Ever since owning my 2006 DB9 i have been disappointed with the headlights, they are awful on both dipped and main beam and in my view bordering on dangerous for what is potentially a fairly quick car. I have tried different bulbs (Osram in the HID low beams, and both halogen and LED in the full beam) but with barely any improvement.

I decided to strip the headlights apart and completely rebuild them with 2 modern Bi-LED projectors in each light, so I now have 4 efficient lights on low beam and 4 on main beam too. The difference is astonishing; on dipped there is a brighter, broader more even beam with a very sharp accurate cutoff and the same on main beam with much more power and reach. The headlights still look absolutely stock (until you switch them on )
The stock adjustment still works as before and the auto levelling works too.

I also took the opportunity to replace the separate side/position and indicator lights with switchback lights as the indicators are not very visible when the sidelights are on too.

The images below are with just one headlight vs an original headlight with new bulbs

I now feel safe driving at night :-)

Dipped Beam comparison

Main beam Comparison

Orginal projectors

New Bi-LED projectors fitted to original mounting plate

A bit more wiring needed

Still looks stock until lights switched on.


Details here:

https://db9s.com/upgraded-aston-martin-headlights/

 

Very impressive! Time and money well spent. I'm sure it'll be debit to both of those areas in my future as well. And thank you for the lengthy write up!

 

Great modification!

Those LED's have the advantage of a short rear overhang, which make the them fit into the housing.
I was looking into a Bi-xenon retrofit into my V8V, but there wasn't enough space at the time.

 

Did this require re-engineering or are they like a drop in replacement? What LED kit did you use?

 

Interesting..thanks for posting..

 

I'm very interested in this. Did you happen to write this up? Parts list?

Jim

 

Quite a bit of measuring and cutting to fit the new mounting brackets - shown in the link

 

There is a link in the post with details

 

IMPRESSIVE ! Thanks for sharing

 

Thanks a lot! WONDERFUL JOB!

 

MY MISTAKE! I see it now.

THanks!

 

Nice work! love the write up too. It looks like work but fairly straight forward. Is the lathe for the low beam shrouding a must or is there potentially an alternative method to shaving it down for those of us without access to a lathe?

 

It would take a little longer but you could just use a file - only need to take a couple of mm of the plastic shroud.

 

Looks like you could have a nice side gig updating DB9 headlight sets! Well done.

 

Awesome, thanks for the write up! Cant wait to tackle this much needed DIY upgrade for these amazing machines!