Today I replaced the right
fender and headlight on our 2005 XJ8. It took me about four hours to complete the job. Earlier in the year, while leaving a parking lot that had a delta type exit, a person started to accelerate into the road as traffic had passed. I let off the brake to load into the next position to exit. She saw a car 100 yards away in the left lane and hit her brakes. I was checking to make sure it was still clear and bam, I hit her. She admitted that she second guessed entering the road. Still my fault. With the 2005 there were no special tools needed. It was a pain in the *** to do but now our car is back. I am a bit upset that the replacement headlight I bought was from a 2004 and does not have the same bulb set up. The headlight fits perfect but has a much cooler light. Now people will know I am coming easily because of the different light.

 

I still have the old light in case there is a way to change the bulbs. I understand the bumper will have to be lowered again for access. I think I will have to be an odd sight as the lenses are different.

 

I am interested in how you did that.
It's not all bolted on is it?
You bought an used fender (wing) ?

 

I wanted to take pictures the whole way through the process but I wanted to get done in one day so I only took a few. I took some photos and if I can figure out how to post them here, I will. I bought a used fender that was in pretty good shape and matched my paint perfect. Yes, it is bolt on but a bit tight in places. It was tight because I did not to go through the trouble of removing the bumper entirely nor the lower panel below the door. Both locations had bolts hidden beneath them. If I remember correctly there are three under the bumper and two sets of two at the back. Two were simple to reach in from the fender area and two were beneath the plastic panel along the rocker panel. All 10 mm. The entire job took me four hours to complete with simple hand tools including taking apart the bumper and redoing it because I forgot something.

 

I don't know if you can see this.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=...=att&disp=safe https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=...=att&disp=safe https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=...=att&disp=safe https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=...=att&disp=safe

 

The links do not work

To post pictures:
" go advanced" at bottom of page when posting

then "manage attachments"

Then you have a choice of how to transfer your pics.

I plug my camera into an USB and then access the pics from that

 

deleted

 

What I started with, a dented fender and a broken headlight.



This is in front of the door.



Two bolts here and two bolts below fender you need to open the plastic rocker runner to access.

 

Good pics thanks

 

Thanks philjoemill for your informative post . I am in a similar situation with my 2005 X350 V6.
Damage to RHS mudguard/fender/wing and also headlight and bumper.
I have sourced a good 2nd hand mudguard, bumper and headlight so your photos will come in handy.
The parts are from green car so will need to be resprayed to match the gunmetal grey of my car but that won't be a problem.
My car is fitted with Xenon headlights with headlight washers and the headlight I have sourced is a standard one so light out put would be different.
This is not permitted here in Australia so I will have to source another Xenon headlight (not cheap). Alternative is to swap both headlights for standard ones.
Reading your earlier post re "much cooler light" I think you may have a Xenon unit. The light bulbs are not interchangeable as these headlights are a complete sealed unit.

 

Nice work, it looks great.
Good chance it would be a total if turned into insurance.
Mine was, i had full coverage, with similar damage.
The headlight alone is a $2200 Xenon unit.

 

PaulL, I wish I took more time to make good photos of the bumper to fender attachment. I was in a rush to finish in one day (turned out that I had plenty of time). As for the headlight, I purchased it a while back, not thinking it would be different. I called my mechanic when I discovered they were different to ask if it was ok. He said, I'm ok with it if you are. I figured it was legal here in the US but I wanted to make sure before I put everything back together again. Now, not only will I be easily spotted approaching from different headlight colors, I will have the best of both lights. Sharp focused beam of xenon and wide coverage of halogen will give me a balanced view of the front.

 

Wingrider, thanks, I still need to tweak the front right corner of the hood a bit and touch up paint in several places. I had full coverage and the quote I was given by my insurance was $3200 damage. They issued the quote from photos I sent. A new fender is $900 retail with no paint. The insurance company sent me a check for about $1700. It cost me $700 so far to repair. I lost my safe driver discount for four years, therefore I kind of broke even. BTW, I am kind of surprised it wasn't totaled. I checked the value of an '05 XJ8 and it came in at about $5000.