Hello again - just looking for a bit of input from someone who has either had a d1 & retrofitted it with the D2 facelift headlights or someone who has owned both a D1 and a facelift D2 if apart from making the vehicle look smarter, do they offer any improvement in the illumination they offer?

I have owned both, I think the FL does give better lighting , but I would NOT consider the difference worth the hassle. I would get a decent set of aux driving lights / upgrade the bulbs if I wanted better lights on an old 300tdi.

Plus , if you were to get a set of FL headlights make sure you know the provenance, they are easily stolen, so you may be looking at a set of hot FL headlights. Which will probably meant he attachments are broken and then you have fitted somthing to your car that others may want to steal.

Cheers

I can't comment on which is best, but I would think that one reason for the perception that the FL lights are better is because when they are switched to main or high beam the dipped lights aren't switched off.
Under normal conditions in earlier lights, a twin filament bulbs are used which are arranged to use one filament or the other, The FL lights use separate bulbs in separate reflectors. In power terms, the old lights would use 55 watts each side whether on dipped or main beam whereas the FL lights use 55 watts each side on dipped beam and 110 watts each side on main beam.