I've recently gotten my 2005 STR back on the road after 4 years under as cover so I've forgotten a lot about how it works.
Some of you may remember that not all that long before the dreaded under the SC hose leak sidelined my car I struggled like hell with the HID bulb replacements. Even with the bumper cover off and the units on my dining room table get those bulbs to seat properly was a real SOB.

Several years before that while still under warranty I got both replaced for the drooping head light issue. A far as I can remember they were working normally before it got sidelined.

In the intervening years I bought a 2015 Lincoln MKX which is a nice little SUV for around town but it drives nothing like the STR. It does have terrific headlights, all HID and they turn with the steering wheel! Those cycle up and down when turned on.

I can't remember if the JAG HID low beams are supposed to do this?
Right now the HID low beans are at about the same level or just a smidgen lower than the halogen high beams. They don't seem to move at all.
So is that correct?

Thanks.

 

Well done on getting the car back on the road! These cars are very enjoyable, except for the short life span of the Hella headlights.
The HID units do certainly move, and do cycle up and down when turned on. In fact the whole internal chrome portion does pivot (up and down including the high beam), except for the fixed top indicator portion.
This very reflective internal chromed surface however does break down. It's a wonderful, bright reflective surface but pathetically poor in its longevity; Hella is to be blamed for that. Hella is also to be blamed for the poor quality plastic pivot points that don't last the distance after several years of up and down cycles. This causes the droop. The 'screw' fix for this is a terrible solution. To fix properly, the lenses need to come off and the broken plastic pivot points replaced. And with an already deteriorated chrome surface now exposed, as soon as its touched it leaves a permanent mark. I've yet to see anyone attempt a rechrome. I have thought about whether this would even be possible.
The front lenses also break down over time, with internal stress cracks within the plastic body that are not reparable. Resealing the front surface of the lens will do little in this instance.
Also, you need the software to get them cycling up and down.
Something I've yet to achieve. I've fixed the broken plastic pivot points, lightly rinsed the deteriorated chrome surfaces with warm water and avoided touching them, cleaned the glass magnifying lens in front of the bi xenon globes, polished the stress cracked front lenses and am putting up with very dangerous head lights.
My Citroen C5's headlights turn with the wheel like your Lincoln and other than a lens polish and seal now required have never once faltered.

 

presently mine are not drooping per say like they did when they were when replaced under warranty the first time.
Perhaps I need to contact my mechanic as he has all of the dealer software and may know about this?
I have as yet to drive the car at night.

 

Just a note on the auto-leveling lights that most independent shops get bit on?

IF the car is powered up and the head light dis-connected while the lights are on. The only way to get the auto leveling to work again is using the factory SDD to reset it. I know because when I hit a deer with my old 2005 STR it was night and that wreck took out the drivers side head light. After the repair the body shop spent 3 days trying to figure out why everything worked EXCEPT the auto-leveling.

After some research I found this out and told them and finally they took it to a Jaguar dealer and had it reset. This was before I had my own SDD so I can't point you to where inside SDD this function is?

Good points above and I rebuilt my lights with metal pivot ***** from a kit out of Poland. There are a number of different kits on EBay to repair these lights. You most likely will also have a stripped plastic adjustment gear. These are also available.

Listen closely to jya's caution mentioned above about touching ANY of the inside reflective surfaces! You will damage them at this late date. Also be very careful as the internal wiring will be baked hard and the insulation will be cracked from the intense heat inside the HID's. So again DO NOT touch the internal wires!

The good thing about the S-Type HID's is they are very repairable. You can polish the faded front lenses to like new. They will fade again unless you put some kind of UV protection on them. I have used Expel film and I have shot several coats of clear on the lenses. Both seemed to work.

One thing I was surprised about was replacing both HID bulb's had a noticeable increase in brightness. Because the HID's slowly degrade over time and with use and you just don't notice it.
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It looks like this was a false alarm. When I took my STR to my gym appointment it later on the headlights were in auto mode and it was a bit dim in my driveway with the headlights aimed at the white garage door and the cycled up and down. Just turning the lights on once the car is already running doesn't seem to cycle them?

 

Thanks for that. I remember seeing all the kits and thinking that might not be a bad idea to pick them up but this was also about the time the under the SC hose issue had me sidelining the car for 4 years so all spending stopped.
I have the XPEL covers somewhere??? and they need resurfacing as they are very pitted. If you know where to find those repair piece improvements please post them. I might actually buy them now as I suspect that at some point I'll be having to remove the front bumper cover to repair the lamp assemblies.

I still don't know how to replace those damn bulbs WO braking off one of the 4 tabs. If I don't do that the bulbs just do not seat and NO KIND OF LUBRICANT can be used. Just a crap *** design IMHO.

BTW, on the first day I picked up my LINCOLN MKX it was a damp and cold November in Buffalo. Those headlamps completely fogged up internally. The Lincoln forum guys solver this by putting small desiccant bags in the assemblies!

 

Yes go to EBay and search for jaguar head light adjuster repair?
I don't see the metal ***** anymore just the plastic versions? I think a lot of people are 3D printing these parts.
Here is the search results and it looks like the X and S type share some of those items.

Head Light Adjust Repair Kits
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Which parts of these breaks the easiest? Was it the ***** or a post.

 

Weak spot. Shouldn't break here. Poor design.

Same here, shaft is way too weak. Blame Hella. Very poor design all-round. Not really to Jaguar standard.

 

You mean like all the other plastic crap in the engine compartment? Hey it's not just Jaguar but if you're going to manufacture an automobile it's poor management that blames the suppliers. They chose them! Make the suppliers rectify the situation. But instead the customer gets screwed.

 

I've had the headlight assemblies out once before to replace the bulbs. Before that Jaguar replaced the assemblies once. The kits on ebay are all plastic so I'll assume that they're just as fragile? We have quite a few regulations on automobiles here in the USA. I wonder if anyone has gone after Hella & Jaguar based on a safety claim to have the government force a viable solution instead of a financial settlement?

 

Unknown if the aftermarket plastic repair pieces are better or not?
You won't have any choice because when the old plastic stuff breaks you can either buy new head lights or take a chance on the plastic replacement parts.
I know after my repair they did not break again but how long they will last is an open question. I don't really know if the older metal ball replacements are better but given a choice I went with metal. However that supplier seems to be gone and we only have the plastic versions.

Still way better than no options because that's why Brutal invented the screw fix. As that was before all these aftermarket kits came out.
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What I never quite understood about the screw fix is if that just fixed the position of the headlamp's elevation or if they still self leveled?

 

Well remember that these head lights continue to degrade and fail internally. So the screw fix will work for a time but then additional plastic breaks inside the light and at least on my car things just got real loose.
I believe mine self leveled after the screw fix? But it's been several years and I could have gotten that part wrong?
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These are the sorts of issues that send more modern cars to their graves much faster. I'd like to be able to use for fun outings for another 10 years but then I might not last that long either and there's always the spectical of ICE vehicles being banned. .

 

Ignore.

 

From what I remember the screw fix just held the large inner chromed lens assembly fixed permanently in place, despite the still remaining broken pivot point assemblies situated in the rear of the chrome lens. No way it could still pivot.
I never liked it. Not just because it would require drilling a hole in the outer plastic lens but the broken bits in the rear of the inner chrome lens still remained broken and would have kept deteriorating as Clubairth1 mentioned.
You would have been better off pulling the lights apart and at least trying to glue/heat mend the broken chrome lens pivot points.
The replacement metal versions did not appear to offer a huge advantage over the replacement plastic versions; I think that they were not all metal anyway. The replacement plastic versions claimed to be a superior plastic to the pathetic plastic offering from Hella.
Once the pivot points were replaced and any heat damaged wiring insulation sealed there should be no short term problem. EXCEPT that the pathetic short lived chrome finish will continue to deteriorate and depending on where you live same UV rays that kill the chromed surfaces eventually causing irreparable front lens stress cracks throughout the again pathetic quality whole front lens plastic body..
All the above a problem when manufacturers went to plastic headlights. Although some designs are more 'tucked in' away from the sun so would have a longer life span. And I would say more designs are a more premium quality as well.