I didn't find much improvement over standard bulbs. They are supposedly brighter by burning hotter so then don't last as long, vicious circle.

There were reports of hb3 bulbs exploding inside the headlights housing but cant rem for sure if it was nightbreakers or halfords equivalent? Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

Finally fitted Osram Nightbreakers HB3 - they are an improvement and now OK on dipped beam especially when used in conjunction with the fogs ( also fitted with Nightbreaker H11 ) but would still like more distance on hi beam. think a switch to HID may be the only real answer.

btw my vehicle ( 2013 XS ) has the LED DRL signature circular lights but no LED strip round the headlight outline. I noticed a 2013 HSE whch has this extra LED outline? is this just on HSE LUX or is it a sign of HID lamps?. i notice newer Metropolis also have this , but they have the newer headlamps with more black inserts (MY2014 ?) can anybody throw any light on this? no pun intended. never known a model with so many headlight configurations and updates. FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

The signature strip drl headlights were fitted to later models, not just HSE / Metropolis, my 2014 GS has them but with halogen HB3 bulbs as standard rather than factory fitted HID / Xenons.
Ive just massively improved my lights by fitting an aftermarket HID kit and there is another thread on here where a member has just fitted LED bulbs to similarly good effect. Wish Id done it sooner, the difference is literally like night and day  Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

thanks- can you point me to the thread re LED bulbs. i fancy doing this as it is much easier and cheaper, buthave read reports that although the light is much whiter there is little benefit to the beam distance as focus is not all that good? FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

The focus is fine with a decently made kit in projector headlights and distance is definitely improved. I think you are reading about lack of focus when these are fitted to reflector lamps.
See my other thread and images of dipped and main beam in both mine and Darren W's cars. Landrover - turning owners into mechanics since 1948

2014 Orkney grey Freelander SD4 GS.
2004 Zambezi silver Discovery 2 Td5 (Gone)
1963 Surf blue Morris Mini Minor Super de Luxe (my little toy)

I can second that about the HID kit that Bobupndown has. The difference is amazing. I have a Ford with HID’s fitted as std and they are nothing on the ones we have fitted. As for full beam distance and spread I have never had anything as good. Would recommend them to everyone. MY06 FL1 TD4 2 door red (gone)
MY07 FL2 SE TD4 black (gone)
MY13 FL2 GS TD4 Santorini black

Finally took the plunge and sourced a set of HID. Used LR Centre in Speke ordered part nos LR039792 and LRO39782, although they actually supplied the later versions with black reflectors which are LR058366 and LR058367, which in my opinion look better. Excellent service . Total cost for the pair £727 incl carriage, which is a lot of money but half the dealer price. As you all advised they are simple plug and play but required activation through the CCF. My independent specialist did this for £65. if and when i sell the car i will put the originals halogens back in and hopefully there will be a ready market to sell the HID/xenons so should recoup half of the cost. The car already has powerjets and the manual levelling on the dash works fine. My specialist is also an MOT station and advises he will not have a problem passing this set up at MOT time. Performance is great- i can now see at night! chalk and cheese over the halogens.

For anybody else unhappy with headlamp performance in single bulb HB3 applications - in summary

Performance halogen bulbs such as Osram Nightbreakers improve things considerably but still only make vision average. Good budget option depending on how much life you get. At least LR had the courtesy to make headlight removal simple!
Anybody want to buy a set of 3 month old Nightbreakers HB3 Next Gen?

LED bulbs again improve things providing a brighter whiter light but don't seem to provide much better distance on main beam.They will pass the MOT.

Hear good reports about certain HID conversion kits and price is very reasonable but remember they are not road legal and will fail an MOT.

Hope this helps and thanks for all your advice.  FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

Not sure about that, LED bulb replacement are more likely to fail an MoT than an HiD kit, the pattern thrown by LED cannot be as good as a decent HiD kit as the filament can never be in the correct position in the projector assembly where as an HiD bulb can be correctly positioned.
From personal experience I have fitted many HiD kits in projector fitted vehicles and NEVER had an MoT failure, if it’s fitted correctly and aimed sensibly they are no problem. Regards

David

Lovely i6 has now gone, but not me......

Please let me know if anything in my post offends you, as I may wish to offend you again......

Lakelander wrote:

Finally took the plunge and sourced a set of HID. Used LR Centre in Speke ordered part nos LR039792 and LRO39782, although they actually supplied the later versions with black reflectors which are LR058366 and LR058367, which in my opinion look better. Excellent service . Total cost for the pair £727 incl carriage, which is a lot of money but half the dealer price. As you all advised they are simple plug and play but required activation through the CCF. My independent specialist did this for £65. if and when i sell the car i will put the originals halogens back in and hopefully there will be a ready market to sell the HID/xenons so should recoup half of the cost. The car already has powerjets and the manual levelling on the dash works fine. My specialist is also an MOT station and advises he will not have a problem passing this set up at MOT time. Performance is great- i can now see at night! chalk and cheese over the halogens.

For anybody else unhappy with headlamp performance in single bulb HB3 applications - in summary

Performance halogen bulbs such as Osram Nightbreakers improve things considerably but still only make vision average. Good budget option depending on how much life you get. At least LR had the courtesy to make headlight removal simple!
Anybody want to buy a set of 3 month old Nightbreakers HB3 Next Gen?

LED bulbs again improve things providing a brighter whiter light but don't seem to provide much better distance on main beam.They will pass the MOT.

Hear good reports about certain HID conversion kits and price is very reasonable but remember they are not road legal and will fail an MOT.

Hope this helps and thanks for all your advice.

i use Simon Huntingdon at Wigton. excellent quality work. he also does work on my Defender.
i am very pleased with the new HID lights. i drove through flood water last week and the nearside one has misted up but is clearing slowly
let me know if you need to know more info FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

Ah yes, I've used him before to help diagnose something - seems a very knowledgeable chap

I need to get quotes for a cambelt change and major service, so I'll get in touch with him.

Cheers

Mike 2014 TD4 GS

HID or LED light sources are a Major failure for MOT in a halogen headlamp.

Taken from the MOT inspection manual

"Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with HID bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp."

LR2hselux wrote:

HID or LED light sources are a Major failure for MOT in a halogen headlamp.

Taken from the MOT inspection manual

"Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with HID bulbs. If such a conversion has been done, you must fail the headlamp."

not sure there are any differences between the construction of the projector headlamp itself between cars with halogen and cars with HID? same unit but plus ballast and bulb etc for HID ( plus CCF adjustment to give HID a start up boost)? FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey

Of course I am just talking about FL2 here. There is a strong rumour that when LR decided to incorporate a DRL led unit in place of the second headlamp bulb, they planned to fit HID lamps to all vehicles to make up for the loss of headlight performance and compete with other luxury SUV brands.Then the accountants got involved and only HSE lux models got the HIDs ( and then Metropolis later on ). Not sure if HIDs were even a factory option? Does anybody know? All others ended up with the poor shutter/ HB3 system,which I think must use the same headlight structure but without the ballast.
Rings pretty true to me FL2 SD4 XS 2013 Orkney Grey