Morimoto projector will fit with minimal modifications to the stock reflector. It would use the reflector as a bracket.

I would love to replace the low beam projectors with a new OEM Valeo part. Until I can find these, I will have to make do with the reoriented projectors. This simple modification did improve light output, especially in the passenger side projector. The driver's side didn't show as much of an improvement. Likely because it wasn't as bad to begin with. Perhaps, new ballasts would improve the light output?



Notice the dust on the projector lens. I wiped this off. Also, you can clearly see the reflector is dull.



This is the Low beam Projector assembly taken out of the headlight assembly. It seems it is feasible to swap this entire assembly for a Bi-Xenon 2.5 inch projector but wiring modifications would be required. This is not something I seek to do.



Projector part number sticker from Valeo. Hopefully this could helps us source replacements.



Passenger side projector bowl: The arrow points towards the burnt-out area. I think someone might have used a 55 Watt HID bulb in the past. When reinstalling, I flipped this so that the light is projected to the road is from the non-burnt reflective end.



Driver's side reflector bowl: The arrow points to a dull area. When reinstalling, I flipped this so that the light is projected to the road is from the non-burnt reflective end.



Driver's side reflector bowl: The arrow points to a dull area. When reinstalling, I flipped this so that the light is projected to the road is from the non-burnt reflective end.



High beams + low beams on after flipping the projector bowls. Notice the driver's side high beam (intact reflector) has a much brighter hotspot than the passenger side high beam which is barely noticeable. Picture was taken with the camera's manual mode, adjusting the exposure to what I see with my eyes.



Low beams after the projector bowls were flipped. I am pleased with the light output and hotspot of the passenger side HID. Driver's side is ok, but is less bright than the driver's side. Picture was taken with the camera's manual mode, adjusting the exposure to what I see with my eyes.

 

the reflector of my right high beam had turned half black. I bought these china projectors on amazon for 30 euros and tomorrow I will install them inside the headlight.

https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did a test to see if they fit and I think they fit very well. The modification is reversible since the reflector is removed with 2 screws and the projector is anchored in its housing, securing it with a simple wire. the projector is designed for H1 bulb. Given the limited space that remains behind it it is possible to install a halogen h1, I don't think it is possible to insert a led h1


.

 

These Hella 90mm fit with a little modification.



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HELLA-GEN...T/173448241240

Also if you have serious damage to the reflector I used chrome vinyl car wrap that you can get off ebay for a few $/£

I got it a bit smoother and the light heat + practice smooths the wrinkles even more.

 

Have you tried an H1 HID bulb with a ballast and ignitors to
complement your projectors?

Something similar to this is what I’m doing. I also ended up buying upgraded bixenon projectors (ACME Mini D2S projectors, which is a rebrand of the discontinued Morimoto D2S 3.0) to install in the low beam and I will wire them up to also work as a high beam. This meant also buying a bracket to adapt the new projectors to the housing, a couple 9005 high beam splitter wires, a D1S to D2S igniter adaptor (that way I can still use the stock ballast), and new D2S bulbs.

In the end, this means I will have the bixenon HID projector as both my low beam and high beam, plus the Morimoto Mini LED projector to assist it as a high beam.

I chose to do this after reading about the stock Valeo projectors on HIDPlanet and how they are subpar even when new.

I can’t wait for them to arrive and do the retrofit. I anticipate I will have some very nice pictures to report in this thread. If the retrofit goes smoothly, I will consider also doing my fogs in the future with the Morimoto Matchbox projector and 3000K H1 HID bulbs to have proper yellow fog lights.


These headlight modifications, and my upcoming cataract surgery should result in a massive improvement in night time driving.

 

maybe a H1 hid with separate ballast will fit
I'll test the light setup when the car will be back from body shop for respray
today I've completed the installation of the projectors with no need of irreversible modifications
the projectors just use the 2 screw of the old reflectors
the result is a stock but more modern aspect

 

That looks very nice and more modern than the reflector that was in there before. Please post images of what the output is like.

Did you wire those as high beams or as hi/lo beam?

 

left this new projectors as high beam only like the previous reflectors
I took the opportunity to spray the inside of the headlight black in the area of ​​high and low beams as the chrome was starting to deteriorate here too.

 

That should be a big improvement over what you previously had. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the light output after this modification.

I’m kind of jealous. Here I thought I was being a pioneer with the projector retrofits for these cars but you beat me to the punch.

I am still waiting for the retrofit source to ship my projectors.

 

my amazon china projectors are very cheap, but seem of good quality and very similar to the stock low beam projector in dimensions and costruction
I guess the output will be better even with a simple halogen as the lenticular projector is more efficent compared with a classic reflector
installing a hid kit like this the difference will be huge
https://www.amazon.it/KOYOSO-Lampadi...48&sr=8-5&th=1

there is room enough
the only problem with my setup is that you have to remove the whole headlight to replace the highbeam bulb

 

Hey Guys!

When you are driving at night with the Low Beams on and have the opportunity to hit the new High Beams...Do you notice it taking some time for the new High Beam HID Bulbs to reach 100% Brightness? The reason Jaguar had been using the Halogen Bulb to start with was the instant Brilliance that is needed when you went for the High Beam...That was the reason the LED Bulb was so much better than the Halogen and HID....the instant Brightness!!! Have the HID's changed or what? .The purpose of the High Beam is for instant Light and that's not good if you have to wait for them to warm-up! Instant Light is the big advantage LED's have over HID's......That's the only thing I see that would keep me from trying this LED Projector gizmo out...I like the way it looks within the Light Housing...It looks better than the Reflector High Beam!

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch

 

Well Billy, if the projector is a Bi-xenon, and you have wired it in as such, it will already be running as your low beam and when you turn on your high beams, a solenoid activates to flip down a cutoff shield, allowing light to output from the entirety of the projector. That is instant. That is why I’m replacing my low beam projector with a Bi-xenon projector. My high beam I am replacing with a dedicated high beam LED projector. To achieve this I have bought a 9005 splitter cable that connects to the car’s existing high beam plug at one end, and on the other end has two 9005 connections that I can connect to the LED high beam projector and the other to the Bixenon projector’s high beam solenoid.

The result is that I will have a powerful instant-on high beam and an improved low beam.

 

OK! Porta Rico.....

I knew I could count on you to figure-out the program! Sounds like what I wanted but I hadn't thought about it enough. I am waiting for you to send all the details and of course the Photos showing me (us) how to do this! This may be the best enhancement since I finally found out where and how many Resistors to solder in place so I could use LED's in my Tail Lights....and Porta Rico, if you haven't done that yet...You should consider it as your next enhancement....This is just about as good as the new HID Headlights appear to be!! My Tail Lights look wonderful,,,,,they are really bright and really make the Car....especially at Night...but also great during the Day! I have changed the Tail Lights from the Regular 2005 XKR's to the Victory Edition Tail Lights....That alone made a great deal of difference....but now "WOW" !!!

In other words, the new Projector replaces the Reflector Lens and has 2 HID's inside but one is Blacked-out until you ask for Bright's....At which point, the "Shield" flips down to allow the hidden Bulb to show full bright as it has been "ON" all along.......Is this about it? Or does it only have (1 ) Bulb? I'm still a little lost with this transition......

Billy Clyde @ Cinco Ranch