Ebay Projector upgrade kits?

[hvyman]

Ya but you aim them down which means your being nice at not blinding other people but you yourself are not getting the light you need. Cheap hids fail in every way.
I do give you +1 for being curtious tho.

 

[Mkiii supra]

i try :-b lol

 

[shaeff]

Do an Infiniti FX35 retrofit. It's a small, 2.5" projector, bixenon (hi/lo beam) that puts out a great amount of light for it's size. I did a TFX retro on my M3 and it's fantastic. I'd never go back. I used FX35 projectors, Actura TSX clear lenses, blacked out the shield, removed the second cutoff shield for a sharper cutoff, and custom mounted them in my M3's headlights, in which I drilled the low beam lens to allow the projector to sit further forward. If you don't have a cutoff like this, then your setup is junk:











FYI: this is just ONE projector. The other wasn't mounted yet, and it's before dusk- so that should give you an idea of how bright they are.


Best thing is, unless you look really close you can't even tell I did anything at all to the headlights.


The Supra would be close to the same, and even more so because their pop-ups.

Follow Daniel Stern about good halogen bulbs. Do a proper rewire if staying halogen. Stay away from any "blue coated xenon super bright eleventy billion x output" bulbs. I have Osram Silverstars (not to be confused with Sylvania junk) in my highs on the M3. It's like f-ing daylight in front of me even with lows on, with the highs, fa-getta-bout-it. It's literally like driving in daytime with the combination of the HID low+ HID high from the FX retrofit, PLUS the output from the separate high beams.

Nobody ever flashes me because it's all aimed properly.

 

[Mkiii supra]

Finding a way to put those in the supra is exactly what i would like to do. looks spendy though, how much does something like that set you back?

 

[hvyman]

Wow yours are complected but look really good. I dont get why/how you blacked it out. Also do they pass through 2 lenses 1 black and 1 clear (what it looks like)

The ones on my car are just some tsx setup glued in to the stock sealed beam so there is no custom mount.

I have these off a hyundai genesis. They look good but i doubt they are the best at all. What are your thoughts?

Still waiting to get another set to make some custom ones. Or just find the time to hack apart mine and use both of what i have.

 

[Heavy D]

i have HID in mine and aim low, not blinding no one and still bright, no glare up high, dont say it does cause it doesnt, i had my brother drive my supra while i was in his honda civic dropped and did NOT blind me at all, i just did it to make sure there was no glare or problems, and did not bother me at all and i do have problem with people blinding me, but where i live now im putting it back up since people dont know how to drive, and just get in the way

 

[shaeff]

Finding a way to put those in the supra is exactly what i would like to do. looks spendy though, how much does something like that set you back?

Mount them in a set of cheap eBay housings. It's not difficult. I'll be doing it for my Pickup next summer which uses the same housings as the Supra. You can scour eBay for FX35 projectors, ballasts, bulbs, etc... often times you can get them as a package deal. I think I spent a total of $300 or less on my M3 retrofit, then maybe a few extra coins on Acura TSX lenses. If you get any FX's, make sure they're clear lens, not fresnel or frosted. Clear lens makes a huge difference in how sharp the cutoff is.

Another option is to go to http://store.theretrofitsource.com/ and get their FX-r. It's basically the FX35 but cut down and made especially for retrofits, comes stock with a good quality clear lens, and pre-drilled mounting holes.

Wow yours are complected but look really good. I dont get why/how you blacked it out. Also do they pass through 2 lenses 1 black and 1 clear (what it looks like)

The ones on my car are just some tsx setup glued in to the stock sealed beam so there is no custom mount.

I have these off a hyundai genesis. They look good but i doubt they are the best at all. What are your thoughts?
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/kcaine/ecacb79d.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/kcaine/a094f9c9.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/kcaine/32d95bd4.jpg
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f139/kcaine/755757d5.jpg

Still waiting to get another set to make some custom ones. Or just find the time to hack apart mine and use both of what i have.

Thanks! I spent a decent amount of time on them! It's an illusion with mine, I blacked out the cutoff shields with very high temp paint. It doesn't reduce output, but gives it a blacked out look. The way the e36 ellipsoid headlights are set up is like this in factory form:

halogen projector/lens -> low beam lens with fluting to direct light-> outer glass (squareish) lens.

With my retro, I drilled 70mm holes in the low beam lenses so that the projectors can pass through them, thus making one less lens that the light has to pass through. It also allowed me to set the projector as far forward as possible while still looking good which makes the beam wider on the road.

I haven't read anything about the Genesis projectors yet. They look a lot like older Bosch projectors used in some BMWs. While the output is decent, the beam width isn't fantastic on them. However, I haven't seen output pics or anything from the Genesis projectors yet so I'm only speculating.

i have HID in mine and aim low, not blinding no one and still bright, no glare up high, dont say it does cause it doesnt, i had my brother drive my supra while i was in his honda civic dropped and did NOT blind me at all, i just did it to make sure there was no glare or problems, and did not bother me at all and i do have problem with people blinding me, but where i live now im putting it back up since people dont know how to drive, and just get in the way

Yeah, your key words there are "aim low". I don't care what you say, your output is crap compared to mine. In cutoff (mine's sharper), output (mine's got more usable light, wider spread, and easier on the eyes depending on what temp you've got) and mine are lighting further down the road than yours are without even a remote possibility of blinding oncoming traffic.

If you ever retrofit, you will never go back. Trust me. I've done the PnP kits in Hella E-code housings. The output is crap compared to a proper retrofit. Absolute crap.

 

[super.secret.supra.club]

mine

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?124504-my-little-secret&highlight=retrofit

 

[Poodles]

Mount them in a set of cheap eBay housings. It's not difficult. I'll be doing it for my Pickup next summer which uses the same housings as the Supra. You can scour eBay for FX35 projectors, ballasts, bulbs, etc... often times you can get them as a package deal. I think I spent a total of $300 or less on my M3 retrofit, then maybe a few extra coins on Acura TSX lenses. If you get any FX's, make sure they're clear lens, not fresnel or frosted. Clear lens makes a huge difference in how sharp the cutoff is.

Another option is to go to http://store.theretrofitsource.com/ and get their FX-r. It's basically the FX35 but cut down and made especially for retrofits, comes stock with a good quality clear lens, and pre-drilled mounting holes.

Shhhhhh, don't tell them it's easy

 

[hvyman]

Oh i get it now shaeff. Both my hids are only low beam so i only have 1 lens. That was confusing. I like the blacked out part tho.

 

[shaeff]

Shhhhhh, don't tell them it's easy

LOL.

Oh i get it now shaeff. Both my hids are only low beam so i only have 1 lens. That was confusing. I like the blacked out part tho.

Mine only have one lens on the actual projector. I think my wording might be a bit confusing. The other lenses are part of the headlight housing and are there for protection only. The high beam lens is there for fluting/directing the light. Here are some other pics of the FXs:



The cool thing about the FXs, aside from their small size and relative ease of retrofitting, is that they're bixenon. That means hi/lo beam. Since it's hi/lo, it uses a magnetic coil, which, when energized, pulls the cutoff shield down, thus allowing the xenon bulb to illuminate more of the lower part of the projector bowl. (It is the lower part of the bowl that produces high beams) Here's a pic of the magnetic coil.


OEM cutoff shield. Note that it's a double shield- this makes the cutoff fuzzy. Removing the second shield makes the cutoff nice and sharp. Also helps with making that pretty blue line at the cutoff. You can also see the magnetic coil where it attaches to the shield. When energized, this coil sucks the shield down, thus producing high beams in addition to the light being produced by the low beams. Lots of usable light FTW!


You can see the double shield here, and understand why it makes the cutoff fuzzy:


Modified shield. I also blacked it out, but no pics of that. The blacked out shield is what gives the projector lens that black appearance when you look at it, but does not reduce light output. This pic is taken from the BACK side where the projector bowl/bulb would be. This is looking through the projector lens as if you were the bulb.

 

[hvyman]

Oh ok. Thanks for explaining it.

 

[GrimJack]

Odd... my projectors must have come with the shield pre-modified.

I've been looking at my parts again recently, trying to figure out how to semi - waterproof the whole assembly. Be nice to drop the current draw on my electrical system, too.

 

[shaeff]

Oh ok. Thanks for explaining it.

No problem!

Odd... my projectors must have come with the shield pre-modified.

I've been looking at my parts again recently, trying to figure out how to semi - waterproof the whole assembly. Be nice to drop the current draw on my electrical system, too.

Doesn't surprise me. It's a very common modification. I used 14awg to wire up the FXs, just because there's an initial current spike when the ballasts are energized, but after that it's a very low draw.

Got any pics of what you're working with?

 

[Neodeuccio]

So since I'm barely understanding what you guys are talking about, it sounds like my best option is to wait till someone is selling drop-in units. I hate this electrical shit, it confuses the hell out of me.

BTW Chris and SSSC - Your setups are fucking awesome! Well done!

 

[shaeff]

Thanks. And yeah, steer clear from any PnP kits. They're pretty much junk. (not all, but most- even the halfway decent ones in a halogen housing don't provide good output)

 

[hvyman]

Its not to hard. The ballest has 2 wires coming off it for low beams and you just wire that to the low beam wires at the head light. Best to run all new wirwes up to the switch tho.

Only hard part really is mounting it. Also make sure that the front of the projector clears and the back of it on the rad support. I would crank the pop ups by hand to make sure. My current ones clear by a couple mm.

 

[GrimJack]

No pics past the original unboxing...

Add to that a set of generic diamond cut housings with the back cut off. I'm looking forward to the decrease in current draw because the trunk mounted battery isn't connected to the engine mounted alternator with 4 gauge wire for the entire length... some of it is 8, and when I'm running a lot of accessories, it gets hot. Too hot. I've got the parts on the way to upgrade to better cable with inline circuit breakers, but mail to Canada is slow.

 

[shaeff]

Nice. Where'd the FXs come from? They look like TRS (The Retrofit Source) FX-r units. (the mounting tabs are the giveaway that they're not OEM FX35s) Morimoto are pretty good ballasts, too. Have you given thought to going down to your local welding supply store for wiring upgrades?

Wait, never mind, just finished reading your post.

 

[GrimJack]

Ya, I've got the new cable already, what I don't have are the circuit breakers. I'm getting a pair of these:

I may end up getting another one for the stereo - plan is to put one on the battery in the trunk, and one near the alternator on the engine. I buy all my heavy wire from the welding supply place, it's so much better than car audio gear, and 10% of the price!

Those are definitely TRS units, picked them up about a year ago.