Im thinking about buying those projectors on ebay, the ones that are basiaclly the whole headlight housing, they dont come with directions, are they plug and play pretty much or does this require any wire splicing and all of that..
I think I ended up with what you've got. That's was Dreddog recommended for me anyhow and he based that on your install.
I like the virtual "plug and play" aspect to doing this. The headlights don't seem to have much room to work with so getting some huge honkin' projector and cutting the headlights all the hell seemed like massive overkill to me and a real hassle. I like the compact nature of the MH1s and I'm told the performance is excellent. I already have several H1 HID capsules in reserve so I felt it was a no-brainer to go this route.
I don't really "mind" my current setup in the slightest. WAY better than stock and so much better than just slapping a HID kit in reflector housings. Talk about glare (been there, done that before I got my current lights). My headlights have seen better days. I screwed them up a bit during initial install, but otherwise they've held up quite well.
That's why I'll take my time doing the install. I scored some new "Diamond Cut" headlights and corners, in addition to the stuff from the group buy. I was going to get a new set of one piece projector lights before Dreddog put the idea in my head.
Thanks for the comments on the engine bay. Couldn't have done it without mod extraordinaire, "Turdle". He did it for me while I was down there in Kansas two summers ago. Also got the headers and a UI spacer installed while there too (and some upgraded hoot struts). Good times.
The "Explorer V8" badge I think was only available in '96. Sort of hard to come by. I've scored two via eBay in the past. I had my second one sent to Jon (Turdle) and obviously he weaved his magic with that too.
I may need to pick your brain once or twice to do the retrofit. How much time did it take you in total, from start to finish. Any general pointers? I'm hoping to do the deed before a long road trip planned at Christmas (Calgary->Milwaukee area and back). How do you like your setup? I went with 4300K (as I always do when I go HID). I did the "faux Philips" upgrade from TRS.
Cheers,
Brad
Wow meangreen, good stuff!
Dreddog mentioned the scratching issues. I'll definitely keep that in mind.
My lights/corners are like the ones in the photos (except clear reflectors in the corners).
How hard was it to open the lights. I plan to follow the heating instructions on the TRS site. I think it was 265F for 7 minutes.
What worked for you?
wow, that looks 10x better then mine do!
Thanks! LOL well lets just say my parents didn't appreciate headlights in the oven....so Dreddog and I have been using a heat gun to open the headlights.
wow, that looks 10x better then mine do!
theres two ways to do it... But keep in mind they will glare like a mo fo
One is to take the stock 9145 bulb holder, cut the plug off, stick a H1 HID bulb in and silicone it in place
The other is to get a H10 or 9006 bulb, dremel down one of the tabs, and lock it in just like the stock 9145/h1 setup
Well I already have the H1 bulbs HID's in the projector head lamps now and still have another h1 HID set waiting to be installed. So at this point I need to make the H1 kit work. I wouldn't be happy leaving regular halogens in there. The difference in contrast/hue just doesn't float my boat. I do recall someone on here putting HID's in the fog lamps and having little to no glare. I will have to mess around with it this weekend and see what I can do to get them to work.
I'm kinda curious on what you did to get a 3" lensed projector to fit into that housing, even a FX-R which is a 2.5" needs housing trimming...
I've never worked with an E46 so I don't know how big it actually is, I've only worked with an E55 which is also a 3"
nice job brad! i like the look of those more then the other ones you had. these ones make you step back and say "there is something done to it, but i cant put my finger on what it is".
Tim, don't get me wrong. I like the look of the Diamond Cut heads/sides, but I really am a function over form modder. I love HID, but I hated them in the Diamond Cut, without projectors. Horrible, blotchy light pattern with a ton of glare.
Looking forward to it getting dark. Won't be long.
x2 on the blotchy light output with HID's in there without a projector. when i had the HID's in the euro lens i have, they sucked, and bad. they also pencil beamed really bad as well. after i did the retro, it was like the sun was still out, and without blinding someone.
My god the HID output from those diamond housing reflectors was so horrible!!! There were multiple times where the car coming towards me didn't flash their high beams at me, they left them on till they were past me just cause since I was blinding the crap out of them!!! And I couldn't see anything at night there was more glare than usable light lmao
hah, damn celly that was quick... Those headlights look 300% better then those ebay ones
If you have to adjust your rotational alignment, you can grip the bulb holder with a pair of plyers and rotate if need be, but so far I've been getting lucky and getting the alignment spot on in the first try... I think they made the 9007 adapter rings better since I got my first set, because those I still had to do a fine adjustment on.