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DIY: HID Retrofit in an EK

Hello all,

I decided to do a HID retrofit because besides the cool look I also do a lot of backroad driving and I hate my ****ty aftermarket headlights. I had bought them because I wanted projectors (stock output blows). The output on those headlights were OK, but the housing was way too flashy. Anyways, hope you guys find this helpful.

What you'll need:
- D2S bulbs
- D2S projectors (I used a pair from a TL)
- Wiring harness
- Shrouds (or you can make your own)
- Ballasts (I used a pair from a TL)
- LED rings (optional)
- Flat head and philips screwdrivers and 10mm socket wrench
- Primer and paint (optional)
- Adhesive/glue
- About 7 hours

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...o/Retrofit.jpg

1) I had to start off with some splicing so my TL projectors can plug into the ballasts without any trouble.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit1.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit3.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit2.jpg

2) I took my stock headlights apart (by putting them in the oven at 375 degrees for 4min each). I had to cut the stock housing to fit the projectors. I used a jigsaw to cut the housing and a drill press to drill a 3.25" hold in the reflector.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit5.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit6.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit7.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit8.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../Retrofit9.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit10.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit12.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit13.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit16.jpg

3) Then I tested the projectors in my basement

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit18.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit19.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit20.jpg

4) As you can see in this pic, the projectors stuck out too much and wouldn't fit into the car.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit17.jpg

5) To fix this, I had to cut into the reflector more which kinda sucked because I didn't want to make a shroud. No, biggie though. Eventually I got it to fit, then I mounted the reflector back to the headlight housing.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit21.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit22.jpg

6) Now to cover the projector, I had to make a shroud. I used a top piece from those lawn lamps that you can put infront of your house.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit23.jpg

7) I used a drill press to drill a hole into it

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit24.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit25.jpg

8) After some more cutting, it fit nicely into the reflector

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit26.jpg

9) Here's what it'll look like with the LED ring around it

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit28.jpg

10) I primed the shroud and painted it with chrome spray paint to match with the reflector

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit36.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit30.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit31.jpg

11) For fun, I also decided to mount these red LED's into the shroud. I quickly drilled some holes into the shorud and mounted them. I ended up applying another layer of paint after I drilled the holes.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit32.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit34.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit35.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit38.jpg

12) Next I mounted the LED ring to the shroud

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit40.jpg

13) Then I mounted the shourd to the headlight reflector

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit41.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit48.jpg

14) Next you have to disassemble your front bumper. There is a screw in each wheel well, 7 plastic screws around the grill and 2 bolts under the bumper.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit49.jpg

15) Remove the headlights. Each headlight has 4 bolts holding it.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit50.jpg

16) I mounted the HID's to make sure they fit okay (and they did)

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit51.jpg

17) Then I took my aftermarket headlights apart by putting them in the oven for 375 degrees for 4 min. My reason for doing so was because I wanted to use their cover since it was cleaner and more clear than my stock ones. So I just swapped them from the aftermarket headlights to my stock headlights.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit52.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit53.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit54.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit55.jpg

18) Here you can see the difference between both covers.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit56.jpg

19) Mounting it is easy, there's only 1 secrew required for the aftermarket cover

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit57.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit58.jpg

20) Then I mounted it on to the headlights. Use any strong adhesive/glue to do this.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit59.jpg

21) After I mounted the retrofitted headlights I had to do all the wiring which took a bit of time. I wired the red LEDs and the LED rings to the ignition wire that way they light up as soon as I start the car instead of the day time running lights (which are required in Canada)

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit62.jpg

22) Put the bumper back on and then you're all done! This DIY might make this project seem easy, but its quite time consuming. It took me a little over 6 hours.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit69.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit63.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit64.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit65.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit66.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit67.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit68.jpg

I dont have any pics of output yet... I still need to do some alignment when it gets dark. It was way too hard to do during the day. I'll post pics up when I'm done, though.

Hope you guys enjoyed this! I really like the way it turned out becuase the stock headlights are so much nice than the POS ones I had on.

Before:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...IMGP1270_2.jpg

After:

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...Retrofit69.jpg

looks good minus your front grille, nice write-up

so the headlights are open in the back? if so, your bulb will quickly get contaminated and fail.

but a pretty nice writeup of the basics.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbarbulo (Post 124317)

so the headlights are open in the back? if so, your bulb will quickly get contaminated and fail.

but a pretty nice writeup of the basics.

wrong, it wont as the bulbs are in the projectors, but your headlight will fog up

looks nice. I like the round led effect but not the 4 red ones. good D.I.Y

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbarbulo (Post 124317)

so the headlights are open in the back? if so, your bulb will quickly get contaminated and fail.

but a pretty nice writeup of the basics.

Actually, I sealed them up. I forgot to post pics of that. I'll try and get a pic up soon. I used a cottage cheese container, aluminum foil (the projectors heat up a lot) and a lot of tape!

Quote:

Originally Posted by weezybaby (Post 124360)

wrong, it wont as the bulbs are in the projectors, but your headlight will fog up

unless the projectors themselves are sealed on their own, then the bulb will still get contaminated. i dunno about these projectors but my E46 BMW bosch bixenon were anything but sealed. in fact they were wide open between the lense and the housing. and the vapour that would fog up the headlights would also contaminate the bulb. but that's a moot point since he's sealed up the back of his headlights.

I spend a **** load of time Sunday night aligning them. I also unplugged the red LED's but and left just the rings on. With the red, it looked like too much was going on... plus I'm pretty sure that was illegal anyways. I took pics but I don't know where the hell I put my camera :(

I'll post a pic when I find it.

great write-up and great work, I'm glad that you decided to do without the LEDs ;)

I retrofitted rx330 projectors into my camry, and I'll probably end up retrofitting my gf's EK stock lights too, now that I see how similar it is, thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbarbulo (Post 124317)

so the headlights are open in the back? if so, your bulb will quickly get contaminated and fail.

but a pretty nice writeup of the basics.

I sealed them from both the inside and outside. I used a lot of aluminum foil, adhesive, tape and a cottage cheese container.

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...etrofit003.jpg

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j2...etrofit002.jpg

Very Good DIY

when i did this i hated when the glue from the head light got on my clothing or skin.. pain in the ass to remove

hi everyone

Nice to find great informative place with lot of useful information...

Thanks for the very nice DIY....

Keep posting

Take care
:)

u wanna sell ur aftermarket headlights???

Very nice, but it does get a little hot in the back.

Try using plumber seal's, thats what I used on my retro. It'll withstand the heat much more.

But overall nice.