Aston Martin Headlight Upgrades

Aston Martin Headlight Upgrades, I purchased my Aston Martin DB9 in 2021 and the first time I drove it at night I was shocked at how bad the headlights were, particularly for an expensive performance car. I set out to improve the performance of the headlights whilst keeping the stock look. The result was a huge increase in the brightness, spread and the quality of the headlight beams. These headlights have now sold around the world with glowing reviews, the same headlight module also fits in the Aston Martin Vantage.

Aston Martin Models

• DB9 Headlights
• DBS Headlights
• Vantage Headlights
• Rapide Headlights
• Vanquish 2 Headlights
• DB9.2 Headlights
• DB7 Headlights (in development)

Aston Martin DB9 Headlights

The headlights of the early (before 2013) Aston Martin DB9 and the Vantage/DBS are of a very poor design, with inadequate light output and a poor beam pattern. They use a proprietary design with the reflector bowls built into the main support bracket. Both lights are fixed, meaning the dipped beam has a fixed shield to produce a low beam and the full beam has a similar shield so it only produces light above the dipped beam, not adding to the dipped light.
The reflector is also prone to the chrome reflector material breaking down and separating from the bowl. The DB9/DBS has a HID low beam and halogen main beam whilst the Vantage has either the same as the DB9 or halogen low and high beams.

Even Autocar in its used car review of the DBS said that it has “Dreadful Headlights”.

Upgrading to better bulbs will result in a few percent increase in the light output, upgrading to LED bulbs results in a very poor beam pattern and will not pass an MOT in the UK.

As can be seen above the stock projector design is very poor with half the output of each light completely wasted by the non moving shut offs, combined with inefficient lenses and reflectors.

The upgrade is available as:

a) DIY module for fitting yourself or by a local installer, this a plug and play installation through the back of the headlight and screws in using the existing screws to the stock bracket and still uses the auto levelling and same manual adjusters. The electrical connectors just plug in to the original connectors. The upgrade consists of a 2.5″ dipped beam Bi-LED projector and when switched to main beam the dipped beam adds full beam in addition to the 3″ main beam projector.

b) Bespoke upgrade by sending your headlights to us to be upgraded, this has extra options available such as twin 3″ projectors, all 4 lights on dipped beam and lasers with the full beam, contact for more details.

Comparison Photos below, stock DB9 headlight with Osram 35W HID and Osram 65W H9, The DIY Bi-LED module with 2.5″ Bi-LED dipped beam and 3″ Main beam and Bespoke version with twin 3.0 Bi-LEDs, giving 4 dipped beams and 4 main beam. For these photos the upgrades are a mix of LHD and RHD and the lights are not levelled correctly

Aston Martin Headlight Upgrades

My solution is to replace both projectors with state of the art Bi-LED projectors that give out far more light, with a much wider, more even beam pattern that dazzles less. There is the option of 2 or 4 dipped beams and 4 main beams for a original look with the lights on or for maximum lighting.

DB9 PRICES

• Bi-LED HEADLIGHTS £1600, this is for headlights sent to me to upgrade, there are more options available, see above
• DIY Bi-LED HEADLIGHTS £1250, this is for the Bi-LED modules that you fit yourself or get a local installer to fit.
• SWITCHBACK INDICATORS +£120, this needs changes to the cars wiring
• ETCHED LENSES +£80
• REPLACING BROKEN MOUNTS +£60 per light
• PAINTED SHIELD/BEZELS £POA, black bezels or carbon fibre dipped housing

Aston Martin DBS Headlights

DBS headlights are exactly the same as early DB9 headlights, see above

Aston Martin Vantage Headlights

Although the Vantage headlights have a different outer case and lens covers the internals are the same as the DB9, although some early Vantages had halogen dipped beam instead of HID. The Vantage has LED indicators and sidelights. To install the DIY Bi-LED upgrade on a DB9 the rear of the headlight is removed and the module installed from the rear, on the Vantage the lens cover is removed and the module is installed from the front which is slightly more awkward.

Vantage PRICES

• Bi-LED HEADLIGHTS £1600, this is for headlights sent to me to upgrade, there are more options available, see above
• DIY Bi-LED HEADLIGHTS £1250, this is for the Bi-LED modules that you fit yourself or get a local installer to fit.
• ETCHED LENSES +£80
• REPLACING BROKEN MOUNTS +£60 per light
• PAINTED SHIELD/BEZELS £POA, black bezels or carbon fibre dipped housing

Aston Martin Rapide Headlights

The Rapide, Vanquish 2 and DB9.2 Headlights are all the same, this uses a small 2.5 inch Bi-Xenon projector, not a great design with a very poor output particularly on main beam.

This replaced by a state of the art Bi-LED projector with a better beam pattern and much greater light output. This is plug and play and comes with a bracket that fits to the original adjusters. The Bi-LED upgrade produces approximately 8 times as much light whilst also having a smoother, more even light with a more accurate cutoff.

Rapide/Vanquish/DB9.2 Prices

• Bi-LED upgrade £1050
• DIY Bi-LED upgrade £750
• Laser Upgrade +£100

Aston Martin Vanquish 2 Headlights

Vanquish 2 (2013 – 2018) headlights are the same as the Rapide headlights

Aston Martin DB9.2 Headlights

Aston Martin DB9.2 (2013 – 2016) and Virage headlights are the same as the Rapide Headlights

Aston Martin DB7 Headlights (In development)

Links

Aston Martin Upgraded Headlights
Aston Martin Carbon Fibre Headlights
Aston Martin Headlight Bulb Comparison