I'd like to have Daytime Running Lights on my car. I know I can set it so that the headlights are on all the time but would like to do something different.

I've thought that the running lights (ones over the high beams) would be good to have on all the time. Maybe with an LED bulb that has more whiteness than the current ones? Or LED's somewhere around the fogs? Or even the fogs themselves with LED's?

Also would like to change the high beams. I've changed the H7 bulbs with the brightest Phillips bulbs available but not very happy with them.

What have others done?

 

The problem with LED bulbs is that although they produce less heat, most of what they do produce is conducted back into the base whereas in a filament bulb most of the heat goes out from the filament as infra-red radiation, along with the visible light, and comparatively little is conducted into the base. There have been 'horror stories' of people finding that LED bulbs have melted the socket in plastic light fittings.

 

I have LED bulbs as running lights for nearly a year with no problems. Same with fog lights.

 

Presumably in place of the 5w parking lamp bulbs ? So what power LED bulb did you use ?

 

Just took these pics of lights. Do not know wattage of LEDs and no markings on them.
I upgraded all front facing bulbs. Night time vision is extremely good.

I bought spares of LEDs for the driving lights.

 

On my first attempt to upgrade bulbs I did it with the front bumper in place.

Managed to insert the driving light tube holder incorrectly so had to take bumper off in the end to sort it out.

So much easier with the bumper off.

Also LED contacts are one way only so if inserted incorrectly will not light up.

 

Thanks, Partick the Cat. I've heard that LED's have more heat at the base and H7 replacements I've seen have heat sinks or fans built into them. The small bulbs don't have anything to draw the heat away.

I've replaced the H7 high beams and it was relatively easy but haven't attempted anything else. Are there any instructions to take the bumper cover off?

jackra_1, have you checked the internals of the lights to see if any heat damage has occured?

I have HID low beams and know the high beams are H7 and the Fogs are H3. What are the running lights and turn signals?

 

The small LED bulbs have been in place for about a year and look good when examined from the outside looking in to where they are located.

There are instructions somewhere in this forum about removing the front bumper.

You need to remove the front undertray.

Remove one bolt in each wheel well that fastens to the bumper thru the wheel well shield.

Take off the shield over the radiator area.

Remove the grill. You have to press down on the ends of the tabs that hold the bottom of the grill in place at the bottom of the radiator area while pulling it out.

Release the two retaining "clips" that hold the upper edge of the bumper moulding to the cross member support in front of the top of the radiator.

The only areas holding the front bumper on now are either side where it sits under the body.

A reasonable amount of pulling force straight out to the side will unclip each side.

Wiring will still be attached to the bumper thru a big electrical connector on the passenger side.

Also if you have headlite washers those tubes etc will be attached.

When I remove the bumper I have a support underneath and in front to stop it falling down.

In the pic you can see the clip/tabs on the side of the bumper.

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...emoval-139050/

In the first message in this thread you will see a pic of one of two tabs holding the bottom of the grill in place.

 

1.) Do you need to use anything between the bulb and the wire to prevent throwing codes? Resistors?

I've seen heavy duty wires for sale with LED lights that appear to go between the stock connector and the LED bulb. I assume it is for the heavier heat load?

2.) Is there another adjustment for the high beams? I realized the outboard adjustments are or vertical adjustment and the inboard adjusters are for horizontal adjustment. It seems that the high beams adjust with the low beams. Unless there is a separate adjustment knob that I haven't seen.

 

For the small LEDs that I used for the running lights nothing else is needed other than the bulb. I forget what I used for the fogs I dont think I used anything special.

I messed with larger LEDs for my truck and all had some additional cooling mechanism built in.What is more they flickered because they needed some sort of transistor linked in. Gave up and installed complete Halo assemblies just the other day which I am very pleased with.

The headlight assembly on the Jag is a fixed unit and any adjustment affects the low beam at the same time as the high beam.

I had to replace an HID bulb just 3 days ago on the Jag and when I maneuvered the headlight assembly out I knocked off one of the covers for an adjuster. That is now lost somewhere under the assembly!

 

I think I'll start with the white running lights. I'll look into some of the different companies. So far Noyka seems pretty reputable and it looks like the light diodes are in a similar location as the filament bulbs. I'll have my mechanic run the lights, though it doesn't look very hard to do. Have to look for a fuse that goes on when the ignition is turned on and tap into that. I'll have him do the final wiring though. Many years ago I put in 100w halogen high beams in an old Fiat and after a few months it fried the wires. Didn't realize you needed to add a relay. Won't do that again!

 

When I mention "running lights" I mean the small bulbs just above the high beam bulbs.

If we are talking about the same bulbs why do you need to tap into an ignition source?

 

Yes, the lights in the high beams. I'd like to have them on all the time. Need to tap into a power source that goes on when I switch the ignition on.

 

Do you know where the adjustment for the fog lights are? I'm assuming I have to take off the lower splash panel to access the bulbs and adjustment. The passenger side fog shines very high.

 

What LED's did you use for the high beams. They look like they have a white light color. Do they have heat sinks attached?

I see that Phillips and Osram have the W5W LED replacements (also called 194). They look similar to the incandencent W5W bulbs currently in the car. They are 6000K so they will be very white.

Sorry to ask so many questions but this is my first Jaguar (just acquired it 2 months ago) and I know nothing about LED lights and this is my first foray into using them.

 

I did not use LEDs for the high beams. I used Xenon white light bulbs rated higher than the originals.

 

I completely modified my lights all around. No issues at all. Use a relay to trigger it whether you want them on with light switch or ignition controlled like true DRL's. I also did a quad projector retrofit for high beams

If replacing bulbs to LEDs get the canbus bulbs and you will not have any feedback.

 

I like how you put the LED DRL's where the fogs were, Evan Trinh. Your car looks great! You did a great job of incorporating everything cleanly and it looks factory. Not a big fan of the ring of lights in the headlights but that is personal preference.

I'd like to add lights to the trim that goes around the original fogs. Not sure if I can get individual LED's to put behind the grills or into the chrome bars on either side of the fogs. Not sure if they can withstand the elements in the Northeast either.

I replaced the incandescent running lights over the high beams with Philips LED's and it looks great. No problems with them throwing codes or telling me a light is out either. I tried them in both of my Mercedes and they flash on and off every 2-3 seconds. Not sure why they work in the Jaguar but not the Merc.

 

Got a pic or a part number???