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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 😉

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!

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.

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 😉

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!

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! 😀

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.

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.

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?

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.