Evening
Firstly Happy New Year to everyone on the forum and to your families
Hopefully someone can help me with this simple question
I have 2011 Vogue SE 4.4tdv8 and the headlights are frankly…shocking
What are the best upgrades I am easily fit?
All suggestions welcomed
Best regards
Mark

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Last edited by cass on 3rd Jan 2022 2:41pm. Edited 1 time in total

Have you checked that there’s no problem with your lights?
I can’t claim that mine are as good as some of the newer types of lights available now, but they are far from shocking.
Could yours have been replaced with cheap aftermarket ones in the past?

Lights are all fine and still have the original units in from what I can see. Maybe I’m spoilt as my BMW 640d is fitted with LED lights that have shutter technology and are brilliant. The RR aren’t very good in comparison so looking to upgrade them if I can relatively cheaply if I can….

The LED's have probably spoilt you.

There are very few good quality "upgrades" for RR's that are cheap.

I would double check that your lens & reflectors are 100% & that your HID bulbs are not on the way out - AFAIK you can get upgraded bulbs but they are pricey.

Changing the main beam (or any other bulbs for that matter) may upset the bulb monitoring.

I'm with the others, I suspect something is not right...I came from a Mercedes AMG with Intelligent Light System (all singing dancing LEDs painting dark boxes on other cars and all sorts), my wife still has adaptive led by BMW on her M2 Competition.

Sure the lights on the L322 aren't as white as LEDs, but they aren't shocking, in fact they are very good and even better in adverse weather conditions like heavy raid and snow. The swivelling works very well, the auto high beam is quick and illuminated the full country lane, and the cornering lights at low speed bring that extra touch.

Not even close to shocking in my opinion.

I would agree with others here… you are either a) spoilt with the awesome bmw lights, or b) have an issue which affects their performance.

I am happy with my lights and have had many cars with xenon headlight, but to be fair my current regular comparison is with a 2004 fiesta (especially with my FF being off the road at the moment!)

Do you have any evidence of tampering? Could a past owner attempted changing the bulbs, splitting the units, or anything else? Is the headlight glass dull and in need of a buff?
Hopefully there’s no physical issues as new headlights are bloody expensive!

A question to all members… do xenon bulbs degrade over time? I.e. do the gasses become less efficient?
So is it possible that these bulbs are simply getting old and need replacing? Currently driving: 2012 L322 SE Overfinch 4.4 tdv8

Past rides:
2014 Audi Q7 3.0d (good riddance)
2010 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged
2011 L320 HSE 3.0 sdv6
2014 Jaguar XF-RS 5.0 supercharged
2007 BMW 535D
2005 Mini Cooper S

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic59478.html

They do fade over time, so if the car has had a lot of driving in the dark that could be it. As you say bad glass can also cause degradation, I repolished my headlights to have them nice and clear again.

I have updated the bulbs in my 2011 with new HID OSRAM lamps and they are still not as good as modern LEDS.

So until a week ago I had a 2020 M4 with adaptive LED's and they were spectacular, shame I didn't hardly drive the thing. Christian.


Current Cars
2011 Range Rover Vogue SE
2020 BMW M4 Competition
2019 BMW X4

My RR Blog: www.facebook.com/L322Project
or
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61540.html

Christian
Do you have details of the bulbs you mentioned? Sounds like a step in the right direction

Just a follow up with the other points
Lamp covers are perfect sparkly clear
No evidence of tampering
I’m not expecting the RR lights to be the same as my LED BMW lights - but want something better generally than the standard output

Back in the days before bulbs improved, I fitted cibies to my Manta GTE and Peugeot 1.9GTI cars as those headlights were both atrocious

Regards
Mark

Neither were projector based headlights. Even with a bulb upgrade these will never look like LED or Laser headlights. But it’s a psychological thing as well as many people see white light and think it’s brighter and provides better vision. It actually really isn’t.

Mark, check the link in my signature, I did a write up on the headlight bulb replacement on my project page.

I also replaced the H7 aux high beam with an LED from OSRAM.

They’re miles better than before just not as good as the icon adaptives I was used to. Christian.


Current Cars
2011 Range Rover Vogue SE
2020 BMW M4 Competition
2019 BMW X4

My RR Blog: www.facebook.com/L322Project
or
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61540.html

Or better put, it doesn’t have to be.

The 2010+ headlights can be very very good. Especially with the vision pack. If all is clear I’d start with the basics and check alignment and ensure they put the beam on the road. Then also check the swivelling mechanism and ensure that operates properly. And then measure the actual light output as a new bulb isn’t cheap but also may not actually do something.

And then there is one’s own vision. I have to face the music and have to wear glasses at night time. It makes a huge different.

Caesium wrote:

Mark, check the link in my signature, I did a write up on the headlight bulb replacement on my project page.

I also replaced the H7 aux high beam with an LED from OSRAM.

They’re miles better than before just not as good as the icon adaptives I was used to.

I can't fault my MY06 lights. I still marvel at their performance over and above all my previous vehicles and plenty of hire vehicles (including various BMW and Mercedes). Previous cars:
S-Max 2007-2013 (only diesel I've had, good car but expensive when diesely bits go wrong, so what's the point?)
Galaxy 2001-2007
Mondeo Estate 1997-2001
Sierra Estate 1993-1997
Uno Turbo 1987 -1993
Fiesta 1984 - 1987
Fiat 127 1982 - 1984