S Type headlights convert to HID???

LairdScooby · January 10, 2023

Hi All,

a bit (as in very) disappointed with the dipped beam performance of my S Type headlights, i've cleaned/polished the lenses (used T-Cut as they weren't that badly opaque) and fitted new bulbs which improved them a lot, finally giving me a beam pattern.

However, the amount of light they actually put on the road is minimal. I'm seriously considering upgrading to the HID lights fitted to later S Types, looking at the diagrams they appear to use different feed points from the fusebox and also use a relay to power the ballast, with the relay coil switched by what would be the dipped beam line from the Front Electronic Module.

Has anyone done this conversion? If so, any pointers please? Alternatively, has anyone found any decent LED H7 bulbs that will fit into the existing space at the back of the headlight unit? Quite happy to (temporarily) refit the halogen H7 for MoT purposes as long as the LED bulbs give me the light i want/need on the road after dark.

TIA,

Russ68 · January 11, 2023

Hey Dave,

I'm in the process of recommissioning my S-Type (yay! 🥳) and have just had my electrics diagnosed and repaired which I thought was a good start! Like you, I have the earlier X200 and I am / was disappointed in the dipped beam performance. On one of her last night time trips back from Brighton on the A27, it was excruciating being dazzled by 4x4s and anyone running LED lights it seemed. With the full beam on, not so bad, but on dipped beam approaching traffic, not a good thing at all!

In the arms race that modern car headlights seemed to be, I felt I was very much on the losing end! I asked my autoelectrician (a very capable guy) what he thought of LED conversion and he wasn't keen, suggesting Osram Nightbreakers, which incidentally, I was already using! 😆! The Nightbreakers are only 55W, so I wondered if more powerful versions are available? Or if 100W bulbs from another manufacturer could be an option?

I follow this post with interest and hope there is a viable solution out there, ideally one that doesn't involve wholesale replacement of the complete headlamp units from a later car, or something equally drastic (and expensive!) 🤞

LairdScooby · January 11, 2023

I'm glad it's not just my imagination Russ although not happy Jaguar seem to have scored an own-goal with the standard headlamps on the S Type. I was expecting much better, the last Jag i had before the S was an XJ40 about 25 years ago, it was the Sovereign with the rectangular headlights and very good they were too.

For the past 15 years i've had a 1994 Rover Sterling and that has good lights with halogen bulbs in, however i upgraded those to LED bulbs, took me a long time and several sets of cheaper ones (no doubt the reason your autoelectrician was reluctant, it can be an expensive hobby finding the right LED headlight bulbs!) to discover the secret to getting good LED headlamp bulbs. Usually my "go to" source of LED bulbs has most headlamp bulbs but i couldn't find any listed last time i checked. However while looking for something else the other day, i had a quick look and found :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-h7-4600-lumen-philips-z-es-main-dipped-glb477?_pos=1&_psq=h7&_ss=e&_v=1.0

These use the same arrangement of LEDs as those in my Rover (and also my "Dogmobile", a 1988 Volvo 760) so the beam pattern remains as it should be without glare in the "anti-scatter area" of the beam pattern where there should be no light emitted. In finding these i may have stumbled upon the answer to my query, the MoT is due soon and while i could get away with it on the Volvo and Rover having the LED bulbs in for the MoT, i'm not sure i'd get away with it on the Jag.

Likely to be early March before i get a set to try, will be a "snug" fit as well!

I'll update here as and when, i know what a nasty road the A27 back from Shoreham to Southampton can be, having done that route many times in the past. These days i'm further up the country and besides all the 4x4s, round my local area i have many USA spec cars with the original lights in that are still set up for left hand drive so their dipped beam is dazzling, even worse if they've fitted some el-cheapo Chinese LEDs or HID bulbs 😲

Russ68 · January 11, 2023

You are 100% right Dave, my auto electrician said that LED was (generally) a waste due to cheap LED quality making LED conversions potentially worse lighting than the standard set up. So if you have knowledge of better quality bulbs, and will try them in the S-Type, all good!

I await how you get on with interest, or if I get to it before you I may give these LEDs a go! Or try some 100W H7s as an interim measure.

Thanks for raising (and potentially solving 😆!) the issue, most interesting! 👍😀

LairdScooby · January 11, 2023

2 hours ago, Russ68 said:

You are 100% right Dave, my auto electrician said that LED was (generally) a waste due to cheap LED quality making LED conversions potentially worse lighting than the standard set up. So if you have knowledge of better quality bulbs, and will try them in the S-Type, all good!

I await how you get on with interest, or if I get to it before you I may give these LEDs a go! Or try some 100W H7s as an interim measure.

Thanks for raising (and potentially solving 😆!) the issue, most interesting! 👍😀

I'd avoid the 100W halogen bulbs Russ, two reasons, first is the Front Electronic Module is probably not designed to run them as they will take nearly double the current of the standard 60W H7 bulbs and secondly, the heat produced by them will be much higher - the reflectors and lenses are both plastic so at best would be likely to warp/deform and/or discolour, at worst possibly melt.

If you feel like trying the LEDs i linked to, i do know they offer a money back guarantee if they don't work as you hoped. Seems you may beat me to trying them out! Just to give you an idea and comparison, here's a couple of pics from a few years ago - the car on the left has eBay Xenon look halogens, middle (mine) has LEDs and the one on the right has Nightbreakers.

All three cars are similar models, all alignments checked and all headlamps good condition with clean glass lenses so it makes a good comparison.

If the H7 LEDs are as good as those (those above in the comparison pics are H4s) then should be a good improvement - i currently have eBay Xenon look bulbs in my S Type so once i've got past the MoT i'll order a pair and then maybe a pair of HB3 LEDs for the inner full beams.

Russ68 · January 11, 2023

Noted re the 100W bulbs, I pulled a set of these out of a TD5 Disco I have that were working fine, so wonder if this was something you could do, but the design is quite different with a glass reflector not plastic, so I won't risk using something similar in the jag based on your advice.

Unfortunately your links didn't really work, so I can't see the pics you refer to. I'd go to the webpage, grab the whole url and embed using the link feature which is accessed using the little chainlink icon 4th along from the left etc. Or just paste the whole link in without the brackets and additions etc:

https://www.jaguarownersclub.com/forums/topic/25348-s-type-headlights-convert-to-hid/#comment-83490

LairdScooby · January 11, 2023

Fixed the image links above Russ!

Not sure which Disco you're refgerring to but the first ones used H4 bulbs, later models used something different but not sure what.

Wrinkly · January 11, 2023

21 hours ago, LairdScooby said:

Hi All,

a bit (as in very) disappointed with the dipped beam performance of my S Type headlights, i've cleaned/polished the lenses (used T-Cut as they weren't that badly opaque) and fitted new bulbs which improved them a lot, finally giving me a beam pattern.

However, the amount of light they actually put on the road is minimal. I'm seriously considering upgrading to the HID lights fitted to later S Types, looking at the diagrams they appear to use different feed points from the fusebox and also use a relay to power the ballast, with the relay coil switched by what would be the dipped beam line from the Front Electronic Module.

Has anyone done this conversion? If so, any pointers please? Alternatively, has anyone found any decent LED H7 bulbs that will fit into the existing space at the back of the headlight unit? Quite happy to (temporarily) refit the halogen H7 for MoT purposes as long as the LED bulbs give me the light i want/need on the road after dark.

TIA,

I , some while ago, submitted a posting (sticky) on this forum in respect of the legality of upgrading to HID lights from Halogen. In a nutshell , if the original fitting is halogen they are not legally upgradeable to HID and can therefore be failed on MOT.

Regards, John

Not for me to say you should not do it, that is obviously your choice.

LairdScooby · January 11, 2023

You did indeed John, thanks - i have read it. I'm hoping to exploit the loophole that the car will be tested with halogen glow-worms in (that's how they seem in the Jag headlights!) and then swap to LEDs afterwards.

However, the law as far as HID states that the housing should have been designed for HID light sources (or words similar) and my plan was to use the ater HID headlamps from a 2002 on car.

However, the wiring is so different on the HID that i don't want to be messing about that way. Not that it's beyond my skill-set, i just want something easily reversable. I can't use the excuse the lenses and housings were first used in the same model during or before 1986 as i can with the other two.

hawkaye · March 20, 2023

I've been using Twenty20 Compact H7 bulbs in my '04 3.0 SE since September '22. They give a much improved light and and MoT-passing beam pattern. They agree with the canbus system. I chose Twenty20 H7 Twenty20 Compact LED Headlight Bulbs (Pair) | CANBus Ready LED's (autobulbsdirect.co.uk) because there is no bulky fan and the standard headlight covers fit back on nicely.

I am aware that LED bulbs in an originally Halogen-equipped car is an MoT failure point, but I took mine to a no-appointment MoT garage, ready to change the LED bulbs out for the standard H7 bulbs and re-present the car minutes later, but no need. MoT passed last November and smiles all round.

LairdScooby · March 20, 2023

16 minutes ago, hawkaye said:

I am aware that LED bulbs in an originally Halogen-equipped car is an MoT failure point, but I took mine to a no-appointment MoT garage, ready to change the LED bulbs out for the standard H7 bulbs and re-present the car minutes later, but no need. MoT passed last November and smiles all round.

Thankfully some MoT testers take the common-sense approach and if they give the correct beam pattern and don't incinerate the retinas of a mosquito on the test station ceiling (due to light scatter and excess brightness) will give it a pass. Also they're not allowed to disassemble anything so have to assume (because they can't see other wise) it's just a bright halogen Bulb.

Thanks for the heads-up on these, been looking for a while now. My usual supplier has some that are allegedly very good but always nice to get a recommendation from someone with the same car.

Are your lenses nice and clear or do they have cataracts and has the beam distance improved?

hawkaye · March 20, 2023

2 minutes ago, LairdScooby said:

...

Are your lenses nice and clear or do they have cataracts and has the beam distance improved?

Lenses crystal clear thank you. The lenses were milky when I bought the car so it was one of the first jobs to do. Followed by an eBay kit to give me DRL lights hidden in the front indicators.

Realistically, I don't see the beam pattern throwing any further; things on the road and verge are just much better lit. For some illogical reason I couldn't stick the mixture of LED and halogen main beam lighting so treated the car to main beam LEDs. It feels spectacular now.

LairdScooby · March 20, 2023

Have you got a link to the eBay DRL kit please? Might be an interesting upgrade, i made my own using switchback combined DRL/indicators LED bulbs for my 827 Sterling, quite a game as the indicator lamp units have a removable orange lens inside so had to strip and rebuild them.

Hmmmm, i really want to get a longer beam as well as actually having illumination of the road in front. I know on both my Volvo 760 and Rover 827, the beam distance improved with H4 LED bulbs so i was kind of hoping the beam distance would improve on the S Type too. On the Volvo, because the reflectors were tarnished (they are 35 years old this year so are allowed to be! 😛 ) they wouldn't actually give a definite beam pattern on filament bulbs, it was only just good enough to get a pass on the MoT but the tester muttered about poor beam pattern, not likely to pass next year (that was 7 years ago and had LEDs in since) but the Rover had new headlights and both gave an improvement on beam length.

Because of my experience with both cars and doing the outer beams (dipped and main combined on the H4) both got inner beam improvements too, the Rover got some el-cheapo "Chinabay" H3 LEDs that used COB LEDs instead of the better Lumiled type used on the H4 jobbies. This resulted in no beam pattern at all on the inner beams but because they were so bright (something like 10000Lm if memory serves, might be 6000Lm per H3 LED bulb) switching to main beam is like turning the sun on.

The Volvo got 35W HID conversions for the driving and fog lights, both inboard of the outer combined dipped/main beam lights. As it's a 1988 car the MoT testers pass it anyway because it gives all correct beam patterns. Not had a problem with the Rover either but that was before they changed the law and i changed MoT stations thanks to the previous one bodging a repair on the Rover and making it unsafe to test, never mind drive!

For now in my S Type i have some cheapy eBay "Xenon look" halogens that work well - normally! Although a vast improvement on the original (nearly black so probably original to the car) bulbs, still not great especially at dusk. Having been used to LEDs for so long on my other cars as soon as i get the Jag in for MoT (and hopefully through it too) i'll be getting some LED H7 and also HB3 bulbs for it.

Russ68 · March 21, 2023

Thanks so much to Chris and Dave for doing the legwork on this issue 👍

It look to me like the H7 twenty20 Compact is a direct fit for my 2001 as well, and while £50 for a pair of bulbs seems pricy, this is only compared to halogens, and if it's a direct fit from a tried supplier, it's cheap at half the price!

They also show an H7 twenty20 precision option which is fan cooled and currently on offer. At 3600 lumen they actually produce less than the 4000 lumen Compact, so generally the Compact is the better choice right?

https://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk/h7-twenty20-precision-led-12v-477-headlight-bulbs-pair.html

They list an H3 Twenty20 compact for my main beam too, along with a pricier Osram LED version. I'd be tempted to stick with the Twenty20s if these have proven good upgrades.

I'm glad I deferred sorting this out as the tech seems to have caught up with what I need. I can now get upgraded lighting without a ton of rewiring or exchanging headlamp units. Given the amount of work I want to do on the car, this is great for me! 😀

LairdScooby · March 21, 2023

These are the ones i was originally planning on getting Russ :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-h7-4600-lumen-philips-z-es-main-dipped-glb477?_pos=6&_sid=9012460b2&_ss=r

Not polarity conscious so no problems on the S Type, reversible heatsink collar so will fit inside the cover and 4600Lm per pair/2300 each - the Twenty20 doesn't specify if the 400Lm is per Bulb or per pair but i would suspect per pair.

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/pair-of-led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-hb3-hb4-4600-lumen-main-dipped-p20d-p22d?_pos=1&_psq=hb3+led&_ss=e&_v=1.0

The HB3 version for the inner main beams ^^^^^ similar spec in terms of not polarity conscious, reversible heatsink and 4600Lm/pair but obviously different fittings for the actual physical parts. Should fit in with the heatsink reversed.

I've used that supplier for amny years now and recommended them to many, only had to use their refund service once and that was on something experimental so nothing to do with the products bought except too many were bought!

I'm also a bit of a fan of the Z-ES Lumileds, those aren't specified on the Twenty20 bulbs so i might go with what i know, especially as they're a smidge cheaper!

Russ68 · March 21, 2023

1 hour ago, LairdScooby said:

These are the ones i was originally planning on getting Russ :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-h7-4600-lumen-philips-z-es-main-dipped-glb477?_pos=6&_sid=9012460b2&_ss=r

Not polarity conscious so no problems on the S Type, reversible heatsink collar so will fit inside the cover and 4600Lm per pair/2300 each - the Twenty20 doesn't specify if the 400Lm is per bulb or per pair but i would suspect per pair.

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/pair-of-led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-hb3-hb4-4600-lumen-main-dipped-p20d-p22d?_pos=1&_psq=hb3+led&_ss=e&_v=1.0

The HB3 version for the inner main beams ^^^^^ similar spec in terms of not polarity conscious, reversible heatsink and 4600Lm/pair but obviously different fittings for the actual physical parts. Should fit in with the heatsink reversed.

I've used that supplier for amny years now and recommended them to many, only had to use their refund service once and that was on something experimental so nothing to do with the products bought except too many were bought!

I'm also a bit of a fan of the Z-ES Lumileds, those aren't specified on the Twenty20 bulbs so i might go with what i know, especially as they're a smidge cheaper!

Fab! Thanks for that Dave. I like you get options for 3000K and 6000K with this brand, the 3000K much closer to halogen in colour. Would a 3000K Bulb be as effective as the 6000K and is this what you will go for / have gone for?

I know the 6000K is white rather than those boy racer blue ones you used to see, these are probably up around the 9000K mark and have no place in a Jaguar 😉

LairdScooby · March 21, 2023

My current LED bulbs are 6000K Russ as they are very close to natural daylight in colour temperature. Makes night driving much more relaxing and less eye strain. I'll certainly go for the same again!

As you say, the ones with the blue tinge don't really look that good, on a Jag or anywhere else come to that! 😮

I find the 3000K or halogen colour temperature lacking in many areas, particularly during rain and dusk with all lights. One benefit of the LED bulbs, certainly with 6000K is that they tend to make animals eyes reflect light back so if there's a deer/rabbit/fox on the verge of the rural road you're traceling along, you actually get to see them so you can avoid them.

Russ68 · March 21, 2023

51 minutes ago, LairdScooby said:

My current LED bulbs are 6000K Russ as they are very close to natural daylight in colour temperature. Makes night driving much more relaxing and less eye strain. I'll certainly go for the same again!

As you say, the ones with the blue tinge don't really look that good, on a Jag or anywhere else come to that! 😮

I find the 3000K or halogen colour temperature lacking in many areas, particularly during rain and dusk with all lights. One benefit of the LED bulbs, certainly with 6000K is that they tend to make animals eyes reflect light back so if there's a deer/rabbit/fox on the verge of the rural road you're traceling along, you actually get to see them so you can avoid them.

Got it! In that case I'll go for 6000K too Dave, makes sense. I know I selected 3000K for some kitchen downlights recently, but that's a slightly different application 😆

Have you fitted them yet or still on the to do list? It seems like Chris is getting on very well with his, so I hope they'll bring our S-Types up to modern standards, which is very much needed!

LairdScooby · March 21, 2023

23 minutes ago, Russ68 said:

Have you fitted them yet or still on the to do list?

Mine are still on the to-do list Russ, the intention was get it through the MoT and then get them.

However i misread the date on the MoT, i thought it said 23/3/23 but it actually said 23/2/23, think you can see how i made the mistake!

In between whiles i picked up two punctures which involved replacement tyres and then i wasn't able to swap the wheels around (i'm not in great health so sometimes a bit tricky) and by the time i realised the MoT was late and i'd got the tyres swapped, the battery was flat. Caalogue of errors you might say!

Anyway, in other news, i've also been looking for a replacement for my Volvo 760, ideally a Honda CR-V, preferably the Executive with the leather, AC etc and if i was really lucky, in silver. Been trawling eBay, Autotrader and so on to no avail, found several but then discovered there was a reason not to buy them (usually rough MoT history, Cat N/S or similar) so was really waiting until next month and was planning on getting the Jag in for MoT soon.

Quite by chance and on a hunch, i went into a local, relatively new, car dealer as i thought i'd spotted a few CR-Vs in there. Knowing they also rent to USAF personnel, i didn'y have my hopes too high but i had spotted two silver ones, side by side, one at least was for sale but the other one had really caught my eye. Odd as they were both the same colour (silver) and from a distance, looked identical.

The second one didn't have a price on the screen but the one i wasn't interested in did for £3495. I asked about the other, new MoT screen price will be £2795 but " probaby let it go for two".

Long story short, i said i was hoping to do a PX and roughly the deal i was after and also that i'm waiting on a pension lump sum next month on or just after my brithday. A deal was struck, subject to test drive, of £1200 + the Volvo. He warned me of a couple of dodgy ball joints that were an advisory on the recent MoT (i've since checked and they were the only advisory) and it might be a bit clonky but they would be done. and away we went.

All was good so hands were shaken then this morning i had a couple of texts from him basically offering to do the swap and settle up the cash next month when my funds arrive. This has obviously made me short on time, the Volvo has aftermarket cruise control that i want to use on the Honda (for some odd reason it doesn't have it) and also need my dashcam out of the Volvo.

Once i've got the Honda and the dust settles i'll be able to get the Jag for MoT then look at getting the LED bulbs for the Jag! Bit of a "round the houses" explanation there but hopefully (at least slightly) intersting!

Russ68 · March 21, 2023

14 minutes ago, LairdScooby said:

Mine are still on the to-do list Russ, the intention was get it through the MoT and then get them.

However i misread the date on the MoT, i thought it said 23/3/23 but it actually said 23/2/23, think you can see how i made the mistake!

In between whiles i picked up two punctures which involved replacement tyres and then i wasn't able to swap the wheels around (i'm not in great health so sometimes a bit tricky) and by the time i realised the MoT was late and i'd got the tyres swapped, the battery was flat. Caalogue of errors you might say!

Anyway, in other news, i've also been looking for a replacement for my Volvo 760, ideally a Honda CR-V, preferably the Executive with the leather, AC etc and if i was really lucky, in silver. Been trawling ebay, Autotrader and so on to no avail, found several but then discovered there was a reason not to buy them (usually rough MoT history, Cat N/S or similar) so was really waiting until next month and was planning on getting the Jag in for MoT soon.

Quite by chance and on a hunch, i went into a local, relatively new, car dealer as i thought i'd spotted a few CR-Vs in there. Knowing they also rent to USAF personnel, i didn'y have my hopes too high but i had spotted two silver ones, side by side, one at least was for sale but the other one had really caught my eye. Odd as they were both the same colour (silver) and from a distance, looked identical.

The second one didn't have a price on the screen but the one i wasn't interested in did for £3495. I asked about the other, new MoT screen price will be £2795 but " probaby let it go for two".

Long story short, i said i was hoping to do a PX and roughly the deal i was after and also that i'm waiting on a pension lump sum next month on or just after my brithday. A deal was struck, subject to test drive, of £1200 + the Volvo. He warned me of a couple of dodgy ball joints that were an advisory on the recent MoT (i've since checked and they were the only advisory) and it might be a bit clonky but they would be done. and away we went.

All was good so hands were shaken then this morning i had a couple of texts from him basically offering to do the swap and settle up the cash next month when my funds arrive. This has obviously made me short on time, the Volvo has aftermarket cruise control that i want to use on the Honda (for some odd reason it doesn't have it) and also need my dashcam out of the Volvo.

Once i've got the Honda and the dust settles i'll be able to get the Jag for MoT then look at getting the LED bulbs for the Jag! Bit of a "round the houses" explanation there but hopefully (at least slightly) intersting!

Indeed quite interesting! Sorry to hear about your health issues. Like me you're not a Jag only guy, I have a couple of Discoveries (mainly the wife's), and an MGF I've had for 20 years. I'd argue the S-Type was my favourite, I just need to get it back on the road and I'd like it a lot more! Hopefully yours will sail through the MOT and be useable again very soon, they don't seem to like being stood!

For interest, I had a top notch automotive electrician have a look at the Jag and our Disco TD5 which were both discharging batteries. Turns out the Jag was basically OK, but it has a very long shut down procedure which means it's still drawing 2A 30 mins after you've turned it all off! Interesting, but probably not why yours ran flat:

The Disco was not so good with issues with the towing module and air compressor destroying the relatively new battery. Apparently any aftermarket additions are the 1st place he looks for unwanted current draw killing batteries. Along with the obvious, interior lights and other kit left on etc 😉

LairdScooby · March 21, 2023

36 minutes ago, Russ68 said:

Indeed quite interesting! Sorry to hear about your health issues. Like me you're not a Jag only guy, I have a couple of Discoveries (mainly the wife's), and an MGF I've had for 20 years. I'd argue the S-Type was my favourite, I just need to get it back on the road and I'd like it a lot more! Hopefully yours will sail through the MOT and be useable again very soon, they don't seem to like being stood!

A fe little bits of information that will help fill in the edges Russ - i've had my 827 Sterling a long time (16 years next February 29th) and had planned on keeping it for considerably longer. However a rotten sill which was meant to be welded by the MoT tester that failed it was only half done and then it was uglier than an ugly thing that lost a fight with the ugly stick.

When i submitted it for MoT later that year (it took 6 months to get the car back!), the tester basically threw it off the ramp and showed my why. Many parts weren't even welded, leaving the car unsafe at best and a death trap at worst, no wonder it felt wrong while driving!

A few months (April last year) i spotted my S Type and bought it. It filled the formula the 827 had, big Japanese derived V6, Stone Beige/Light Stone leather interior (Rover/Jaguar names for the same leather!), very comfortable with all the toys and importantly for me, the S Type has an LPG conversion. It's also only the second car to put a smile on my face whenever i drive it, the Sterling was the first.

Also had my Volvo about 7 years, had three 740GLEs before that but had always wanted the V6 (like the Sterling, a 90deg V6 unusually) 760GLE but in all honesty, having owned this one for that long and done many jobs on it, discovered much of the Volvo engineering is the paper bag and scissors style then put something nice looking over the bodge to hide it. Yes, the mechanical side is good but the cosmetics are a bit rough in places and as for using soya bean derived wiring insulation, that's just silly!

Having also had some Hondas before and of course the Rover being codeveloped with Honda when the first Legend was made (Project XX (Rover)/HX (Honda), it made a Honda a natural choice for me as a replacement for the Volvo. The rest i think you know!

As for the Discos and MG-f you own, many parts are shared with the 800, depending on year etc so if you find yourself struggling for any parts, give me a shout, i may either have the right bits or know of someone who does or what will fit in place, even if it's not officially an MG/Land Rover part. Another one that is useful for us S Type owners, certainly the early ones anyway, the screenwash pump is also used on a variety of Fords (Transit, Connect, Mondeo, Sierra and others) and the first gen Volvo S80 so a replacement is available on eBay for under a tenner.

hawkaye · March 22, 2023

On 3/20/2023 at 7:12 PM, LairdScooby said:

Have you got a link to the ebay DRL kit please? ...

It was 4 years ago so no link I'm afraid. If you search for 'switchback' there are several kits that look a lot like the one I fitted. Here's a youtube link with a wiring diagram I copied;

I didn't do the conversion to make the kit bulbs into 'proper' bayonet fittings; the rubber bungs on the kit bulbs fitted perfectly and have remained in place for 4 years, passing 3 MoT inspections in the meantime without comment.

JOE-DOT-COM · March 22, 2023

hi

if your after DRL indicators or DRL/Fogs have a look here Joes drl link

Think I was the first to convert these over 7 years ago

cheers

Joe

LairdScooby · March 22, 2023

Thanks for the link Joe, having looked at yours i think i might do it slightly differently using a pair of these in +ve earth flavour :

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/bay15d-1157-white-and-amber-tail-sidelight-and-indicator-combined-led-380?_pos=5&_sid=c4bc4eac1&_ss=r

Change the bulbholders to suit the new Bulb, sacrifice a couple of filament bulbs to make plugs to connect the indicators then run an ignition fed relay coil to bring the DRLs on via a separate wire to the new bulbholder for the DRLs or perhaps go back along the loom to where the existing indicator plugs in - several ideas but need to check what's there first!

I did something similar on my 827 Sterling about 7-8 years back, also added extra reversing lamps to it using similar bulbs. Making the front indicators into DRLs/indicators meant stripping the housing down and removing an amber lens inside the housing so it could be bi-colour.

LairdScooby · July 28, 2023

Holy thread resurrection Batman! 😛

I finally was able to test the LED headlamp bulbs i bought at the end of May (when the updated version of the others i linked to finally became available) last friday night and can confirm they are a vast improvement over the standard halogen filament bulbs!

Halogen (Xenon look eBay jobs) - note the light scatter onto the wrong side of the road! 😮

Same place with the LED bulbs, improved range and much less light scatter onto the wrong side of the road! 😄

Actually driving with them is a vast improvement, much better, more defined dipped beam pattern and less bleaching plus a longer range change the whole feel of the car after dark. Reckon it's the best £35 i've spent on improvements!

https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/pair-of-compact-ultra-h7-led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-main-dipped-beam-477-499-px26d?variant=45088339427624

No they're not as cheap as the rubbish on eBay for a fiver a pair but these will give you a good beam pattern and won't cause burned retinas to oncoming drivers and will obviously last longer too. For those intersted in the technicalities, the LEDs used on these bulbs mimic the original filament size and shape so the original beam pattern is enhanced/sharpened and no unwanted light escapes to the wrong place, concentrating the usable light where you want it.

Now deciding whether to to get the HB3 LEDs for the inner main beams............