Hi everyone,
I just picked up a slightly wrecked X300.
I have a 1998 xj8 parts car and before tearing into both cars I was wondering if the headlight assemblies swap out ? Thanks for any help

 

XJ8 headlights are an upgrade for x300. They will fit fine, you'll just need to cut and wire up the plugs are they are different. They are by far the best upgrade for x300, the old x300 lights are frankly dangerous to drive with at night.

 

How so? I never had any complaints. The high beams lit up the roadway like a freight train.

 

This from the NEW PRODUCT V8 XJ Series Sedan introduction publication JJM 18 15 12/80 August 1997

The X308 headlamps incorporate H7 bulbs. Light output from the new headlamps is 10% greater than from the previous design.

 

The X308 lights are definitely better, but at 10%, the improvement is far from transformational. Better bulbs for the X300 lights can be sourced which claim more than 10%, although having fitted them, I would say the improvement is marginal.

 

I owned multiple x300, XJ40 and XJS. The x300 driving headlights are by far the worst out of three, including best(according to market) philips bulbs. 10% figure might be comparing new headlights but 25 years old x300 are abysmal compared to 20 years old x308, 30 year old XJ40 or XJS headlights and I never felt safe driving with them at night on all the x300 I've owned. I'd say ~50% improvement with x308 in my case, swapped mine last year and they are as good as much never cars, not to mention that I've been replacing often two bulbs a year in the past and they are not cheap when after upgrading to x308 lights, which cost me as much as two packs of x300 bulbs, they are still fine(they came with the lights too).

Forgot to mention
X308 headlights simply looks better too

 

Hi All,

I've got to agree with katar83 here. I upgraded my car to X308 headlights exactly this time last year and the headlamp performance is way better than the stock X300 units and I totally agree they look better, check out the photo!

BAD JOKE ALERT - You will see the difference is night and day!

Over the course of the year I have even managed to eBay 3/4 of my original lights to people who have probably pranged theirs - covering the cost of the upgrade

Cheers,
nickdabs

 

Thanks everyone for the info !!
Glad to hear that it will be an improvement over the existing lights as well.
-Duane