Hello, I am a new member so apologise if this is the wrong forum or this has been covered previously.

I have just been fortunate to acquire my latest Jaguar, a 2019 f type v6s chequered flag. It seemed to have all the extras I needed , including features such as LED headlights, speed sign/ limit recognition, and auto headlights. I live in the country and during the winter months 70% of driving can be in darkness. I was shocked to find that with the right headlights, front facing camera etc Jaguar do not as standard enable Auto High Beam Assist as standard. On looking into this I am told this, like many basic features this can be enabled in the software if you can access it. I understand from my 2017 JLR now use "Pathfinder" not SDD to access the CCF file where the changes are made to switch on and off features

So my question is, is there someone in the forum who can help me please. Maybe there is someone who could access the software and make the change for me or tell me how I can do it. I am happy to travel to someone a reasonable distance (I am based in worcestershire)

Sorry for the long post but knowing this key feature, for me, is almost a computer key stroke away from being available is beyond frustrating.

Any thanks in advance for your help with this

 

It may not be just a keystroke away. If that's the feature that dips the beams when an oncoming car is detected, you'd need the sensor next to the rear view mirror for it to work.

I tried it when the car was new and enough of the time it was slower than was satisfactory for me, so I haven't used it in five years. Typical case where it's inadequate: Approaching a right hand bend (LHD car), I can see an oncoming car's lights before I see the car. Before that car's lights would be pointing at me enough to have mine auto-dim, they have to cross ahead of me and get my highbeams broadside. I find my years of habit enough that dimming the lights isn't even something I think about anymore.

 

Dimming the lights may be second nature, but at my age remembering that the high beams are on is a far greater challenge. I'm glad to have the AHB feature.

 

I am usually wrong when I reply to technical matters but I had read on here (or another Jag forum) that there was much stronger encryption in the later model's software and it wasn't a simple case of 'ticking something in the table' to enable features that haven't been paid for. I'm not surprised, given that it must surely be frustrating for Jaguar to lose the sale of a feature just because somebody knows they can log in with a laptop and enable it. I'll try and find the post I found on here when I went looking a while back, just to see if I could enable the 'dual zone' climate control, not that I really need it, it was more out of curiosity (if I really had wanted it I would have specced the car with it).

EDIT: Here we go, it's this post that explains it. Unless things have changed since then it looks like it isn't possible to make any alterations.

 

Things changed, now it's possible to edit a configuration. However, a pathfinder software and hardware are still needed.
It's possible to enable a AHB if a camera is already fitted and working.

 

You can override the auto feature by pushing backwards on the stalk I believe. So you can de-activate the auto high beams if you do see someone coming before the sensor does. Pushing the stalk back again (or is it pulling? can't remember right now) will tell the system to go automatic again. This way you don't have to actually turn the whole feature off. I find leaving the auto high beams on, and overriding it on certain twisty roads where I know people might get blinded is useful.

 

While auto high beams are on, flashing them (pulling stalk towards you) turns them off and disables AHB. Turning high beams on by pushing the stalk forward re-enables them. (This is on the XE, but I assume the F-type works the same way.)

They work great on some roads, less so on others.

 

I guess for the same reason I got a manual transmission, I'm content to work my own high beams. I suppose the difference is, I do a better job on the high beams than the automatic system, but the ZF8 shifts better than I do :/

 

Many thanks for everybody's help and input to this thread.
I have now managed to find somebody with "Pathfinder" access who has a lot of experience in changing settings in the CCF and has made this change before, so I am now arranging to have it done. I hear some people have had a poor experience of HBA but all I can say is from my experience of our Landrover Evoque, which has it as standard, I have been very impressed with how it works.

 

Hi Peter M. Did you manage to do this? If so could you put me in contact with the person who did it, as I would also like to do this along with a couple of other CCF changes?

Thanks