Hi Guys,

Does anyone have any pictures or internal details of the Bi-Xenon HID headlamps fitted to the X350's?

With Bi-Xenon I mean, that there is a little mechanical flap that moves up if you pull on the high-beams / main beams.

I need to swap over the headlamps on my new XJR from aiming to the left, to aiming to the right.

I've got a sneaking suspicion that this little flap in the Bi-Xenon is the key.

The beam pattern for North America is different again, in that it's only aiming dead center & doesn't have that kick up to the side. But I imagine the internals of the headlamps would be the same, save for the shape of that flap.

With some luck, it might be just a case of turning it around to change the beam pattern?

Before I start pulling the car apart, just wondering if anyone can help with pictures of the internals.

Thanks!

 

OK I just got an email back from a wrecker in Holland. They don't have any LHD headlights on stock, but he told me to send my RHD lights to him and he would "renovate" them to LHD spec.

"If you send us yours, I can renovate them to LHD. It's an internal part that is affected. EUR 350 per headlight. It's much cheaper for you"

So now, I think I might tackle this one myself.

 

It isn't much but have you seen the attached from the Technical Guide?

 

That's great mate thanks a lot!

 

Well i did it, and it passed with flying colours!

Biggest effort is to pull out the headlights, this means bumper cover off, plastic undertray off.

The missus didn't look impressed when she came home & saw this mess this morning


Headlights are out.


Back cover off the headlight. Take out the Xenon bulb, and the indicator bulb, unplug the wires to the solenoid that drives the flap, the assembly will slide out the back, no need to prise open the headlight cases. There are three philips head screws holding it in.



And there is the flap that defines if the lights kick up to the left or the right.

The assembly is just clipped together, the flap is in two pieces; a frame, and the flap itself, which is on a pin hinge.

I pulled the pin out, and turned around the flap.




It needed a but of re-shaping to sit in the hinge properly, and the problem is that the tab that wraps round the pin ends up on the wrong side.

Couldn't see how to do it any other way, so I got some superglue & glued the pin & the flap together.

The I started disassembling the other headlight....and realised what an idiot I am....

Here are the two side by side;



You can see, that if I swapped the flaps over to the other headlight, the tab to hold the pin would have been in the right place!

Too late the glue had set on the 1st one, so I've glued the 2nd one as well. Just waiting for them to properly cure before I put the lights back together. What a ****...hope it holds...

OK the car is back together now, and the headlights are working (not pointing down as I feared they might).

The pics above are a little decieving, because the flap actually sits in the lower half of the headlight.
Had a hell of a time putting them back together, because I'd convinced myself that the flap was at the top, and they wouldn't go back together that way. Here is a pic to help;




Look close you can see the flap at the bottom, that's how it is (must be because of the mirror in the lamp???)

So job is done, I can't really tell if it's made any difference, but let's hope so!

EDIT

Picked up the car from the tyre fitter, they had the machine to test the headlight aim.
Apparently the aim left/right was perfect, just that the right unit was way too high.
They've corrected the height, and told me that the aim is perfect now, just like a LHD model.
So let's see how it goes in the official test...

EDIT again

Just to wrap this up, the car passed the MFK (Motorfarzeugkontrolle = Swiss MOT) and is now fully registered here.

Mark this one up as a win!

 

Excellent, good write up + pics plus €700 to spend on celebrations!

 

As it turns out I had to reverse these back to the original RHD spec when the car came to Australia. Reverse the procedure, and it's back to how it was.

Jag2005, go to the X-Type section, your post has been moved.

 

Hi,
First post. Great thread.
I will be importing an XKR X350 to the Netherlands sometime fairly soon and will use the above tip - will save a big bill so many thanks!
I was just wondering about the rear dogs on these cars. In the Netherlands, from memory by the the rear fog light has to be either in the middle or on the left side of the car. I don't know if the a fig on each side is legal, so in the last I have just unscrewed the right bulb during the import tests. My question: does the X350 have one rear fog on the right, or rear fogs on each side?

Thanks!

 

Mine comes with 2 rear fog lights.

 

Rear fog lights are in the tail light assembly, so 2, on my SV8.

 

Is the Bi-xenon a UK only item? I haven't seen that my US 2004 XJR HID's change height with a flap inside.


Also, does anyone know the exact size of the lens (diameter and thickness) of the HID. I want to upgrade mine to a clear one when I take mine out to change the bulbs.

 

Thanks for the input guys, very useful. Essentially confirms it is possible to switch an RHD x350 over to European legality at no cost. Very useful to know.

 

hi, will this work for all xenon lamps, i have a 2004 s type jag that is fited with rhd xenon lights The car wants to live in France, but the cost of new lights is as much as the car is worth. Great article, well laid out Thanks.

 

i have a 2006 s type the drivers side light is very dull sunset colour im being told its a hid d2s bulb 35w. the issue i have i cant see how to replace it as there is no room to work i was told the bumper has to be dropped to do this also it maybe the ignitor /burner or ballast fault any advise welcome

 

Wow. Well done Cambo.

How I now wish you could do the same for foglights flip blocking the light from shining further?

I find the fogs in X350s useless even in fog. Can't use them to save my backside. The culprit is the foglight inner flip restricting the beam pattern. I tried removing it without unglueing the light and couldn't do it.

I plan to one day unglue the light, remove the metal plate, and take the light back to a glass merchant who can glue it back again to ensure the glue withstands high temperatures due to heat from the light

 

If you want better lighting, check out my upgrade thread.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lights-159180/


swapping out the fog light bulbs for HID's makes a huge difference.

 

Thanks Muddybear. I wish you had posted your workings on the fog lights for our reference. But I'll take the light and shop around for HID aftermarket replacements.

Could you take a picture of the back of your upgraded fogs so we can see the extent of changes to be expected?

Much appreciated

 

 

If your car has std. halogen headlights, rather than the HID projector lights, then there is no built-in way to change your dipped beam pattern to pass a Dutch technical inspection.

 

Excellent. Thanks for the detail. I am looking to take my UK XJR to the continent some day soon .... this just sorted the only real issue.