Hey I own a Jaguar XK8 2001 Coupe

I Wanted to start a thread to discuss some aftermarket options or ways to DIY make a 3rd tail light to replace the broken plastic one on the coupe.

Common on trucks in the US people make a third tail light using a led strip so I'm thinking what if I use the wire from my third brake light (mine is broken and missing but connection is still present and working)

And make a led strip that will go on that portion of the glass. Or has someone already tackled this project and would like to share?

 

Not to my knowledge. That plastic casing is very fragile and bulky. We could probably come up with something more compact and less fragile. 🤔

 

You can fit the x150 spoiler and use the brake light in that.

 

That looks absolutely sunning!! I'm going to save that as one of my options. So the portion where your oem 3rd tail light is, did you block it off or you still have the original?

 

That looks better than I imagined it would, but if I were to nitpick, I don't like that about an inch of the strip on each side overlaps the tail-lights, or rather, that it is longer than the boot lid by 2 inches.

Could you provide a side profile picture of the car to see what it looks like?

Also, is that an aftermarket sunroof?

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...-repair-27177/

 

That forum is in relation to fixing the led within the housing, this is a situation in which the housing is completely broken and making a new way to make shift a 3rd brake light outside oem. Whether spoiler like someone showed or within the glass. Just looking for some creative option/fixes.

 

Indeed, especially since replacements are non existent and if they are they are 300$+ here in the USA

 

Same thing I was thinking

 

Sorry I have no solution but I would definitely like one. Any 3D Printer experts out there? The innards of my third brake light are fine but the outer casing is badly cracked and the brackets are missing from the rear window. I've carefully covered the outer case with 2" wide black duct tape which serves the dual purpose of holding it together and improving the appearance. The unit is just wedged in place with some packing underneath. All in all not satisfactory though.

 

--After some concept making and thinking based on the car's setup these are some mockups I made in photoshop to give some ideas to aftermarket replacements.

(Also just adding this here if you want to see how far my photoshop skills go I have a website https://www.ocwolfyproductions.com/gallery)

Idea 1
If you want to stay within the OEM look, you can go with an aftermarket taillight that fits the measurement. For the coupe the LED is 25cm and the housing is 30cm+. Regarding this fact I found a 3rd tail light on amazon that's 12volts and has one function- brake on brake off like the original with negative and positive and closely fits the measurement.

Here's an example link in the USA:
With this it has brackets that can connect to the glass via double face tape, and depending on what tape you use it should be easy to take off when need be, just don't attach to the defroster and stay within the confines of the 3rd brake light area.

Upside- you can tilt and change angle, parts are cheap and replaceable after fitment and wiring is straight forward as long as yours is still there.
Downside- depending on how you angle the light may glare on the window at night. Not sure if the original does but my 07 xj8 it did even with the housing so beware of that small fact but overall it's a solution to that preference.









Idea 2

Now this idea is not an OEM look obviously but is on some new cars like Audi and Mercedes. This can be advanced or made like the first option which is light on or off when brake is applied. There are many different brands and purposes this specific design can have

Personally to me its nice but I cant do this, one I'm afraid of the glare that will affect my rear view dashcam which sits at the top a night, and the amount of fitting I will have to do for a bracket depending on design or what comes with the one you buy. Its a whole lot of improvising with this one but possible.

Downside - Glare depending on how you do it, previous OEM brake light housing crop will still be seen unless you cover it up with something black to make it look clean and OEM like how I edited the picture
Upside - Trucks and bigger vehicles cant miss this light when you step on the brake and it makes your car more unique. And you can make it advanced if you so please with turning signal coded to the light based on the brand you get.



These are just concepts, but when I go about my idea I will update the thread. But in the mean time what do you think?

 

The oem was disconnected as it was no longer needed. The lens was sprayed matt black and a reversing camera fitted.



I only needed to extend the feed wire, as you can ground the brake light in the boot. (oops sorry trunk).
The camera is fed into a double din head unit which i installed in the dash.


Just need to make a dash panel to fit the new aperture.

 

Very impressive work I must say. I've never been the type to need a back up cam, the back up sensor is enough for me. But I did plan to use the spacing near the antenna portion of the glass (top) to place a rear view dash cam.

But in regards to your design I'm curious as to whether you'll be wrapping your trim for where the nav placement was.

 

Little update, so I after measurements of the glass. Bought a led strip with sequential systems. I'm going to install after I get tints, a rubber strip to use to stop over glare from the light after install. Will update again with photos after installation.

 

As Promised I got the car tinted and went ahead and installed the 3rd light strip and blocked off the previous section for the 3rd oem broken tail light with film. Not gonna lie the look grew on me within 2 mins of my sister pressing it for me so I can adjust the center point.

This required only 3 things, film to block the whole from the old tail light, the led and something to cover the glare (optional), tomorrow I'm going to home Depot to get some plastic to mold into a housing to block the glare permanently that shines on the back glass area.

Honestly happy with this. No truck should rear end me now

 

I already made one and had to split it into two pieces because my printer wasn’t wide enough. It came out pretty good, but putting the two halves together was more of a pain than it was worth.

The new printer is wide enough to print it in one piece, but I can’t do anything until it arrives. I see a lot of them on eBay in the UK, but I can’t find anyone willing to ship one across the pond. There must not be many coupes in North America because I check all the time and never see one for sale.

Mine was already cracked, and my design was based on scanning that one, so I could never get it perfect. I was really hoping to get a good original to scan instead.

 

That’s clever. Is it an easy fit?

 

My car is hibernating for the winter...Let me see what's involved w/removing. I'd be happy to ship out.

I assume mine wouldn't be destroyed as part of the "scan"?

 

It wouldn’t, but once my new printer arrives, I’ll see what I can do with what I have. I really appreciate you offering, and I’d hate for you to risk breaking yours trying to remove it.

My car only had about 22,000 miles on it when I pulled mine out, and it was garaged probably 90% of the time—and I still managed to crack it getting it out.

My printer should be here in about a month, and I’ll give it a shot then and get back to you. It gives me a month to work on the model. I tried to get Octoclassic to make it for me but I guess there are not enough people with Coupes looking for it.

 

I'm also looking for it. Mine broke as well, again. I was going to reach out to them. I still might, just because they need to bring this to market and they need to know there is a market.