QI own I owna 2012 XKR convertible. The daytime running light on one side has stopped working as has the top of one back light. All the other lights in the units are working fine, the car has around 40,000 miles on the clock. Does this mean two new complete new light units?
Roy Wain
AThis is a very relevant question, as OE LED lighting is getting to be well over a decade old now. However reliable the units are, age is bound to take its toll. Our initial research drew a blank, so we approached Gil Keane of Better Car), the acknowledged industry expert on classic car LED conversions. He said: “I get quite a few enquiries like this. They usually refer to the hideously expensive LED back lights on cars like the DB7. Sadly, there is not, to my knowledge, currently anyone who is set up to repair them, and when a new one can be £600+ and the failed components might cost pence, it is galling. The problem is that the manufacturers make these parts so that they cannot be easily taken apart. In time, someone will gear up to be able to repair them.” Martin Pike of Classic Engineering has encountered similar problems and attempted dismantling and repair of XF rear light units. He had little success (none!) but reasons that there is nothing to lose in the attempt – in the case of front DRLs, it may be possible to graft in the generic LED strips available to ‘update’ early vehicles. He further advises that units can usually be swapped ‘side to side’ to check that the problem does not lie in the wiring or lighting modules by substitution.
