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doublea

Member Since: 12 Jul 2011
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 495

2016 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 Adventure Phoenix Orange

Dim dip retro fit!

Right, I know most folk ask about disabling dim dip, but I kinda like the retro look of it.

How do I go about retro fitting this to my 2015 utility wagon?

I'm hoping it's a case of getting the "pink relay" and resistor and plugging them in. Current Steeds:
2015 110 UW in Grasmere Green
2003 BMW F650 the Hack
2000 Elise
1992 Ducati 888 (no longer in bits, yahoo)
1990 TDR 250 (in bits again)
1988 TDR 250 (no longer in bits) and for sale

9th Aug 2019 11:41pm

grafty99

Member Since: 15 Aug 2012
Location: North Devon
Posts: 4786

The pink relay controls the headlights anyway so should already be there. If the wiring is there then it should just be a case of getting a resistor and plugging it in

2002 90 Td5 Station Wagon
1990 Vogue SE
Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200
Td5 90 Thread http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic50767.html
Tdi 110 Thread https://www.defender2.net/forum/topic69562.html
RRC Thread http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic54492.html
Instagram http://www.instagram.com/george_grafton

10th Aug 2019 6:00am

90 Dreamer

Member Since: 13 Jul 2019
Location: Oop North
Posts: 2164

2016 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Corris Grey

what is it exactly??

10th Aug 2019 7:33am

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17441

2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey

It is a useless feature which is optimised to make your headlight bulbs fail quicker!

It was actually a half-witted scheme by the UK government which meant that if you turned on the sidelights with the ignition on, the dip beam headlights would come on at about half power. It was for a short time in the late 1980s a legal requirement, until Europe, in a rare moment of sense, ruled that it was illegal under EU law for the UK to make it a legal requirement. So it stopped being a legal requirement!

Some manufacturers, especially those like Land-Rover, who thought the 1970s hadn't ended, went on fitting it for years before stopping.

Benefits of DD: none.

Disbenefits: running a headlight bulb on a reduced voltage has been shown to make it fail much quicker than running it on design voltage.

It is probably illegal to retrofit dim dip to a vehicle unless a configuration of the vehicle with DD has been through the EWVTA process, and then only to a class N (not M) vehicle. You'd have to compare the wiring diagrams to see exactly what is needed, but the DD system is more complex than you expect and you will be cutting and splicing harnesses to retrofit.

10th Aug 2019 8:24am

Sulisuli

Member Since: 30 Oct 2016
Location: South west
Posts: 4795

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 HT Corris Grey

Everyday is a school day, thanks blackwolf

2015 HT XS 90
2008 SVX 90
2000 XS TD5 90

10th Aug 2019 8:53am

doublea

Member Since: 12 Jul 2011
Location: Aberdeenshire
Posts: 495

Oh well, sounds like it's not feasible.

It's just that super bright newfangled led DRLs just don't complement the retro look of my defender.

Thanks for the replies though. Current Steeds:
2015 110 UW in Grasmere Green
2003 BMW F650 the Hack
2000 Elise
1992 Ducati 888 (no longer in bits, yahoo)
1990 TDR 250 (in bits again)
1988 TDR 250 (no longer in bits) and for sale

10th Aug 2019 9:47am

90 Dreamer

Member Since: 13 Jul 2019
Location: Oop North
Posts: 2164

cheers for the info.......

10th Aug 2019 10:03am

LandRoverAnorak

Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11324

If you want something DRL-esque but retro looking, then you could just turn the sidelights on. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia

10th Aug 2019 10:19am

blackwolf

Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17441

^^^ This!

Good idea, it's what I do.

10th Aug 2019 10:28am

JWL

Member Since: 26 Oct 2011
Location: Hereford
Posts: 3443

Another way is to do what I did, I have a pair of crystal headlamps with pilot lights in. I popped a couple of led 501's in place and wired them up to the sidelight loom which give a fair impression of the headlamps being on allbeit not as bright as dipped beam as soon as the sidelights are turned on

11th Aug 2019 7:50pm

MadTom

Member Since: 10 Sep 2013
Location: Olomouc
Posts: 625

DD will not work with LED head lights .... "Drobek" = The Small One - Discovery 2, "Blufínek" = The Blue Thing - Defender 130, and for me at least Ford Mondeo

12th Aug 2019 6:17am

L110CDL

Member Since: 31 Oct 2015
Location: Devon
Posts: 10782

Sulisuli wrote:
Everyday is a school day, thanks blackwolf

1996 Golf Blue 300Tdi 110 Pick up.

Keeper.

Clayton.

13th Aug 2019 8:04pm

discomog

Member Since: 09 May 2015
Location: Notts/Lincs Border
Posts: 2529

2015 Defender 90 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Santorini Black

There is nothing to stop you fitting filament bulb drls if you want a more "classic" look. In fact my Disco Sport has filament bulb drl's fitted as do many other modern cars. It means you can run with much brighter lamps than if using sidelights and without the glitz of LED's.

Don't see the point of dim dip Defender 90XS SW
Mini Countryman Cooper S
Morgan Plus 8

13th Aug 2019 8:16pm

custom90

Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
Posts: 20440

I very much agree with BW's mentioning of the DD system being very complex.
I disabled mine a few years ago, it was a real head scratcher to sort out and now I can't every remember how I did it.
I certainly wouldn't re-use it, I did not see the point in it either.
Now I run Noldens with in-built sidelight function, which gives me front sidelights and a DRL of the headlights only on when sidelights are on.. (Piggyback connected from the sidelight feeds.)
Dipped, and main.

Without the above and without the dim dip which I couldn't have with LED anyway. I would have only sidelights.
And headlights dipped or main.
With sidelight on headlights would be off completely.
I'm very happy with this set up, and the extra light from the DRL headlights with sidelights on really gives better visibility in dark weather especially if your Defender is black or grey.

For these reasons, although from what I have read you have a different set up I would agree with the others not to re-instate it. $W33T $0U7H3RN $UG4R
🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪🇺🇸⛽️🛢️⚙️🧰💪

13th Aug 2019 9:37pm

llessur

Member Since: 15 Nov 2011
Location: Hereford
Posts: 151

I have the Dim Dip on a 2008 2.4 . I have fitted led headlights and the effect is that they are on with the sidelights and very bright. I guess its the ability of Leds to operate over a wide voltage range. I have the 10050 pink relay but when I went hunting for the resistor to disconnect it, I could not find it.
Can anyone give me an accurate idea where it is situated with possibly the wire colour please.
I would prefer to have full control over my lights as I drive with side lights on when the trailer is attached as the trailer side markers tend to make oncoming drivers a little more aware of the width. At present they seem fixated that my headlights are on and just want to flash me.

14th Aug 2019 3:48pm

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