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Some posts back you were going to see if you could turn your DRLs on. Didn't see anything new. Any luck? Thanks.
I emailed Jaguar and they stated the dealer could turn them on.
I need to see dealer next month. Will soon find out. I've asked before and was told they only come on at night with headlights on. Nighttime running lights? Ha!
The DRL feature is, indeed, turned on or off by the dealer throught the SDD tool/computer. The DRL turns on both the signature lights and the headlight lowbeam as the signature LEDs are not bright enough to qualify as daytime running lights.
Michaelnv, I never got around to really persuing the DRLs. I kinda am thinking a different route at the moment. In short, what I am thinking about is taking the brake vent openings (bottom corners of the front bumper) and drilling a hole in the center of each of the diamond openings to fit a 10mm LED there. I would then wire up the LEDs to either act as DRLs or possibly in with the rear fog lamps. The big trick that I am needing to work out is creating a jig to allow me to drill a series of holes so the LEDs would be aimed directly in front of the car and not shining to the sides (if I was to simply drill to the face of the opening, following the curvature around the front of the car).
By doing things this way, I can get the brightness to be a useful DRL or possibly even an adequate fog light and keep the focus of the light to my lane.
I had thought about replacing the LEDs in the headlights with brighter ones and then doing the relay mod (or possibly something of my own doing) so the signature lights would do what I desired. But, after hearing what it takes to open up the headlights (in short, cutting the housing and then gluing it back together, not softening up the glue where the clear lens and black plastic meet), I decided I didn't want to take a $2500 risk. Especially when it came to the headlights themselves.
I have also gotten another "wild" idea and this essentially amounts to pulling out the headlight fixture from the headlight housing. With it out, I was going to see about mounting a series of RGB LEDs in the area of the D3S bulb. That way, when I parked the car, I could turn on a separate circuit (isolated from the battery of the car) to allow the headlights to turn on and shine whatever color I wanted. I got this idea from a company that makes a kit for the XF/XFR to do the same thing, but only in red. Granted, this company wanted something like a $1000 to add something to your headlights to make them do this. Again, more dollars than I am willing to spend for something that I would only use once in a blue moon.
Browsing around AliExpress.com, I found these DRLs. Will they really fit our X351 model XJs? At $11.08 a pair, delivered, they're cheap enough to see if you can modify them to fit. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-...c-788e86ca8cd0
Stuart, how do you see yourself mounting them to the car? If you are looking at mounting them in the lower brake duct area, that may be a little more involved than some may be willing to do. Not impossible, but once you start modifying, it will be a no return thing.
If I was interested in adding DRLs (which I'm not at this time), I would see if they could be flush mounted inside the horizontal chrome trim in the lower brake ducts. I suspect that trim is plastic and can be easily cut and trimmed with a Dremel tool so that DRL assembly would look factory, with only the LEDs protruding out of the front of that chrome trim.
If you or anyone else tries to do this and it works, I'd be interested in doing this mod if the wiring isn't too difficult.
Stuart, let me think about this for a bit. I am thinking a simple relay tied in to the headlights would be more than enough to make the DRLs work. Granted, it can't be just any relay, but one in a 5 terminal configuration so the DRLs would be wired up to the portion that is making contact when the relay is not energized. Kinda like the setup on the X-Type relating to the fog/high beam relay. The DRLs would be wired up like the fog lights. Then as the relay becomes energized when the normal low beams are powered, this will break the circuit and cause the DRLs to go out.
I will draw up a simple circuit when I get some free time to help explain it in picture form.
As for mounting the LEDs, I was looking at the center chrome piece too. You would probably be better off removing the clear plastic off of the front of the DRLs you were looking at and then drilling a series of holes that would match up to the LEDs on those lights. Granted, at that point, it would probably be easier to get some 90KMCD 5MM LEDs and wire up the LEDs yourself. The circuit is simple and if you got some flat top LEDs and painted the back of them silver, you probably wouldn't even know the LEDs were there until you turned them on. This is along the lines of what I was thinking with the 10MM LEDs (mine would be 285K MCD), but I would paint the back of them black to match the black plastic, making them blend in with the vents.
I like your ideas since drilling holes in that chrome trim piece is far easier than cutting it to conform to that DRL assembly, and the holes wouldn't be as noticeable. You're far more knowledgeable about LEDs and wiring than I am, and was wondering if the separate LEDs you describe are waterproof. As for a wiring diagram, I'd be lost trying to figure out what to do unless it included an English translation - "Wiring Diagrams For Dummies".
You might have a decent size market from this Forum if you can develop a DRL kit with all the necessary parts and step-by-step installation instructions. I'm thinking instructions, including photos and drawings, on how to remove that trim piece; a template to drill the holes in that trim piece; and all the LEDs, relays, wiring, and connectors and other parts. What do you thing it might cost to put all of that together? Another thought is to make the kit available for sale through the Forum parts vendors since they already have marketing capabilities. Just food for thought.
michaelnv, you may want to return those angel eyes. The reason why I say this is if you follow the LED light conversion thread, you cannot pull the headlight asssemblies apart like they say according to others. There is a different glue that is used with our headlights that does not soften like other headlights do. So, separating the clear lens from the black plastic backing is not possible. You can use a heat gun and try what they say, but I think you are going to find that the glue is not going to do what they say.
Hopefully others will chime in and give more detail on this.
I noted that the vendor reduced the delivered price from what I paid, $26.80, to $23.50, but it appears from the photo on eBay that the current version is NOT engraved with "Jaguar" and the Leaper logo. They're still a bargain, even without the engravings.
Most likely, that vendor was threatened by Jaguar's lawyers for copyright/trademark infringement.
The reviews seem to indicate they don't last too long but they're cheap and returnable through Prime. They also appear to give off a brighter white light than most of the other aftermarket strips which always have a blue tint. I figure its worth a try for $13.
I figure I would mount them on the underside of the chrome bumper blades. It looks like they're a similar size and shape. The question is what do I hook them up to...
XJ8JR, I am getting close. I have the LEDs mounted to new brake duct pieces and have wire 12 VDC to them. They should do the trick. I am using 24 10MM leds (output is around 800 lumen). They should do the trick. I just need to create a little "black box" to control the lights. I have the diagram in my head. But, in short, when you turn on the car, these lights are going to come on. When you turn on the headlights, they are going to turn off until you turn on the fog lights, then they are going to come back on. The circuit is pretty simple, but I just need to sit down and make it. Probably have everything I need in the house at the moment. Then it is just a matter of pulling off the old ducts and put in the new and running a little bit of wiring.
XJ8JR, thinking I might mock them up this weekend. The power steering leak issue takes priority, but that seems to have corrected itself (kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop on this one). So, keep an eye out and we'll see what I can come up with.
I decided not to fit those leds from Amazon. They looked great and fit perfectly underneath the chrome blades, but I realized it would be blocking about a quarter of the total airflow to the auxiliary radiator behind the passenger side grille. I'd rather not mess with the cooling efficiency.
I have purchased similar ones to these in the past - you get what you pay for! The individual leds stop working leaving dark spots (unlit areas). Buyer beware.
Thermo. DRLs
