Been meaning to swap out the old halogen sealed beam headlights on my '91 coupe since I got the car a year ago, but never got around to it. Just tonight I noticed I've lost the low beam on the LHD side. I'm leaving on an overnight trip tomorrow afternoon, so I only have tomorrow morning to replace the bad headlight.

I imagine the simplest thing would be to just get one (or a pair) of the same type of headlight. Or I could get a conversion headlamp kit that takes replaceable bulbs and install that. My question is, do both of these require the same amount of time to install?

Recommendations what to get in either instance appreciated. I have all the usual big name auto parts stores nearby.

Thanks,

Ian

 

Installation time is the same for either. Well, almost. You'll spend and extra 30 seconds clipping the bulb and boot into the lamp on the upgrade.

Easy job though - remove the chrome bezel. Each lamp has three Phillips screws holding it in. Loosen the screws on the retaining ring (you don't have to take the screws completely out, but you can) turn the retaining ring and the lamp and ring will fall free of the housing. Unplug the lamp, install the new one.

No real caveats here except: 1. don't touch the bulb with your fingers. The oils from your skin could remain behind and cook onto the hot glass potentially causing premature failure; and; 2. make sure the lamp electrical connector and wiring is clean and in good shape. I usually put a little dielectric grease on the prongs to help inhibit corrosion, but that's not necessary.

 

Called five or six local stores, could only find a single pair of Sylvania Xtravision H5006 sealed beams, so I went with them. Probably the quickest and easiest (and cheapest) repair I've ever done on this car. Thanks for the guidance.

Since nobody local had the conversion headlamp assembly would appreciate any recommendation for a good online supplier.

Ian

 

I'm not sure from your post whether you have Euro spec lights or the quad US ones.
I've bought a set of quad lights from Jaguar
for a quite reasonable price (including Xenon upgrade) to replace my sealed beam units: 4 new style lights for the price of 2 old style ones.
I know it looks like a VW site but they do loads of stuff and I presume that they deliver internationally.

 

Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

You will also find good technical articles there in addition to the parts.

 

I replaced my sealed beam bulbs with the new led halo bulbs I found on eBay. They also have the replaceable bulbs and looked amazing! I wired the separate led rings to come on with the ignition adding a switch under hood if I ever wanted to turn the, off. Make very cool drl but aren't screaming bright. Look best at dusk or cloudy day.
Since, I've changed to the single euro with new super white bulbs. But I do miss my halo lights!!

 

The facelift XJS is known for the poor headlights efficiency, so I was putting Sylvania's best, Silverstar Ultra's. They kept going bad every year at $40.00 a pop, so I decided to go with HID, since now they've come out with the dual beam 9004's that weren't available previously. Plus, the price has, too, become totally affordable, really not that much more than the Silverstar Ultra's. If the beams are adjusted correctly, they behave no different from the OEM halogen 9004's but with incredibly awesome illumination. I'd highly recommend HID. I now also have them on my 2002 XJR.

Cheers!

 

So far so good with the new sealed beams, but I do plan to upgrade to conversion headlights with separate halogens or HIDs. Gonna discuss with my mechanic to weigh the pros and cons. Obviously, I'd rather do it myself to save some $ if I can do a decent job.

philhef - would love to see what the halos looked like in your car. Also, could you tell me what item/seller you dealt with? All the headlight candidates I see on eBay say they are NOT compatible with my '91.