So I have a running 2002 x-type donor car that has the HID setup (and I assume also has auto-level). I want to swap that system with my 2004 x-type halogen system (not sure if it has auto-level). I'm trying to find an overview of what I need to pull and where it's located.....I know there are leveling sensors and such, but how difficult are they to get to? What else would I need to do? And also, will the halogen lights work in the 2002 x-type or will it throw a CEL?

 

It's just my thoughts about this...:..:

You would know, that HID draws a lot more power - especially during start-up (i.e. when switching on the lights). This means, that the associated wiring needs to come from the donor car as well = and swapping looms is quite a lot of work.
Frankly, if I were you, I would put good LED bulbs into the 2004 X and - hoping that you are still able to power up the HID system in the 2002 X - compare brightness between HID and LED. I don't know the outcome, but I could imagine that there is not much difference (the technology of LED bulbs has come a long way since 2002/2004).

Plus, I can't remember after all this time... - note that I designed the electrical aspect of the light-switches for the X400 back in 1998 in Coventry - but I do have a feeling that there were specialized light-switches for HID, which would mean, you would have to swap the light-switch over as well... - and as there is quite a number of variations of light-switches, this means, if you are unlucky those buttons on the 2 switches from the 2002 and the 2004 might not be a match. Note, that the reason as to why e.g. the trip-switches are inside of the light-switch is that I was "tasked" to put them in there for the simple reason that they wanted to minimized the number of wood-veneers for the X400: They did not want to have veneer, where there is a hole for the trip switch, and other veneer, where there is no hole, as not all X400 do have trip switches - they preferred to have light-switches with and without trip switches, with and without levelling switch, with and without time-delay switch - apart from various legal requirement in various countries regarding fog-lights and mandatory head-light on all the time...

I think there are 12 different versions (before they added much later colour coded switch as well). It would have been way more than that, if I would not have been able to convince the Jaguar Designer - and maybe this designer was even Geoff Lawson - I can't remember - to design the outer bezel symmetrically - because initially they had another idea. If the bezel would not be symmetrical, there would be even more versions for LHD and RHD...

 

Mizah87, the wiring harnesses are different. So, you are going to need to transfer them over. The big thing being the HID system has 2 ground wires in the headlight harness (pins 8 and 10 as I recall) where the halogen setup only has a ground wire in Pin 8 (pin 10 is blank). Pin 10 is dedicated to the ballast for the HIDs. So, as was said, the HID system does pull more power (especially on start up), which is why Jaguar made this change.

As for the sensors, are you ready to run wiring from the front to back of the car? There are sensors in the front on the A-arms to see where the car is sitting and then you have one in the rear to be compared with the front to see if the car is possibly pointing up due to lots of weight in the rear.

HOnestly, for what you are after, I would simply upgrade the bulbs in the 04 to an aftermarket HID kit. Keep in mind that the factory bulbs are only 35W bulbs (NOT!!!! 50/55). You can then mount the ballast under the headlight housing, run a new ground to the ground post under the headlight housing to get the good ground that is needed for HIDs, and the install is pretty easy as you have to drill a 3/4" (possibly a 1") hole in the headlight cover to allow you to run the wiring from inside to outside the headlight housing. This would be a lot easier to do and get the same effect other than maybe the headlight leveling which I think is a little over rated unless you go from only you in the car to having 5 adults in the car routinely.

If you need to know anything about the HID kits, look up "HID x-type Thermo" and you should find all sorts of write ups about what is needed, what you should look for, and what your options are. If you have more questions, ask away.

 

Thank you both! Honestly, I was more into the novelty of the Auto-leveling and xenon haha, I really like the headlights cycling up and down on startup. But it sounds like it's probably not worth it. I wouldn't mind running wiring so much, but this might not be the mod for that.

Peter, you're absolutely correct, I currently have LED in my '04 and they are actually brighter than the xenon. I tried several until I found a great pair on Amazon, they have surprisingly lasted a couple years now (the silverstarts would burn out in a few months). They're 60w and barely fit in the housing haha.

 

Yes, there are certainly differences in the LED bulbs on offer. I guess it's just a lucky dip to end up with the right ones.
About the levelling: It would amaze me, if so far you would not have had to replace the levelling mechanism - those plastic sprockets. And if you have not yet, you might have to soon - hoping the replacement kits are still available. I'd say: The less movement the better, 'cause it's plastic. And auto-levelling means: There is a lot of movement...