I absolutely hated my heated windscreen. So much that I replaced it with a regular one. I will never likely encounter snow, so no real need. I just found the tiny zig-zag lines of the heating element distracting, especially at night when headlights (or any lights) of oncoming traffic would reflect off the edges of the elements. Too distracting for me. I've always found it annoying. I've had my car for 9 years, but the last year has seen a dramatic rise in the number of cars with frustratingly bright led headlights and taillights, as well as bar lights across the bonnets, and progressive taillights. Lighting is out of control imo. We just don't need such animated and bright lights which destroy the night vision of other drivers.

Having said all that, I can understand the luxury of a heated windscreen for those dealing with ice and snow. Would be a great luxury, I'm sure.

 

Yeah, I get it. There are people who hate the wires. The parts guy I deal with at my dealer told me that Cris Collinsworth's son had to have the heated windshield replaced on his RRS with the standard one for the same reason. I've been driving LRs with heated windshields for years, so it doesn't bother me. Windshields can be heated without wires, as the heated windshield in my Macan doesn't have any wires.

 

The wife is heading out of town for the weekend so I drove the Defender to drop her off at the office (from which she'll get a short ride to the airport). Just so happened to coincide with a nice little dusting of snow and ice.

I"ll say this, the heated windshield on the Defender is nearly undetectable visually... especially next to my 23-year old truck with its heated windshield. I actually had to stick my face up to the windshield to tell whether or not the dealership had replaced my windshield with a heated unit when the factory windshield was leaking. It also works a lot faster. However, as I found out today it doesn't heat to the edge of the windshield near the A-pillar whereas the other truck's heater elements go all the way to the edges of both windshields. Definitely room for improvement there. That said, I didn't have any snow stick to the windshield and the wipers rarely turned themselves on. I think its a great feature to have up here in the Northeast or anywhere else where you're going to encounter frozen precipitation.

 

So I need to replace my windscreen (cracked on highway) and I wonder if I could make an upgrade by installing the heated one.
I would wire it by myself, but need your help:

• Is original heated windshield powered by 12 V or maybe other voltage?
• What is the max. current consumption (or power of the heating element) ?
• What size of the fuse needs to be installed (30A, 40A ... higher) ?

 

It isn't as simple as wiring up a new windshield. First of all, you'd need an entire new climate control panel, as the ones without the heated windshield have a blank switch (they don't even have a greyed-out LED), and you'd need to code the vehicle using JLR's Pathfinder software or using a GAP tool to activate the heated windshield.

The heated windshield uses two 40 amp fuses for each side, and they're fuse numbers 22 & 23 in the engine compartment fuse box.

Here's the wiring diagram:

 

Yeah. Ever since I had a 2003 D2 with the heated windshield it’s the bees knees. I love it. Every other car without one is a huge disappointment ! Love this feature on LR’s.

 

THX
Well... My idea is to wire it as a "stand alone" heating system (w/out being "hooked up / coded" to the vehicle's computer)
I would loom it to the main battery (via relay & the fuses...of course), adding the timer, that would automatically shut the heating OFF after approx. 4-5 min (testing and winter validation required).
Does it make sense?

 

Fellow skier on the east coast checking in. Absolutely love the heated windshield and the heated steering wheel when i am out about hitting the slope. I’d like to see how those Michelin X-Ice perform on the Bolton Valley access road during or right after a big dump!

 

Well...the heated windshield project is completed
Just before winter comes
The electrician has somehow connected it to the rear one, so it is ON whenever the rear defogger is activated.

 

kudos and congrats

so -- you did not replace your climate control panel or re-code the CCF (car config files)? just wired it into the rear circuit?

interesting way to do it, nice.