Converting to Projector lenses & HID bulbs

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Well After a long struggle over the cost and trying to figure out if it would be worth it, I finally took the plunge last friday and ordered up a set of HID bulbs that are compatible with an H4 (9003) style bulb and a set of projector lenses. Hoping to get them by this weekend so I can get them installed and do a write up here.
These are the bulbs I ordered.....
v-leds.com H4 9003 HB2 DIGITAL BALLAST 5000K lights
And the lenses

Bear with me until then.
Dave

[1BadSS]

Sorry to break it to you, but they aren't HID bulbs without a ballast. They're only blue coated glass filaments.

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Originally Posted by 1BadSS

Sorry to break it to you, but they aren't HID bulbs without a ballast. They're only blue coated glass filaments.

Yeah I know. And I'm going to be pitching those blue bulbs when they arrive. Trust me I've done my research.

[1BadSS]

Any plans to upgrade your headlight wiring harness?

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Already done that a few years ago when I started running 90w/130w bulbs in my hella housings. Installed 2 relays, One on the low beam circuit and one on the highbeam circuit.
And the HID BULB KIT is supposed to be all plug and play (We'll see about that)

[spenny]

I dunno about those Ebay projectors... I doubt they'll be much better then a standard reflector lens.

DDMtuning has cheap and fairly solid HID kits, (I've used two sets, never had a problem) but if I was going for a cheap 'retrofit' I would have gone with something like this.

IMHO projectors dont help much anyway. I've been blinded by way more cars with factory HID then cars with plug-and-plays in reflectors.

[qu1cks1lver56]

Originally Posted by spenny

I dunno about those Ebay projectors... I doubt they'll be much better then a standard reflector lens.

DDMtuning has cheap and fairly solid HID kits, (I've used two sets, never had a problem) but if I was going for a cheap 'retrofit' I would have gone with something like this.

IMHO projectors dont help much anyway. I've been blinded by way more cars with factory HID then cars with plug-and-plays in reflectors.

I've owned 3 sets of ddm tuning HID's and install 2 other sets, all still kicking today. Great stuff for the price.

And those projectors, aren't really projectors, it's a piece of glass infront of the bulb, I had some, ended up getting a refund. But they look cool lol.

[rblcori7]

i will deff be keeping an eye on this i bought a set of euro housings from LMC and put a hid kit in them im very curious what the projectors look like

[rblcori7]

I bought a cheap old ebay HID kit from ebay and ive been running it in my car for 4 years now... i payed 38 or 40 bucks shipped for just the HID kit if you want the ebay store i got it off of let me know and ill send it to any one who wants it... check out my truck page to see pictures of what they look like in the truck... they are 6000K

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Well parts made it here yesterday in the mail. I'm heading down to work to get them installed and take a few before and after pics as well for ya.

[babyJay]

Can't wait to see the updates!

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Well I just got back home after doing the install down at work
So here's what I was running originally, HELLA LENSES WITH 100W LOWBEAM - 130W HIGH BEAM BULBS WITH RELAYS INSTALLED ON BOTH CIRCUITS TO PREVENT WIRING MELTDOWNS
the drawback.... the bulbs last about a year and the lenses about 9 months because of the high heat of the bulbs and then the frigid rain and water puddles splashing on the glass and you get this...



And these are the bulbs i was running



Their packaging...



And here is the H.I.D. kit. All plug-and-play. Only had to hook up one power lead to the battery and 2 ground leads-1 at each light.


The "MOVING" H.I.D. BULBS and the supplied adaptors to fit them into the H4 housings. The bases of the lamp have an electromagnet in them that pulls the bulb back about 1/4 of an inch to realign them for the high beam circuit. The small connector at the far right of the pic is for the electromagnet. The bulbs are 5000 kelvin rating and they produce a pure white light. They offer them in a 6000 kelvin blue tint and a 6000 kelvin purple tint as well.


These are the digital controllers and ignitors I found a nice flat spot on the back side of the core support for them to mount to with the supplied double sided foam tape. Cleaned the surface with brake cleaner and a shop towel the stuck'em on.



The plug-and-play harness. The 3 pronged connector plugs into the factory headlight socket on one side. The other side is not needed so I just wrapped it up in electrical tape and tucked it away.



I ran the wiring to the other side between the radiator and the core support then mounted the passengers side.

The "PROJECTOR" lamps are in the back ground of the next pic. Notice the black background of the lamps. Part of the reason I got them so that the whole grille area looks black in the daylight. More chrome bites the dust...for now.I'll have to wait and see how these work out later tonight


Installed the H4 adaptors into the lenses then the dust boots lastly is the bulbs themselves into the housings They install as easily as an 1156 bulb does in your back up light socket.






Now all I gotta do is plug'em in and button it all back up.



That's it for now had to get going and didn't get any more pics of the finished install yet but will tomorrow afternoon for y'all.

[kikkegek]

he man!
really nice write up!

I 'll be following the results of your build.

I am doing some research of myself too. I currrently run Bi-Xenon bulbs in regular clear lens Euro headlights E-marked.

This is the light patters on a wall. I made pictures with halogeen and with Xenon and you can see the difference:


left headlight:


right headlight


as you can see, there is still a pretty good cut off visible, but there is so much more light, that I can imagine I am blinding drivers in the opposite lanes. Although it is not to bad.

A projector like the FX-R (I am considering a retrofit using this projector) produces a light beam like this:


SO!
I am very, very curious, what light beam your units will produce...

looking forward to your pics!

[kikkegek]

Originally Posted by kikkegek

he man!
really nice write up!

I 'll be following the results of your build.

I am doing some research of myself too. I currrently run Bi-Xenon bulbs in regular clear lens Euro headlights E-marked.

This is the light patters on a wall. I made pictures with halogeen and with Xenon and you can see the difference:


left headlight:


right headlight


as you can see, there is still a pretty good cut off visible, but there is so much more light, that I can imagine I am blinding drivers in the opposite lanes. Although it is not to bad.

A projector like the FX-R (I am considering a retrofit using this projector) produces a light beam like this:


SO!
I am very, very curious, what light beam your units will produce...

looking forward to your pics!

I have to edit my post. I just recently found out I have been driving around with HIGH beam all the time. The "relay" for moving the bulb to the right position for LOW beam, wasnt working. I sent the whole thing back to the supplier for the third time now, hoping they will give me a new set...

I've done some research and the bulbs you are using Ble-burban are pretty good. That is because of the "casper shields" or "anti glare shields" that are over the HID bulbs. They prevent the blub from spreading its light just anywhere, thus giving the pretty good light pattern you are having. Mine looked bad...but thats because the bulbs have been crap.

Pretty funny drive about 7.000miles with HIDs in HIGH beam position...been lucky no cop has pulled me over so far...

[acollins24]

Hi there, I was looking online for some HID bulbs and I have a quick question..how would you know if the bulbs you have would not blind people on the other side of the road when you drive at night? Are there regulations involved? Sorry if it sounds kinda noob!

Thanks in advance!

[78 Chevyrado]

Originally Posted by acollins24

Hi there, I was looking online for some HID bulbs and I have a quick question..how would you know if the bulbs you have would not blind people on the other side of the road when you drive at night? Are there regulations involved? Sorry if it sounds kinda noob!

Thanks in advance!

If they have a REALLY nice cutoff, blinding people won't be a problem, and you can even aim them higher than usual and be ok.

as far as regulations, if the car didn't come with it from the factory and have the levelers, its illegal. so every projector kit is in fact, illegal. just depends on the cops in your area and if they even care enough about it to enforce it. just don't blind oncoming cars and you'll likely be ok.

an observation: after riding with a friends in his car which has projectors, I can't say I recommend them unless you live in Kansas, which is totally flat. they have such a great cutoff at the top of the beam that when you come to a hill, you can't see up the hill at all until the car is on the same plane as the hill. seems a little light scatter is necessary, of a good leveling kit (which he didn't have)

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Originally Posted by acollins24

Hi there, I was looking online for some HID bulbs and I have a quick question..how would you know if the bulbs you have would not blind people on the other side of the road when you drive at night? Are there regulations involved? Sorry if it sounds kinda noob!

Thanks in advance!

Go to www.v-leds.com and look through their selection of H.I.D.'s I'm sure you'll find something to suit your needs and desires. After you get them installed you will have to re-aim your headlights as I did. I had to turn mine down about 4 full rotaions of the vertical adjustment and in 2 1/2 rotations so I wasn't blinding oncoming traffic or people in front of me at a stoplight.

[acollins24]

About leveling, are there some automated levelers?...I know benz has them for their higher end models...you know, the ones that turn the headlights to the direction where your car is pointed instead of just plain pointing straight. I think they have a video of their tech up on youtube

[qu1cks1lver56]

pretty much the same setup i have in my housings. i LOVE the ones with the actuators, always trips people out lol.

[Pop's C-10]

can't wait to see tha night pics

[BLE 'BURBAN]

Well I screwed up.... Bought the blacked out lenses thinking they were black chrome but they ain't. They don't reflect squat. almost as bad as driving with the lights off. I'll have to pick up another set of the HELLA lenses this week and swap them out then I'll be back in business. Oh well......Defication Happens... Live & learn

[osaltyone]

[QUOTE=BLE 'BURBAN;4333523]Well I screwed up.... Bought the blacked out lenses thinking they were black chrome but they ain't. They don't reflect squat. almost as bad as driving with the lights off. I'll have to pick up another set of the HELLA lenses this week and swap them out then I'll be back in business. Oh well......Defication Happens... Live & learn
/QUOTE]


If you want true HID your best bet wold be to remove the projector in the housing you have and swap it with a TSX or highend bixenon setup. I had a set of those Ebay projectors on another vehicle and had to do the same. The lenses on their projectors are crap.

[BLE 'BURBAN]

[quote=osaltyone;4341971]

Originally Posted by BLE 'BURBAN

Well I screwed up.... Bought the blacked out lenses thinking they were black chrome but they ain't. They don't reflect squat. almost as bad as driving with the lights off. I'll have to pick up another set of the HELLA lenses this week and swap them out then I'll be back in business. Oh well......Defication Happens... Live & learn
/QUOTE]


If you want true HID your best bet wold be to remove the projector in the housing you have and swap it with a TSX or highend bixenon setup. I had a set of those Ebay projectors on another vehicle and had to do the same. The lenses on their projectors are crap.

Found some trucklite crystal clear headlights at a local auto electric store here for $50.00 I'll be getting later today and installing tomorrow at work inside (-15* here right now) They are the same style that LMCTRUCK sells in their catalog.

[kikkegek]

[quote=osaltyone;4341971]

Originally Posted by BLE 'BURBAN

Well I screwed up.... Bought the blacked out lenses thinking they were black chrome but they ain't. They don't reflect squat. almost as bad as driving with the lights off. I'll have to pick up another set of the HELLA lenses this week and swap them out then I'll be back in business. Oh well......Defication Happens... Live & learn
/QUOTE]


If you want true HID your best bet wold be to remove the projector in the housing you have and swap it with a TSX or highend bixenon setup. I had a set of those Ebay projectors on another vehicle and had to do the same. The lenses on their projectors are crap.

so you installed TSX or FX-R projectors in your truck? do you have some pictures of the build?I want to do that just yet!

[qu1cks1lver56]

That's WITH HID's? Wow they don't reflect much of anything.