I am a newbie to the wonderful world of Jaguar having spent 30+ years driving Saabs. I have modified the lighting on my Saabs with additional driving lights and back-up lights -- all relay switched -- by simply tapping into the existing circuits to power the relays. This method has not overloaded existing circuitry and has had no impact on the working of the car's computer. However, I know NOTHING about the Jaguar wiring and the quirks of the electronics.

When I first drove the XK at night here in dark and rainy rural Oregon, I was distressed by how difficult it was to see and so I am looking for ideas for improving night lighting performance.

Because the air is so moist here in the winter, the 6000K HID lights scatter badly creating a visual "haze" and limiting visibility -- That can likely be partly solved by swapping out the bulbs for 4300K . The 4300K colour penetrates moist air better and cause less dazzle for other drivers which should help -- but I would like to add some sort of high intensity pencil beam lights (4300K or lower) for night driving OFF the freeway.

My lights are aimed higher than I like them and may be causing dazzle so I need to adjust them downwards -- but I read a post that suggested it was an electronic adjustment rather than a simple mechanical adjustment at the headlight assembly.???????

Has anyone got experience in modifying the lighting, or adding additional driving lights? What are the mechanical/structural challenges of adding driving lights to the front, and how does tapping into the existing wiring impact the computer -- if at all? If the computer in not affected, the back-up light is an easy fix with a relay switched LED light bar under the rear bumper . . . . but I cannot immediately see any easy solutions to improving the driving lights. . . . . .

Thoughts, suggestions, caveats?? Many thanks.

 

Horizontal and vertical adjustments are located atop the headlight housing.
Go to the "sticky" at the head of the XK forum for both the shop and electrical manuals.

 

Also 4300K is the correct colour temperature, anything else is aftermarket.

 

GREAT! Useful info. THANKS

 

That is good to know -- mine are DEFINITELY at 6000 Kelvin or higher -- the halogen fog lights look positively yellow compared with the headlights.

 

The could be at the end of their useful life, the colour temp
will shift with use sometimes reddish sometimes bluish. The bases should say what they are.

 

I concur. The factory light leveling is a tad high for me as well…. that why I lowered the beam ever so slightly. Do you have the adaptive lighting? I find it very good.
And about the “yellow fogs”. I purposely use the Sylvania fog vision bulbs … in yellow. I suspect you see as much fog as I do. And the colour cuts very nicely through snow as well. I purposely raised the beam of the fogs very slightly to 1 degree below horizontal.

 

Thanks Guy. I had not thought of putting the amber bulbs in the Foglight -- what a great idea!

Unfortunately, many people equate "bright" with good illumination -- not realizing that our eyes are sensitive to blue light and see it as "brighter", and not realizing that it scatters in moist air, rain or snow and that the illumination on the road is far better with "cooler" light temperatures and that 4300K white and 3000K amber lights penetrate MUCH better. In fact, when I was younger, France required low beams to be amber and not white. (I am probably really dating myself :-)

Thanks for putting in the diagrams -- unfortunately the Allen head screws are not visible on my car so I shall start disassembling things until I I find the adjustment points. I am a newbie to the XK after 30 years and three quarters of a million miles in Saabs. So armed with my trusty "Haynes" manual I will jump into almost anything on a Saab -- but I am much more tentative on the Jag. I really don't want to screw anything up that will cost a fortune to fix later. LOL. Finding what I need in the Service Manual is challenging at this point -- it is a vast tome -- so I am moving slowly and carefully. LOL

I am also considering adding a LED light bar - a curved bar light bar could fit nicely just in front of the lower grille without protruding unnecessarily and an amber spot/fog combo might do the trick. Still brainstorming and exploring.

Thanks for the feedback and helpful input. Andy

 

I did this on my F250! I LOVE it, but totally worthless when oncoming traffic is ahead. Nor when same-direction traffic is in front. WAY too bright.

 

Looks Good! That looks like the 42 inch.

I have the same issues with my Saab -- with an array of high intensity halogen, lights I have to turn them off whenever I am following someone (even a mile or more away) or any time there is oncoming traffic. (they are keyed to my high beams anyway) HOWEVER, the times I want them are on the back roads coming back from evening meetings where I may meet 3 cars in a 40 minute drive -- they are ideal then.

Driving in traffic on the freeway is not an issue, even with the basic lights, but dark, winding roads in the rain . . . . . got to have something better! :-)

 

. I did enjoy driving “black out” in the army. Testament to the fact that lower lumens and different colours do work.

 

The allen screws are probably covered by white push in covers, mine are.

 

It is a start -- I found one on each side. Thanks Jack. . . . . . . . . .Later -- a second look and found both. THANKS

 

It took a surprisingly long time to find them -- the little caps concealed their purpose, and I found the inboard ones by feeling around. THANKS

 

I am old enough to remember the blackouts during the war in London -- it is amazing what you can see in virtually no light when you are young and completely dark adapted. And, in my teens and early 20s I can remember riding my BSA with its feeble yellow tungsten light bulb -- but never having trouble seeing as I hurtled around those dark country lanes in the UK. I am not sure that was because there was much less light pollution and younger eyes, or extreme recklessness LOL

 

I put in fairly bright LEDs, at 6000k because I use the foglights exclusively as daytime driving lights here in South Florida. Never on at night, and very visible during the day.

The weird little W5's in the headlights are good for decoration but not much more.

I like using DRL's, but prefer to choose when they're on.