Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Adaptive Head Lights (AFS) & Corner lights Retrofit
Many of you who have read my earlier posts will know that I am not a D3 member just to promote our products etc, but I am a fully fledged D3 Loving tinkerer anyway. Accordingly I have, as cheaply as I possibly can, also set about the task of upgrading my own ultra basic spec Disco 3 to give it as much top of the line OEM functionality as is possible. For interest and Fun’s sake, I am trying to use mainly second hand parts to see just how cheaply and easily this sort of upgrading can be done. And of course am documenting exactly how I do these upgrades, so that others may possibly be inspired to also consider doing some of their own similar upgrades.
Naturally as has been the case in all my mods on previous stages and in the community spirit of the board I, will be only to happy (free time permitting) to help and advise any members considering or undertaking this job themselves.
If you have not seen my previous upgrade type posts here are a few links to the posts stages I have already completed.
First: my repair and modifications to a damaged (but ultra cheap) main wiring loom, scroll down the page a bit to the post detailing the repair with all the piccies in
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic35050-15.html
Second: my stripping the cabin to fit that loom and changing of the interior. This also details that I have already swapped my lights for AFS Bi Xenons with corner lamps
http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic37092.html
This fourth post, details step by step with pictures exactly how I have now added full Adaptive Headlight (AFS) control, Corner lighting as well as the Front Fogs and PDC sensors. Please excuse the excessive detail but I mentioned in a previous post I would be doing this and a number of members have since expressed their interest to know in detail what is involved.
Before I start however, I really must spend a moment to thank those members on here who have donated parts or helped me source them, in particular, Wiggs for the Front Fogs and some of the PDC bits, some second hand via Discowex. But most importantly Bkehoe who kindly and most charitably donated to me an AFS ECU complete with its connector and bit of wiring. Thanks to you all, my expenditure for the additions I have made to my D3 in this stage barely exceeded 100 GBP and I can but only hope you all enjoy seeing your bits now be put to good use.
The first step was to study the Wiring diagrams and all relevant parts.
Normally the AFS wiring is part of the Engine bay loom. And to do the job as per OEM fitment as I have done in all other stages I should have swapped this out for a “with AFS” version. I do have a spare engine bay loom with AFS but its for a V8 petrol,, not the TDV6 I have and I did not really want to cut it up or do all the work that a Bay loom swap would entail. However since there is very little interconnection on the AFS system wiring with the rest of the vehicles loom, I decided to extend the wiring from my AFS ECU connector, add the additional wires that the Corner lights would need and make a new separate Mini loom that I would run beside the original bay loom.
I made a sheet detailing the connections required and used the V8 loom to give me the approx wire lengths
Click image to enlarge
The white connector on the right bottom corner is the AFS one with 6 twisted pairs going from here to each Headlight and the two wires in the foreground that will go to the Green connector pick up the power for the Headlamps internal electronics.
I also added two thicker wires that would go to the big green connector at the top right for the corner lights. The pins fitted on the wires are salvaged from a scrap LHD loom I have cut up (detailed in previous posts). In fact I pinched much of the wiring from that too.
In the end I had my mini loom all pinned up, measured out and ready to fit.
You can see that I have added a Red and Black (with ring terminal) wire pair to pick up power and Ground exactly as per OEM, also a green closely twisted pair (mid shot) will give me a tap into the High speed CAN bus over which all the usage data and diagnostic access will happen, the two remaining coils are what will be ran to the lights themselves.
The first job was to pull out the Central Junction Box,
The wiring and connections behind this can be seen and behind these is a really large rubber grommet leading to the engine bay.
In engine bay, after removing the battery and moving the fuse box over to the left and looking behind where the fuse box was you can see the other side of this, and if you pull the massive bundle of wires coming out of it towards you a little you will see the thin side wall of the flat part and central tube of the grommet where the regular loom wires emerge through the sealing gunk they fill it with.
Click image to enlarge
Rather than try to pass my wires through this same hole I pulled the grommet out and made a separate hole to the side, through which I pushed a long extension bar.
Click image to enlarge
I could easily see this come through inside the cabin and I taped a couple of leading wires for my two bundles and pulled them through to the engine bay
Click image to enlarge
Then I pulled the whole length through using some blue tape to tell me when to stop and sealed both sides of the new hole I had made in the grommet using the same kind of sealing type mastic gunk as the Main loom used.
Click image to enlarge
Re fitted the grommet and started running the wiring to the drivers side, taping it beside the original loom, so as to effectively make it disappear in with the original Bay loom and feeding it into the box channel that runs across the bulkhead.
Click image to enlarge
I followed the original loom in this way into the box with the ABS ECU in it and left the wiring coiled up there while I finished off the cabin side connections.
It was a simple job to add in the pins of my inter connects to the OEM loom into the empty holes of the respective connectors.
Click image to enlarge
The ECU tucks away using a mounting bracket into a hole in the A post just left of the lower left CJB mounting stud (which in this shot has my AFS loom earth wire still wrapped around it) using a single bolt that thankfully utilizes a key hole type slot.
Click image to enlarge
The earth ring goes on any one of the earth posts at the bottom of the A post.
In this last shot, you can also see in the foreground the light brown base that accepts a relay to drive the power fold mirrors, (when I add that) and you can also see some blue insulation tape to the front right on the main loom. This is actually an original OEM splice joint where the CAN bus for would be tapped into. The Yellow and blue wire just underneath the bit of blue insulation tape to the right is one of the Low speed Can Pair being tapped into.
In my case however I needed to tap into the high speed CAN BUS pair and so I found a conveniently located pair, stripped back the insulation and soldered my pair onto them before covering my splice with tape.
Click image to enlarge
It looks a bit rough just splicing into a pair like that but as I pointed out, it’s actually as good if not better than how it’s done OEM style and as long as there is no more than a few CM of un twisted wire, I know it won’t give me any problems.
I wish I could say I then simply refitted the CJB and covers but, fitting those connectors in the back of the CJB is a job that would make a nun swear.
Of much more use and interest, is the fact that when I came to add the Corner lighting pins on the wires I had loomed in for fitting to the big green CJB connector, I was stunned to discover that the wiring was already there. I checked the pins for this on the back of the lights and it was also there at this end too. It was but a few days since in working with Martin (site owner) I had realized that you can have corner lighting even with Halogen lights, but I never imagined that the wiring for it would be present even on the most basic spec vehicles. But I guess that’s one of the benefits of doing this myself is that I can learn this stuff and pass it on.
With no more ado, I ensured my bay side loom ends were isolated; re connected the battery, fired up my Faultmate MSV-2, read the CCF, changed the corner lighting setting to say it was fitted and wrote the settings back.
Click image to enlarge
At first I got no result but then I thought to turn on the indicator and voila, the corner lights sprang into life. I was a little annoyed that I could have done this as much as a year earlier, but was pleased to have it working and, well hey it’s a learning thing anyway.
Anyway having finished in the cabin, I refitted all the trim, but I still needed to finish running my loom all the way to the lights and connecting it to them and so then got straight onto that.
Although one might expect the looms to run down each side of the bay on to of the inner wings, connecting to the various inner wing items as they go. In fact the looms go straight down through Grommets to below the inner wings where they run along side the chassis rails to the very front of the car and are protected only by the arch liners which along with the spats I had to remove. All just by the book though
On both sides I made a hole through the grommets, pulled the wiring through them and sealed these with mastic both sides as before on the bulkhead before re fitting them so my wiring was now also under the inner wings on both sides too. In this shot you can clearly see my new wires I have temporarily hung up and the old one.
Click image to enlarge
I could have simply wrapped my wiring in insulation tape like the original is and cable tied it alongside, but I had some thick heavy duty flexible tubing that I decided would be better and so pulled my wiring through that first.
Amazingly on the Passengers side, I noted that one of the mounting points for the original loom had never been fitted properly into its hole, which I fixed after taking this shot. You can barely see my additional tube of wiring at the very top of the original wire bundle.
Click image to enlarge
I simply followed the original loom all the way, cable tying my new tube of wires to it as it wound its way round the chassis legs and right up to the point where the loom splits off to go to the head light connectors. From here, on the driver’s side I pulled the wires through the same bit of conduit as the original loom used and added the extra earth wire. You can also see in this shot the 2 extra additional connectors (centre shot) with blanking plugs in for the PDC and Fog lamps which use a mini front bumper loom to connect to as well.
You will probably notice that at this stage, I simply wrapped the new wires with tape, and as can be seen in this shot of the passenger side, I did not do much more here either.
Click image to enlarge
Well it was like 7 PM new years eve then and I did not have the pins for the light ends ready anyway, I also had noted that on the passenger side that due to the close presence of the Fuel Burning heater exhaust there was some heat resistant foil wrapping on the OEM loom which did not leave any room for extra wires which would need extra consideration.
Those with an eagle eye and with an attention to detail like mine, might have noticed on the Passenger side the outer most screw / bolt to attach the bumper is missing, just by where the flexible hose for the washer bottle passes by, you can even see the thread marks, and on the drivers side not only is the screw / bolt missing but so is the white plug it should screw into.
Honestly it really annoys me when I see that sort of thing, how hard can it be, you count em out, and you count em back, if you have something left over you figure out where and do it again till you don’t and learn for the next time. So just added a few more bits I have to add on my next TLO order. Anyway, sorry, rant over.
In any event that’s probably a good point for me to break right now and follow up with a second part and conclusion to this part of my upgrade project soon.
Last edited by BBS SPY on 11th Jan 2010 6:03 pm. Edited 4 times in total
11th Jan 2010 5:56 pm
BBS SPY Site Sponsor
Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
AFS retrofit Part 2
On new years day, I continued by removing the front bumper which was pretty much a few minutes of “by the book†type work.
Despite being assured by Wiggs that what I needed would be there, I had been quite worried that the inner structure of the bumper to support the fog lights, or even the PDC sensors would not actually be present, but sure enough, there it was exactly as advertised . A bit of a clean up and wipe even revealed the cut out lines in the outer skin with center drill points for both the Fogs and the PDC sensors. Also the head light wash jets if I had the hardware (now put on the wish list)
For those who would like to see this for themselves, here is a picture of one of the PDC cut out markings
Click image to enlarge
A real doddle to cut, using a pilot drill followed by the right sized hole drill and a round file easily adds the two orientation notches to the edges of the main holes, which are differently orientated for each. All done and dusted so quick, I forgot to take any more stepped pictures (sorry)
The only thing I might add is that the two inner sensor bezels that simply clip into the newly created holes are normally color coded on the outer side with spray paint before fitting, as are the sensor faces themselves. Given that my used bezels and sensors were the wrong color and I was unlikely to find a vendor of a spray can of the right color on new years day, I rubbed mine down and fitted I small square of laser jet film under the outer part of both middle sensors so I can more easily mask the bumper off and remove later after painting.
The Fog light cut outs were a bit harder as they are generally oval with a few tags and much of the outer skin cut line is obscured from the inside by support points in the second inner skin.
Click image to enlarge
I hacked a rough hole out from the inside using a Dremmel type drill and plastic cutting bit and then working from the outside, I used a mirror to show me where the line was relevant to my rough cut, which allowed me to use a couple of files and a sharp knife to tidy the edge and dress it back to the line.
Before I knew it, I had holes as per OEM fit, and clipping in the bits and adding the loom to feed them and connecting them up was child's play.
Refitting the bumper was also a simple, by the book, reverse job, although I did fit my new headlamp switch to check the front fogs worked as they should and enabled PDC in the CCF and used the Faultmate fault code clearing and reading capability to ensure the front sensors were all now present and correct as far as the PDC ECU was concerned.
Now back to finishing actually connecting the AFS wires to the head lamps
On the drivers side I cut the wires to length and fitted each with a silicone sealing plug,
Click image to enlarge
I pulled the blanking plus out of the holes and started inserting the new ones relative to my pre made diagram.
Here I left one of the blanking plugs partly in and have pinned and inserted a wires to show all aspects in one shot.
Click image to enlarge
Here is how the rest of the wires look with pins crimped on ready for insertion into the respective holes
Click image to enlarge
And finally all wires inserted
Click image to enlarge
Finally taping it up neatly to all be as original. In the Top right hand corner of this shot you can now clearly see my Fog Light & PDC connectors fitted to the existing looms (dirtier) connectors.
The same process was used on the Passenger side although you will note, I also wrapped all the wires with foil tape as the original ones were, presumably due to the locality of the FBH exhaust pipe you can also see in this shot.
I plugged in the Head lights temporarily and used the Faultmate again to edit the CCF and enable AFS
I wish I could say it all worked straight away, but there was a fault logged on both lights (communications with head light not established) and the AFS icon in the dash was blinking. And when I ran the AFS self test function on the Faultmate, the light beams only went up and down, with no side to side action.
But a simple re check of the pin insertion and my wiring notes against the OEM wiring diagram showed a couple of mistakes which were quite easily fixed by backing out and re inserting a couple of pins correctly.
I cleared the faults, re ran the built in self test, and with all is as it should be and the lights moving in both axis, I fully re assembled the front of the car.
Having already done the front, removal of the rear bumper, cutting of holes and fitting of the rear PDC sensors, and refitting the bumper was absolute by the book childs play.
I also pulled out the rear left quarter panel cover a little way and fitted the sounder for the PDC.
I did have to use the Faultmate to clear all the PDC faults though before the system became fully operational.
Now for less than 100 GBP, all 3 systems (AFS, Corner lighting or Static Bending Lights and PDC) are all working 100% as they should, and I would say certainly are very useful and much appreciated additions to the car. In particular I defy anyone to tell the difference between mine and factory fitted, especially after my connections and wiring has as much grime on it as the originals did.
Of course I could have just bought a higher spec D3 with these things on already, but for me, that not what it’s about. Now seeing my beams move about as I turn the steering wheel, and having the corner lights / Static Bending Lights kick in and illuminate the corners, and having the PDC help me in tight maneuvers, gives me a degree of pride and self accomplishment satisfaction that no amount of money could ever buy. I also understand vast amounts about the systems that I would not have otherwise learned. And in my profession that alone is worth the effort.
Already as a direct result of my posting just part one of this contribution, I have been able to help quite a few members of the D3 community, and that's what being a member is really all about.
So i hope you enjoyed reading and seeing this part of my little project and if anyone has any questions or comments, please do feel free to post them up.
Last edited by BBS SPY on 27th Jan 2010 6:59 pm. Edited 1 time in total
11th Jan 2010 5:56 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Very interesting
I've also bought a set of adaptive LHD bi-xenons and am in the process of getting the other bits I need, although I think the most difficult part will be the AFS ECU connector (is it the same connectar as used on the HEVAC unit?).
I will also need to somehow get hold of a load of pins for the headlamp connectors etc - if anyone knows where I can get these (new or cut from a second-hand loom), please let me know
Regarding the Cornering lamps....
I believe that these are fitted as standard in the NAS market (or something like that), but in the case of non-adaptive lights, they are connected to, controlled by, and powered directly by the CJB.
I thought however, that in the case of adaptive lights, that the cornering lamps are again connected to, and powered by the CJB, but the control is handled by the AFS ECU - is this correct?
I believe that they control strategy is also different. Do the output FETs in the CJB dim the lights out gradually or is it an all or nothing approach?
If so, then I'm wondering if what you have enabled in the CCF is just the non-adaptive CJB controlled cornering lights function.
Maybe when you finish the install and enable AFS in the CCF, then you may need to deactivate this function so that the cornering lights are controlled by the AFS ECU instead of the CJB - does this sound right?
Can anyone with a Faultmate and AFS confirm the correct settings for the corner lights as seen in Colin's screenshot?
Looking forward to part 2.
Cheers,
Paul
PS. I also fitted my adaptive lights over the holidays to test the bulbs - I was surprised that the beam pattern/height was identical to that of my non-adaptive bi-xenons. I thought that maybe it would have been off-centre due to the motors not being powered...
Or maybe I was just lucky that the motors were "centered" before they were disconnected by the previous owner and are now stuck (albeit in the correct position).2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
12th Jan 2010 12:33 pm
BBS SPY Site Sponsor
Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Hiya Paul
Thanks, I was beginning to think no one was interested :LOL
Forgive my humour but its a Tuesday night
Do your adaptive lights have corner lights fitted, if so, from what I have seen, ie that even base spec vehicles are wired already, you can just enable them in your CCF.
If you are not sure of what settings to use, send me your saved CCF File and I will set it up and return it. Feck, sorry, just had a self indulgent moment there, can you even really believe how awesome what I just wrote really is capability wise. Think about it, you can pull and save your D3’s entire settings, e-mail them in a standard HTML format for someone else to adjust and then get the modded version back and write that into your car. That’s no ordinary diagnostic system now is it, LOL. I would love to meet the chap who thought of that :LOL.
Talking of chaps, yea, trust me, I may have started the rumor, but honestly I have had them both in my very own hands and the AFS ECU connector is the same one they use in the Hevac and better still I might be able to put my hands on a spare one for you
Re markets and Lamp types, I am quite sure that the Corner lights are always controlled by the CCF in all markets and in all lamp types. Even halogens can have corner lights.
Having got mine going, I can tell you that they kick in quickly and fade out nicely where required. Actually, they are really cool, and now I really can’t stop playing with mine. LOL
Now I want to upgrade the bulbs to higher intensity white ones to match the Xenons.
Hids4U where are you ?
Anyway, I will do the part 2 as soon as I can, which details the pinning to the lights and my bumper work.
The good news is that I kept a record of all the wire lengths etc, so I might even be able to knock you up a ready to fit loom
Warmest regards
Colin
12th Jan 2010 9:51 pm
DigitalJunior
Member Since: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 4398
PaulP wrote:
PS. I also fitted my adaptive lights over the holidays to test the bulbs - I was surprised that the beam pattern/height was identical to that of my non-adaptive bi-xenons. I thought that maybe it would have been off-centre due to the motors not being powered...
Or maybe I was just lucky that the motors were "centered" before they were disconnected by the previous owner and are now stuck (albeit in the correct position).
There are loads of posts on here saying that adaptive do not work in standard D3 - not bothered whether they move or have corning lights but thought they just flopped to the ground like they had drunk 10 pints?
12th Jan 2010 10:59 pm
BBS SPY Site Sponsor
Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
Nah DJ
Sounds like BU 11 to me
Yea Adaptives do have stepper motors in them that can move the beams up and down or left and right by a few degrees but without any stepper motor control they don't move at all, and given that 99.9% of the time adaptives point straight ahead as non adaptives with fixed positions do, its highly unlikely that they were removed from their doners while in any position other than straight ahead, and if not, 5 % is adjustable with the manual adjustment screws anyway.
I bought my AFS adaptives with corner lights off ebay 18 months back, and slapped em straight in, directly in place of my base halogens. After firing them up, they went straight on a beam tester which showed then to already be aligned 100% perfect. 18 months later i have now added the AFS motor control to them and so their position is now under total control of the AFS ECU via their motors, and is properly driven by the AFS control which gets its info from the steering angle sensor and EAS over the CAN bus and it appears to adjust the beam, up down, and left right in real time adequately, sensibly and quite enjoyably i might add. I would however note that at what should be rest my left beam seems a degree or two higher than my right, or perhaps it is my right that is a degree or two lower than my left. so i obviously need to revisit the beam tester and make some adjustments.
In any even sure as hell my adaptives have never drooped or behaved beyond expectations.
13th Jan 2010 12:07 am
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
BBS SPY wrote:
I would however note that at what should be rest my left beam seems a degree or two higher than my right
I think this is normal for a RHD vehicle Colin.
My LHD has the (standard) bi-xenons like this, but obviously in my case it's the right-hand side beam that is slightly higher than the left. Projecting onto my neighbours wall at 20m distance, I would say that the right-hand beam marks a line 10-20cm higher than the left.
Each side has their own beam pattern - the one nearest the oncoming traffic is a fair bit shorter (and a touch lower) than the one on the curb side, so this fits with the respective differences both you and I see with our RHD/LHD models.
I'll see if I get time this evening to mount my adaptives and activate the corner lamps.
BTW - I don't think you understood me completely when I was talking about the settings in the CCF.
What I meant was that there are some non-adaptive bi-xenons with cornering lamps controlled by the CJB. Then there are the full adaptive bi-xenons that all have cornering lamps controlled by the AFS ECU.
In both cases, the cornering lamps are powered by the CJB, but there are different control strategies - a simple one for CJB controlled lamps, and a more advanced one controlled by the AFS. Does this make sense?
This is what I meant when I talked about the two separate settings in the CCF:
- Cornering Lamps Fitment
- Adaptive Front Lighting System
I think that in the case of a D3 fitted with non-adaptive bi-xenons and cornering lights (NAS market?), the correct setting in the CCF would be to enable Cornering Lamps, but disable AFS.
In the case of a D3 fitted with adaptive bi-xenons, then I think the correct setting would be to disable Cornering Lamps, but enable AFS.
This is why it would be good if one of the guys with factory-fitted AFS could check their CCF and let us know what is enabled/disabled.
Cheers,
Paul2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
13th Jan 2010 9:53 am
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Excellent work there again Colin ...i admire your determination
Paul ..heres my CCF ..i have the adaptives on mine
Click image to enlarge
You are correct in your thinking G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
13th Jan 2010 10:59 am
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
wiggs wrote:
You are correct in your thinking
No I'm not
As per your CCF and taking into account that you have factory fit AFS with cornering lamps, we can see that you have both Cornering Lamps and AFS enabled.
EDIT: I didn't take into account that although it says that cornering lamps are fitted, the CCF clearly shows (if you read it properly) that Cornering Lamps are DISABLED and therefore that the control of them is done via the AFS ECU....
This means that my original theory seems correct 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
Last edited by PaulP on 13th Jan 2010 12:41 pm. Edited 1 time in total
13th Jan 2010 12:32 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Have another look ..corner lights FITTED (yes they are )
Corner lights DISABLED G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
13th Jan 2010 12:36 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Sorry - I looked at the wrong field in my hurry
OK - now it makes sense....
I'll edit my previous post to avoid confusion 2006 Discovery 3 TDV6 SE AutoBuckingham Blue 2007 Golf GT DSG
13th Jan 2010 12:38 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Does that make more sense now G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
13th Jan 2010 12:40 pm
BBS SPY Site Sponsor
Member Since: 15 Jun 2007
Location: Sunny Cyprus
Posts: 3054
I have had a bit more of a look at this and it looks like there may be a small title edit required as the second corner lamp setting (Corner Lamps) appears to actually be a Corner lamp disable option. which would make its settings functionally inverse. so 25 percent of all D3's have corner lamps fitted and on that same 25% the corner lamp disable feature (ability to disable its operation) is set to disabled, ie they are fitted and not disabled.
13th Jan 2010 2:12 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Are you trying to make this more complicated
G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
13th Jan 2010 2:14 pm
PaulP
Member Since: 04 May 2007
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 4317
Well...you lost me on that one Colin....thank god you posted it before you started on the Rum & Coke or I would have really got confused
OK - I think I see where you're going. Based upon the following facts upon comparing both your and Wiggs' installations and CCFs:
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Sorry - I looked at the wrong field in my hurry 
