Building on the project I documented in this thread: High Beam LED Projector Retrofit, I've now finally improved my original retrofit. As many of you have experienced, the factory halogen lights on our X100s are mediocre at best. Those of us with the optional low-beam HID projectors enjoy slightly better output — but it’s still underwhelming. Jaguar contracted Valeo to develop an HID solution that allowed them to advertise xenon lighting as an upgrade while meeting government regulations. Although the Valeo xenon kit met the basic requirements, it grossly underperformed even by early 2000s standards.

By that time, manufacturers like Koito, Hella, AL (Automotive Lighting), and NHK were producing vastly superior HID systems for brands like Infiniti, Lexus, Honda, Mercedes, and BMW. In contrast, the Valeo units used in our Jaguars — as well as in Porsches, Audis, and Chryslers — suffered from poor beam patterns, narrow light spread, and dim hotspots. The projectors relied heavily on fresnel lenses to "clean up" the output, but the core optics simply weren't there. To make matters worse, the system was paired with an underperforming ballast that limited bulb performance further, resulting in slower warm-up times and lower sustained brightness compared to Denso and Matsushita equivalents.

The factory Valeo LAD5G ballast was adequate when new, reliably igniting the D1S bulbs, but it slightly under-drove them and became less reliable with age. Over time, aging LAD5G units commonly produce flickering, weaker output, and further underpower the bulbs. It's worth noting that the stock LAD5G is a 35W unit, tasked not only with igniting and powering the HID bulb but also supplying voltage to the headlight leveling stepper motor.

As detailed in the earlier thread I linked, my original low-beam projector and high-beam reflectors had both suffered from reflector burn, becoming dull and significantly degrading output — down to levels comparable with failing halogen systems. Since I was unable to source OEM replacement parts at the time, I opted to retrofit a dedicated LED high-beam projector, the Morimoto Mini HB, which worked flawlessly and produced a far superior high beam compared to the original halogen reflectors. I also replaced the low-beam HID projector with a Morimoto 4TL-R bi-xenon unit. At the time, it was the smallest available projector with a 2.5" lens, making it suitable for installation inside our headlights — although some trimming of both the projector and the headlight housing was still necessary. Since the 4TL-R uses D2S bulbs while the stock LAD5G ballasts were originally designed for D1S, I installed an ignitor adapter to make the system work.

About a month ago, one of my LAD5G ballasts finally failed, no longer igniting the D2S bulb. While searching for a replacement, I discovered that new OE Valeo ballasts were no longer available at a reasonable price. Chinese clone ballasts had mixed reviews: while they could produce acceptable light output, many were incapable of properly driving the headlight leveling motor, and their longevity was questionable.

This situation prompted me to install an aftermarket ballast instead, taking the opportunity to further upgrade the projector as well. I chose the Morimoto XB55 (55W) ballast paired with the Morimoto Micro D2S 5.0 projector. Why did I choose to upgrade the projectors when the 4TL-Rs were working fine?

The Micro D2S 5.0 offers a major improvement over both the OE Valeo projectors and the Morimoto 4TL-R. Compared to the factory Valeos, the Micro D2S 5.0 produces a much sharper cutoff, a vastly brighter hotspot, and — crucially — a significantly wider beam spread, dramatically improving peripheral visibility at night. Where the Valeos relied heavily on fresnel lenses to mask their weak optics, the D2S 5.0 uses a clear lens and a finely tuned reflector bowl to deliver a clean, high-intensity beam with minimal artifacts.

Compared to the 4TL-R (now discontinued), the Micro D2S 5.0 also shows important advantages. While the 4TL-R already produced a much brighter hotspot than the OE Valeos, its beam pattern remained relatively center-focused, leaving the sides dimmer. The Micro D2S 5.0 corrects this by balancing strong hotspot intensity with a much wider horizontal spread, offering better illumination of road edges without sacrificing downroad punch. Its bi-xenon high beam function also produces a "tabletop" style beam pattern, resulting in unbeatable light output when combined with the LED high-beam projectors. In addition, the Micro D2S 5.0 is physically more compact than the 4TL-R, making installation easier inside our relatively tight headlight housings with minimal trimming.

Overall, the Micro D2S 5.0 represents a substantial optical upgrade — combining excellent width, intensity, and fitment — making it one of the best-performing bi-xenon projectors currently available for retrofitting into the Jaguar X100.

Here, I present a guide for an HID bi-xenon retrofit. Although this guide is based on a car that originally had an HID system (which was modified), it should also work for owners with OEM halogen or HID headlights, with some minor differences.

Parts I bought:

1. Morimoto Micro D2S 5.0 bixenon projector.
   1. The Morimoto Mini H1 8.0 would also fit, would also fit, but it requires a rebased H1 HID bulb, which sacrifices bulb quality and prevents you from using OEM bulbs from Osram or Philips. Both the Mini H1 8.0 and the Micro D2S 5.0 are among the smallest projectors on the market, guaranteeing that they that fit in our headlights.
   2. Another contender if you want to go to Bi-LED route is the Osram Bi-LED CBI projectors.I found out about these after completing my retrofit. They appear to be only slightly larger than the Micro D2S 5.0 and also use a 2.5" lens. I believe they would fit. Although there aren't many reviews yet, given that they are made by Osram, quality should be excellent. Bi-LED simplifies wiring and eliminates the need for a ballast, making this a great option, especially for owners with OEM halogen projectors.
2. D2S: XB55 2.0 (50W) ballast This is a massive improvement over the Valeo LAD5G. It offers faster ignition, stronger sustained output, and excellent quality. You can opt for an aftermarket 35W ballast if you wish.
   1. If you prefer to reuse the OE Valeo ballast, you can — refer back to my original retrofit thread (linked at the start of this post) where I explain how I used ignitor adapters to connect the LAD5G to D2S bulbs. This simplifies wiring for OE HID owners who don't want to replace the ballast.
   2. Any quality aftermarket ballast will work — just make sure you match the ballast to the projector and bulb type:
      • If the ballast has an AMP connector, it is meant for an H1 HID bulb/projector.
      • If the ballast has a D2S connector, it is compatible with the Micro D2S 5.0 and OEM D2S bulbs like the Philips Xtreme Vision Gen 2 I'm currently using.
      • Recommended ballast brands: Morimoto, Hylux, NHK G5, and GTR Ultra.
3. A relayed wiring harness This connects your aftermarket ballast to the D2S bulbs (or H1, depending on your setup), the OE light trigger input, and battery ground and positive. I’ll show you how to set it up later below.
   • Important: If you choose to retain the OE Valeo ballast or install the Osram Bi-LED projector, this harness is not necessary.
   • No CAN-bus harnesses are required; our cars do not monitor the headlights via CAN.
4. A fuse tap
5. One 5 AMP fuse.
6. 9006 headlight socket
7. 9006 splitter (optional)

This guide assumes you already know how to remove the headlights from the car and how to open them up.

For those of you with halogen headlights, the bracket you need to make might be different. I can't help you with that as I haven't had access to a halogen headlight for an X100. It's certainly doable, but it will be uncharted custom work that you're going to have to go through to make an aftermarket projector fit.

See this thread https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-x100-17/retrofit-better-h1-projectors-headlights-big-mistake-264028/]http:// https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...istake-264028/

Also if your car uses halogen headlights, it is illegal to switch to HID in most jurisdictions. Proceed at your own risk.




Step 1: The two wires that extend from the projector power the high-beam solenoid that lowers the cut-off shield and allows the Micro D2S 5.0 to have high beam function. Make sure the 9006 pigtail is connected to the projector and not a different one. They supply the 9006 pigtail in the box. Make sure it's connected to the projector before you bolt the projector to the headlight.

Step 2: After you've removed the OE projector, which is held by two screws on the bottom and a clip on the top. (Refer to page six, post 104 my other thread).

Step 3: I recommend that you harvest the Valeo projector to help you design a bracket. I used a 1/8th inch thick aluminum sheet for the bottom bracket and a Dremmel with a cut-off wheel to help me fabricate that bracket. I also used a drill to make the bolt holes. As you can see, the bracket is a thin U shape on the bottom. There's another bracket for the top that I hadn't added when I took this picture. It extends from bolt hole to bolt hole of the top of the projector and is held by the OE clip. For the top bracket use a thinner metal than the 1/8th aluminum I used . For the bottom, the 1/8th thick aluminum is perfect.





Step 4: Once you have secured the projector to the headlights, you can install the ignitor. I find it's easier to install the entire projector with the bulb already secured to it and then connect the ignitor. This ignitor will connect to the aftermarket ballast. If you choose to retain the OE Valeo LAD5G ballast, then it would be an ignitor adaptor such as this one: D1S to D2S ignitor adapter.

I decided to retain the OE Valeo LAD5G ballast to power the stepper motor only. No bulbs are connected to it. Thus, it's only duty is headlight leveling. I confirmed that this does indeed work even without bulbs connected to the ballast.





Step 5. This is the wire from the bulb ignitor, which you connect to the new ballast. If you're using the OE Valeo Ballast, instead it will be the silver OE wire that you will connect to the ignitor.





Step 6 (optional): This is the 9006 splitter. The single end connects to the OE high beam power source, and the split ends connect to the Bi-xenon solenoid pigtail of the Micro D2S projector and to the my Mini HB high beam LED projector, or, to the halogen bulb socket if you're retaining it.

It could also connect to a second bi-xenon or Bi-LED projector if you to do so. (Remember, if you're going with a second set of bi-xenon projectors, you will have to add a second harness and a second set of ballasts).

This is optional. If you don't want your new bi-xenon or bi-LED projector to participate in the high beam function and instead to just be a dedicated low beam, you can skip this step and these splitters.





After mounting the headlight this is the look. On the left, the D2S Micro 5.0 bi-xenon projector serving low beam and high beam duty and on the right the Morimoto Mini HB High beam projector. Sorry for the dirty headlights. I had been driving after I took this picture.

If you chose to retain the OE Valeo ballast and already installed the ignitor adapter, then great, you're done. Now go aim the headlights.





Step 7: From this step on, the guide only applies to those of us who have OE HIDs instead of halogens and are switching to aftermarket ballasts.

On to the wiring, This is where I secured the harness relays. With a ballast extension wire, you could relocate it next to the brake booster, which I considered am still considering. Make sure you mock up how your wiring harness will be connected before you drill a hole into the car and bolt it in place.




Wiring diagram: It really doesn't matter what OE input harness you're buying if your car had the OE D1S HID system from Valeo. The harness comes with its own relays and fuses.

However, if your car came stock with halogen, then you want the harness for an H1 or HB3 OE input. The OE input in halogen cars will plug to the OE input for the halogen low beam bulb. In the case of cars with HID, we have to find a way to wire the harness to the OEM input that comes from the fuse box.





Step 8: To avoid splicing into the factory wiring I used a fuse tap on fuse #6 (20 A), which taps into positive electrical signal that under normal circumstances sends a positive charge to the OE Valeo ballast that powers the HID in normal circumstances. We are hijacking that signal to have it send power to the new aftermarket ballasts. The top position of the fuse tap will have the 20A fuse, and you will add a 5A fuse to the bottom position of the fuse tap. The positive lead of the fuse tap will be connected to a 9006 female socket that we're adding.





Step 9: Connect the positive red wire from the fuse tap to the female 9006 socket that we're adding to the harness. The 9006 socket has a black wire that will be our ground. I grounded to the shock tower bolts. That 9006 female socket we added connects to the 9006 male socket from the HID harness that is labeled OEM bulb input. (See diagram)





Step 10: The harness itself also has a positive and a negative ring terminals that are meant to go to battery 12V + and negative terminals. I attached the harness's the positive ring terminal to the fuse box's positive bolt, and the negative ring terminal to ground, a shock tower bolt (the same shock tower bolt I used for the 9006 socket we added.)





Step 11: Each ballast is accessible inside each headlight's bulb cover, as seen here. Make sure that the cable from the D2S bulb ignitors is connected to the ballast, as well as the ballast output from the harness. The harness has 2 ballast output pigtails. One for each ballast. The one with the longer cable should go to the passenger side ballast.




Step 12: Hide the wiring. If you look closely, you can see that I routed the harness wire to the passenger ballast beneath plastic trim that sits above the radiator. I lost one of the torx bolts smh.

 

I don't yet have before and after shots to show you. I'm waiting for Baxtor's rear shock mounts to arrive in the mail since mine disintegrated and causes rattling over bumps because my rear springs are effectively loose.

I don't dare drive the car until I get that fixed. Until then, I can't show you before and after pictures at the location I was for the first thread. However, I did take some pictures of the beam pattern at an Autozone parking lot the day I finished this retrofit. This combination of 55W ballast with these projectors produced fantastic results on the road. I'm too close to the wall for it to truly show the results, and don't have any real-world pictures to show yet.

It was during this short drive that I discovered my rattle from the rear and which prompted me to put the car on jack stands to check it out.


Low beams



High beams