I have the drilled units and they appear to have a stronger light than the replacement housing shown above. Also on the replacement housing shown above it appears the leaping Jaguar is upside down, compared to DGL's photo above.

 

It would appear that the mounting angle of the replacement allows it to project better beyond the car door, keeping the gawkers at bay, where they can easily see the leeper. But without additional light from the housing, you lose the original puddle light purpose, so watch where you step!

Waiting for mine to arrive, so I can compare.

 

The angle on the replacement lights cast an oblong pattern, so the emblem isn't quite what it should be. I'm a bit **** when it comes to some things, and I don't think I would be happy with the distorted projection.
I installed my drill-type, but only on the left side (so far, still in the garage and no room on right) and I am VERY satisfied with it. It really should have been a factory option.

 

Tried another pic, the image is very legible on smooth surfaces but my garage floor is a textured epoxy. It's still very legible even on that surface just phone camera not the best.

The one I installed on the drivers side is at a different angle than the passenger side. Was at a customers plant all day so haven't looked to see whether or not I can change it but at first glance I would say no.

The image is circular but the other pictures I took were on my driveway which is on a downgrade so probably why it looked elongated.

Not concerned about the puddle lamps as the interior casts plenty of light to get in and out of the car.

Looks like kj will be able to tell us what the difference is when he gets them, which is more powerful or if there the same.

 

Just looked up the difference for wattage.

My units are 3W output as is the same with the standard 2x LED drill units.

The new cree LED 4th or 5th gen drill units are 5 and 6W output.

 

Also beware as I just saw some that said CREE LED but didn't list output wattage so unless they have the output I wouldn't bother as most likely they are 3w.

Make sure they are 4th or 5th gen CREE LED and list the output wattage.

 

After buying these as they have the jaguar name in red, site says 7 watt so should have good light.
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Yes, the 'drill in' type I received yesterday say 7w on the box, and I verified they do have red lettering (not having a power supply handy, I just unscrewed the unit and directed my phone's light through the lens, looked pretty on my desk). And yes it did say CREE on the tiny circuit board.


Still waiting on the non-drill units, which are listed as delivery by Feb 4, on the 'shipped noticed' I received from eBay.

 

Rich is correct, because of the angle the light is on it is slightly oblong. That and the fact I have only seen 3w versions I would say the drilled units are the way to go for now.

 

Finally got a chance to see about rotating the logo and yes it's possible. There were two small screws on the back of the housing and wallah.

Much cleaner and brighter image as the logo is nearer to the ground in this direction. It is a still a little oblong but it the opposite direction so not as noticeable.

I expect the more powerful drill units with 5 or more watts would give a cleaner image in daylight but good enough for me. I know mine aren't visible at all in daylight but on my shop floor with the lights on it is visible, unless the light is directly hitting the image.

Just not a big fan drilling holes in my doors since it is a daily driver and out in bad conditions from time to time.

 

They look great. Mine are not visible at all in the daylight, either.

 

Do the 'small screws' allow the unit to be disassembled, or just rotate the image?
Just wondering if the LED can be easily replaced with one from a drill-in unit (and maybe the logo too, in order to get the red lettering).
Things I can answer myself (when the 'slow boat' gets here, in the next two weeks), but just curious.

 

See the attached picture for the screw locations.

Two small phillips screws on the back side that separate the housing halves.
Originally I though the housings were glued or snapped together.

Kj, unfortunately I don't believe the drilled units will fit in the housing. You can see the circuit board in the housing above the light where the wires come out. The light unit is a aluminum housing that looks smooth and solid with wires that connect to the circuit board. Smaller than the drill unit I expect but you can see when they come in.

To rotate the lights; loosen the upper screw by the circuit board then remove the lower one. Spread the housing and rotate the image until it is where you want it.

First one I removed both screws and it was a pain in the arss to get back together with the loose wires from the light housing to the circuit board. Also the circuit board fell out as it is loose so I had to put that back. With my meat hooks small wires and tiny circuit boards don't mix.

 

Good info, thanks. I'll do some playing when mine come in.

 

I have the jaguar leaper drilled one fitted at the moment, but have ordered another set with the leaper and red jaguar name as my others are all same color. Have now ordered these as well,
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Will have 3 sets soon, so will have a good choice, i really like the jaguar head type, they seem to look more current and up to date.

 

Same here. Have the drill-ins in hand (not installed), with red lettering. And waiting on both the leeper (white lettering, like DpezXK8's), and the growler, snap-ins to arrive.
Since the snap-ins can be disassembled, I want to see if I can replace the low powered LED with the higher powered ones from the drill-ins, provided I like the appearance of the snap-in unit, as I too, don't really want to punch holes in my baby (living in the same neck-of-the-woods as DpezXK8, I don't need additional road salt corrosion points).

 

Ordered the no-drill type for my 2012 on Monday. They arrived Friday. $20 including shipping. Not exactly plug-n-play as I had to file down the connectors to fit them into the harness connector, but no big deal. They are advertised for the XJ, so can't complain too much if there is a tiny bit of modifying involved.


As noted above, they are a bit weak and because of the angle the projection is a bit oblong. But I would rather have the minor issues than drill a hole. Overall I'm satisfied with my $20 investment.

 

One set of the non-drill type arrived today (I ordered both the leaper and growler units). Since I don't have a 12v power supply in my office, I took one of them apart (via the two screws noted by DpezXK8), and found that the LED housing, like the drill-in type, simply unscrews apart.
By shining my phone's flashlight through the lens, I see it is the white lettered leaper logo (the box wasn't labeled, and I can't read Chinese). IIRC the diameter of the drill-in and non-drill units have about the same diameter, so swapping the logo, and likely the LEDs shouldn't be a big deal (to get a brighter non-drill unit, with a red lettered logo).
Need to put some power on them and actually compare first. Will let you know.

 

Ok, found a 12v power supply amongst some old stuff in the basement (and the wife wonders why I don't throw out old stuff!), and hooked it up to the drill-in and non-drill units I have so far. Initial impressions:

1. The drill-in is indeed brighter for the same size image, BUT...
2. The drill-in unit produces a much larger image from the same distance as the non-drill unit, resulting in maybe a dimmer image.
3. The red lettering of the drill-in loses legibility faster than the white lettering of the non-drills, as ambient lighting increases, or surface conditions become rougher.
4. The drill-ins produce a 'sharper' image than the non-drill, which seem a bit fuzzy in comparison.

I'll post some pictures, once the non-drill growler units arrive, for comparison. And I'll do a more controlled test then, using exact mounting point to ground distance and angles.

As far as swapping components, from the drill-in to non-drill, it looks feasible. Even though the drill-in unit has a larger barrel diameter, the circuit board inside has a smaller diameter than the board in the non-drill units, and since the drill-in has the support circuitry outside (within a wart in the cord), the extra exposed circuit board in the non-drill unit, can be eliminated (and maybe replaced by large red LED, so the 'marker light' functionality of the original puddle light is regained? Just a thought.).

 

I've noticed on this thread that many people are concerned about possible corrosion or water infiltration of the Drill-Type lights. Please be aware;
The Drill-Type lights are inserted into the plastic door trim on the very bottom of the door panel itself. They do NOT go into any metallic part of the vehicle.
The position I chose is about an inch and a half (38mm) forward of the puddle light and centered about a half inch (13mm) outboard of the existing puddle light, which is ALSO installed in the plastic door panel.
The entire install of the Drill-Type is in the plastic door panel, and on the interior of the vehicle, and inside of all the weatherstripping. There should be no chance of the climate affecting the lights, short of one jumping into an actual PUDDLE once the door has been opened. Of course, that would ALSO affect the stock puddle light, even more-so as the stock light has no seal, as does the Drill-Type lights.