V35 Sedan Headlights With Led

[SMOKEYV35]

Hmm, patience mate, it will be worth it.

I'm using morimoto minis - they basically slot in and you screw a fitting rung on from behind. It doesn't get any easier. Hardest part will be trimming the shrouds and housing.

[Deep Dish V35]

success.... finally

using a rotary burr I was able to hollow out the H1 base leaving just enough material so that a H1 could still be used if necessary, and so a D2R bulb could be inserted instead..

The D2R bulb and socket sticks out a long way... the bulb is now locked in by 2 screws instead of a spring clip. so yes, replacing a blown bulb is going to be a harder task.

i can already see an improvement in light output with daylight filling the garage. when standing an object infront of the car, the cast shadows are much sharper from the new headlight. The beam cutoff line is much cleaner, and there is a fine blue/yellow edge on that cutoff. I'll upload a night pic tonight before my mad rush to reassemble the car.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Deep Dish V35

[Kolossus]

I had those Tai/Japanese import ones in my sedan, they were pretty good once you got the headlight adjustment right on them, just don't do what i did and put them in, put it back together and then check the alignment... or you will become a pro at taking off the front bar rofl.... also if you want to build your own I have a set of headlights here from my 300GT that I can sell you

[Deep Dish V35]

those front bar mounts are definitely a pain. a quick release clip behind the side indicators instead of the two 10mm bolts would make life easier.

i dont run the undertray anymore so that saves about half an hour

[Deep Dish V35]

And heres the difference between factory HID and my setup.

Keep in mind, these are both using the factory loom, ballast, and Phillips D2R bulb. The only difference comes down to the reflector in the factory headlamp Vs the parabolic lense assembly in my custom light (aka projector beam)

This is the passenger side OEM HID

this is the drivers side parabolic

and both side by side... you can see how much brighter the road would be infront of the drivers side, the clean cut line, and the blue/yellow light refraction on the top edge.

I love parabolic lights. Modified the ones in my old BMW years ago... and built my own set for my scooter years ago too..

[SMOKEYV35]

giggidy.

good work mate.

you're giving me lots of motivation

[Deep Dish V35]

heres something that will dampen your motivation then.....

testing the light in a garage over 7 metres is one thing.... testing it in the street is something different.

it turns out that my custom light beam only travels forwards about 8 metres before fading out real quickly. thats less than 1/4 the distance of the oem assembly. and yet directly infront of the car the light is awesome. You can see in my previous post , on the roller door, a darker spot in the centre of the new beam just below the cutoff. well that spot gets much worse.... i did notice it earlier today and thought "uh oh"

so yes, ive either got a slight alignment issue with the bulb (guessing by about 2mm, entirely possible)..... or its the D2R bulb itself.

research has just told me that the D2R bulb actually has a built-in deflector designed to stop glare when installed in your everyday reflector type headlight like the OEM assembly. this deflector appears to block the area of light that would project directly forwards in a parabolic assembly..... switching the bulb with a D2S should fix this - the D2S is a 99% identical bulb just without that built-in deflector.

so now... i just have to buy a pair and try it.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Deep Dish V35

[SMOKEYV35]

yeah i didn't want to dampen your enthusiasm but i think your output pics leave a bit of work to be done.

hopefully the D2S's will help - but i also notice that you did some custome mounting of the bulb and i am pretty sure the position of the bulb inside the arc of the projector lense makes a big difference. I think you might be out of alignment based on the hotspots you can see in your garage shot.

here is an idea of what the morimoto minis look like in terms of output - and they're not conisdered to be up there with the best of them either (unlike LS460's, S2k's, FX-R's etc)

[Deep Dish V35]

knew it wouldnt be right first time hahaha..... but even as is, its better than i was expecting. the arc in the D2R is sitting about 2mm rearward compared to the H1 filament. i didnt want to shave the mounting face of the assembly just yet...

if only they made a H1 HID bulb with the same loom fitting as a D2R...

a universal assembly like yours is obviously the smarter option...

Edited January 24, 2013 by Deep Dish V35

[SMOKEYV35]

hmmm

maybe have a look on here, there are lots of different adapters and splitters that might help you get a H1 globe (as you're buying new ones anyway) to PNP with your D2R ballast?

http://www.theretrofitsource.com/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id=255

if you swing them an email, matt, the business owner will normally respond pretty quickly and with a host of information. I've bought off them a few times now and always based on the advice they give more or less.