Thread: Disco 4 Aftermarket Xenon Lights installation

Originally Posted by blackpack 4

Garry, thanks for the reply...any issues with the Canbus and warning lights with the cheaper kits...I guess you went with a canbus friendly type....did you use 35w or 50w ballast and what lumens size do you recommend? Thanks again


Bill

I do not have a canbus kit - no issues with lights etc. Mine is a $60 ebay set - 55w and 4300k - no idea on lumens. Everything fits inside the light housing.

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

I do not have a canbus kit - no issues with lights etc. Mine is a $60 ebay set - 55w and 4300k - no idea on lumens. Everything fits inside the light housing.

Garry

Garry,
Sorry to be a pest...is your vehicle with these fitted to a late model with the 'smart alternator' ?


Cheers
Bill

Mine is a 07MY - I thought all D3/D4/RRS had the smart alternator - but yes my alt is variable voltage etc.

Garry

Originally Posted by garrycol

Mine is a 07MY - I thought all D3/D4/RRS had the smart alternator - but yes my alt is variable voltage etc.

Garry

I thought that too Garry.

Originally Posted by garrycol

Mine is a 07MY - I thought all D3/D4/RRS had the smart alternator - but yes my alt is variable voltage etc.

Garry

Thanks, much appreciated.....how do I post a thank you to your membership on this site?


Thanks again


Bill

Hi Guys,

I'm absolutely no expert at all so feel free to jump in if I've got something wrong or mis-interpreted something..... :-)

I currently have two D4s (one is for sale). The older SE has Bi-Xenon and the newer MY13 SE does not.

I've made quite a few enquiries with regards to swapping the systems (lights) over. However, I haven't managed to find anybody that has successfully achieved this or even tried. I'd be very scared to try without knowing of it actually being achieved.

The feedback indicates that in theory you can but not as easily as you would hope. I suspect the hardware maybe relatively simple but like anything in a D4, there is a software component. The wiring harness may have differences too.

What some folks may not understand is the fact that the main lights, the Bi-Xenons (behind the fish eye lens), do not have a separate low and high beam. Bi-Xenon fitted cars also pulse (with higher current) the lights momentarily when they first switch on, I believe this is to bring them up to operating temperature straight away. The Xenon bulbs are on whenever the headlights are on and hi-beam is achieved by lifting a shutter on the Xenon light ... I'm certain there is no intensity change. Of course this is when the separate Halogen 'Fillers' come on too.

The Halogen 'Fillers' that come on when high beam is selected, are exactly that ... 'Fillers'. I don't think they are the same as on a Halogen only car and I don't think you could use them by themselves as a high beam bulb. I'm not certain on that fact but it appears to be the case. Maybe the lens/reflector and or bulb are different on the Halogen only cars. In a Halogen only car the low beam behind the (fish eye lens) remains on and unchanged at high beam but additional lights switch on. These are in the position of the Xenon equipped Fillers.

Yeah, great Kev but so what? The significance is that the car 'knows' what lights it has fitted....as in, there is software to support the shutter lifting and the initial high energy pulse. There may also be differences in the wiring loom.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to change the Configuration File for a D4. I failed to get anybody to confirm that it can be done or describe how it is actually achieved.

In practical terms without the correct software and maybe wiring, you could fit the Bi-Xenon light cluster and the warm up pulse would not occur and the shutter would not lift when you selected high beam.....thus rendering the lights useless.

I don't know what would happen in reverse ... possibly blow the Halogens on start up or something.

Maybe the wiring harness wouldn't even fit the different light clusters......how far back would you have to trace the harness to add in an adapter, etc?

As I said, I don't really know....I'd love to be able to do it....but I don't have a warm fuzzy feel about the task.

With regards to the 'self levelling' comments...I'd never even heard of it till I looked at TOPIx and noticed it listed for both my cars. I have no idea how that's achieved but it seems weird to mention it if it's only achieved by the air suspension, a bit like mentioning self-levelling cup holders ;-). But I don't know.

SE D4s definitely have headlight washers.....not sure of the relevance though, unless they have a heat sensor that makes them squirt if the light gets too warm.

Cheers,

Kev.

Kev, I'm no expert either. Never done it myself but here are my thoughts, which probably won't help.

I would be surprised if the wiring loom is any different - simple economics suggests this. Can you compare yours? Are there any physical differences between the plugs?

Usually all the smarts for the operation of HID happen between the ballast and the globe - ie the ballast sends the pulse to the globe on start-up. I would expect that the ballast is contained within the unit, which is the usual way of doing it.

The CCF can be changed using an IID Tool etc, or the dealer can do it for you. I have never looked for the xenons using my tool, but would expect it is there. Will try and have a look tomorrow.

I have done it on a Subaru using standard parts and it was just a straight swap.

Have you searched the Disco4 site?

I certainly understand your cautiousness, but I can't see it being a problem. Of course its easy for me to say that since its not my car.

Cheers,
Jon

People are talking different things which may confuse some people.

Celtoid is talking about replacing OEM Halogen lights with OEM Bi-Xenon lights.

Blackpack4 and myself have been talking about simply replacing low beam and/or hi beam in the OEM Halogen lights with aftermarket H7 HID kits - something completely different.

How the car responds to the different modifications may very well be different.

So if reading the good advice being provided, just make sure you what exactly it is referring to.

Cheers

Garry