Retro fitted HID projectors

Kai · Last edited by Kai on Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:27 pm; edited 1 time in total

Any body been brave enough to attempt this??

I've found www.theretrofitsouce.com which can supply new and used components for fearless ones out there ready to attempt retrofitting OEM components. But with the current exchange rate between the £ and $ it's looking around 260-300 metal sheets for a kit before postage and customs charges, then there is the actual retro fit of the components to a headlight suitable for a VW.

All the kits I've found in the uk are crappy Chinese universal kits which as far as I know get a bad rep.

To set the course of the thread I'm not interested in fitting HID bulbs to a Reflector housing with a H4 bulb. I've tried that and it's pants, the beam pattern is all wrong with lots of glare.

I'm talking about a HID bi xenon projector headlamp, these have a distinctive round lens enclosed in a clear/crystal glass headlamp.

This is a good example of what I'm talking about.
http://www.minifinity.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=60051&start=0
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Kai · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 12:24 pm Post subject:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roadsafety/drs/hidheadlamps

This is an interesting read on the matter. It appears that legally unless your prepared to invest in laboratory testing it's not possible to convert a headlight. So the obvious way is to use OEM components and convert a headlight. But then there is the self leveling and washing matter to take care of, which I've not researched yet.

http://www.hids4u.co.uk/classic-car-hid-conversions/

An easy option would be to use this projector lamp with a cheapo HID H4 bulb conversion. This still wouldn't be legal as the lamp is designed for a Halogen bulb but I think the glare and hot spots can be greatly reduced due to the projector lens. But at £75 per unit plus the cost of the HID H4 bulb with this conversion it's a risky solution, although compared to a a retro fit of OEM components it's a much more compact solution.
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13 window deluxe · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 4:22 pm Post subject:

i've fitted some of the chinese bixenon hid conversion jobbies to a late landy defender before in stock h4 lamp and found them to be loads better than the stock bulbs a easy and good upgrade for the money. would a van ever go fast enough to warrant more headlamp than them?
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Alex (FTS) · Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:43 pm Post subject:

I bought some funky mini cristal clear front lights and put h4 bulbs in them and they are great and easy to fit as they are the same sized sealed beam units as vw use.

As my van didnt use sealed beam units originaly I just got a set of mini light bowls and all the adjusters and welded the necessary bits in.

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Kai · Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 10:28 pm Post subject:

Joel · Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 7:40 am Post subject:

Good headlights are really important to me as I live right out in the sticks and theres alot of animals on the road, Ive hit 2 kangaroos in the last year.....

I wont ruin the look of my beetle with spotlights, I had to bite the bullet and put up with projector foglights but they dont stick out too much, So Ive done what I can with stock headlights.

I've currently got semi sealed projectors in there at the moment

I did have a H4 hi/lo 6000k HID kit in them but wasnt happy with them and neither were all the other motorists that passed me.

So for now I have 130w/90w H4 halogen bulbs which do well but could be better.

I've thought about those chinese HID projector kits that you crack open the headlight and fit but a friend fitted them to his car and said he had to modify the shutter inside as it was set for LHD pattern

My next step is to do like Steve Carter is and retrofit some modern car HID projectors like Audi, BMW etc to stock VW headlight buckets.
Just trying to get hold of some complete assemblies with the ballasts, wiring etc
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Kai · Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 9:42 pm Post subject:

Righto, got some pictures for you all to wet your whistle.

I got two 2009 Audi bi xenon headlights (both LHD

), had to buy the bulbs and ballast separately. Think it's cost me in the region of £200+ so far but it's all Audi oem kit. The projectors are the valeo brand types.

I've only got to the dismantling stage buy it's all useful info regardless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2xWyEjcaJM
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hidonlinestore · Wannabe Joined: 14 Jan 2011 Posts: 1

Though, one question that most drivers ask is how easy HID lights can be installed. Really, it's as easy as shifting the bulb of a semi-complex and sophisticated flashlight.

Kai · Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 2:31 pm Post subject:

Progress....... with a massive thank you to my neighbour John:

There's no going back to the old H4 bulb now.

Smoked lens fitted here

Next in my list is to mount the projector to the bowl,
Finish my ingenious shrouds to cover the lens spacer,
Create a masterful rear cover to seal the unit together and mount the ballast,
Create a suitable wiring loom to power the ballast, operate the full beam shutter and also integrate a means to flash.
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Kai · Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:45 am Post subject:

Started on the shrouds, still need slot of work though as the edge which touches the reflector bowl needs finishing.

There's alot of light bleeding through the bottom.

Bit of s problem as the tube fowls on the projector housing, stopping the projector from entering the tube

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1303Steve · Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 2:19 pm Post subject:

Hi

I bought some Audi A3 Hella conversion lights from a guy selling them on UK Ebay a few years ago.

I was going to fit them to some 911 headlight shells, low beam is xenon and high beam is Halogen

The light modules can be be removed and fitted behind some clear Porsche 356/early Beetle headlight lenses.

They even came with headlight levelling ECU. Got to love EBay.

I was worried that the back of the xenon module would poke out the back too far and fowl on the tyre.

I still might do this conversion using these parts later on.

Steve

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Alex (FTS) · Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:53 pm Post subject:

Cool project. Let us know how you get on

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