Thread: D4 high-beam alignment

Why is it in EVERY light thread I read...

Not one person ever gets out with a light meter and does some measurements?

I meant to report back on this a while ago, so sorry for the delay.

After failure of the hot glue fix after about 2 years, I took the opportunity to have different HID bulbs put into the high-beam pockets. This time 50W 4200K instead of the first HIDs I tried which were 35W 6000K (too blue for my liking).

The sparky gave up on trying to set the new HID bulbs at an angle like the last ones, due to losing too much performance from the reflector, so they are now just sitting in the normal position without need for any spacers, hot glue, silicon, etc.

I'm actually happy with the performance now from this setup. There is definitely a wasted band of powerful light up in the trees, maybe 3m-6m up, but these new bulbs throw out so much light that there is now plenty bouncing around at ground level where it's needed and no real dark patches.

I love the new colour and find it much more natural, better contrast and easier to recognise everything in view, although there is a noticeable delay for them to warm up to their full power and colour, maybe 10 seconds or so. When they first come on they have a bit of a blue/white tint and enough power to see quite well, but you can then watch the light change colour and gain a lot more power as they warm up over the next 5-10 seconds, and it's worth the wait. A joy to drive with.

ACT Fair Trading raised my complaint with Jaguar Land Rover Australia Pty Ltd and a response was received from Mr Oliver Harding. Mr*Harding advised that Jaguar Land Rover Australia Pty Ltd stance on the matter has not changed. Surprise, surprise. Next step is to get some legal advise to determine if it is worthwhile to take JLRA to a tribunal and try to get some answers there.

I inquired with an automotive engineer what it would cost me to have my lights tested for compliance with ADRs. I didn't pursue this course when he told me it would cost about $1200.

I expect the bi-xenons alone comply with ADRs for both low and high beam and therefore the halogens are superfluous and thus have no requirement to meet any standard. As I stated earlier, the halogens do not have an E approval number and the bi-xenons's E approval number is a single unit approval, not one that requires a fill-in light. The blinker has its own E approval number.

I relented and fitted a 3.3mm thick nut as a spacer under 1 bi-xenon assembly top mounting (had no chance of slipping a nut under the other side) but only had 1 light done for a short 200m test last night. A test against a wall today showed the fill-in beam was on and below the bi-xenon high beam at about 10 metres which is a vast improvement on the original. The task was quite fiddly although not having an appropriate Torx screw-driver bit didn't help, having to use a Torx socket instead. I'll do a proper night drive before long. My modified HID globe mounting faces may need restoring to original if the beam now spreads too low.

Originally Posted by Graeme

Having had another look at slanting the bi-xenon assembly I wont be trying to fit the spacers. I think the only way to fit the spacers is to remove the lens and I'm not prepared to fiddle that much.

So Graeme I assume you did remove the lense? Was it just a matter of carefully lifting those little tabs holding the lense in place?

No I didn't remove the lenses. They are glued and require considerable heat to soften and all the tabs have to be undone at the same time. I tried this earlier but gave-up although a 2nd set of hands may help significantly.

I suggest using L-shaped 3-4mm thick brackets that can be positioned using long nosed pliers and would then expect to be able to fit such a bracket to both sides, not just the one near the fill-in light. I probably spent at least an hour on each light, mostly caused by dropping the Torx socket inside many times but was intent on accomplishing the task. A Torx bit on the end of a long magnetic screw-driver would have been so much better.