Hi, this is for a 2011 5.0 n/a (pre-facelift) Premium in the South Korean market.

I'm trying to work out what spec the lights are; US or EU or something else. The main beam is HID Xenon, high beam is halogen. Some people refer to the XF headlights as bi-xenon, but I'm not sure what they are referring to. The bulb is not a bi-xenon bulb. Is the projector a bi-xenon projector, with the moving shield which changes the light pattern? Or, are they just xenon lights, not bi-xenon?Also, I understand there are different standards for light patterns in different markets. I wonder which standard my lights are ... can you help?

The RH headlight has this code on the sticker: 8x2313W029KC. I don't know if it is the original headlight. My search on the code brings up mostly Russian sites.

 

Those look like the US spec HID lights. It's a Xenon bulb for the normal headlight (D1S as far as I remember). And a separate Halogen H7 for the main beam

People describe it as bi-xenon but really they mean it's a dual headlight with xenon dipped and halogen main.

Are you having issues with it?

 

....I hope he responds. I have a 2017 Jaguar with the Bi-xenons. I LUUUVV xenon bulbs---everything xenon. So I'd love to pick up some knowledge from this thread.

 

Thanks for your reply. After some more reading, I think the lights are US spec, too. The light pattern is definitely DOT standard and the units are certainly not bi-xenon by any of the various definitions.

I'm not having any issues at the moment, just ageing bulbs. When I started to investigate what bulbs I need to replace the old ones, I stumbled upon a video of a chap refurbishing an old set of BMW xenon headlights, and that raised more questions about the spec of my lights. Consequently, I've learnt a lot about projector lights that I don't need to know

 

Sounds great. Just to clarify on bi-xenon. It's because the xenon has a low beam and high beam mode. The bulb doesn't change but there is a mechanical shutter that adjusts the light pathway for low and high beam

So on low beam you just have the xenon bulb on with a shutter partially obscuring it so it doesn't dazzle oncoming vehicles. In full / high beam the shutter lifts so the xenon light illuminates much further. And the secondary halogen H7 in the lens closer to the grille also comes on. That's why full beam mode is so amazingly bright!

Bi-xenon just means the xenon is doing a low and high beam mode. With a standard xenon bulb and some mechanicals.

Changing the bulbs is easy although you have to wiggle out the headlight unit which takes a bit of practice...

 

I didn't think the projectors in my lights had the moveable shutter ... that is one thing I was trying to determine. I couldn't see any change when I looked quickly against a car park wall the other night. I'll try again when I have more time. I guess one way to test conclusively would be to disconnect the high beam halogen first.

 

The light is labeled as an EU HID?
I would think that means an EU light and NOT an US one?
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The shift of the shutter is very fast, and the brightness of the zenon makes it impossible for me to see the shutter action on my car. But I know my XE has the true Bi-Xenon with the shutter (no additional bulb).
I had the impression they used only the TWO technologies at the time:
Either you had the Xenon with a high-beam Halogen next to it (NO shutters).
Or you had the Xenon with a Shutter allowing it to go high-beam (No piggy-backing halogens)

Shouldn't that mean that prolepsis has NO shutter in his headlamps?

 

No - if you look at the Jag brochure for those model years it states Bi-xenon on the premium / SC and XFR spec cars (at least in USA)
And per the workshop manual for my 2010 XF SC see below picture which is very specific that low beam is just xenon and high beam is an unshuttered xenon plus a fill in halogen

So it seems that even the early XF is a true bi xenon

As far as I can tell from workshop manual the US and EU spec lights are pretty similar. US does not have the extra bulb for lighting diagonally while you are turning. And it does have an extra side marker lamp in the very corner. Otherwise they seem functionally pretty similar.

 

Well that sheds some light (sorry). My lights have what are called the static bending lights, the bulbs which activate when cornering, but not the extra side marker in the corner.

It seems they probably have the shutter on the projectors, too. I’ll try to confirm that … I’m very curious now.

 

Yes, that was my first thought. However, internet searches on the code threw up enough confusion for me to ask here.

 

Well I guess that answers your initial question. They are not the North America spec given the bending light and not having the little extra side marker.
And I'm sure the xenons were all bi-xenon per the workshop manual.

Interesting to see how much complexity goes into a 'simple' component like a light cluster...

 

I checked for the shutter again by covering the high beam section of the lights. You are correct, they are bi-xenon projectors.

Thanks for helping me on this little journey of discovery and understanding.

 

Thanks for confirming back! Always fun to explore a bit more about these cars!