99 Explorer Projector headlights

[Sbarnes2]

I hate to bash, but i have to say they look so ricey. Back before all these kits hit ebay, I retrofitted old BMW projectors into clear lens headlights made for an explorer. Heres the end result

EDIT: I took the 4.0 symbol off and ignore the name. Old signature pic



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I LOVE that projector light. is there anyway i could buy it somewhere or would someone make them for me? i love the one projector light by itself! that looks awesome. very nicely done

 

[LordBear]

I LOVE that projector light. is there anyway i could buy it somewhere or would someone make them for me? i love the one projector light by itself! that looks awesome. very nicely done

http://www.lightwerkz.net/index.php

they can do it for u there..but its going to cost u.... full retro kit is close to 300..and then there labor on top of it.. other option buy the cheap junk on ebay and hope it dont melt down, or blind other drivers..since they arnt really made for hid lighting..... just get the full kit and do it urself with the new mini byxenons it doesnt look that tuff.. when i get rich im going to try it..

 

[Steeda04SVT]

Does anybody have the projectors with the HID's in them from ebay or will the ebay kits not let you have HID's in them?

 

[BrianDye]

I do.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Does anybody have the projectors with the HID's in them from ebay or will the ebay kits not let you have HID's in them?

All you are doing is changing the light bulbs from halagen to HID and adding a harness & ballast

Preety much plug & play.....

 

[celly]

All you are doing is changing the light bulbs from halagen to HID and adding a harness & ballast

Preety much plug & play.....

What he said.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

here is where i may piss some people off. i did the same as afboy143 around the time the group buy that celly is talking about. i will admit, i haven't seen the output of those projectors, but have seen only one par of them on another members trucks. i am biest i guess, but i do like the ones that i retro'd in. the plus side is, they have a hi-beam without using a second pair of bulbs. the down side is, they do take a little bit of fabrication skills. it took in total about 40 hours or so to make. i do like mine better, the cut off is not as sharp as a pair that a friend has on his grand prix gt, and mind throw off way more light then his (yes i know i am making apples to oranges comparison) and i have never been "beamed" and they do not blind people. some members on here have seen them in person, and were surprised on how good they looked.

and celly, i no longer have 5L envy

 

[celly]

...and celly, i no longer have 5L envy

FWIW Tim, I have a brand new set of Diamond Cut headlights/corners in my office at work. I'm expecting a projector setup from that Hidplanet group buy later this week.

Read into that what you may.

 

[dreddog47]

here is where i may piss some people off. i did the same as afboy143 around the time the group buy that celly is talking about. i will admit, i haven't seen the output of those projectors, but have seen only one par of them on another members trucks. i am biest i guess, but i do like the ones that i retro'd in. the plus side is, they have a hi-beam without using a second pair of bulbs. the down side is, they do take a little bit of fabrication skills. it took in total about 40 hours or so to make. i do like mine better, the cut off is not as sharp as a pair that a friend has on his grand prix gt, and mind throw off way more light then his (yes i know i am making apples to oranges comparison) and i have never been "beamed" and they do not blind people. some members on here have seen them in person, and were surprised on how good they looked.

I saw your retro at carlisle and I cant figure it out, what projectors are you running?

 

[TekMan05]

I have an E-bay HID kit on the way this week. I'll be sure to post pics when they're here. Anyone running HID's outta their factory fog lamps? I'd like to see some pics of that since I got a kit for them too.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

I saw your retro at carlisle and I cant figure it out, what projectors are you running?

i had seen you mention that some place (cant remember where), and sorry, i cant remember meeting you (unless i wasn't around). i am using BMW E46 projectors, mounted into stock housings using clear lens. i had the HID kit, just had to buy bulbs.

price break down (remember, i made these just as the plug and play started coming into the market)

eruo lens (which i had on the truck before i started the retro) 100
projectors that came with shrouds 140
bulbs 40
HID kit (which i had already) 100
mic 30

and made them using this thread

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums//showthread.php?t=209015

 

[TekMan05]

Just installed my 5000k's in my projector cases last night. Still have to install my fog lamps then I'll post a vid clip. Looks like I'm gonna have to do a lil customizing to fit my HID bulbs into the fog lamp casing.

 

[dreddog47]

i had seen you mention that some place (cant remember where), and sorry, i cant remember meeting you (unless i wasn't around). i am using BMW E46 projectors, mounted into stock housings using clear lens. i had the HID kit, just had to buy bulbs.

price break down (remember, i made these just as the plug and play started coming into the market)

eruo lens (which i had on the truck before i started the retro) 100
projectors that came with shrouds 140
bulbs 40
HID kit (which i had already) 100
mic 30

and made them using this thread

oh nice, E46's have a really good high beam distance... Did you swap the fresnel lens on the projector out for a clear lens?

You need to throw a set of corner lights on to really finish off the look


I think you were around but I didn't really talk to many EF people. I was there with a friend off this site and we talked to explorersport77 for a while, then I said hi to SuRrEaLNJ and went back to roaming all around

 

[vroomzoomboom]

oh nice, E46's have a really good high beam distance... Did you swap the fresnel lens on the projector out for a clear lens?

You need to throw a set of corner lights on to really finish off the look


I think you were around but I didn't really talk to many EF people. I was there with a friend off this site and we talked to explorersport77 for a while, then I said hi to SuRrEaLNJ and went back to roaming all around

as far as i know, they are stock lens from a bmw or range rover. i have corner lights on it, they just look amber because of the bulbs.

trying to think....where you with parli?

they must also make a big difference. i know when tara was zoomin around with evil at night, she could not believe how well they lit the road up. i'm used to them now, so i cant really say just how good they are, but the bulbs are about 2 maybe 3 years and i am sure they have dimmed down a lot since new

 

[FIND]

On a lot of projectors, especially the e46, I like the beam pattern better with the stock lens. Most of the time, the only reason guys put the smooth lenses on is to create a more colorful cutoff and make a "better" flicker, but there was actually a reason smooth lenses weren't used in the first place, and believe me, it isn't because some HID retrofitters were keeping smooth lens technology out of BMW's hands.

 

[Steeda04SVT]

All you are doing is changing the light bulbs from halagen to HID and adding a harness & ballast

Preety much plug & play.....

Awesome, thank you for the info. Because on the pictures on ebay, it shows like a rubber boot on it and didn't know if it could be changed out. Thanks again.

 

[dreddog47]

as far as i know, they are stock lens from a bmw or range rover. i have corner lights on it, they just look amber because of the bulbs.

trying to think....where you with parli?

they must also make a big difference. i know when tara was zoomin around with evil at night, she could not believe how well they lit the road up. i'm used to them now, so i cant really say just how good they are, but the bulbs are about 2 maybe 3 years and i am sure they have dimmed down a lot since new

I was roaming around with 00meangreenXLT, and he didn't have his truck there. He rode shotgun with me and I was in my car parked with the marauder group

What kind of bulbs are you using? OEM > aftermarket

On a lot of projectors, especially the e46, I like the beam pattern better with the stock lens. Most of the time, the only reason guys put the smooth lenses on is to create a more colorful cutoff and make a "better" flicker, but there was actually a reason smooth lenses weren't used in the first place, and believe me, it isn't because some HID retrofitters were keeping smooth lens technology out of BMW's hands.

Uh almost but not quite right...

First off, ZKW E46's DO have a clear lens, so do AP1 honda S2000's... Cars did have them from the factory, so to say theres a reason they weren't used in OEM applications is asinine...

Secondly, the reason fresnel lenses are used is to make the cutoff line softer and get rid of the color to make it easier on the general consumers eyes. Most people that buy cars with HID projectors dont have a clue what the hell they are, they just care if they can see.

Lastly, while clear lenses do give a razor sharp cutoff, or a nice blue band (depending on how the lens/shield is spaced) they also have a slight increase in output. Why? think about it, a fresnel lens is not 100% transparent, so the projector isn't giving maximum output with a blurry lens... The same way a faded and yellow headlight housing diminishes light output.

 

[vroomzoomboom]

What kind of bulbs are you using? OEM > aftermarket

aftermarket 6000K from vvme. i would like to get a pair of oem ones, but d2's arent cheep.

 

[dreddog47]

aftermarket 6000K from vvme. i would like to get a pair of oem ones, but d2's arent cheep.

depends on which ones you want....


I have a FX-R kit going in my car and for now I'll be running morimoto 5000K's, but once I can afford it I'm going to switch to Osram 66240 CBI bulbs. They are the newest and hottest bulb on the market, more lumens then a 4300K bulb with 5000K output

They are pretty expensive though lol

 

[FIND]

Uh almost but not quite right...

First off, ZKW E46's DO have a clear lens, so do AP1 honda S2000's... Cars did have them from the factory, so to say theres a reason they weren't used in OEM applications is asinine...

Secondly, the reason fresnel lenses are used is to make the cutoff line softer and get rid of the color to make it easier on the general consumers eyes. Most people that buy cars with HID projectors dont have a clue what the hell they are, they just care if they can see.

Lastly, while clear lenses do give a razor sharp cutoff, or a nice blue band (depending on how the lens/shield is spaced) they also have a slight increase in output. Why? think about it, a fresnel lens is not 100% transparent, so the projector isn't giving maximum output with a blurry lens... The same way a faded and yellow headlight housing diminishes light output.

Uh, almost, but not even close.

First off, I never said there weren't cars that come from the factory with clear lenses. Want to point out where I did say it? I only said there was a reason fresnel lenses were used on many projectors. Maybe I could have been more clear, but I didn't think anyone would really get wood over trying to tell me that clear lenses did not just magically appear out of nowhere. I had thought that the OEM Bosch projectors on an e46 used a fresnel lens, if I was incorrect, then that is my mistake.

Second off, reread my post before you try and lecture me. I said quite clearly that the reason for switching some OEM lamps to the smooth lenses from the fresnel lenses was to get that sharp colorful cutoff.

Lastly, don't presume to lecture me on optics. A smooth lens will gain VERY little increase in raw lumen ouput, except in certain areas of the beam. Fresnel lenses are not ONLY intended to soften the cutoff to make it easier on the eye, they are also used to diminish the hotspot in the center of the beam pattern by scattering some of the light.