Lighting Information
DISCLAIMER
The information provided here is for general guidance purposes only. It is a combination of manufacturer guidance, first- and second-hand experience, and personal opinion. It may me inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated.
The light on an Aston Martin is an often-discussed topic. Sometimes it’s because people want to change it up to get a different style and sometimes it’s about a failing or failed item. Either way, there’s plenty to know. I did a video going over a bit of this, and more detail will be included in each section below.
General Lighting Information
The lights used in Gaydon-era Aston Martins are made with a combination of LEDs and traditional automotive bulbs. The LEDs are primarily found in the headlights and tail lights, which are each a full topic of their own - largely due to those LEDs. Each of the lights has its own quirks to know about, so hop down to their respective sections to learn about each of them.
Master Lamp Switch
The dial in the cabin of the car to turn the exterior lighting on or off is called the Master Lamp Switch. A pop-out dial changes the brightness of the instrument cluster. For a car that doesn’t have daytime running lights (DRLs), this switch can be put to the middle position to get the same effect.
Daytime Running Lights
Some markets, like Canada, have daytime running lights fitted as standard. There is no difference in hardware for these cars. Rather, it’s due to changes to the vehicle’s firmware. An AMDS is required to change the setting, but it can be turned on for cars that didn’t originally have daylight running lights.
The same effect can be achieved by turning the Master Lamp Switch to the middle position.
Headlights
Headlights (also called head lamps) are the main forward-facing lights used to illuminate the road in front of the car. They have to be bright enough to let the driver see what’s ahead, but must do so in a way that doesn’t blind oncoming traffic. To manage this, headlights are biased toward the outer edges of the roadway which is why there are both left-hand drive (LHD) and right-hand drive (RHD) versions of the headlights.
There are also options for a car having headlight washers, which use an additional fluid pump to draw windshield washer fluid from that reservoir and then spray the headlights using pop-out nozzles. Bulb types can differ depending on whether a car has halogen or high-intensity discharge (HID) bulbs, and the bezels inside the headlights come in a couple different finishes as well.
Here’s a video all about them.
Bulb Types
There are two primary bulb options for headlights: halogen and high-intensity discharge (HID). Halogen bulbs are “standard” for the headlights of many cars and HID bulbs are either upgrades over the standard halogens, or are standard themselves on up-market vehicles.
HID bulbs require ballasts to achieve the temperatures needed for them to operate. These ballasts are flat metal boxes attached to the underside of each headlight (circled in the accompanying picture).
A faulty ballast will affect the HID bulb, so if you’re having issues with an HID bulb, check the ballast first - it’s far easier and less expensive than the rest of the headlight. In one case I had a customer that had headlight issues. When I took a look at his car, I found the wiring going to the ballast was loose. I carefully adjusted the connector with a pair of pliers to make it fit more snuggly and it fixed the problem entirely. It turned an expensive replacement into a single hour of work with no extra cost. This isn’t a common problem, so don’t worry about it if you have (or plan to get) an Aston Martin with HID headlights.
Warning: HID ballasts contain extremely high voltage electricity. Take all precautions when working with a ballast as mishandling can result in serious injury or worse.
HID bulbs tend to last a very long time and don’t need to be replaced often. In the rare case that one does need to be replaced, the owner’s manual says to talk to your dealership - often code for a very expensive replacement.
Halogen bulbs do not require a ballast and are easily replaced.
LHD, RHD, and Aiming
To prevent oncoming traffic from being blinded by a car’s headlights, the headlights are naturally aimed away from the other side of the road. Since cars can drive on both sides of the road depending on the country they’re in, different headlights are fitted to the cars sold in each markets based on which side of the road cars drive on. So, a left-hand drive (LHD) car will have headlights that point just right of center, and a right-hand drive (RHD) car will have headlights that point just left of center. In addition to this, the headlights each have adjusters on the backsides of the housings to further adjust the aim of the headlight beams. These can be accessed by removing the access panel built into the fender liner and are shown circled in the picture below… which I several years ago, apparently using a potato.
Note: If your car isn’t lowered and you can get your hands into tight spaces, you may be able to adjust the headlights by turning the wheel inwards. Otherwise, you might need to pull the wheel off the car to get enough space.
One of the adjustment screws adjusts the aim up and down, the other adjusts the aim left and right. Your owners manual should have full instructions for how to aim the headlights.
Headlight Leveling
Headlights with HID bulbs have a leveling system to keep the headlight aim consistent. The system uses sensors located on the suspension control arms to and adjusts the headlight beams accordingly. There are two “conditions” that the headlight leveling system monitors.
Static Condition: If there is a heavy weight in the trunk, the rear of the car will be weighed down, which then points the nose of the car upwards a little. The sensors will see the suspension angle has changed, and will compensate by aiming the headlights downwards the appropriate amount.
Dynamic Condition: This compensates for movement of the suspension during acceleration and deceleration. It is desensitized to quick bursts of inputs, like when the car hits a pothole, to prevent the headlight aim from “bouncing” too much.
Interchangeability
Unlike the tail lights, headlights aren’t too interchangeable. The headlights for the Vantage can be swapped around - so, the headlights from a 2016 V12 Vantage S will be fine for a 2008 V8 Vantage. But the headlights for a DB9 won’t be the compatible for either car. Furthermore, not all DB9 headlights are interchangeable - the 2013 update to that car brought with it the headlights from the Virage and those don’t fit the cars built before the update.
In addition to fitment, functionality isn’t always the same - adding or removing headlight washers from a V8 Vantage isn’t just a matter of swapping headlights as there’s more to it than that. And, a headlight with a halogen bulb will not match a headlight with an HID bulb, so keep that in mind as well.
Tail Lights
The tail lights are almost entirely made using LEDs for lighting. The only incandescent bulbs in the tail lights are the reversing bulbs and, despite not being LEDs, the reversing bulbs are not serviceable.
Condensation is a common problem for tail lights. Read the Condensation section for more information.
Tail Light Options
There are three main options for tail lights: the standard red, the clear with grey trim, and the clear with black trim. All of these are interchangeable and, despite what some people still think, no programming is needed when swapping them out.
Red tail lights are the standard fitment and have been used since the earliest days of the DB9 and V8 Vantage. Clear tail lights were introduced on the V8 Vantage N400, and subsequently became optional on other models, trims, and editions.
The clear tail lights are available with either a grey trim or a black trim. The picture below shows both, and you may also notice the difference when looking at pictures of different cars.
Many cars have a third brake light that is mounted in the trunk lid. Formally called the Center High Mounted Stop Lamp (CHMSL), this has the same color lens as the main tail lights. So, if you’re swapping out red tail lights for clear, make sure you get the corresponding CHMSL (they’re included with the tail light packages I sell in my online store).
Aston Martin offer the clear tail lights in a package which drastically lowers their price. Individual units are far more expensive, as is the case when replacing a single red tail light.
Interchangeability
The tail lights of most Gaydon-era can be swapped around without issue. The obvious exception to this is the Vanquish, which has tail lights of an entirely different shape.
When the clear tail lights were first released, a firmware update was included with the dealer-fitted swap. This is entirely speculation, but it’s possible the firmware update was intended to prevent LED flickering due to potential compatibility issues. However, I’ve never heard of a single car having this issue. I’ve never had issues with any of the tail lights I’ve used on my cars, nor have any of my many customers that have gotten clear tail lights from my Online Store. So, don’t worry about needing to get your car programmed if you change your tail lights.
Condensation
The source of many complaints from Aston Martin owners, condensation is a common problem that many vehicles have but is of major concern for an Aston. The issue, simply, is that the condensation can damage the circuit boards that control the LEDs. When those circuit boards are damaged, the corresponding LEDs will no longer be able to function.
Headlights
The main lights and high beam lights in the headlights aren’t really affected by condensation, but the “side lights” are LEDs and these can fail if the circuit boards controlling them are damaged.
(c) Customer image, used with permission.
The factory solution is to remove the bulbs and blow air into the headlight to dry it out, then put silica packets into the housings - yes, the same kind of thing you'd find in a box of new shoes - to absorb any more moisture that accumulates inside the headlight. There's also an aftermarket venting product that I think uses fans to actively circulate air through the headlight unit, but I have no experience with it and don't know anything about it beyond seeing a few people commenting that they got it.
Tail Lights
It's pretty common for tail lights to get really bad condensation, and it's usually due to either a broken seal between the lens and the housing, or a crack in the housing itself.
The cause of these issues is often due to installation. There are three mounting studs on the back of each tail light. These have a lot of adjustability, which is used to ensure the tail light is positioned where it should be relative to the body panels around it (even gap) and also to make sure the nuts to fix the tail light in place have even torque when tightened. The adjuster sleeves on those studs are used to make sure all three studs are seated when the nuts are tightened - if they aren’t, one of the nuts will be over-tightened to make up for the extra space where the tail light isn’t sitting flush. That extra torque will cause the tail light to flex - even if very slightly - which can result in the housing cracking or the epoxy seal splitting.
Here’s a picture showing the adjuster sleeves, along with the foam seals that close the holes in the trunk where the tail light studs pass through. Some tail lights won’t include the adjuster sleeves so they may need to be purchased separately, and I highly recommend replacing the foam seals whenever removing a tail light. I sell these in my Online Store as a Tail Light Installation Kit.
The factory solution for getting rid of condensation from a tail light is to drill a hole in the housing and blow air into the unit to dry it out, then cover the hole with a patch and reinstall the tail light. This isn't too difficult to do and I sell a Tail Light Repair Kit with the patches and seals together.
Here’s a video I made showing you how to do this yourself:
If you do try it yourself, be very careful when drilling so you don't drill into the wrong area of the tail light, and that you don't let any of the plastic shavings fall into it. Another option is far more risky. It's possible to bake the tail light to soften the epoxy seal, then disassemble the unit and reassemble it with a better epoxy. Keep in mind for either option that a tail light with a cracked housing may not be repairable at all and will need to be replaced regardless of drilling or resealing.
Condensation in Other Lights
It's possible to get condensation in the corner markers or side repeaters but it isn't something to worry about. The bulbs in those are normal incandescent bulbs and they'll be fine. You can remove these and blow air into them to dry them out if you want, but the condensation may return. Given it's rare to begin with and doesn't pose any real risk to these lights, it may not be worth bothering to deal with.
Corner Markers and Side Repeaters
There’s more to the exterior lighting than just headlights and tail lights, but what is actually equipped to a car will vary depending on the market where it was sold. For example, the US and Canada have front and rear corner markers, while England and Japan do not.
Replacing these can be done yourself, and I have a DIY Guide showing how to do it.
Corner Markers
The thin, rectangular lights on the outer corners of the front and rear bumper are called corner markers. These were only used in some markets, like the US and Canada, so many cars will not have them. Instead, the bumper fascia will be smooth where the corner markers would otherwise be located.
Here’s a picture of my grey and red 2007 V8 Vantages. My red V8 Vantage (which I’ve long since sold, unfortunately) had the standard US-spec bumper fascia on it. You can see the corner marker positioned just below the headlight. My grey V8 Vantage has the front bumper fascia (and lightweight bumper beam) from a Vantage GT4 race car, which is based on a Euro-spec bumper fascia. I’ve circled the spot on my grey car where the corner marker would be, and you can see that by comparing it to my red one.
The front and rear corner markers are different. The obvious difference is that the lenses for the front are amber and the lenses for the rear are red. The not-obvious differences are that the molded-on studs are positioned differently and that plug connectors are angled differently on the backside. The rears are angled to allow clearance for the rear bumper beam, which sits very close to the corner markers. Here’s a picture of the OEM corner markers.
Another thing you can see in the above picture are that the mounting studs are indeed plastic. The nuts used to secure them to the bumper fascia actually cut into the plastic studs and the studs can break fairly easily. So if you’re planning to remove and re-install the corner markers, be very careful not to break the studs off as they’ll not be usable if that happens.
Side Repeaters
The small round lights found on the Vantage, early DB9, and some other cars are called side repeaters. For the later DB9, Rapide, Vanquish, and some others, the side repeaters are molded into the fender vent strake.
While corner markers are only used in some markets, all cars will have side repeaters as these are part of the turn indicator (AKA turn signal or “blinker”) system. When the turn signal is used, lights in the headlights, tail lights, and corner markers will all blink in unison to alert other drivers that the car is changing lanes or direction.
At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work… but drivers these days, am I right?
The side repeaters that are molded into the fender vent strakes are beautiful things. The stand-alone round ones are exactly not beautiful. As is pretty well known, yes, these ugly round lights are the same side repeaters used on a generation of the Ford Transit.
Rear Reflectors
While not technically lighting, I’ll take a moment to mention the rear reflectors really quickly as there’s no where else to discuss them.
The rear reflectors are not lights. There is no bulb within them and they do not illuminate beyond the light they reflect. They’re made in the same way as the corner markers, though - they have a pair of molded plastic studs on their backside and use the same nuts for fastening to the bumper fascia.
Aftermarket Options
Replacing the corner markers and side repeaters is a pretty popular thing to do since none of the factory items match, however there are few options available to do it. You may notice on some of the pictures of my red V8 Vantage that I had non-OEM front corner markers and side repeaters on that car. These were actually my own product.
They were extremely popular but I had so many quality control issues that I had to throw away a ton of the product. I lost so much money due to the manufacturer being wildly inconsistent that I eventually had to cut my losses and call it quits. The issues were from build quality to color consistency, so it wasn’t like there was any one issue to deal with.
Here’s a picture showing how much the color would vary on a product that should be exactly the same every time.
I had a chat with Nicholas over at VCollection back when I was still offering my Exterior Lighting Packages. He used to have them on VCollection ages before I did and had stopped offering his because of manufacturing issues as well.
There may be other products out there, but I don’t have any immediate plans to return to producing these again. They might seem like simple things to produce but they proved to be quite the challenge.
Interior Lighting
There are lights positioned in the cabin and trunk to help see in low-light conditions, like at night or when the car is under shadow. The puddle lights are fixed to the bottom edge of the doors, the map lights are the overhead lights, and there are also footwell lights under the dashboard and lights in the trunk.
These are all fairly standard interior bulbs, but the one that I often suggest people change are the map lights. At some point Aston Martin did upgrade these to look far better, but the early Gaydon-era cars had these terrible incandescent bulbs with a yellow-ish light. Swapping out the map lights for LED bulbs is a super-easy job you can do yourself and makes a massive improvement in the quality of the lighting and even how the interior feels - the white light far better suits an Aston Martin.