HID Retrofit - What projector size is best?

[42395_skyline]

I have read a lot of HID retrofit threads on here and on other websites for the 2Gb Eclipse headlights. Only thing is that I am looking to retrofit mine for around $100. I am going to use my stock headlights. Here are a couple questions.

Which projector size should I use?
I can pick up local kits for $35/45 that include ballast and bulb. Anyone have personal experience with the quality difference from the expensive ones?
Are cheaper/replica projectors totally crap?

I am only looking for an improvement from OEM because I drive late at night a lot. Not looking for $300+ setups.

 

[boost97gst]

I got a set that came with mine. Looks like ebay cheapy. MAN, they are bright. I checked once and the price was nice. ~100 bucks for a set of headlights. That doesnt include bulbs, i would suspect. That'll run ya a bit more but overall its cost effective and easily twice as bright as stockers.

 

[42395_skyline]

I got a set that came with mine. Looks like ebay cheapy. MAN, they are bright. I checked once and the price was nice. ~100 bucks for a set of headlights. That doesnt include bulbs, i would suspect. That'll run ya a bit more but overall its cost effective and easily twice as bright as stockers.

I don't like most of the eBay brand head lights. I am in love with 2Gb stock lights, which is why I want to retro fit it. Do you happen to know what size projectors you have and if they look like they would fit the stock low beams?

 

[Paintballaa5]

I can't comment on what size fits dsm headlights, but this is the company I'm using to do the headlights on my Cobra.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits.html

They have complete kits with projectors, shrouds, bulbs and ballasts.

 

[42395_skyline]

I can't comment on what size fits dsm headlights, but this is the company I'm using to do the headlights on my Cobra.

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-retrofit-kits.html

They have complete kits with projectors, shrouds, bulbs and ballasts.

I have spent some time searching that site before, but it's out of my price range for this project. I'm looking for max $150

 

[42395_skyline]

Just got another question, would I need to get projectors and HID kit for the stock fog lights too? Not sure how fog light HID works and can't find anything on it.

 

[Paintballaa5]

For a quality set, that might be a little low to do the job right. I'm sure there are deals out there though.
Maybe for a budget build:

Morimoto Mini lens (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...moto-mini-h1-6-0-projectors.html#.U4QAVJRdV8M)

Shroud to cover it (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/shrouds/mini-gatling-gun-48783.html#.U4QA2JRdV8M)

And an ebay bulb/ballest set? (http://www.ebay.com/itm/xeno-HID-KI...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d1dbfca62&vxp=mtr)

You'd be sacrificing quality of the bulb/ballast, but it puts you near your budget. I personally have had good luck with the ebay set lasting long, but the light output is poor compared to my buddies morimoto set.


EDIT-- Oh look what I found! Same lens/shrouds I posted, but on ebay for $120 for both! Obviously, read through and make sure its all compatible. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Morimoto...Parts_Accessories&hash=item258f47cda0&vxp=mtr

And yes, anything that you put an HID bulb into, needs to be a projector lens housing.

 

[42395_skyline]

For a quality set, that might be a little low to do the job right. I'm sure there are deals out there though.
Maybe for a budget build:

Morimoto Mini lens (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/co...moto-mini-h1-6-0-projectors.html#.U4QAVJRdV8M)

Shroud to cover it (http://www.theretrofitsource.com/components/shrouds/mini-gatling-gun-48783.html#.U4QA2JRdV8M)

And an ebay bulb/ballest set? (http://www.ebay.com/itm/xeno-HID-KI...Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d1dbfca62&vxp=mtr)

You'd be sacrificing quality of the bulb/ballast, but it puts you near your budget. I personally have had good luck with the ebay set lasting long, but the light output is poor compared to my buddies morimoto set.


EDIT-- Oh look what I found! Same lens/shrouds I posted, but on ebay for $120 for both! Obviously, read through and make sure its all compatible. http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Morimoto...Parts_Accessories&hash=item258f47cda0&vxp=mtr

And yes, anything that you put an HID bulb into, needs to be a projector lens housing.

Saving those links, thanks. So the Morimoto mini lens' will fit in the eclipse housing well?

So is the bulb/ballast combination more important than the lens? I would rather pay bigger bucks for the more important factor in light output. Would an ebay lens with quality bulb/ballast be better? I was under the impression the lens made the difference.

I talked to a local shop a few minutes ago, I told him my budget and he said to stop by and he will see what he can do. I'm not sure if their stuff are high quality but I will try getting all the brand names down and doing research before committing to a buy. As of now, the set you linked to seems like a good idea. I know the retrofit source sells quality products.

Is there a way to adjust the fog light like you would headlight? I figured throwing in an HID bulb wouldn't hurt because it's so low to the ground. I don't want to blind anyone, I just want temperature matching fog lights (5000k).

 

[Paintballaa5]

I don't see why not, it's a 2.5" diameter lens. I don't have a pair to look at, but I would imagine a full size lens would fit no problem as well.

Found a link with a full size set being installed. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/re...-into-stock-headlights.455109/#post-153178099

Sorry if I made it sound like one was more important than the other. I couldn't tell you from a technical standpoint which one is more important (I think it's the lens), but I would put the money towards quality lens before the bulbs. Because if you are satisfied with light output that way, then great. If not, just upgrade your bulbs/ballasts later on, and your all set.

Not sure on adjusting fogs.. But putting HID's into projectors isn't just to not blind people. It severely increases light output, decreases light scatter, give's the light a cutoff, and many other reasons I can't think of off the top of my head.. I wish I could find the thread on here that really covers why you want projector over halogen housings.

 

[42395_skyline]

I don't see why not, it's a 2.5" diameter lens. I don't have a pair to look at, but I would imagine a full size lens would fit no problem as well.

Found a link with a full size set being installed. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/re...-into-stock-headlights.455109/#post-153178099

Sorry if I made it sound like one was more important than the other. I couldn't tell you from a technical standpoint which one is more important (I think it's the lens), but I would put the money towards quality lens before the bulbs. Because if you are satisfied with light output that way, then great. If not, just upgrade your bulbs/ballasts later on, and your all set.

Not sure on adjusting fogs.. But putting HID's into projectors isn't just to not blind people. It severely increases light output, decreases light scatter, give's the light a cutoff, and many other reasons I can't think of off the top of my head.. I wish I could find the thread on here that really covers why you want projector over halogen housings.

I was hoping to not have to do TOO much modifying on my headlights. I have seen some installs done pretty simple with smaller projectors. I guess I will just have to buy a projector and do whats required. Thanks.

You make a good point, it's easier to upgrade the bulb and ballast. I will get a quality lens.

I have done tons of research as to why you need projectors, but I use my fogs for show mostly. I run them when I run my headlights just cause they look nice together. I don't actually need them for any purpose. I will ask the HID shop tomorrow what they recommend for my fogs. Thanks for your help!

 

[GSLENK]

BlurredTalon did a massive overhaul/retrofit with a lot of custom work. I have the H1 kit and it works great. MUCH better than oem. I think the cheapo PNP eBay housings are $100 + bulbs and have projectors in them? IDK. Then next level up is the morimoto H1. It is a simple retrofit. The hardest part is opening the housing. The rest is cake, it is a very bolt-on style retrofit. Then the next level is a completely custom retrofit, it will take a lot of work, and planning as well as money. Those are the 3 valid tiers that I see. There are other methods, like just putting HIDs in reflector housings. Please don't do that.

I did the H1 retro-fit here:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1gb-quad-hid-retrofit-in-progress.443547/

Different car, but same idea (you will actually have more room in your housings than a 1gb). I also made it a lot more custom and harder on myself. If you keep it simple, it should be pretty easy.

 

[DJ Raydiate]

I too would suggest the morimoto kit for the price that you are going for. Like stated, its pretty bolt-on vs a lot of modification. TRS also has a closeout section that you can find things at discounted prices.

 

[42395_skyline]

BlurredTalon did a massive overhaul/retrofit with a lot of custom work. I have the H1 kit and it works great. MUCH better than oem. I think the cheapo PNP eBay housings are $100 + bulbs and have projectors in them? IDK. Then next level up is the morimoto H1. It is a simple retrofit. The hardest part is opening the housing. The rest is cake, it is a very bolt-on style retrofit. Then the next level is a completely custom retrofit, it will take a lot of work, and planning as well as money. Those are the 3 valid tiers that I see. There are other methods, like just putting HIDs in reflector housings. Please don't do that.

I did the H1 retro-fit here:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/1gb-quad-hid-retrofit-in-progress.443547/

Different car, but same idea (you will actually have more room in your housings than a 1gb). I also made it a lot more custom and harder on myself. If you keep it simple, it should be pretty easy.

It seems like the morimoto H1 is the way to go, I will have to order myself a set this week. I want a complete retrofit but not at the moment. I just need to be able to see at night since I drive so much at night. Don't worry, I am 100% against using reflector housings with HID's.

I overlooked any 1G retrofits that I saw on my search, seems like I shouldn't have. Your thread would of been helpful! I wouldn't of had to make this thread. I was thinking of doing angel/halo eyes as well for DRL. I'm searching for some white ones (The yellow looks nice, but not my style) but not sure of the type to get. Like someone said in your thread, heat kills LED's. How did your LED rings hold up?

I too would suggest the morimoto kit for the price that you are going for. Like stated, its pretty bolt-on vs a lot of modification. TRS also has a closeout section that you can find things at discounted prices.

Thanks, that is the way I will go about doing it. I will search for the best value I can find. The one on eBay for $120 is the best atm.

I haven't done any hard research on removing the corner amber yet, but I know that I will be removing it as I hate amber anywhere on the car. It bothers me. Does anyone know if I need to buy a clear replacement or can I just remove the cover and use a chrome plated amber bulb?

 

[GSLENK]

The halos are White. The only way to get a white led is to use a yellow background. Don't ask me why or how, I don't know.

Yes the H1's will practically bolt in. I think the matchbox stem was bigger so I had to whip out a dremel or file to enlarge the hole slightly. You will MAYBE need a dremel or a file for MINOR modifications for fit or clearance or something, I know I did, but that might have been a special case specific to me.

The red demon eyes are a PITA. The Halos are a worse PITA since they were a very tight fit (custom parts...) for me. Typically it is the other way around.

The rings are solid. I think one had a single led of the 4 halos blow. You cannot tell without getting up close with dark sunglasses though. It is a very slight thing and is probably a manufacturer defect.

Honestly I think the halos only belong on bimmers. I am VERY tempted to do away with them, and redo all my shrouding and only use demon eyes.

I am pretty sure the amber corner is just a bulb swap for 2g. If there is physical yellow plastic on there you well need an all clear housing.

One more reason to keep it simple... There is already a lot of wiring being added. Every accessory adds 2 more wires each. Food for thought.

 

[randman2011]

The red demon eyes are a PITA.

How did you set yours up? I plan on doing this once I get my Mini H1s ordered and I'm curious what makes you say that.

 

[42395_skyline]

The halos are White. The only way to get a white led is to use a yellow background. Don't ask me why or how, I don't know.

Yes the H1's will practically bolt in. I think the matchbox stem was bigger so I had to whip out a dremel or file to enlarge the hole slightly. You will MAYBE need a dremel or a file for MINOR modifications for fit or clearance or something, I know I did, but that might have been a special case specific to me.

The red demon eyes are a PITA. The Halos are a worse PITA since they were a very tight fit (custom parts...) for me. Typically it is the other way around.

The rings are solid. I think one had a single led of the 4 halos blow. You cannot tell without getting up close with dark sunglasses though. It is a very slight thing and is probably a manufacturer defect.

Honestly I think the halos only belong on bimmers. I am VERY tempted to do away with them, and redo all my shrouding and only use demon eyes.

I am pretty sure the amber corner is just a bulb swap for 2g. If there is physical yellow plastic on there you well need an all clear housing.

One more reason to keep it simple... There is already a lot of wiring being added. Every accessory adds 2 more wires each. Food for thought.

Oh, interesting. So I guess the pure white halo rings are CCFL then.

Thanks, I have a dremel and will probably need to use it as well. I'm fine with modifications, just wanted to make sure I know what I am getting myself into

I won't be doing red demon eyes. What size halo did you get? I read 70-75 max on mini gatling gun shroud would fit fine.

I don't like the yellow look when it's off, if I get rings it will be CCFL so it's pure white. I would just need to see how they look in day time since I know they aren't as bright as LED. If it's not bright I will opt out of getting them.

Thanks, it's hard to tell from just looking at the headlight. I will take one out and check if it's just a bulb or not. If it's plastic I think I will go the cheap route and just smoke out the amber plastic and install a bright bulb to show through, and while I am at it I can smoke the corners on the bumper.

I'm fine with all the wiring, I actually wire things up for fun (I'm a techy) so that's not an issue with me. I am wondering something though, since we have separate high and low beams, how does that work with bi-xenon HIDs? Will connecting the HB4 connector to the ballast be enough for the projectors to work with high and low?

 

[92GVR4SC]

DDM tuning is who I purchased mine from. They are in china/ japan, don't remember which county, but I'm sure there are US sellers. They came highly recommended to me.

 

[randman2011]

DDM tuning is who I purchased mine from. They are in china/ japan, don't remember which county, but I'm sure there are US sellers. They came highly recommended to me.

I have known many people that have purchased HID kits from DDM in the past, usually due to their dirt cheap prices and a lifetime warranty. Unfortunately, they have all said it's a textbook case of "you get what you pay for" since every single one of them had to replace the ballasts and bulbs within the first year. Also, since I had the luxury of comparing them side by side with the Morimoto 3Fives, I can say from personal experience that they aren't really worth the investment. Their warm up time is incredibly slow and light is minimal during this period. Bulbs of the same color temperature are significantly more blue with the DDM kit, even being 55W as opposed to the 35W from the Morimotos, and the set of 4300k DDM bulbs turned green after six months of use. Additionally, after 10 minutes of waiting for the DDM set to warm up, they were still not as bright as the Morimoto even though they are allegedly 20 watts more powerful.

I was asked to install a set of DDM ballasts and bulbs into a Hyundai a while back. Both ballasts arrived DOA and had to be sent back. No replacement ever came for them. For these reasons, I always tell people to steer well clear of DDM. HIDs are expensive for a reason.

Edit: Steer clear of DDM Tuning for HIDs. I have no experience with any of their other products, although their customer support has failed to give me that warm fuzzy feeling.

I am wondering something though, since we have separate high and low beams, how does that work with bi-xenon HIDs? Will connecting the HB4 connector to the ballast be enough for the projectors to work with high and low?

Fortunately for us 2g guys, when the high beams are on, the low beams stay on. If you just hook the ballasts up to the stock low beam harness and connect the solenoid wiring to the high beams, everything works out as it should.

 

[92GVR4SC]

Thanks for your input. I have not had any other to compare against. But I will look into the ones you recommend as well. My ddm's have been fine for the last 2 years.

 

[42395_skyline]

Fortunately for us 2g guys, when the high beams are on, the low beams stay on. If you just hook the ballasts up to the stock low beam harness and connect the solenoid wiring to the high beams, everything works out as it should.

Thanks. I don't ever use high beams so I actually didn't know they both stay on. I think I have all the info I need, for now. I am doing research still and making a list of everything I need to buy so I can price it out. I'll probably post up by buy list before purchasing anything so I can get opinions.

 

[GSLENK]

I forgot to answer your High-Beam question. Bi-Xenon work like this: The cutoff for your regular lights is on a solenoid. when you turn on the high beams, the solenoid engages and retracts the cutoff, so that the beams are "unclipped". This change is virtually instant, and you can flick your high beams faster than you can tell. This is the way to go IMO, since you don't have to worry about frying a bulb or ballast if you want to signal someone with the high beams.

In short, the high beam is technically always on, it is just blocked by the cutoff shield until you engage it (removing the shield).

 

[LandoAWD]

Oh, interesting. So I guess the pure white halo rings are CCFL then.

Morimoto's new XB Halos are white. The old style (yellow/lights up white) are going for very cheap now, though.

 

[42395_skyline]

Morimoto's new XB Halos are white. The old style (yellow/lights up white) are going for very cheap now, though.

I had actually just logged on to post that up I found it last night on TRS. I'm fine paying extra for pure white. I'm going to probably end up buying those.

Found out why white led has yellow on it. There is no white LED, it's just blue filtered through yellow to get the appearance of white. Those new white ones have a white layer over the yellow, you can clearly see the yellow on the edge.

 

[Detail]

So I wrote this: site. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/how-to-hid-retrofit-97-99-oem-headlights.412804/#post-152709121

It really does cover what you need to do for the simplest install step by step. You can run whatever ballast and bulb you'd like although I highly recommend the morimoto h1 projectors from the retrofitsource. If you do it this way you MIGHT be able to stay under your $150 cap.

Fog lights can be updated to HID. But in doing so you will run into the same glare issues you'd experience if you stuffed a plug and play kit into your factory headlights. So what's the point in that? Truthfully, you WILL NOT NEED to change your fogs. Leave them alone or change them to a whiter h3 halogen bulb for looks.

Good luck man, its well worth your time to do!

 

[42395_skyline]

So I wrote this: site. http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/how-to-hid-retrofit-97-99-oem-headlights.412804/#post-152709121

It really does cover what you need to do for the simplest install step by step. You can run whatever ballast and bulb you'd like although I highly recommend the morimoto h1 projectors from the retrofitsource. If you do it this way you MIGHT be able to stay under your $150 cap.

Fog lights can be updated to HID. But in doing so you will run into the same glare issues you'd experience if you stuffed a plug and play kit into your factory headlights. So what's the point in that? Truthfully, you WILL NOT NEED to change your fogs. Leave them alone or change them to a whiter h3 halogen bulb for looks.

Good luck man, its well worth your time to do!

I have actually studied that thread many many times in preperation. Thanks for having such a well detailed right up.

I only set myself at about $150 cap for projectors because I know I will end up spending double that or more for the final product. I already see about $300 being spent.

Projector + shroud - $120
Halo LED - $45
Bulbs + ballast - $55
Satin paint to blackout housing - $8

still need to price out sand paper and clear coat to restore headlight lenses, highbeam halogen projector + bulb, paint to blackout the amber corner, new adhesive, probably a whiter bulb for my fogs, and probably something else I am forgetting.

About the amber corner, I was thinking of buying 32oz black base and 32oz clear by duplicolor and blacking it with a mix of the two finished off with strait clear coat. While I had all that paint, I would do the bumper corners and maybe tail lights with a light-medium smoke. Opinions on this?