Freelander TD4 OEM+

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Sounds great seoinage. Would also like to see some pics. And also where did you buy your 20 ml spacers and how did they affect the handling. Like ride quality turn in any heavier at the steering wheel stuff like that. Any thing noticed would like to know I am wanting a set myself. Many thanks chris
 
Sounds great seoinage. Would also like to see some pics. And also where did you buy your 20 ml spacers and how did they affect the handling. Like ride quality turn in any heavier at the steering wheel stuff like that. Any thing noticed would like to know I am wanting a set myself. Many thanks chris

Hi Chris,

The spacers I went for are made by a company called "Direnza" and are their "Black Edition".

TD4_9.jpg

Seem to be good quality, made well and fitted perfectly. There's been no torque drop off on the bolts after a few thousand miles use, so I'm happy they are up to the job.

Anything less than 20mm you would need to start trimming Studs due to clearance issues.
20mm at the rear brings the wheel/tyre edge bang in line with the arch.
20mm at the front is ever so slightly inboard of the arch, so you could possibly go to 25mm, but I'm more than happy with 20mm and don't fancy the extra 10mm front width.
Didn't notice a huge difference with handling, other than feeling slightly more stable during cornering.
The difference doesn't show up much in photos but in the flesh it's clearly wider.

Before -

TD4_1.png

After -

TD4_7.JPG

Rob
 
Whilst I wait for the rainy days to stop... and the weekend to arrive so I can snap some more detailed pic's in daylight, I'll share a few basic photos of the car.
(I'm awful at remembering to take photo's as I do things!)

The car as I bought it -

TD4_1.png

After restoring the headlights, fresh number plates and a good wash -

TD4_2.JPG

New "Land Rover" lettering, in Black -

TD4_3.JPG

Bonnet Vents and Black & Silver Land Rover Oval Badge -

TD4_8.JPG

The last External photo I have at the moment (inc. Wheel Spacers & Geolandars) -

TD4_6.jpg

All external badges are now swapped for the Black & Silver Ovals, "Sport" door decals have gone.
I will get some more detailed photos of these soon.

The wheels are currently being refurbished in BMW Orbit Grey, as soon as they're back I'll get another full image and some close-ups.

I'll follow up with more detail and photos of the Bonnet Vents, Air intake, Intercooler hose routing and any other engine bits.
Also details on the interior changes and lighting modifications to come...

Rob
 
That is some nice progress. Pics and car looks very good. Spacer really help wheels to fill arch gap. Might buy some for mine. Air vents looking spot on. Do You have problems with water ingress int engine bay? When raining? I would try vents but a bit scared that water will get to top of engine and it will sit there in spark plugs or so?

But overall great thread and gorgeous looking landy.

Happy Freelanding mate.
 
Brilliant that is exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks very much and must say thats one good looking freelander you've got there rob. Real good;)
 
That is some nice progress. Pics and car looks very good. Spacer really help wheels to fill arch gap. Might buy some for mine. Air vents looking spot on. Do You have problems with water ingress int engine bay? When raining? I would try vents but a bit scared that water will get to top of engine and it will sit there in spark plugs or so?

But overall great thread and gorgeous looking landy.

Happy Freelanding mate.

Thanks mate :)

So the water into/through the vents was also a big concern of mine.
Mines the TD4, so I was slightly less worried than if it were a K-series, but obviously wanted as little water in that area as possible.

Once I've got the RH vent air intake all finished I'll share some photos and explain what I've done.
But basically I've put small water drains in to allow the water to pass through the vent, instead of puddling, then drains down in a controlled way through the engine bay.

Rob
 
Another dark wet night meant I had some time to play around with my spare headlight.

I'll bring you up to speed so you know where I am with my lighting changes so far...

I think lights make a huge difference to a cars appearance. Not only the style of the lamp and it's internal details but also the lighting format and colour output etc.

I started by fitting some LED H7 bulbs to my dipped beam -

TD4_4.JPG

(LED Left, Nightbreaker Halogen Right)

The colour is great and the output is amazing, however the beam control isn't fantastic, leading to the occasional flash from oncoming cars...
(Also, my main beam bulb was now insignificant in comparison, so naturally I also upgraded these to an LED bulb).

Looking to cars which are newer than mine, it's apparent that most OEM's are moving to "Projectors" for their headlights, giving much better beam control.
Some still use a Halogen bulb, but most are used with a Xenon. The Xenon gives out an amazingly bright crisp beam pattern.

Freelander 2 Headlamp -

TD4_17.jpg

You can buy retrofit Xenon kits online, however when fitted into a headlamp designed for a Halogen bulb you basically lose all beam pattern... The same as my LED... Not ideal.

The solution - A Retrofit Projector Kit -

TD4_15.jpg

These Projectors can be fitted to any headlight which uses an H4 or H7 bulb.
The projectors are then fitted with an H1 Xenon or Halogen bulb (there is no mention of LED).
They are classed as "Bi-Xenon", meaning they are used for Dipped beam but also have a main beam function, via means of an actuated flap.

My friend had a cheap-o projector kicking about, so we fitted an LED bulb to see if it was viable to run an LED Projector set-up.
There was some light bleed, given the poor design of the projector internals, however the beam pattern was encouraging -

TD4_5.JPG

After searching through the various projector "shrouds" available (the chrome cover trim for the projector), trying to pick one I thought would suit the lamp, I chose a design and ordered myself a set.

They arrived yesterday so I decided to crack on!

TD4_16.jpg

Lens removed and Projector fitted -

TD4_11.JPG

The shroud needed a fair bit of trimming, as the main beam section of the lamp intrudes into the reflector bowl -

TD4_12.JPG

A bit more fettling with a dremel and it was a perfect fit -

TD4_14.JPG TD4_13.JPG

Really pleased with the fit and look of the projector.
Next up - Lighting functions and wiring...

Rob
 
So has this produced a legal dip/main beam solution with the light levels you wanted that's legal and doesn't give oncoming cars trouble?

I have no idea yet.

I reached this stage only last night, so I need to now re-wire the light internals, re-build it all and fit it to the car to test.
In theory - Yes. And I'm confident it will all be OK, good pattern etc. There's no reason to suggest otherwise :)

Here is a photo of the kit in action (Note - LHD kit).
Top image is a standard OEM projector. Bottom image is the retrofit Projector -

Audi-A4-S4-projector-headlight-repair-compared-Bi-xenon-Valeo.jpg

Another one gives a comparison of a Xenon bulb only kit fitted to a standard headlight (Top), against the Projector Kit (Bottom) -

E46-Bi-xenon-retrofit-cutoff-beam-projector.jpg

Rob
 
Another dark wet night meant I had some time to play around with my spare headlight.

I'll bring you up to speed so you know where I am with my lighting changes so far...

I think lights make a huge difference to a cars appearance. Not only the style of the lamp and it's internal details but also the lighting format and colour output etc.

I started by fitting some LED H7 bulbs to my dipped beam -

View attachment 118522

(LED Left, Nightbreaker Halogen Right)

The colour is great and the output is amazing, however the beam control isn't fantastic, leading to the occasional flash from oncoming cars...
(Also, my main beam bulb was now insignificant in comparison, so naturally I also upgraded these to an LED bulb).

Looking to cars which are newer than mine, it's apparent that most OEM's are moving to "Projectors" for their headlights, giving much better beam control.
Some still use a Halogen bulb, but most are used with a Xenon. The Xenon gives out an amazingly bright crisp beam pattern.

Freelander 2 Headlamp -

View attachment 118525

You can buy retrofit Xenon kits online, however when fitted into a headlamp designed for a Halogen bulb you basically lose all beam pattern... The same as my LED... Not ideal.

The solution - A Retrofit Projector Kit -

View attachment 118523

These Projectors can be fitted to any headlight which uses an H4 or H7 bulb.
The projectors are then fitted with an H1 Xenon or Halogen bulb (there is no mention of LED).
They are classed as "Bi-Xenon", meaning they are used for Dipped beam but also have a main beam function, via means of an actuated flap.

My friend had a cheap-o projector kicking about, so we fitted an LED bulb to see if it was viable to run an LED Projector set-up.
There was some light bleed, given the poor design of the projector internals, however the beam pattern was encouraging -

View attachment 118524

After searching through the various projector "shrouds" available (the chrome cover trim for the projector), trying to pick one I thought would suit the lamp, I chose a design and ordered myself a set.

They arrived yesterday so I decided to crack on!

View attachment 118526

Lens removed and Projector fitted -

View attachment 118527

The shroud needed a fair bit of trimming, as the main beam section of the lamp intrudes into the reflector bowl -

View attachment 118528

A bit more fettling with a dremel and it was a perfect fit -

View attachment 118529 View attachment 118530

Really pleased with the fit and look of the projector.
Next up - Lighting functions and wiring...

Rob

I really like the retrofit projector lights. Do you have an idea as to where such a unit is available?

Oh and what H7 LEDs have you been using?
 
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I really like the retrofit projector lights. Do you have an idea as to where such a unit is available?

Oh and what H7 LEDs have you been using?

The Projectors are from a company called "The Retrofit Lab". They do loads of different lighting kits. I went for the "Mini H1 6.1".
I just bought a second hand headlamp from eBay and have ripped it apart myself to fit the projector.

As far as I'm aware there are no aftermarket projector headlamp units available to buy for the Freelander 1...

I can't remember the make of the LED's, however both sets were around the £35 each mark from Amazon, with no issues so far (3600Lm and 6000k). :)

Rob
 
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Happy Monday!

A small amount of progress with the lights over the very wet weekend.

Fitting the projector unit meant the sidelight bulb would be covered over. I could use the redundant hole to run the projector flap actuator wiring out of the bowl without needing to drill any holes.
I had 2 thoughts on a new sidelight -

1) To relocate the 5w bulbs to my fog lamps and rewire accordingly (I never use the front fog lights, so this is an option).
2) To mount a bulb/LED's into the projector unit and illuminate the lens.

I like the idea of the sidelights in the fog lights and this is something that could be done at any time as it's an easy job.
So I decided to fit the projector lens illumination as this would need to be put in whilst the light unit was apart.
If I like it then I'll use it, if it looks rubbish then I'll just disconnect it.

TD4_14.JPG

Projector lens and housing removed, LED strip fitted around the inside of the housing -

TD4_18.JPG TD4_19.JPG

Fitted and Sidelight Checked (powered via a 7.2v battery) -

TD4_20.JPG

Pretty happy with that!

The new sidelights are wired in and the main beam actuator flap is also wired in.
Sidelight function will illuminate the lens as in the picture.
Dipped Beam function will be via the projector.
Main beam will be via the existing main beam and also the projector.

What to do with the indicator... if anything at all...?!

Rob
 
Happy Monday!

A small amount of progress with the lights over the very wet weekend.

Fitting the projector unit meant the sidelight bulb would be covered over. I could use the redundant hole to run the projector flap actuator wiring out of the bowl without needing to drill any holes.
I had 2 thoughts on a new sidelight -

1) To relocate the 5w bulbs to my fog lamps and rewire accordingly (I never use the front fog lights, so this is an option).
2) To mount a bulb/LED's into the projector unit and illuminate the lens.

I like the idea of the sidelights in the fog lights and this is something that could be done at any time as it's an easy job.
So I decided to fit the projector lens illumination as this would need to be put in whilst the light unit was apart.
If I like it then I'll use it, if it looks rubbish then I'll just disconnect it.

View attachment 118833

Projector lens and housing removed, LED strip fitted around the inside of the housing -

View attachment 118834 View attachment 118835

Fitted and Sidelight Checked (powered via a 7.2v battery) -

View attachment 118836

Pretty happy with that!

The new sidelights are wired in and the main beam actuator flap is also wired in.
Sidelight function will illuminate the lens as in the picture.
Dipped Beam function will be via the projector.
Main beam will be via the existing main beam and also the projector.

What to do with the indicator... if anything at all...?!

Rob

Nice work.
You could have relocated the side light into the main beam reflector. This is my plan for fitting DRLs. It's easy to do. Just find a grommet that fits snuggly onto the side light holder. Then drill a hole in the reflector where you want the light, in a size to suit the grommet. Then fit the grommet into the hole. The side light holder will then be gripped by the grommet. This is the same technique that was used in the olden days to fit side lights into the main light unit, before the advent of plastic reflectors.

Nice work though.
 
One of the guys here who has a Rover 75 too reckons a remap+synergy=Broken crank. He said a few of the Rover guys tried it and regretted it.
 
I got synergy with remap and works fine since months. But it works with new DMF, crank pulley and new injectors. So IMO there is no cause for crank damage (except design fault of crankshaft - but it can snap in stock map too)

Just curious about results on stock IC and Turbo.
 
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I got synergy with remap and works fine since months. But it works with new DMF, crank pulley and new injectors. So IMO there is no cause for crank damage (except design fault of crankshaft - but it can snap in stock map too)

Just curious about results on stock IC and Turbo.
Maybe you'd need to be driving like a hooligan to break your crank. I don't know but a few of us in NI are talking about a group purchase of remaps. I'd like that very much. ;)
 
Crank failure is possibly due to a manufacturing error or some other external cause, like a failed crank damper.
The M47R is suffering from such failure in small numbers. The D3's TDV6 is also suffering from increasing rates if crank failure, which is a far greater problem.

I'm of the opinion that. If the crank in an M47R is going to fail. It will fail regardless of engine tune at the time. So make it more powerful and enjoy the engine. If it goes bang. Then it would have gone bang at some point anyway. ;)
 
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