Upgrading my Vantage V8S Headlights
Discussion
I bought my V8VS manual in December 2019 in the UK at 2,500 miles, and now - here in Auckland, New Zealand - I have a little over 47,000 kms. A full Bamford Rose upgrade within days of finalising the purchase before shipping home, and 6 years later the car just keeps on running beautifully - not a single issue with the BR upgrade path, and the car runs brilliantly - balanced, settled, analogue, and increasingly rare in these parts. Fully maintained by Aston's only dealer in NZ, Aston Martin Auckland, since mid-2020. Superb support - engaged, resourceful and on my side in every respect. Very grateful for that, as availability of informed quality support is not a given this far from the UK.
In March 2025 I saw a post by V8VPete describing his dissatisfaction with his V8V's headlight performance, and his solution - pointing to web-site DB9S.com run by Paul Nebbs. Paul had developed a bespoke headlight upgrade kit for DB9, and by extension the V8V, utilising his own 3-D printed mounting chassis, and using best-in-class Morimoto BI-LED. A relatively expensive upgrade, and requiring a degree of knowledge to fit - the kit required removal of the headlight units, and disassembly of the light unit itself, including separating the polycarbonate light cover from the headlight body to access the light fittings directly. However, the high quality kit promised plug and play fitment once inside the headlight unit. Careful reassembly and alignment would be the task, but the promise of stunningly superior light performance was tantalising, and its appearance was OEM in every respect.
V8V Pete described dropping his car off to Paul, and picking it up a week later with the kit installed and fully operational - oh so easy, but not an option from this distance.
I contacted Paul and found him engaged, thorough and open in discussing his kit. My issue was going to be I would need someone in NZ to pull everything apart and fit the kit, which would be additional expense on top of Paul's pricing and shipping costs.
So, once satisfied with Paul's offer, I asked Patrick Artus, service manager at Aston Martin Auckland, 3 questions :
1. would they assist in fitting the kit,
2. did they have experience in pulling headlights apart and rebuilding,
3. would the finished installation pass New Zealand's warrant of fitness.
Patrick's answer was immediate and simple: yes, yes and yes, no trouble at all (well done, Patrick , top customer service !).
Patrick pointed out they used an external sub-contractor to work on the headlights directly, and they currently had a number of units across a variety of models being repaired or disassembled, so high confidence in their sub-contractor's ability to disassemble and install Paul's kit. Once they received it back they would check it all out, reinstall, and set up the lights. The service manager also said he would charge 5 hours for the work to remove the previously installed headlight fan kit, remove the light units, ship lights and kit to sub-contractor, check, re-install lights and fan kit, and re-align once received, with sub-contractor charging a set price for the kit installation.
So, deal done with Paul, and kit shipped. Managed to get lost in NZ Customs in Auckland for 2 weeks but finally arrived with only a small cost at the border. Beautifully protected in excellent packaging - that had also been a concern - and so off to Aston Martin Auckland.
Vehicle was returned late last week. Patrick described Paul's kit as "beautifully engineered, professionally assembled and essentially plug and play".
Out to a nearby deserted country road a few nights ago, and the results are spectacular.
Low beam to be sorted, as set a little low, but the power, range and quality of light distribution is literally night and day, without any oncoming traffic appearing to have concerns. It looks like job done.
From this distance, its proved to be an expensive exercise, but with superb support, the results have been more than worth the effort.
Thank you Paul for an outstanding kit, thank you Patrick for superb support as always, and thank you V8VPete for the heads up on a wonderful solution.
Photo below shows full beam - view it on a large monitor to see the full effect - awesome power, range and distribution
In March 2025 I saw a post by V8VPete describing his dissatisfaction with his V8V's headlight performance, and his solution - pointing to web-site DB9S.com run by Paul Nebbs. Paul had developed a bespoke headlight upgrade kit for DB9, and by extension the V8V, utilising his own 3-D printed mounting chassis, and using best-in-class Morimoto BI-LED. A relatively expensive upgrade, and requiring a degree of knowledge to fit - the kit required removal of the headlight units, and disassembly of the light unit itself, including separating the polycarbonate light cover from the headlight body to access the light fittings directly. However, the high quality kit promised plug and play fitment once inside the headlight unit. Careful reassembly and alignment would be the task, but the promise of stunningly superior light performance was tantalising, and its appearance was OEM in every respect.
V8V Pete described dropping his car off to Paul, and picking it up a week later with the kit installed and fully operational - oh so easy, but not an option from this distance.
I contacted Paul and found him engaged, thorough and open in discussing his kit. My issue was going to be I would need someone in NZ to pull everything apart and fit the kit, which would be additional expense on top of Paul's pricing and shipping costs.
So, once satisfied with Paul's offer, I asked Patrick Artus, service manager at Aston Martin Auckland, 3 questions :
1. would they assist in fitting the kit,
2. did they have experience in pulling headlights apart and rebuilding,
3. would the finished installation pass New Zealand's warrant of fitness.
Patrick's answer was immediate and simple: yes, yes and yes, no trouble at all (well done, Patrick , top customer service !).
Patrick pointed out they used an external sub-contractor to work on the headlights directly, and they currently had a number of units across a variety of models being repaired or disassembled, so high confidence in their sub-contractor's ability to disassemble and install Paul's kit. Once they received it back they would check it all out, reinstall, and set up the lights. The service manager also said he would charge 5 hours for the work to remove the previously installed headlight fan kit, remove the light units, ship lights and kit to sub-contractor, check, re-install lights and fan kit, and re-align once received, with sub-contractor charging a set price for the kit installation.
So, deal done with Paul, and kit shipped. Managed to get lost in NZ Customs in Auckland for 2 weeks but finally arrived with only a small cost at the border. Beautifully protected in excellent packaging - that had also been a concern - and so off to Aston Martin Auckland.
Vehicle was returned late last week. Patrick described Paul's kit as "beautifully engineered, professionally assembled and essentially plug and play".
Out to a nearby deserted country road a few nights ago, and the results are spectacular.
Low beam to be sorted, as set a little low, but the power, range and quality of light distribution is literally night and day, without any oncoming traffic appearing to have concerns. It looks like job done.
From this distance, its proved to be an expensive exercise, but with superb support, the results have been more than worth the effort.
Thank you Paul for an outstanding kit, thank you Patrick for superb support as always, and thank you V8VPete for the heads up on a wonderful solution.
Photo below shows full beam - view it on a large monitor to see the full effect - awesome power, range and distribution
Edited by Seakingsam on Monday 30th March 22:10
Edited by Seakingsam on Monday 30th March 23:33
Buzzi77 said:
I agree with you. When I travel at night I don't feel too safe with my headlights.
But isn't it enough to put stronger bulbs?
Unfortunately not;But isn't it enough to put stronger bulbs?
* The stock projectors have a number of serious design flaws.
* No LED bulb can fully replicate the 360 degree output and focal point of the stock bulbs,
* The reflective material on the projectors begins to delaminate from the projector destroying the already poor performance of stock lights.
Thank you for the write up Seakingsam
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