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Home > Maintenance & Mods (L322) > Cheap and Easy Reversing light upgrade

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LowB

Member Since: 23 Jan 2021
Location: Farnham, Surrey
Posts: 35

2011 Range Rover Vogue SE TDV8 Galway Green

Cheap and Easy Reversing light upgrade

After being somewhat underwhelmed by the performance of the reversing lights on the L322 (especially with privacy glass), I decided to see if I could improve matters without spending a fortune or hours under the car.
I was inspired by the recent video by Sam's Motors but didn't need work lights and wanted a solution that was a little more subtle. After a basic search I found these on Amazon https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07G...&psc=1. Nice and subtle, nice a cheap Of course I've got no idea how long they will last but the whole thing was a bit of experiment anyway.
Fitting was straightforward as I just screwed them to the bottom of the bumper in one of the recesses.

I didn't go mad with the wiring, just ran them behind the bumper fittings holding them in place with cable-ties.

Click image to enlarge

The easiest place I could find to access the reverse light feed was as it ran between the main chassis and the rear lower tailgate. So I fitted a waterproof connector and fixed it to the lower tailgate.

Click image to enlarge

I cut a small slit in the waterproof seal into the boot area, which doesn't seem to have compromised the water resistance and fed the wire into the boot.
I then spliced into the wires on the tailgate side of the connector, the white/green feed is the live and I just used one of the ground wires (top/left in the image).

Click image to enlarge

The reverse lights circuit is already fitted with a relay and the LEDs pull virtually no current, they also don't cause any error codes to appear in the dash.
here's what the finished install looks like.

Click image to enlarge

The lit area behind the car is much improved, as is the image in the reversing camera at night. I know they are likely to get covered in road gunge but it's simple to wipe them clean and if they fail (due to being cheap) then it's simple to remove/replace them and no one would be any the wiser.

Of course they are a different colour to the original filament bulbs so I'll upgrade them to LEDs too at some point.
Anyway, I just thought someone might find this helpful.

*edited to add image of illumination pattern at night. 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE in Galway Green with Black leather
1998 Saab 900 turbo convertible in Lime Gold with black leather

Last edited by LowB on 26th Feb 2022 12:32pm. Edited 1 time in total

25th Feb 2022 1:37pm

stan
Site Moderator

Member Since: 13 Jul 2010
Location: a moderate moderated moderator moderating moderately in moderation
Posts: 35332

good idea..

also, if you dont use the towbar you could put a 2'' x 2'' bit of wood in the 'hole' and screw a light on to it. ... - .- -.

Y. O. L. O.
.

25th Feb 2022 2:17pm

LowB

Member Since: 23 Jan 2021
Location: Farnham, Surrey
Posts: 35

That’s a great idea! I’ve got an old angle poise light in the kitchen I could use😄 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE in Galway Green with Black leather
1998 Saab 900 turbo convertible in Lime Gold with black leather

25th Feb 2022 4:01pm

p38arover

Member Since: 16 Dec 2015
Location: Western Sydney
Posts: 1534

I added an LED worklight to mine via relay. I picked up a trigger from the reversing lights.

Howver, something weird is happening - if the headlights are on, selecting reverse brings that light on as well as switching the headlights to high beam. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

26th Feb 2022 11:34am

LowB

Member Since: 23 Jan 2021
Location: Farnham, Surrey
Posts: 35

That is weird, have you tried disconnecting the relay you added to see if the problem goes away? They may be completely unrelated. 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE in Galway Green with Black leather
1998 Saab 900 turbo convertible in Lime Gold with black leather

26th Feb 2022 12:36pm

p38arover

Member Since: 16 Dec 2015
Location: Western Sydney
Posts: 1534

Not yet. I'm waiting for this incessant rain to end. It's so bad, we are being warned of possible floods. Ron B. VK2OTC
2003 L322 V8 Auto
2007 Yamaha XJR1300
Previous: 1983, 1986 RRC; 1995, 1996 P38A; 1995 Disco1; 1984 V8 County 110; Series IIA

Last edited by p38arover on 4th Mar 2022 11:50am. Edited 1 time in total

2nd Mar 2022 9:48am

garyRR

Member Since: 13 Mar 2021
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 1468

p38arover wrote:
I added an LED worklight to mine via relay. I picked up a trigger from the reversing lights.

Howver, something weird is happening - if the headlights are on, selecting reverse brings that light on as well as switching the headlights to high beam.

Personally, I'd just pick up a feed from the the reversing lights themselves with no relay needed. The wiring is behind the fuse box panel. Tap into the +ve for the reverse lights, theres plenty of GND points to pick up from, the wiring is already all hidden away, cable tie or tape to existing loom then, its a piece of cake running a cable down to the bumper. Push the grommet out with your fingers, cut a hole, push the cable through, sealant then cut off excess cable and install light in position. If you have a towbar, you could install this on the guard plate.

Of course, the other and potentially neater but more time consuming option is to upgrade the reversing lights themselves. A way to do it is to purchase a flexible SMD panel and retrofit onto the backer of each reversing light, add a 22 ohm resistor and hey presto. An SMD panel either side will give off significantly more light than an LED bulb. Seems to be the only option at this time, as I haven't seen any true LED panel retrofits where you just swap out the entire unit. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

4th Mar 2022 1:42am

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