Thread: Common headlight or bulb upgrades for D2?

With a bit of modification, you could upgrade to 2a clusters.

What about LED replacement bulbs. Anyone tried them?

Originally Posted by reefmagnet

What about LED replacement bulbs. Anyone tried them?

Most LEDs are not an upgrade, too much light wasted and misdirected.
Are they legal as a simple globe conversion?

Originally Posted by V8Ian

With a bit of modification, you could upgrade to 2a clusters.

Lower usable light output than the earlier ones

Originally Posted by reefmagnet

What about LED replacement bulbs. Anyone tried them?

Stedi units work very well and are ADR compliant in most states

Have been upgrading D2, Defenders for years with putting in L.E.D globes, its a clean white light without the ridiculous blind other road users type thing we all see.
Legal or not its a practical cost effective solution.
I send all vehicles to my auto electrician who fit JW Speaker (brand) and do the adjustment.

Years earlier I fitted some cheap ones to my dads Defender, we had been driving for about 3 hrs and they failed.

I think this is worth a read...

Narva |

Why aren't aftermarket LED globes ADR approved?

I don't know about the Narva or JW Speaker branded LEDs, but I got Philips Ultinon H4 LEDs for my D1, and my brothers(now my) D2.

Summary: I'd never go back to non LED headlights again!

Long version: brilliant white light, sharp cutoff area, while not ADR approved, they still project what could be regarded as a legal light beam. If you follow the Narva link, these types of leds that place the led chips at the correct point in the headlamp's focal point so maintain the expected pattern that the lens should provide.

As LEDs use less power than Halogen globes(I estimated the Ultinons use about 12-13w on each chipset, no need to rewire the headlight system, which is almost certainly why the OPs headlights appear dim now.
Old thin power and earth wires to the globes + less power out of the halogen globes.

I was thinking of trying out the JW Speaker LEDs ... just to see how well they work in comparison(and to have a pair of spares .. just in case.

A note with the Philips Ultinons too. There are two different types, One is more expensive than the other. I've had my D1's Philips for about 5 years now. They were horrendously expensive( over $200!) and still work well.
For the brothers(now my) D2 tho, I found a cheaper set, and didn't realise that they are a cheaper version .. I think called the 'Essential' version.

on low beam, equally as good as each other. It's on high beam that the more expensive version looks better. The ones on the D2(essential types) on high beam have a strange dark spot down low in the beam pattern about 5m in front of the car.
They still work well farther out .. it's just kind'a annoying to see this dark spot.

On the D1 tho, the more expensive version, have almost made my cheapo lightbar redundant for directly ahead of the vehicle. The light bar only really gives me a bit more lateral brightness now .. doesn't get used as much.

A word of warning here too: not about ADR and blinding on coming traffic tho .. this is up to the individual to take into account .. and I did adjust both D1 and D2's headlights downwards after install.
The warning is not to go cheaper to save yourself $s. Many of the cheaper LEDs use either a passive or active heatsink at the back end of the LED. If so avoid. You will most certainly need to hack into the front panel behind the light to get them to fit. It's very tight in there. The best LED globe option, if you do go his way, is either a braided heatsink type(JW Speaker and essential Philips style) .. PITA to force it through the rubber boot on the rear of the headlight. Can be done, but the more you stuff through, the harder it gets(at least with the Philips).
The better heatsink type is the more expensive Philips screw on passive type. You fit the globe, fit the rubber boot, then screw on the heatsink. It's a bit tedious, but only if the led needs to be replaced. after 5 years and about 100K klms, so far so good on that front.
Fitting is straightforward even tho it may look complicated. Plug and play, and I just cable tied the 'essentials' electrowhizbox to the front panel(no worries), and tek screwed to the front panel behind the headlight it in my D1.

ps. if you do end up replacing, easiest way to do it is to remove the headlight. It just pulls out - unclips from it's retaining clips. The gotcha here will be that if they aren't already broken, the fragile and old clips will almost certainly break. Get a new set to be sure you have secured headlights. They're cheap.