I just purchased a 2008 S-Type. My first Jaguar. I noticed the first night that the headlights were pointing down, but they do come up, but not far enough.


I took it back to the dealer and asked him to adjust them. Got it back with no change. I hope nothing is broken, the dealer that checked it is a Nissan dealer.


I looked in the owner's manual and it talks about a touring headlamp adjustment where you switch a lever within each unit to raise and lower them. Wonder if mine could be in the down position?

 

I don't know what HID is, but I do know that the headlights can gradually point down. It is one of the big defects. There are youtube videos on how to fix it and there are bunch of articles here. New headlights are about $446 each.

 

HID is High Intensity Discharge, the optional self leveling system.


I saw the posts about fixes for drooping headlights, but I wonder if I need a fix or just an adjustment. There are supposed to be manual adjustment screws also, I believe.

 

I am not sure what is needed, but the Nissan dealer sure charged you for doing nothing. I would read the posts about headlights here first before I spent any more cash on it. I did see a post/you tube about putting a screw in them to fix it but I can't remember the details.

 

Well, the Nissan dealer didn't charge me anything, nor is the Ford dealer whose lot it came out of going to charge me anything.


I was with the salesman from the Nissan place cruising through the Ford lot (the dealer sells many makes) and saw the Jag. Bought it from the Nissan guy from the Ford lot.


I saw the video about the screw, but, before I do that, the Ford service manager is going to look at it with me to see what the deal is. To make sure I didn't break it. The car comes with a warranty, be surprised if it's covered.


Funny that there is a picture in the manual of the lever that makes them go up or down.

 

There's both the motorised, automatic, adjusters and manual adjustment - yours are probably like mine: you adjust from inside the engine bay. Caution: part is plastic and part metal and I found corrosion and time meant I had to strip part of it down.

The manual part is similar to many other cars so any shop should have been able to cope - they're either no good at their job or didn't try.

The manual part sets the overall aim. The motors level around that aim so you need to get it right. The Brutal screw fix is another thing, for when the innards are broken.

 

That's what I thought. They got one look at it and were intimidated!

 

Against the garage door the low beams spread out low & close like fog lights. Same way going down the road. There are lots of deer here at night. I need to see down the road!

I wonder if they are set low on both sides?

 

I adjusted my own in a few minutes. Just be careful. On a DIY scale - trivially easy.

 

The good news is that they are moving. Over time and specially with a few good hard bumps on the road the headlights can stop moving altogether, making them useless as they point straight down. If that where the case then the screw method would be the best option. However yours still move so avoid the screw method, try everything and anything else short of replacing the headlights. I would take it to a jag mechanic or dealer, although dealer will likely charge 100+ just to look at them. Dont forget to really slow down when it comes time to cross train track, speed bumps, etc. This is true for any car if you want your suspension to last long but specially true on the S types with these finicky lights. A hard bump can throw the alignment on these lights completely off. No wonder Jaguar has stopped using them on the newer models. Mine also has these lights but thankfully has been holding up well.

 

Yes, they do move. We checked them today. They are tight and don't seem to be broken. Funny thing is they are not like the lights in the manual, they don't have those caps where you can get in there and flip the switch. (Maybe they are like that but the caps turned in they look different.)


They are HID though. He was successful in manually raising up the lower limit so we are going to see how they work tonight.

 

Well, I got brave and got in there to see what I could see, Looks like mine must be aftermarket bulbs, they were made in Germany by Hella.. Wonder what "open/close" means? Maybe beam size?

 

Well, I think my lights are factory original. Got fooled by the German maker.


Still, I am having a hard time locating this "small rubber cover adjacent to the main headlamp rear cover". Maybe they are talking about that thing that has US on it, next to the main headlamp (rear cover removed).


Sure would like to flip these switches!

 

 

Thanks for that, JK. I have already seen that, and that is not the problem.


My lights work, there are no broken parts. Both sides, high and low are tight. They go up and down. I am beginning to think there are two versions of these lights, and one is for Europe/UK, and one is for US. I am tempted to call Hella and speak to a tech about what I have just posted. About the up/down lever.

 

Well, I guess I was in denial! Mine were broke. The fix fixed it!
Thanks guys!

 

Awesome, glad it worked out.