My 2003 came with factory HID headlights, the first car I ever had with these type of bulbs. I had nothing to do today, as I took early retirement 3 1/2 ago so I went to my local auto parts store to see if they carried these bulbs. They did, the list price was $135.00US and their selling price was $99.99, pretty hefty for a light bulb.
When I got home I opened the hood to see how these bulbs are installed, from what I could tell the drivers side bulb in order to get at it the battery has to be removed or you have to have a really skinny hand.
As I was looking around the engine I could not find a transmission dip stick, not even a tube with a cap on it, like my Benz had. Am I to assume this auto tranny is sealed for life? Or did I miss something?

Finally as I was at the auto store I looked for a oil filter, the only application they had was for a K&N oil filter, has anyone had experience with this filter?

 

First, the bulbs are a PITA as is most stuff on a Jag, the easiest is to take off the bumper cover to access all the lights, the running lights above the high beams can't be accessed at all I believe with out it removed.

I used a K&N Oil filter on my last car, didn't get it either but supposedly it has better filtration!?!? Didn't notice any improvement but wouldn't know what to look for so.....

On the tranny, yes, sealed for life but you can change the fluid, on page 2 here you can look up Dennis Blacks mods he's done, if you're retired we expect you to have them all done by Friday (jk) but he does a write up with all the parts you need to get prior to doing it, also while you're at it change the transfer case fluid too. If you remove the battery you'll see a rubber plug under the battery that gives you access to the tranny fluid. If it's cloudy or crappy you will know from Dennis how to change it, not really all that hard from wht I gather.

 

Adam, look on E-bay. You can find the HID bulbs for around $20 delivered to your house. Then all you have to do is install them. Just make sure that you don't get anything on the bulb. If you touch the glass with you hand, make sure to wipe the bulb off very clean. The oils on your hands can create hot spots and lead to a shortened bulb life.

As for the tranny, like we mentioned by sidewalkman, the tranny is "filled for life" (yeah, right!!!!). There is a fill port on the side of the tranny (back side, facing the firewall as I recall). You would do the tranny fluid swap like most older cars by simply dropping the pan, putting in a new filter, and then filling up the tranny till the fluid comes out the fill hole. Just remember, the engine needs to be running and the car in gear to obtain a proper level.

Below are a few samples of D2S bulbs that should fit your car. I don't promote any of these sites, so, do your own looking around. These just happen to be some of the first ones to pop up.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HID-R...Q5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/New-O...Q5fAccessories

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/10000...Q5fAccessories

One word of caution. You will find cheaper bulbs that these, but you will note that almost all of them are from China/Hong Kong. There has been a big problem as of late on E-bay from sellers in those 2 areas in taking your money and delivering no product. Not saying that all the sellers are like that, but you are taking a risk if you do go with these people. I have been caught in this myself with other products.

 

Thank you both for the info on the bulbs and tranny, I am handicapped so I am no able to do these jobs. I'll have to depend up a shop. Removing the bumper cover to change the headlights is quite radical IMHO.

 

Thanks for the Ebay sights, I got burnt on Ebay once and don't use them anymore. I will say the prices are good. Also, being handicapped it is impossible for me to take off the from bumper cover to install bulbs, I guess when and if they burnt out it is off the dealer.

 

Sidewalkman, the K&N filters are $13.92, which is not bad, what does a dealer charge for a oil filter?

 

You do not need to remove the front bumper to just change the headlights.. but that is one way of doing it. All you need to do is open the hood and take off the round plastic caps and you will be able to remove and replace the headlight bulbs, Just want to give you a head's up if you or someone else start's to replace the headlight bulbs that you have to be really careful because the post's will break and then you will have no choice but to remove the bumper to fix that.. cant stress those post's enough.

Sidewalkman: You do not need to remove the bumper to change the parking light's which are above the high beam bulbs, all you need to do is open the hood and take off the round cap on the back and you can see the wires going into that bulb.. they twist and pull out.