Headlight bulb replacement Face Liftted

[Poi man]

If you think changing the headlight bulbs on the face lifted XF would be the same easy 3 bolts as the previous model your in for a shock!

 

First off as before the headlamp unit must be removed, however once the bolts have been removed the unit will not fit though the hole. (not even close) also the bolt that you could see inside the wheel arch is now behind the arch cover

 

Remove the two bolts from the front of the unit

 

remove the three bolts on the inside of the wheel arch and cable tie back to the wheel

 

Remove the two bolts on the inside of the arch cover, one for the headlamp unit and one that clamps the bumper to the wing

 

Remove the five bolts that hold the front grill to the car to allow the grill to flex out

 

Pull the bumper at the wing down only as there are two locating pins attached to the bumber

 

The unit can now be removed but dont forget to unplug the unit.

My 2011 face lifted has D3S bulbs not the DS1 That Halfords help desk had on file for the newer shape upto 2014

 

After all that changing the Bulb will seem like child play.

[Ash.w]

Hi Ian, this guide is brilliant as I’m thinking of replacing my bulbs also, I just don’t think the originals are giving that crisp white light I’m after, they seem to fire up very white but after afew mins they settle to a slightly yellowish colour, did yours do this?

also what bulbs did you replace them with? And are you now satisfied with the light colour?

cheers Ash  

 

[rich1]

Very useful (I hope). Mr car went in for a service yesterday and I asked the garage to replace what I thought was a faulty Bulb. They quoted me £1300 for a brand new lighting unit. I declined thinking I could do the job myself for less. But then couldn't get the lighting unit out.

[Ash.w]

7 hours ago, rich1 said:

Very useful (I hope). Mr car went in for a service yesterday and I asked the garage to replace what I thought was a faulty bulb. They quoted me £1300 for a brand new lighting unit. I declined thinking I could do the job myself for less. But then couldn't get the lighting unit out.

Rich can you let me know how you get on, I'm thinking of changing my bulbs as mine go slightly yellow after a few mins of being on, just not sure if it's too much hassle.

[Old Peter]

I just went to Halfords and had two bulbs replaced to give me a 20% improvement. £40.

Peter.

[Ash.w]

1 hour ago, Old Peter said:

I just went to Halfords and had two bulbs replaced to give me a 20% improvement. £40.

Peter.

Hi peter, problem for me is they are xenon so they are going to cost £100 plus just for the bulbs, so I'm just wondering if it's worth the cost and hassle of doing it.

my previous car had halogen bulbs and I found the Philips white vision bulbs to be a vast improvement, I really was impressed with them.

[Old Peter]

That is the problem with Xenon. Expensive!

I don't do a lot of night driving these days, and when I do it is usually within 40/50 speed limit areas between Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield.

Peter.

[rich1]

Went to Halfords yesterday and they couldn't get the Bulb out. Supposed to twist but won't budge. Tried today and still won't budge. I'm about 90 minutes in to taking out the headlamp unit in the pouring rain. And have just managed to get the screw out from behind the unit in the wheel arch. A complete pain in the ****. Getting the screw out so the grill can be moved out of the way looks even more inaccessible.

[rich1]

1 hour ago, rich1 said:

Went to Halfords yesterday and they couldn't get the bulb out. Supposed to twist but won't budge. Tried today and still won't budge. I'm about 90 minutes in to taking out the headlamp unit in the pouring rain. And have just managed to get the screw out from behind the unit in the wheel arch. A complete pain in the ****. Getting the screw out so the grill can be moved out of the way looks even more inaccessible.

Given up. I undid the grill screws as per instructions and still could not get the headlamp unit out. It's some sort of Chinese puzzle. I was bending the bodywork as much as I dared but no joy. Plan B - see if the garage will quote for labour only. I can get the part for about £500-£600. Even more gutting the extended warranty ran out the day before the service visit. Add to that the wing mirror that failed (£600 for new one) this is becoming a very expensive 4 year old car.

[Poi man]

If memory serves the Bulb turns only a little then slides sideways. I remember because I got stuck on that one too. 

[rich1]

So the daylight running lights work fine as do the indicators. So I assume the main connector is good. That leaves the connector to the Bulb. And we're back with trying to get the Bulb out. The Bulb is a DS3. So researching how these are fitted. They should just twist and come out but mine is not twisting at all.

[rich1]

1 hour ago, rich1 said:

So the daylight running lights work fine as do the indicators. So I assume the main connector is good. That leaves the connector to the bulb. And we're back with trying to get the bulb out. The bulb is a DS3. So researching how these are fitted. They should just twist and come out but mine is not twisting at all.

Tried waggling the connector to the Bulb and that won't budge either. Back to the garage it is. Very annoying

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

I changed the bulbs in my S-type R, which also has HID lights as standard

bulbs are available on eBay far cheaper, I changed mine for 8k ones and they much better, I wanted the blue tint to them

I got mine off eBay and they have been in nearly 3 years now and are still spot on

DS3 bulbs on eBay £20 EBAY LINK

also on mine to change the bulbs you have to remove the bumper, before you can remove the headlights, but all in, I did both in less than a couple of hours and thats with removing and replacing the bumper

also, if the headlights are like mine, mine are self leveling and do a dance every time you switch the ignition, they go fully up then fully down then self level, on mine if you disconnect the headlight with the battery connected, the self leveling stops working and can only be reset with jaguar software, worth remembering

and before any body asks they always pass mot and never had any issue with the old fuzz

cheers

Joe

[rich1]

Update.

Listers Droitwich fixed the problem for £100. All they needed to do was replace the Bulb. No need to replace the whole headlamp unit which Stratstone Cheltenham quoted for @ £1,300.

To replace the Bulb they needed to remove the headlamp unit which requires removal of the bumper/grill. To remove the Bulb requires a long screwdriver to release a clip apparently.

[Poi man]

Can you believe I’ve just had a bulb die. Maybe a couple of weeks before I get the chance to replace it but I’ll upload a video on YouTube showing how the actual Bulb comes out of the unit and a link to this guide. You were wise to pay the £100 for the Bulb as the £23 eBay ones are plagued with circuit board failures. I’ll be going for the Osram ultra life 10 year guarantee 

[Ash.w]

On 22/01/2018 at 7:04 PM, rich1 said:

Update.

Listers Droitwich fixed the problem for £100. All they needed to do was replace the bulb. No need to replace the whole headlamp unit which Stratstone Cheltenham quoted for @ £1,300.

To replace the bulb they needed to remove the headlamp unit which requires removal of the bumper/grill. To remove the bulb requires a long screwdriver to release a clip apparently.

I’m glad you got sorted in the end, your experience has put me off having ago at changing mine myself. 

Did the £100 charge include the Bulb or was this just a labour  charge for changing a single Bulb?

[SirTT]

Hi. I am changing the bulbs but have a question about how to get the Bulb out from the light?

I guess I have to twist the plastic bracket in some way?

[Mike_eng]

Hi,

You just twist the whole Bulb about 10 or 15° anti clockwise and it comes out, the bit of plastic unclips at the joint and then unwraps from around the Bulb, don't lose it you'll need to put it on the new one, there's a tab on the plastic collar which lines up with a cut-out on the Bulb and then you just reverse the process to put it back in.

Cheers,

Mike

[SirTT]

Thanks Mike. I’ll give it a go 👍

[cmor]

Just done this today. In case anyone else is about to do it on the facelift - do not try to turn the actual Bulb, it doesn't turn! There is a black ring collar around the base of the Bulb - this turns anticlockwise to unlock the Bulb.

The collar needs to be moved to the new bulb - press firmly on both open ends of the collar and push, the collar should slide off the bulb - refit in reverse on new bulb.

 

[Karinee]

Thanks to your explanations my son succeeded to change the bulbs (xf 2012 facelift). BUT now I have  warning “restricted performance”. What went wrong? Can anyone advise.

[Old Peter]

Welcome to the club, Karinee.

You will need to have an OBD2 code reader to find the reason for the restricted performance.  The AA or RAC will do that for you if you are  member of either, otherwise you will have to take it to a garage.  I don't think it has anything to do with the lights.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Peter.

[JOE-DOT-COM]

hi

Id check the wiring around where you have been working first , just in case you have disturbed something or left some thing unplugged, easily done and easily missed

cheers

Joe

[Old Peter]

I never thought of that, Joe.

Peter.

[Charlie5]

Thanks for your help on this link.   I followed the instructions and managed to get the headlamp unit out to change the £50 Bulb from Halfords. I right old job just to change the hdi Bulb.