how best to upgrade the headlights?

[Mystic Rado 0]

OK, cheers for that fella, can I ask you a few more questions.

 

1. Are the projectors grafted into the stock reflector so that it moves with the headlamp adjustment? Flush with the front line of the reflectors or offset like the standard beam?

 

2. How much clearance did you allow at the front of the projector between that and the stock lens, I guess there's an effective limit for adjustment's sake and maybe aesthetics?

 

3. Are you using bixenon or just low beam HIDs? I'm thinking use low beam then wire them so the HIDs stay on with main beam plus twin 100-watt halogens.

 

4. Which projectors did you use? I was looking at these from HID Planet in the US. I already have some ballasts etc. They're quoted at a mximum depth of 5" which looks okay?

 

http://www.hidplanet.com/bosch.html

 

Ta for any erm, light you can throw on this...

[veedub 0]

Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a twin relay'd loom that does dip and main so I can make my own??

[LowG 0]

OK, cheers for that fella, can I ask you a few more questions.

 

1. Are the projectors grafted into the stock reflector so that it moves with the headlamp adjustment? Flush with the front line of the reflectors or offset like the standard beam?

 

2. How much clearance did you allow at the front of the projector between that and the stock lens, I guess there's an effective limit for adjustment's sake and maybe aesthetics?

 

3. Are you using bixenon or just low beam HIDs? I'm thinking use low beam then wire them so the HIDs stay on with main beam plus twin 100-watt halogens.

 

4. Which projectors did you use? I was looking at these from HID Planet in the US. I already have some ballasts etc. They're quoted at a mximum depth of 5" which looks okay?

 

http://www.hidplanet.com/bosch.html

 

Ta for any erm, light you can throw on this...

 

1) Yep the projector is supported in the stock reflector, its grafted inside it.

 

2) There is about 2.5-3cm distance from the lens.

 

3) Yea only low beam, you want HID plus full beams PLUS 2 100w?? Thats alot of light man :lol: . Low beams HID are fine for me.

 

4) The projectors I believe are from a fiat or alfa romeo.

 

 

Hmm 5 inch is a bit on the large size, the stock lights dont stretch to that I think when i measured them up.

[Mystic Rado 0]

Thanks very much, that's very helpful, sounds like those Bosch Projectors are too big then, I'll look into the Fiat / Alfa options. I think the Bosch ones might just squeeze in but it depends on clearances, hard to say without having one here.

 

Lots of light? Yeah, twisty northern moorland roads, crap conditions, no streetlighting. I used to run a Mk 2 GTi with uprated loom and 90/100 rally bulbs plus two 100-watt spots and that was about right. I might yet go that way with the 'rado.

 

Right now I'm running a Bixenon HID kit in standard reflectors and while it's not as bad as people say - it's one of the better ones with a cap over the front of the bulb and the arcs in the bulb placed to exactly simulate a halogen filament's placement in the headlight, which is normally where things go wrong - it's not as good as the uprated bulbs in my Golf though, which is disappointing. I've just got the light adjustment properly adjusted - was running very conservative angles to avoid dazzling people - so that might sort it out.

 

As far as the eBay looms go, I think they're pretty variable. I bought one a couple of months ago and fitting it would have meant cutting into the standard wiring (you want to solder and heatshrink any joins) plus the connectors were all crimped rather than soldered and not sealed, ditto the connectors onto the fuse holders and relays, so I've put it to one side and I'm going to make my own with the stock connectors so it's plug and play. Oh, and there was just one relay for high and one for low beam, both sides, so if the relay fails, you'd lose both sides, which ain't great.

 

Can tell you from running uprated looms in the Golf that anything that's exposed and metal and particularly crimped, will die. You ideally want to solder and heatshrink connections and either use waterproof fuse holders or do your best to house both the fuses and relays in some sort of waterproof bag - an old Gore-Tex sock is good :-) if you happen to have one lying around... On the Golf I also carefully used some of that plastic-coating ignition spray on the relay / fuse connections to try and reduce the chances of corrosion.

 

I've got a pair of the OE headlight plugs, so I'm aiming to put together a pretty much plug and play loom initially plugged into of the original headlight plugs, but then soldered in once I'm happy with it. The eBay ones I've seen will work fine initially, but they don't seem very corrosion resistant and they're not a patch on the professionally made one I had on the Golf. Thats's my take on it anyway. I'm no electrical expert, but you really do need to weatherproof the thing as well as you can or it'll die somewhere down the line in my experience.

[LowG 0]

I would have thought audi/vag projectors would be good also?

On the lens issue, Im grinding the groves down and once its flat will go over with wet dry, might try some of those polishing compounds for glass.

[Mystic Rado 0]

I'll be interested to see if you manage to smooth out the glass - good luck :-)

[veedub 0]

LowG, Thanks buddy, will make up a loom over the crimbo hols!! 8)

[LowG 0]

Heres how the lights look on the car and some close up pics of how the projectors look inside.

 

I have a couple of spare lenses, im not going to grind the whole lens down, only the area around the projector, the projector is closer than i thought to the light and this means a smaller circumference needed to be smoothed. I have seen many new cars with similar glass pattern.