As this is a topic that keeps on coming up on the forum, I thought I would write up what I did to make my low beam (dipped) headlights usable on my 2001 4.0 XKR (which came from the factory with hopeless halogen headlights). Full beam is fine, but the dipped lights really don't illuminate enough of the road ahead to drive safely at any kind of speed. Maybe its because the front springs have drooped therefore lowering the angle of the headlights, maybe its because the bulbs are worn out, or perhaps the cars never had good headlights from new, favouring good looks for performance - but whatever the reason I finally decided to take an angle grinder to the problem.

My 2001 XKR is European spec, therefore has the headlamp adjustment knobs on the back of the headlights under the bonnet and the levelling knob on the dashboard. Even with both headlights pointed as high as they would go using the adjusters and the leveller, the distance illuminated before the beams were cut off by the deflectors was way too short.

The first thing I tried was to replace the halogen bulbs with Eye Of Megatron LEDs, as described in this thread by forum member sklimii:-

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...lights-224162/

The LED bulbs were certainly much brighter than the original, but the distance was still too short as before, with the reach cut off too early by the beam deflectors in the headlight assembly. Maybe I should have replaced the front suspension springs and/or shocks when I redid the bushings two years ago, but its too late now to go back and do that lot again so I thought I would try a zero £££ fix.

My solution was to cut down the beam deflector plates inside the headlight dipped beam projector. These plates cut the beam off on one side, to avoid blinding oncoming traffic By cutting the profile down, the beam pattern is cut off much higher than standard, allowing the lights to throw much further down the road.

I had previously converted my car from RHD to LHD headlights by replacing the beam deflectors with new ones, so I already had a spare pare of deflectors to play around with. Using the new deflector as a template, I held it against the old deflector and marked a line just below the line of the original stepped profile - the new line makes the highest part of the new profile the same height as the lowest part of the old profile. I then cut the new profile down using an angle grinder, filed it smooth and refitted it to the car. I did this for both sides of the car.

The image below shows the cut down deflector (left) next to the standard deflector (right). These are for driving on the right hand side of the road - a RHD car would be the mirror image.



The result is a much further throw from the headlights on dipped, with the deflector still cutting the beam off to the left to stop the lights blinding oncoming cars. So far no one has flashed their headlights at me, so I think its not blinding oncoming traffic.

All the work to access the headlight was done through the access panel in the wheel arch - I removed the wheels to give more room, but I think if I had just put the front of the car on axle stands that would have given enough of a gap between the top of the wheel and the access panel to get in there easily enough.

To remove the deflectors, first unplug the bulb, then remove the three bolts around the edge of the bulb assembly. The bulb assembly and deflector behind it then pulls out. Once the deflector is cut down, it goes back together in the same way, with the three bolts holding the bulb holder and deflector in place.

If I was doing it again, I think I would cut the deflector down slightly less than I did originally as there is now more than enough adjustment on the headlight adjusters. Just mark the profile a few millimetres below the original and cut to that line - you can always go back and cut more down if it isn't enough.

I still have my un-touched deflectors and the original halogen bulbs, so if the car fails its annual inspection I can revert to the original to pass the test.

I hope this helps others who find their OEM headlights as dangerous as I did.