LairdScooby

Mine are still on the to-do list Russ, the intention was get it through the MoT and then get them. However i misread the date on the MoT, i thought it said 23/3/23 but it actually said 23/2/23, think you can see how i made the mistake! In between whiles i picked up two punctures which involved replacement tyres and then i wasn't able to swap the wheels around (i'm not in great health so sometimes a bit tricky) and by the time i realised the MoT was late and i'd got the tyres swapped, the battery was flat. Caalogue of errors you might say! Anyway, in other news, i've also been looking for a replacement for my Volvo 760, ideally a Honda CR-V, preferably the Executive with the leather, AC etc and if i was really lucky, in silver. Been trawling ebay, Autotrader and so on to no avail, found several but then discovered there was a reason not to buy them (usually rough MoT history, Cat N/S or similar) so was really waiting until next month and was planning on getting the Jag in for MoT soon. Quite by chance and on a hunch, i went into a local, relatively new, car dealer as i thought i'd spotted a few CR-Vs in there. Knowing they also rent to USAF personnel, i didn'y have my hopes too high but i had spotted two silver ones, side by side, one at least was for sale but the other one had really caught my eye. Odd as they were both the same colour (silver) and from a distance, looked identical. The second one didn't have a price on the screen but the one i wasn't interested in did for £3495. I asked about the other, new MoT screen price will be £2795 but " probaby let it go for two". Long story short, i said i was hoping to do a PX and roughly the deal i was after and also that i'm waiting on a pension lump sum next month on or just after my brithday. A deal was struck, subject to test drive, of £1200 + the Volvo. He warned me of a couple of dodgy ball joints that were an advisory on the recent MoT (i've since checked and they were the only advisory) and it might be a bit clonky but they would be done. and away we went. All was good so hands were shaken then this morning i had a couple of texts from him basically offering to do the swap and settle up the cash next month when my funds arrive. This has obviously made me short on time, the Volvo has aftermarket cruise control that i want to use on the Honda (for some odd reason it doesn't have it) and also need my dashcam out of the Volvo. Once i've got the Honda and the dust settles i'll be able to get the Jag for MoT then look at getting the LED bulbs for the Jag! Bit of a "round the houses" explanation there but hopefully (at least slightly) intersting!

My current LED bulbs are 6000K Russ as they are very close to natural daylight in colour temperature. Makes night driving much more relaxing and less eye strain. I'll certainly go for the same again! As you say, the ones with the blue tinge don't really look that good, on a Jag or anywhere else come to that! 😮 I find the 3000K or halogen colour temperature lacking in many areas, particularly during rain and dusk with all lights. One benefit of the LED bulbs, certainly with 6000K is that they tend to make animals eyes reflect light back so if there's a deer/rabbit/fox on the verge of the rural road you're traceling along, you actually get to see them so you can avoid them.

These are the ones i was originally planning on getting Russ : https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-h7-4600-lumen-philips-z-es-main-dipped-glb477?_pos=6&_sid=9012460b2&_ss=r Not polarity conscious so no problems on the S Type, reversible heatsink collar so will fit inside the cover and 4600Lm per pair/2300 each - the Twenty20 doesn't specify if the 400Lm is per bulb or per pair but i would suspect per pair. https://www.classiccarleds.co.uk/products/pair-of-led-headlight-conversion-bulbs-hb3-hb4-4600-lumen-main-dipped-p20d-p22d?_pos=1&_psq=hb3+led&_ss=e&_v=1.0 The HB3 version for the inner main beams ^^^^^ similar spec in terms of not polarity conscious, reversible heatsink and 4600Lm/pair but obviously different fittings for the actual physical parts. Should fit in with the heatsink reversed. I've used that supplier for amny years now and recommended them to many, only had to use their refund service once and that was on something experimental so nothing to do with the products bought except too many were bought! I'm also a bit of a fan of the Z-ES Lumileds, those aren't specified on the Twenty20 bulbs so i might go with what i know, especially as they're a smidge cheaper!

Have you got a link to the ebay DRL kit please? Might be an interesting upgrade, i made my own using switchback combined DRL/indicators LED bulbs for my 827 Sterling, quite a game as the indicator lamp units have a removable orange lens inside so had to strip and rebuild them. Hmmmm, i really want to get a longer beam as well as actually having illumination of the road in front. I know on both my Volvo 760 and Rover 827, the beam distance improved with H4 LED bulbs so i was kind of hoping the beam distance would improve on the S Type too. On the Volvo, because the reflectors were tarnished (they are 35 years old this year so are allowed to be! 😛 ) they wouldn't actually give a definite beam pattern on filament bulbs, it was only just good enough to get a pass on the MoT but the tester muttered about poor beam pattern, not likely to pass next year (that was 7 years ago and had LEDs in since) but the Rover had new headlights and both gave an improvement on beam length. Because of my experience with both cars and doing the outer beams (dipped and main combined on the H4) both got inner beam improvements too, the Rover got some el-cheapo "Chinabay" H3 LEDs that used COB LEDs instead of the better Lumiled type used on the H4 jobbies. This resulted in no beam pattern at all on the inner beams but because they were so bright (something like 10000Lm if memory serves, might be 6000Lm per H3 LED bulb) switching to main beam is like turning the sun on. The Volvo got 35W HID conversions for the driving and fog lights, both inboard of the outer combined dipped/main beam lights. As it's a 1988 car the MoT testers pass it anyway because it gives all correct beam patterns. Not had a problem with the Rover either but that was before they changed the law and i changed MoT stations thanks to the previous one bodging a repair on the Rover and making it unsafe to test, never mind drive! For now in my S Type i have some cheapy ebay "Xenon look" halogens that work well - normally! Although a vast improvement on the original (nearly black so probably original to the car) bulbs, still not great especially at dusk. Having been used to LEDs for so long on my other cars as soon as i get the Jag in for MoT (and hopefully through it too) i'll be getting some LED H7 and also HB3 bulbs for it.

Thankfully some MoT testers take the common-sense approach and if they give the correct beam pattern and don't incinerate the retinas of a mosquito on the test station ceiling (due to light scatter and excess brightness) will give it a pass. Also they're not allowed to disassemble anything so have to assume (because they can't see other wise) it's just a bright halogen bulb. Thanks for the heads-up on these, been looking for a while now. My usual supplier has some that are allegedly very good but always nice to get a recommendation from someone with the same car. Are your lenses nice and clear or do they have cataracts and has the beam distance improved?

Opulent

Welcome aboard Mark! I suspect we're all a little biased in favour of S Types here! 😛 A pic of mine to (hopefully) encourage you to post a pic of yours! Lots of knowledge on here and all friendly.

Comfort

Ice-cream

Boat

Sorry to hear of your troubles, i wish your wife well for a speedy recovery. I suffer back trouble myself, no metal rods as yet but i can definitely relate to, if not fully understand the discomfort your wife is in. Looking at your pics, the B post and C post are both bent, the chassis is bent (hence the misdirected NSR wheel) so would almost certainly need to be jigged and jigs don't come cheap, even on a rental basis to bodyshops. Then there's the obvious costs of the doors, any other panels (eg wheelarch) and so on plus the cost of a complete respray so that the paint matches. Wouldn't be much different for a partial respray as almost a complete side will need painting then blended in to the rest of the car, resprays are generally quoted at between £3-6k at the moment, depending on the quality. I hope your insurers start playing the game properly and give you a decent settlement offer.

Medal

Blitzkrieg

Teutonic

If you find the actual transciever unit you should be able to find an IMEI number on it. You should also be able to get it to display the IMEI by typing *#06# and once you have this number, contact your airtime provider and they will tell you whether they produce a compatible SIM and if the phone will work (assuming no other faults exist on the phone) with the current technology.

Gothic

Archeological

Building

Interesting that it's a known problem, hope they come up with a solution soon!

Pen

Gunshot

Channel

River

Welcome to the forum Gwilym!

Welcome aboard Matthew! Still a relative newby myself but it's a very friendly, helpful forum, hope your Jag serves for well for a very long time!