Hey all, I've decided that the last thing I want to do to mod my car is upgrade the fog lamps to a 6000k-like bulb. I'm liking the look of these:

Super Bright 68 SMD H3 LED Bulbs For Fog Lights or Driving Lights

The problem is how to access the bulbs? And how difficult is it to do the change? The manual is useless and I haven't found a very good guide on the forum.

Thoughts are appreciated!

 

Just remember that most of these "bright" bulbs actually put out far less usable light than standard halogens. It all depends on whether you want to actually use the fog lights, or just have them look "bright." These bulbs are even advertised as an "aesthetical " upograde, rather than functional.

 

The only upgrade that will provide more useable light, albeit down low, is an HID kit. You will light up the road surface in front of you. And depending on the approach angle, **** off oncoming traffic.

For the most part people dont grasp the concept or should I say the differences between "fog" and driving lights.

Fog lights are meant for well... Fog. Conditions where the main headlamp beam's output is obscured by fog. The lower lights hopefully light up an area of the roadway beneath the fog. They are designed to increase the cars visibility to other drivers in foggy / restricted visibility conditions.

In most of europe driving with fog lights on in the city is grounds to issue a ticket. You don't NEED them. If anything, the best way to improve their performance is to change the bulbs to yellow. Remember the longer the wavelength of the light, the less dispursement, (but the more yellow), it looks.

Aux driving lights - think off road rally car here - with 3 headlights in the grille are designed to increase visibility for the the driver. They work well in off road situations where there is no sources of ambient light. But are placed at the same height as the regular headlights.

People here think fog lights are just "extra" lights. And that the guy with the brightest lights wins. Drive around with 4 hid's in non projector housings in a city so well lit up that you can basically drive without headlights. Blinding pretty much everything that crosses their path.

That's another concept lost on America - city lights. you know those little 194 bulbs that light up your head lights? They are there for a reason. Because in the city with all the street lights etc, you dont need a full headlight beam. People run parking lights and the city lights. No need for a full "main" beam.

One last point. "Bright" is a relative term. A good example of this is two flashlights. One with a halogen bulb, and one with an led bulb or combination of led bulbs. This goes back to my statement about dispersion. From across the room if you turn both flashlights on, and have someone look at them, the led will be MUCH brighter, sometimes to the point of being uncomfortable to look directly at. However, if you are the one holding the flashlights, you quickly realize that the halogen, although it provides a "dimmer" light due to a lower color temperature, actually provides much more useable light. The LED bulb will make things a foot away from you really bright, but you will barely be able to see something 5ft away. The halogen bulb will spread a much more uniform, and in turn more useable light.


Take care,

George

 

I never leave the city, so the functionality or practicality of 6000k bulbs in the fogs is totally a non-issue, I want to do it purely for appearance sake.

Also just bought some new, high-tech Philips 6000k w5w bulbs with built-in heat sinks for my parking lights, just waiting for them to arrive in the mail. Aesthetics are important to me

 

Did I scare everyone off by saying I'm only doing it for the looks lol? Installing the 6000k leds in the parking lights on Thursday, will post a pic.

 

You are so right. I have just changed the Osram bulbs of my normal beam (not the bright)ad/or the fog light) to Phylips Diamon and they look nice and white but I find that usable light fo see furthest down the doad is noticably less, so I put back the originals. They are much better to see . Apart from looks, a waste of time and money, Te car is an S Type.

 

"Lighting ****?" is that?

So how does that actually work?

You have someone else drive the Jaguar and follow - or lead - with a camera krew in a "chase" car so you can enjoy the best angles and call the shots that give you the strongest emotional response?

Welllll..... surely has to be cheaper than lawsuits, divorces, and having to give a damn whether a toilet seat is left up or down....yeah?

An XJ may create a 'wet spot', expensive one, even.

But at least it won't make you sleep in it.