joecurr

I haven't seen anyone post anything similar, so I'll go ahead and throw this out there. I've gone through 3 different HID kits, all with the same outcome, poor lighting and failure. I'm tired of dealing with "warranties" and don't want to change a bulb/ballast every 6 months, and I want usable light. OEM is the way to go...

These are all in different headlights, so there are SOME variances. The 1st one is in a driver side halogen headlight. The last two are passenger xenon headlights. Every one of them has their own bulb and ballast (which probably explains the slight color difference between OEM and ZKW-R lens). All headlights were the same distance away from the garage, and I tried to get the cutoffs in the same location.

"5K" 35W Aftermarket (HIDextra kit I think?) in halogen projectors. I had these mounted on the car at the time, and only one headlight is on, NOT by choice lol.

OEM

OEM with ZKW-R clear lens (before fixing double cutoff)


Here is a closer look at the output difference between the OEM fresnel lens and the ZKW-R lens.

Fresnel

ZKW-R


After some tweaking, this is my final result. The iPhone failed to capture the sharpness of the cutoff, but it did capture the color intensity at the cutoff.


Moral of the story, ditch your HID kits in halogen projectors and go OEM.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

ZKW-R's are so sweet. Did you space them at all? They really improved my old retro set up on my 4th gen with J30 projectors.

Both those xenon and halogen projectors suck though. You should've swapped them for something better.

joecurr

No I didn't space them, I only bent the shield to get rid of a double cutoff.

I know the E55's aren't the best projectors, but a retrofit in the 6th gen headlights is really hard due to the design of the headlight. I would LOVE to have some FX-R's, but I just don't see those fitting. The most likely candidate would probably be TL's, which another member here said he was trying/doing (after mentioning that nothing was ever posted about it again), but I'm pretty content with the E55's. I'm sure as time goes on I'll be itching for something new lol.

BTW, I see you're on the HIDplanet forums too, ran across some of your posts on there. I have the same SN there, I didn't realize I registered there in 2007 and only now posted there lol. I'm looking into the Osram CBI's, 5000k and 3400 lumens is very tempting.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

I spaced the ZKW-R's 6mm and the color was beautiful.

Why wouldn't FX-R's fit? I haven't had a chance to get my hands on some 6th gen headlights. TL's would be dope if possibly.

I'm rarely on HIDP. Those CBI's would be fantastic but they're so damn expensive. For now I'm running 50W Morimoto 5000K's with DDM 55W ballasts in FX-35's with FX-R clear lenses.

smittybizzle

Joe I know what you mean , the HID kits are garbage in the halogen projector . I still have the HID kit in my car but soon I will have OEM HID in my 07 swap. Here link you just have to look http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_W0QQ...KQ3aMEWAXQ3aIT

joecurr

Was anything else affected by the lens spacing? Did you have to drill out rivets to separate the lens holder and the bowl?

The FX-R's are shaped a lot different than an E55 and the lens is 2.5". The 6th gen headlights are designed around the E55 projector, so fitting anything other than an E55 will require quite a bit of modding. I found one thread on some other forum of a guy with I believe a Lancer who changed his E55's to FX-R's, but I'm not sure what the OEM headlights look like. I'm thinking his OEM headlights had shrouds around the E55's so he was able to use shrouds around the FX-R's. In the 6th gen headlights there's absolutely no room for any type of shroud. That's why I think it'd be more probable to replace the E55 with something that has a 3" lens and is a little closer in dimension.

Yeah, the price of the CBI's is the only thing keeping me from just buying them, but I can already tell I'll be happier with a higher K than 4300. How are those 50W Morimotos? Got any output pics? I'd love to see how your setup looks.

Yup, I regret not going OEM in the first place. I already have everything installed in my car (and plenty of spare parts), but that's a damn good deal. I probably would've bought them just because they were so cheap lol.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

A 6mm rubber gasket actually goes under each projector lens, no drilling required. Email Matt at TRS, maybe he can help ya with what size spacer you would need.

I'm sure FX-R's can fit with some modification. Don't be afraid to make them fit! Practice on your old halogen headlights before trying your xenon ones.

I'm actually really happy with the 50W Morimoto's. They're great. If you're using 35W ballasts, go with the 35W bulbs they sell. 5000K is perfect to me. Here are some output shots. Don't mind that the cutoff isn't straight, I was playing with the shield and did't set it back correctly:

8ft away:


25ft away with straight cutoff after the correction:

Kryogen

hid kits suck. go oem or keep halogen. said it for years.

smittybizzle

Joe mabey you know , what all do I need to swap all the oem HID components into a halogen housing ? Also Chris those pictures look great .

6.5affiliate

Good job on the retrofit. Looks nice.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

thanks for posting this man, i've been wanting to do the clear lens swap for awhile with the e55 projectors. but seems like OEM does have a bit more output.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

OEM lenses? No way.

Kryogen

been thinking about a lens swap too, but it seemed like just a little clearer cutoff and no more light output, so I backed off.

BadBlackMaxSL

iTrader: (1)

It looks like they are pointed up way too much. They are shining very high on the wall.

twentyeggs

he may just have his high beams on

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

They're out of the headlights lol I can point them anywhere for now. Those pics where when I first took the projectors out of the FX35 headlights.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

nah, i meant the aftermarket clear lenses.

i really want to mod my headlights but the whole baking apart the headlights is what keeping me back.

output of the HIDs in halogen projectors is just sh*trific.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

Baking is the easiest part but then again, this is what I do for a living lol

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

man if you were local i would pay you to tweak the headlights to improve the beam pattern and overall output.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

OP, chime in on how you baked your headlights to help this guy out lol All headlights are different so I'm not exactly sure how much time it would take but I generally do 225 degrees (preheated) for 5mins.

smittybizzle

You can bake them at differnt temps and times I baked mine at 200 degrees F for about 10-15 min but do this at your own risk . I used some cardboard to bake the light on , no damage, you just have to be carefull seperating the lens and assembly .

joecurr

LOL I can tell a lot of people aren't at least familiar with projector modding, referring to the responses to the high against the wall output shots. Okay, so yours is spaced to push the lens closer to the bowl, I assumed it was to push it away. Maybe I'll try that and see if it does anything. Dude your FX's look sick, I only have color at the step but yours is along the whole cutoff Is that just from spacing the lens or did you mess with the shield too? When I have time maybe I'll try TL's, that seems more likely to be successful than the FX-R's. I'll check the dimensions to see how similar the TL's are to E55's.

If you want full OEM, you will need Maxima E55 projectors (maxima E55's have a special foreground shield that other E55's don't have), Matsu****a Gen III/IV/V ballasts (any of the 3 should fit fine) and igniters, and the OEM headlight harnesses (which include the HID headlight caps). Any D2S bulb should work, so the bulb is up to you. If you DON'T want to get all OEM stuff, you can just replace the halogen projectors with the E55 projectors and use aftermarket D2S HID kits (Morimoto is the highly suggested aftermarket kit).

Thanks.

I think ChrisMan287 meant there is no way the output is better with OEM fresnel lenses. Like I said, every one of my output shots has a different bulb, so the output will look slightly different. I should have used the same bulb, ballast, and projector to do a full comparison for actual light output between the OEM and the ZKW-R lens, but my intention wasn't to show the difference in brightness but to show the cutoff.

Do you have OEM HID or halogen headlights?

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

On the FX-35's I haven't played with spacing at all. FX-R clear lenses are the only modification done to those. Color is practically across the entire cutoff which I love too. I played with spacing on the J30's and got good results with the ZKW-R's. Here are some pics..

J30's with stock lenses (before):


J30's with ZKW-R lenses spaced 6mm (after):


Big difference and over all light intensity and spread was improved. Remember, these are halogen projectors.

Email Matt at TRS (matt@theretrofitsource.com), he'll probably be able to tell you exactly what size spacers you'll need. If he can't help, you can always play with spacing yourself but that may take a lot more time and patience.

joecurr

Do you have pics of the FX's before swapping in the clear lens? I'd love to see the difference it made, every time I see FX output shots it's with clear lenses. And color across the entire cutoff is sick. I wish just swapping lenses in the E55's was enough, but I had to mess with the shield to alleviate the double cutoff, and there still isn't enough color. Hopefully some kind of spacing will help.

Your J30's look nice as hell too. I actually ordered parts through Matt, I should give him a holler.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

Sadly, I don't have pictures of the cutoff with stock lenses because mine came with the clear lenses already. If you search online, you'll probably find lots of pics with stock lenses since most FX guys are too lazy to crack open their headlights and switch over to clear lenses. Definitely talk to Matt and update this thread when you do.

joecurr

A lot of people here don't care for clear lenses either, even though it's super easy for all the 04-08 people with OEM HID's. I am also surprised by the number of people who bake their headlights open to paint them yet leave the halogen projectors in there to use with 9006 HID kits. If you're going to open up the headlight, you might as well change the projectors to E55's and use D2S bulbs.

I emailed Matt again to update him with my progress, he'll probably respond within a couple days like he usually does. After emailing him, I found a thread on HIDplanet about modding E55's, but it only talks about shield bending which I've pretty much already done.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

People are lazy lol I'd say to hell with clear lenses and just swap better projectors in there but that's just me.

Matt should get back to you quickly. He usually responds to me within the same day. I emailed him earlier and got a response in less than 5mins lol

joecurr

I can't deny it, I'm pretty lazy lol. But once I actually start something I work on it 'til I'm finished. Getting me to start something, that's a different story...

Matt doesn't like me. lol sometimes he responded quickly, other days not.

mrkhone

i bought a set of clear lens from TRS. i can't figure out how to remove the old lens to put them in. i've done a retrofit with the mini morimotos on my accord and i love them. they light up the road so much better then my max.

joecurr

You either have to bend the foreground shield or remove it to install the lens. If you don't remove it, from my experience as I couldn't find any other way, you have to trim a small part of the foreground shield as it prevents you from removing the lens. If I had to do it again I'd rather remove the shield than bend it. You remove the foreground shield by drilling out the rivets that attach it to the bowl, swap the lens, then reinstall the shield with nuts and bolts. You've probably seen how to remove the actual lens (I think I saw you post on the HIDplanet forums too, damn, you've had your clear lenses sitting around for a while then, even longer than me lol).

Other E55 projectors are easier to swap lenses because they don't have the foreground shield that the Maxima ones have.

AscendantMax

iTrader: (7)

I have the halogen headlights with aftermarket 9006 HID's. So you would recommend going with OEM HID's or the E55's?

<== lighting n00b

joecurr

The OEM HID's use E55 projectors. E55 refers to the projector itself. Most projectors are referred to by what car they are either from or first came in instead of by the manufacturer (E55's are made by Hella). Many different cars use the E55 projector, but the Maxima ones have a special foreground shield, which not only blocks foreground light right in front of the car but creates a brilliant purple/blue color when viewed head-on from a distance. If you have ever seen a Maxima with OEM HID's either head-on or in your rearview mirror at a great distance, you might recall the headlights looking purple/blue. Other E55 projectors don't normally do this, so the Maxima ones are one of the more popular E55 projectors.

If you want, you can just bake open your headlights, swap out your halogen projectors to the Maxima E55 ones, and switch your bulbs from 9006 to D2S.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

I'm more busy than anything and just a little lazy sometimes when it comes to my own projects. When it comes to business I can't be lazy.

Did you hear back from Matt?

joecurr

Oh yeah for sure, that's more along the lines of what I meant. When I actually have free time, I don't think "Yes I can work on my car!", it's more along the lines of "Yes I can do nothing!" I don't really work on other cars except my own and most of my friends aren't into car modding, so a lot of times there isn't much motivation for me to start projects.

No response from Matt yet. I did find a thread about E55 modding but it only contained information about shield bending.

ChrisMan287

iTrader: (34)

No wonder you're lazy lol You need some motivation.

But man, Matt even got back to me today lol He loves me But you've already done the shield bending so that's no fun.

joecurr

I do need motivation, even having all the parts I need for a project isn't enough lol.

Damn it, do you communicate with him through his personal email? I've only communicated with him through the customer service line. I'm just another customer, waaah LOL It seems as the E55's generally only have color at the step from the pictures I've seen, so I don't even know if there is much else I can do...

twin1983

How do I take the lense out of the projector?

tigersharkdude

iTrader: (20)

You left out one very important piece of information , what kind of projector?

twin1983

That's what mine look like I did it yesterday love those clear lenses and the CBI combo.