CountJunkula wrote:

prince2150 wrote:

hey mate, congrats on the conversion.

are you happy with your headlights? do they seem "off" or do they work as they should?

do the indicators on the headlights "sweep" or do they just "blink"?

I've had a bit of a game with headlights...

Firstly, as I mentioned above, I originally bought some Matrix-style aftermarket headlights from Alibaba. This turned out to be a huge mistake. Once of the headlights had a loose screw inside, the other had a cable tie stuck in there with no way to get it out. I fitted the lights anyway until I could get some replacements and the light pattern was awful, seriously bad. The seller insisted that they were UK legal so I took them to a local car garage here in the UK to get them adjusted and tested. 5 minutes in and the guy calls me over saying that he has had to set the beam as low as it will possibly go in order to meet the regulations, but even then - technically they would be classed as a fail due to the light pattern. He showed me that there should be a distinct sharp horizontal line on the wall, but on these lights it was just a hazy splodge (for want of a better word) of light. I could tell just from driving in the dark that the light beam on my original pre-facelift lights was significantly better than these Matrix replicas. He did say that "on a good day" he might just about pass them on an MOT, but that officially they were a fail. I didn't fancy much having headlights that may-or-may-not fail the MOT every year depending on how strict the tester is feeling that day.

In addition to the awful light beam, inside the cabin the lights also caused the indicator light to flash really fast to tell you that a bulb was out. On the outside the indicator looked great, worked fine and had the sweeping indicator light, but it was driving me crazy inside flashing at a hundred miles an hour every time I used the indicator. This could have been 'fixed' by cutting the wiring loom and soldering in some resistors apparently but I already knew I wouldn't bee keeping the lights at that point.

I ended up returning the lights to the seller for a refund which was a shame because they looked really good, the indicators looked good too and when you unlocked the car the lights did a little flashing dance/sequence that looked really good, but at the end of the day it's no good having a headlight that looks great but doesn't actually do what it's supposed to do.

Second time around I bought some MID lights from another seller on Alibaba. This time the lights were original UK spec RHD lights. They have all the Varroc/LR logos on, LR part numbers/stickers etc, but the seller has to remove/scratch these off to get it through customs. I have inspected the lights and you can still see the logos and where the stickers were, they're just scratched over and covered with tape. Other than that they are the real deal and work brilliantly.

The first set of Matrix-style knockoff lights just had a pre-facelift connector on the back. The MID genuine lights that I then bought have the factory facelift connector on the rear which is totally different to the pre-facelift. It does however come with a plug-n-play wiring loom that piggy backs into the original wiring so fitting was really easy. These lights don't do the little dance when you turn the car on and they don't have sequential indicators/blinkers which is a shame, but I have had them tested at the same UK MOT centre and they passed right away with no adjustment needed. The light pattern is a nice sharp horizontal line. The interior indicator/blinker also now works normally which is a relief. The lights are genuine UK RHD lights and they work exactly as you would expect.

In total the MID genuine headlights shipped including the plug-n-play loom was around £1500. The previous Matrix ones were around £900 delivered, but they were seriously not fit for purpose.

The main expenses were:

Headlights: £1500 from Alibaba
Taillights: £350 from eBay (they're the powerfulUK ones)
Wings: £400 from eBay
Rear Bumper: £180 from eBay
Front Bumper (complete with grills/lights/etc): £550
Intercooler ducts: approx £40 each from dealer
Arch liners: approx £44 each from dealer
Grill: £70
Various other bits/brackets: approx £150

I bought all of the bits in Santorini black and haven't had to paint any of them.

Also bare in mind that you should get around £1500 back by selling your old front/rear bumpers/headlights/tail lights/air ducts/wings/brackets/arch liners/grill/etc. Someone who's just bought a salvage car will likely buy all of it in one shot.

In total the whole conversion front and rear (once I have sold all my old stuff which is mint condition) should come in around £1800. Not too bad I think considering the prices of some of the awful aftermarket body kits etc.

Was it worth it? For me, probably yes, but I've always enjoyed working on cars so I actually enjoyed the project and the challenge of researching and sourcing all the parts. Some companies offer the full conversion for around £10k, but there's no way that would be worth it, just buy the facelift car! Mine is a 2014 so to buy a genuine 2018+ facelift Range would cost 2-3 times the cost of my whole car.

I also much prefer the look of the facelift car. Now it's pretty much finished I'm at a loose end, I'm now looking at face-lifting our downstairs bathroom to keep me busy...

One last thing I will say is that when I was looking for parts online such as the intercooler ducts, arch liners etc - many of the parts were actually far cheaper to buy direct from LR than they were on eBay. I almost bought ONE used arch liner on eBay for £140, I just happened to call the local dealership first to check that it was the correct part number and found out that it was only £80 for a PAIR directly from them!

If you keep an eye on eBay there are some real bargains that come up (bumpers, wings, etc) but for all the other stuff check direct with the dealership first!

For example, these are on eBay right now:

Click image to enlarge

Hi have you a link for headlights? I’ve looked but there is so many thanks

Only way is genuine headlights and have them converted and coded for the earlier model

Red Arrow wrote:

Only way is genuine headlights and have them converted and coded for the earlier model

nick09@live.co.uk wrote:

Hi have you a link for headlights? I’ve looked but there is so many thanks

These are the ones I bought, (the second set that are very good).

They are genuine lights but the branding has been removed (they scratch the logos and put a sticker over it, but when you peel the sticker back you can see the Land Rover and Varroc logos, all LR stickers are there with part numbers etc. Plug N play, easy install, come with ballasts etc.

They're definietely RHD and fully MOT legal. Just double check that they are sending you the RHD versions because they sell both RHD and LHD units.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hig...2fc2NkoXL0

I was dealing with a lady called Christie, if you tell her that I (Nick) gave you the link she might do you a deal.

Just to add to this again..

I also have now fitted the facelift spoiler. I hadn't planned to do this originally but on closer inspection my old spoiler had started to fade (the gloss black parts) and was looking a bit tired, so I thought I may as well finish the conversion with the Facelift spoiler.

Only the most hardcore of RRS conisours would even notice but it does complete the look. The brake light also looks much more modern than my old one.

This is my original faded spoiler:








Here's the new one:









It's much bigger than the pre-facelift but you can only really tell when you compare the two pictures side by side:














Bought the spoiler from Kent 4x4 breakers.

Also now sold my old pre-facelift front end on eBay to recoup £1250 Just need to get my old rear lights and rear bumper out of the garden now...

Quote:

I ended up returning the lights to the seller for a refund which was a shame because they looked really good, the indicators looked good too and when you unlocked the car the lights did a little flashing dance/sequence that looked really good, but at the end of the day it's no good having a headlight that looks great but doesn't actually do what it's supposed to do.

Now you need to change the red badge.

Ian 2018 Indus Silver SDV6 Autobiography normally towing a Buccaneer Cruiser.

Hi Guys,

Hope you all are well!

Hoping someone can help, i am doing a similar conversion to the above on my 2013 L494 RRS 5.0 Autibography.

I ordered all of the parts from alibaba too (first and last time ordering from abroad) and have had issue after issue with this - but the most important at the moment is that i cannot seem to get the new matrix light installed on my car. The top holes all line up just about but the two side holes that should connect onto the radiator mount - do not at all.

Picture as below






was wondering if anyone has encountered this problem before? I can see there are various product numbers for the radiator supports and wondering if i need to change this?

Ive had the car in the garage for 4 weeks now and htey have been racking their brain trying to sort this - Someone please help!

You need to change the bumper support/ carrier for the 2018 onwards one - cost around £60 from the dealer
It looks like you still have the old one fitted ?

Hi, Thanks for hte reply. i do actually have thew new bumper support but as per the pictures here, this is seperate to the holes that the lights go into (which is the bumper support bracket / headlight bracket, Number 1 in the below image.

No , not number one on the image , its the part with what looks like a row of teeth and is shown on your photo with the white clip on it , this looks like the original part ?

sorry wrong picture! I havve this bumper support a new one that came with the body kit, this fits fine,

Not sure then, are they genuine headlights ?
I fitted mine myself and had no issues bolting the lights in

This is an extremely useful post.

Given your experience doing this, would you be open to providing this as a service for my own car?

Like you, I like the challenge and tinkering with cars, but I fear that I would have a similar situation where I miss a part and the car is off the road for many days - something I would like to avoid if possible.

Thanks for the feedback, I’d be happy to give you any advice but I wouldn’t be able to actually help with the conversion unfortunately.

Feel free to PM me and I’ll help as much as I can.