I’ve heard many times that “it’s not possible” and others completely ver off the original question and start talking about the bulbs and not the whole headlight assemblies. But i’ve also seen people use a conversation kit the oem bi-xenon and they work well. would that be the case for an XE? or what is the difference between the halogen and bi-xenon assembly? why can’t it be plug and play?

 

I'm super interested if you figure this out. Take this with a grain of salt, but I did discuss with the local dealer at one point - - from what I understand the computer expects a certain voltage/range from the bulbs and if it's not what was configured on the car you are going to get error codes/malfunction.

 

So technically, from what your dealer said, you could get a tune so that the computer could expect that voltage/range?

 

I am in the middle of figuring this out myself. Quick summary of everything I've figured out thus far:

-Got a hold of a Bi-Xenon headlamp assembly (fully functional) for very cheap. I tried plugging it in and every function (LED Strip, turn signal, side marker, high beam motor) worked except for the main beam. I tested the bulb and ballast with a 12V battery and it worked fine. This lead me to believe the connector pin for main beam power is in a different location.
-The halogen connector is missing a few pins compared to the xenon connector. Assuming the missing ones are related to the auto head lamp leveling functions (as per the electrical diagram).
-So all I have to do to get this working, in theory, is to figure out power for the main bulb. Option 1 is to make a harness adapter which would take some time. Option 2 is to find the right spot for the main bulb pin and move it to the right place in the connector. This could, however, still leave us with an error code as you guys mentioned.
-There is an additional option! We know LED bulbs work just fine in the halogen assembly and it doesn't freak the car out. The third option is to replace the Xenon bulb with a DS1/DS3 LED bulb and either connect to the right pin in the connector from the inside (by removing the ballast; two screws) or by hooking up a pigtail to the main bulb power in the headlight harness. The latter seems to be the simpler option and is the one I will be trying soon enough.

There are a couple of threads on the XJ forum about the harness adapters, and a thread on the F Type forum about the Xenon/LED bulb swap.

I am hoping to make some progress in the next couple of weeks. I will be pursuing the pigtail LED DS1/DS3 option--- if I can get power to the main beam then all we need is some driving around to confirm no errors or freakouts.

 

CSL I am very interested in what you come up with. I have been interested in upgrading the HID's in mine to LED's but have not found much out there. The one manufacturer that I did run across, Morimoto sells a conversion kit. I just don't know if the computer would play nice with them.

Matt

 

Any update on your findings? I’m looking forward to it.

 

I just ordered the pigtails and LED bulbs so expecting to make some headway this upcoming weekend.

 

How about now?

 

I'm also very curious. You're a pioneer! Please let us know how its gone.

 

It only took 2.5 years for me to pick this back up.... better late than never I guess.

For anyone who might still be interested in this (I'm planning on keeping my XE for a couple more years)-- the conversion from my stock Halogen headlight to the Bi-Xenon headlights worked for the most part. Here's a summary:

• I picked up some used Bi-Xenon headlights for cheap on eBay with everything functional. When plugging it into the headlight harness, everything worked except for the low beam/main bulb.
• I tested harness pins and came to the conclusion either one of the pins might be different, or possibly the HID ballast might not be working properly. I decided switching to an LED bulb would make sense since I knew it worked fine in my Halogen assembly.
• I purchased a D3S LED kit on Amazon that had universal pins instead of the rectangular power connector the Xenon bulbs have.
• I removed the ballast (two screws) and it exposes two sets of connectors: 1. is the power from the harness to the ballast & 2. is the cable from the ballast to the bulb.
• I pushed the tabs on the connector so it goes inside the housing and was able to connect the pins (power/ground) from the LED bulb to the power from the harness, essentially bypassing the ballast.
• Screwed the ballast back, installed the headlamp, connected the harness and... LET THERE BE LIGHT.

A caveat to consider-- At night with the lights set to Auto everything works as expected (side markers, low beam, DRL, turn signals). When pulling the stalk for high beam the shield lifts and high beam works. During the day, however, the DRLs do not come on automatically. They have to be turned on manually with the stalk. This might be a positive for some, a minor annoyance for others.

All in all, the effort was worth it. Headlights look great, the light output of the LED is fantastic and because it's a projector-based headlight, the light cutoff is essentially identical to OEM. This was easier than I expected and glad I finally got around to it.

Lessons learned: When buying a car, make sure it's the spec you want lol.

 

Great work! I started investigating swapping my Xenons with LEDs from an XF... but a half-step might just be to throw LED globes in there. The light from the Xenons is good but it can always be better.

Did you take before/after photos of the light spread from inside the car?

 

Man I completely forgot about starting this thread. I've given up so much about this, engine swapping to the AJ126, and trying to import one from the UK that I just gave up and started looking for a 35t R-Sport. Not the XE-S because of the digital dash and adaptive dynamics because they just deter me away from those things. But, WOW! Kudos to you for accomplishing this feat. I can't believe it's been that long since.

 

Let me throw some light on this topic:

I have XE 25t MY2017 and it was with halogen headlights. So I decided to buy a pair of Bi-Xenon Headlights and see what will happen. Almost everything is plug and play... except Low beams and DRL's auto turn on.

So... if you want the Low/High beam to be working as it should, you need JLR SDD. You have to enter in Engineering mode and change following paramteres:
-Headlights type -> Gas discharge lights with auto adjuster
-Front low beam profile -> Diagnostic Profil 16
-High beam lamps -> Not fitted
-Xenon lamps are fitted -> Fitted

And for the DRL auto switching on Drive and Revers gears selected, you have just to connect pins 1 and 4 together on the headlight connector.


and this is the result:



Cheers Guys!